Page 57 of Meddling with a Millionaire

Funny. It didn’t get easier with repetition.

“Do you want to leave him a message?” the receptionist asked with a bright smile.

“Did he say when he was going to be back?” Now that she’d summoned the courage to tell him, she wanted to get it over with. “Maybe I could wait.”

“He didn’t say.”

“I’ll try back later.” Unless she talked herself out of it.

Earlier, when she’d organized her day, she’d planned to stop at Biella’s first because they’d called to say a check awaited her, but once she’d parked, she’d been overcome with the need to see Nathan and had selected this daunting errand to run first. Now she’d have to get up the nerve to make this journey all over again.

Anxiety snacked on her poise as she returned to the elevator. Before she could press the down button, the door opened and Emma found herself staring into Nathan’s eyes.

“What are you doing here?” he demanded.

All her carefully prepared greetings evaporated as her stomach flipped like a frisky dolphin. She shoved the shirt she held toward him.

“I brought you back your shirt. It got mixed up in some of my things, and I packed it by accident.”

“And you made a special trip to deliver it.” His voice took on the sexy rumble that always had her out of her clothes in record time. “I’m glad.”

Nathan took the shirt and tossed it onto one of the nearby lobby chairs. Then, he slid his fingers around her arm and pulled her into the elevator. His free hand coasted over her hip and in one smooth move, he pinned her between the wall and his lean muscles.

Giddy with delight at being crushed against his rock-solid frame, she put her hand on Nathan’s chest, feeling the steady, soothing thrum of his heart.

“It was no bother. I was in the neighborhood.”

“And here I was looking everywhere for you,” he said.

Beneath Nathan’s intense regard, Emma’s cheeks heated. Then her blood. “You were? Why?”

“I’ve missed you.”

Emma’s nerves began to purr. She half closed her eyes and peered at him from beneath her lashes. Although she longed to hear a different set of three words from Nathan, these ran a close second. Was it possible that he felt something more for her than simple lust? Could his emotions be more complex than she thought?

“Not enough to call.” She reached deep for a breezy smile and found one. No reason he had to know how heavy her heart had become.

He stroked a strand of her hair off her cheek. “You made it clear that we were done.”

She’d made it clear? “You walked out on me, remember?”

“I was a fool to do that.”

“But you did. What’s changed?”

“We’re meant to be together. Don’t you feel it?”

Did that mean he loved her? Was it possible? Breathless with hope, she lifted onto her toes. As his lips covered hers in a slow, coaxing kiss, Emma dug her fingers into his back and stopped fighting his web of sensual entanglement. Beneath his intoxicating kisses, it was easy to let the last two weeks, and all her heartache, become a vague memory.

For so long, she’d fought to keep from losing herself in him, fearing he would never feel the same way about her. But he was so hard to resist, and she’d slipped further beneath his spell. It had taken all her willpower not to confess, over and over again, that she loved him. She could no longer fight what was in her heart.

“I love you,” she said when his lips eased off hers. Once the truth came out, admitting the rest seemed inevitable. “I have for a long time.”

“But you won’t marry me.”

Was marriage even on the table?

“I thought the deal with my father fell through.”

“It did.”

Her heart swelled with joy, but she remained cautious. “Then there’s no reason for you to want to marry me.”

“There are lots of reasons,” he said, but as the elevator gently decelerated and the doors opened, he left them un-voiced.

Taking her by the hand, Nathan towed her past the crowd waiting to get on the elevator and into the office building’s big, bright lobby. With her emotions a melting pot of worry and glee, she was only half aware of the voices, laughter and clink of dishes that echoed through the two-story atrium.

“Let’s go to lunch,” he said.

One of downtown Houston’s best restaurants occupied the open space and drew large crowds to sample the widely reviewed cuisine. Emma balked. She wasn’t eager to confide in Nathan about her pregnancy in a crowded restaurant.

“I have an errand to run. How about we meet in an hour?”

Nathan shook his head. “Now that I have you, I’m not letting you go. We’ll run your errand together, and then I’ll take you to lunch.”

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