“What I think is that you’ll never know the truth of it because all you’ll do from here on out is speculate,” he said, shooting her a look.
“I learned how to use a dirk this morning, you know,” she said. “I’d be worried if I were you.”
“Emma,” he said with a sigh.
“I won’t go anywhere without you,” she said.
“I saw you cross your fingers just now.”
She smiled, partly because he was charming and partly because he was stroking the back of her hand and that was enough to distract her from subversive thoughts. For the moment.
She thought that might not last.
Chapter 20
Nathanielrealized the taxi had stopped only because Emma elbowed him awake. He supposed he should have been counting how many times she’d already done that, but he was so damned tired he didn’t think he could manage it. How he was going to face off with his grandfather, he surely didn’t know.
He tossed the driver money, crawled out of the cab behind Emma, and suppressed the urge to look for somewhere to sit down.
“More coffee?”
“Whisky would be better.”
Emma smiled at him. “Didn’t you sleep on the plane?”
He shook his head slightly but supposed there was no useful reason to tell her why not. The truth was, he’d sat in a lovely first-class seat next to that beautiful woman who had stolen his heart, and he’d spent eight hours watching her sleep. He supposed she knew he’d been doing it because every time she woke, she would remind him that watching her while she drooled was impolite. He’d promised her every time never to use that against her at an inopportune moment, held her hand, and wondered how it was he had been fortunate enough to encounter her on the edge of an enchanted forest.
Fate’s make-up call, he supposed.
At the moment, she looked as if she’d just stepped out of an issue ofGorgeous Lawyers Quarterly. He would have signed whatever she put in front of him just to buy himself more time to look at her.
He realized with a start that she was studying him a bit more closely than he was comfortable with.
“What?” he asked, wondering if he’d forgotten something important, like his trousers.
“I’m still confused as to why you bought me this great court outfit yesterday so you can take me along to your meeting.”
“I wanted company.”
She pursed her lips.
“I wanted to supervise you.”
“Better, but not perfect.”
He considered her a bit longer. “I wanted your company and I wanted to keep an eye on you. How’s that for honesty?”
“ThatI believe,” she said. She looked over her shoulder at the building there, then back at him. “What now?”
“We march into the fray. Stay behind me.”
She laughed a little at him, but walked with him inside just the same. He forced himself to stay grounded in the present moment—an alarming thought, to be sure—and not remember the countless number of times when he’d stood in front of that bank of elevators and waited for a posh box to take him up to his grandfather’s offices. He’d worked for his grandfather for only five years, but he thought he could bring to mind a piece of misery for each one of those days with hardly any effort.
“You okay?”
He smiled briefly at Emma. “Fine.”
She lifted her eyebrows briefly, then turned to the elevator doors as they opened. Nathaniel held the door open and looked at her only to find her looking in astonishment at someone inside.
