Page 84 of Beautiful Harmony

“Right, but most people don’t know that you developed Stark Entertainment’s first six games yourself,” Emma said enthusiastically. “And those six games were only surpassed in popularity by the Shadow series games in the last two years.”

Stark grinned at her. “You know your Stark Entertainment trivia.”

“I’m seriously your biggest fan,” Emma said. “Wait, that came out sounding way more stalkery than I pictured. I swear I’m not some weirdo Isaac Stark stalker. You can ask Lucas.”

“It’s mostly true,” Lucas said. “She’s weird but not stalkery.”

“Lucas,” Emma said with a pointed look.

Stark laughed. “Until you’ve sent my mother a photo of you in a wedding dress with me photoshopped in, I’m afraid you won’t win the title of weirdest Isaac Stark stalker.”

“Oh my God, did that actually happen?” Emma asked.

“It did. My mother put it in a fancy frame and hung it in the dining room to see if I’d notice it.”

“Did you?” Lucas asked with a grin.

“I did… eventually,” Stark said. “Then she emailed copies to our relatives on April Fool’s Day.”

“Your mom sounds great,” Lucas laughed.

“She’s one of a kind,” Stark said. “Anyway, it was nice to meet you, Emma. I’ve told Lucas he needs to go home, so make sure he does, will you?”

“I will,” Emma said. “It was nice to meet you too.”

Stark left the office, and Lucas waited for a beat before nudging her. “I’m surprised you didn’t ask him for his autograph.”

Instead of giving him an annoyed look like he expected, Emma said, “Did you ask him to come to your office so that I could meet him?”

“I did,” he said.

Her smile warmed him completely. “That was great of you, Lucas. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” he said.

“He’s really nice. Like, way nicer than I expected.”

Lucas laughed. “He has a reputation for being cold and distant, but deep down, he’s a nice guy.”

“Rayna would disagree,” Emma said. “She got into a fight with him the other night, and I guess he lost his temper and was pretty rude.”

“Huh, that surprises me. I’ve never seen Stark lose his temper, not even when there’s a fuck up with a game.”

“Emma?”

They both glanced toward the door. James, the controller at their office, stood in the doorway.

“Hi, James,” Emma said with a warm smile. “How are you?”

“You know James?” Lucas asked. Already jealousy was spinning its web in his stomach.

“I do. His sister Nora works at my store,” Emma said.

“Oh, right,” Lucas said.

“Thank you again for yesterday,” James said. “Eva really enjoyed herself. She was still talking about it this morning.”

“My pleasure,” Emma said.

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