Under any other circumstances, that’d make him laugh, but the time for joking was past. This was not supposed to be how it played out. The guy was supposed to wow the girl with the big gesture and enter stage left, gamboling puppies and helium balloons.
“Emma, wait.” He covered the unbearable distance between them and placed his hand on the door just as she moved to grip the doorknob. She refused to face him, her body language an ode to fury.
“Baby, I f*ck
ed up. Goddammit, I know that. What I’d just heard from Grigson, and knowing you knew about the video, it made for one long, tall glass of life sucks.”
For a moment, he wasn’t sure she had had heard him, but then she spoke, her voice quiet. “The thing is, I thought about appeasing Ray. For Daisy, you see. She’s all I have and—” A strangled sob hitched in her throat. “But running seemed like the only way I could protect you both. Then you told me I might have screwed up, but that didn’t make me a screwup, and I believed you. There you were, needling and poking and edging under my skin. Demanding I turn myself inside out, but at the first hurdle, Brody, the first sign of ugliness, you failed.”
“Emma.” He turned her to face him. “You are the most beautiful woman I know, inside and out. In bad suits and sexy stripper threads. In your giving heart and in every single thing you’ve done to protect the people you care about. I was hurt once and my knee-jerk reaction was to assume I’d be hurt again. I’m usually a better analyst of a situation, but my sore heart wasn’t up for another pounding.”
He laced his fingers in hers and placed them over his heart, now slapping violently against his rib cage.
“This bruised ticker belongs to you, Emma. You own me, body and soul. Every piece of me is yours to love or destroy. I love you. God, how I f*ck
ing adore you.” He rubbed his forehead. “This isn’t going the way I expected. Daisy said you’d be stubborn.”
Her eyes flew wide. “Daisy? As in my sister Daisy?”
“I spoke with her this morning and made her promise not to call you. I was going to move her out to Chicago, set her up with a job. Surprise you.”
“Brody…”
“I know, baby.” Had he learned nothing in his time with this amazingly independent woman? “I’m doing exactly what you hate. Taking care of business without consulting you. I’ve got to work on that. On looping you in on the decisions that affect you.”
She’d once said that love was an invasion of each other’s space, minds, and hearts, and that the only way to survive was for each person to be strong enough to handle the assault. Balance was important to her. He would give her anything so she felt like a true partner in their future.
“You were going to help my sister.” Tears flecked her lower lashes, the words spoken with a quiet awe. In her voice was a shocking vulnerability that carved him in half. “You don’t even know her.”
“She’s your family, Emma. Along with Kevin, that makes her my family.” He squeezed her hand, thrilled when she squeezed back. “But all the decisions we make about us, about our family, will be done together. You don’t have to do this alone. You’ll never be alone again, because I’ll have your back through everything.” He raised her palm to his mouth and laid a small kiss of promise on it. “Now I don’t expect you to trust me right away, to love me right away. I ask only for two small things.”
The silence in the room was torturous until she finally ended it with a barely audible, “What?”
“I’m asking that you be a little bit honest and a little bit brave. Do that and the rest will fall into place eventually.”
Moments, long, terrifying ones, ticked over and she breathed deep, as if coming to a decision. Her beautiful blue eyes flashed. “I have questions.”
Triumph roared in his chest, but he kept the smile building inside him on the down low. “I’d expect nothing less.”
“About benefits and compensation.” She gave a lascivious dip to his suit pants, lingering on his groin. “What kind of package can you offer?”
He gestured with his hand for her to move her gaze up to interview-appropriate level, but she kept her eyes where they were and watched as he expanded under her scrutiny. Oh, she owned him all right. Every lust-fueled cell.
“Excellent medical, dental, and vision. 401(k). Tuition. But we compensate well because we expect a lot of our employees. We’re an unusual company and you’d be required to master several new positions. Would you say you’re a quick study, Ms. Strickland?”
She hitched up her skirt, shimmied out of her black satin panties, and kicked them off. Stalking him, she flattened her palm on his chest and pushed him back to the desk. Her fingers wrapped around his tie and stroked it, letting it run through her cupped hand like she might work his cock. Never breaking eye contact, she unknotted it, unbuttoned his shirt, and spread it wide.