Page 43 of Joanna's Highlander (Highland Protector 2)

“Seriously?” Lucia leaned forward, rapt interest arching her brows.

“Seriously.” Joanna laced her fingers together and propped her clasped hands on the table. “And the follow-up email she sent listed a healthy six-figure starting salary, quarterly bonuses, stock options, paid vacation, and even more benefits than I ever dreamed could exist.”

Lucia frowned, tilting her head as though trying to sort out a problem. “Wait. What happened to your old boss? Wasn’t he CEO?”

“It appears his dishonesty reached a level that even big business couldn’t accept.” Joanna couldn’t help the feeling of satisfaction making her smile. “It’s my understanding that he’s checked into the penitentiary for an extended stay. He’s booked a room in the embezzlement and drug-running wing and it doesn’t have much of a view.”

Wow.Lucia didn’t say the word aloud, but Joanna easily read her lips.

“Exactly.” Joanna leaned back in the chair and dropped her hands into her lap. “Karma finally decided to kick in.” She took a deep breath and felt her mood slip back to the confused dark mess of earlier. “I haven’t sent her my reply yet. I was going to do it tonight after I talked it over with you.” She reached out and grabbed hold of Lucia’s hands. “You’ve always been my sounding board and helped me figure things out. So…what do you think?”

“I think I’m not the one you should be talking to,” Lucia answered in a quiet voice that triggered Joanna’s guilt reflex. “How are you going to have a life here with Grant and be CEO to a company based in Chicago?”

“That was my question as well.” Grant stood in the archway, jaw clenched and feet widespread as though he was about to charge into battle.

I’ve always heard the term“blood running cold.”Now I know how it feels.Joanna opened her mouth to speak but didn’t know what the hell to say.I am so busted.

“You’re on your own,chica.” Lucia rose, pushed her chair back under the table, and hurried out of the room.

Grant didn’t say a word, just stood in the doorway glaring at her. But then again, he didn’t have to speak. The way he held himself, shoulders thrown back, arms clenched across his broad chest, a scowl so dark that Joanna expected to see lightning flash around him and hear thunder—all those things conveyed his mood more accurately than any words.

So much for sugarcoating.She scooted her chair closer to the table, clasped her hands in a tight knot, and focused on her thumbs. No way could she talk if she looked at Grant.And so it begins.“How much did you hear?”

“Enough.” Grant settled his stance, widening his feet as if to more effectively block the only exit from the room. “Ye’ll be tellin’ the woman no. Aye?”

Joanna wet her lips, rapidly sorting through all the selling points she’d planned on using. “Actually—no.” She forced a smile, lifted her head, and met his gaze. “I’d planned to accept it. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

Grant glared at her, the muscles of his jaw rippling. He sucked in a deep breath and blew it out. “I disagree.” He stepped forward slowly, eyes narrowing. “Ye’ll be tellin’ the woman no. This verra evenin’, ye ken?”

All the demons from her past, the ones she kept securely locked away, broke free and brought back all the fires of her personal levels of hell with them. She pushed back from the table and stood, knotting her fists at her sides to keep from grabbing the heavy ceramic plates and mugs from the open shelving at her back and lobbing them at Grant’s head. “I won’t be talked to that way, Grant. Not now. Now ever.”

“What the hell d’ye expect me t’say? Godspeed and safe travels to ye?”

Joanna stepped out from behind the table, forcing herself to remain calm. “I expect you to hear me out and listen. I have a plan.”He’s not Dad. He’s not Matthew.She repeated the words over and over.Stay calm. Give him a chance to come around.

“A plan?”

Even though his words came out in what sounded more like a growl, Joanna wasn’t afraid. All she saw in Grant’s eyes was pain—and maybe a little fear.

“Did yer friend help ye with what ails ye?” Sarinda asked as she burst into the room.

“Not bloody well likely,Máthair.” Grant turned back to Joanna. “We have much to discuss—but not here.”

Joanna nodded. “Right.” She hurried past Sarinda and Grant, then paused at the top of the steps leading down to the family’s private entrance to the keep. “I’ll be in the Jeep. We’ll talk more at home.”

“Aye. At home.”

Chapter 21

Grant kept his jaws locked. If he spoke now, he couldna guarantee that he’d speak wisely. Surely, Joanna wouldna take that job.How could she?How in the name of all that was holy could she? And how in the hell had she found out about this…this…once-in-a-lifetime chance, as she’d put it? Had she been lookin’ for a way to leave him? Had he no’ made her happy? What the feckin’ hell had he done wrong? It pained him more than he could say that the woman was even considerin’ it. He tightened his hold on the Jeep’s steering wheel until his knuckles popped.

“You’re going to snap it in half and then we’ll have to walk the rest of the way home.” Joanna touched his forearm—lightly—as though she were afraid he’d explode with the building frustration that she had to have known she’d stirred within him. “Grant—you’ve gotta calm down. It’s not nearly as bad as you’re making it out to be. It’s going to be okay. I promise.”

Going to be okay, she says. Like hell it will. The only way ’twill be okay is if she sees sense and forgets this damnable nonsense.A thought suddenly occurred to him, pushing its way through the enraged fog muddling his mind. She was punishing him. This was his punishment for his association with the Heartstone. She’d said it had scared her to death and that she didna want a thing to do with it ever again. Perhaps she’d really been speakin’ about him instead of the stone. That possibility nearly shoved the air from his lungs like a punch to the gut.

“G-grant?” She repeated his name with a hesitant stutter, raising her voice when he didn’t respond. Her helpless tone made his heart ache—not for her but for himself and for all that he was about to lose. “Grant, please.”

“Aye?” He bit out the word and cursed the hoarseness of his voice. He had to be strong and reason some sense into her. He had t’make her see how deeply she’d cut him if she left Brady…if she left him for that damn city that might as well be on the other side of the world. He’d no’ give her up easily. She’d find that out well enough.

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