Page 40 of Bride By Committee

This time she shivered. “Yes. But only because it’s not necessary.”

He caressed her ring finger. “Third consideration. And this one isn’t a question, but a statement of fact. If I don’t take a look, you’ll always wonder.”

Madison snatched her hand from beneath his and turned, her eyes dilating when she discovered how close he stood. “What will I wonder?”

“Whether you would have won.”

“This isn’t a game, Harry.” Passion infused her voice, underscoring how seriously she took their discussion. “This is my life.”

“We’re the same, you and I.” He said it more as a warning than an observation. “You’ve been pointing that out ever since we first met. Iknow how you’ll react if I take a walk. You’ll wonder if I would have found a way to improve your family’s financial situation. You’ll start questioning your decisions, playing guessing games with yourself that you can’t win, speculating whether I’d have made a different choice from the one you made, until the doubt eats you alive.”

“Not a chance,” she insisted. “I’m good at my job. In fact, I’m better than good.”

“Then you don’t have anything to worry about, do you?”

Her eyes went dark with pain. “Oh, no?”

He released his breath in a long sigh. Hell. She knew. “Madison—”

“Bartholomew wouldn’t have asked you to step in unless someone from the family had requested it.”

He’d hoped she wouldn’t make that connection. Now that she had, he’d deal with it head-on. “Sunny asked him.” His response impacted like a blow, even though it could only have confirmed what she’d suspected. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. Ididn’t plan to tell you like this.”

“How were you going to do it?” The question escaped through stiff, white lips. In fact, everything about her had gone pale, at striking opposition to the darkness of her hair and eyes and the profusion of color at her back. “Were you going to find a way to make it seem like this was all my idea? Have me ask for your services, one financial advisor to another?”

“Something like that. Unfortunately, Harley decided to interfere.”

Anger eclipsed the hurt. “Did you really think I wouldn’t have seen through the deception?” she demanded. “That I wouldn’t have gotten suspicious at some point?”

“The truth would have come out eventually. Iwould have made sure it did. But I hoped to limit the impact, as well as the damage.” He gave in to temptation and smoothed a curl from her brow. “Instead, I’ve managed to make it worse. And I’m sorry about that.”

She sidestepped his touch. “You should have told me what you were up to from the beginning.”

“When? On the elevator while you were fighting claustrophobia?” He struggled to conceal his exasperation. “Should I have said, ‘Oh, by the way, your family has asked me to check out what sort of job you’re doing’?”

“Yes!” Another barrage of curls escaped her control, an outward expression of her inner turmoil. They rioted around her face in fiery disorder, spitfire ringlets that voiced her indignation more vehemently than mere words. “At least then it would have been out in the open and we could have dealt with the situation honestly.”

“I wasn’t certain whether or not I’d take the job. Ididn’t see any point in saying anything until I’d made that decision.”

“But you have now.” She didn’t phrase it as a question.

“Yes.” Dammit all! “I’m sorry, Madison. Ipromised not to hurt you and I’ve managed to do just that.”

“You also promised to have my best interests at heart.” Her kissable mouth compressed into an unkissable line. “I’d say you failed on all accounts.”

“You’re wrong about that. You can’t see it now because you’re too upset. But I promise, having me look over the family business will clear the air between us. It’ll put business to one side and allow us to concentrate on personal issues.”

She cut him off with a sweep of her hand. “There are no personal issues! Not anymore. You deceived me and I don’t take that well. Not well at all. Ineed to trust the people in my life, especially when it comes to business.”

“You still don’t get it.” He closed the distance between them. “Having me work with you has nothing to do with business.”

She regarded him impatiently, but at least she didn’t back away. “What are you talking about?” she demanded.

“Oh, come on. You have to know your grandmother better than that. It’s not like she’s been particularly subtle about it.” When Madison continued to stare blankly, he clarified. “Sunny doesn’t want me looking over the family finances because she thinks you’re doing a bad job. She’s matchmaking.”

Madison gave a heartbreaking little laugh. “You’re wrong. Her doubts about my ability are precisely what this is about.”

“No—”

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