“He did anything and everything I ever asked,” she said when he dropped his hand. “He never argued with me. He always gave me anything I wanted.”
As opposed to Christian,whoalwaysargued with her.
“But…” She shook her head. “I didn’t love him. Not the way he wanted to be loved or deserved to be loved. And it caused huge problems at work when it all fell apart. He didn’t understandwhyI didn’t love him, and I couldn’t explain it in a way he accepted. So his adoration turned to anger. His love to hate. It got to where he couldn’t stand to be in the same roomwith me.”
Her expression was resigned and more than a bit sad. “As you can imagine, that made working in the same office more than a little difficult. He tried to get me a transfer. He really did.” She shrugged. “But there were no positions available. So I took pity on him and quit.”
That’s Emily for you, Christian thought.Tough and tenacious on the outside. Selfless and sweet on theinside.
Of course she would sacrifice herself for her former lover. She’d been up for taking a bullet for Christian, and until today they’d barely eventouched.
“And that’s when you made the decision never to mix business with pleasure again?” He watched her closely.
“Exactly. Ilovedmy job with the CIA. Thought I’d never find work like that again. Then, Boss offered me the gig atBKI. And holy shit! I love working there just as much. Maybe more. I willnotfuck it up. I willnotput myself in a position to have to start over. Not again.”
For a long time, Christian remained quiet, arranging his thoughts, trying to come up with a good way to assure her that her past held no sway over her present. She hadn’t loved this Richard Neely bloke? So what? That didn’t mean shecouldn’t fall in love withChristian. That didn’t mean she shouldn’t give the two ofthema fighting chance.
“You said you couldn’t explain to Neely in a way that he would accept the reason why you didn’t love him,” he said. “How about trying to explain it to me.”
“Nope.” She shook her head. “You’ve had your three truths.”
He blinked. “I beg your pardon. I’ve only—”
“Think aboutit,” she interrupted. “You asked why I lied, and I told you. You asked what happened between me and my boss, and I told you.” She ticked off his questions on her fingers. “And you asked why Richard falling in love with me was a bad thing, and I told you.” Her grin was decidedly wicked when she finished with, “That’s three, bucko. Now, it’s my turn.”
The muscle beneath his eye, not to mentionthe one in his jaw, went properly crazy. “You fight dirty,” he accused.
“And don’t you forget it.” Her grin was positively impish.
* * *
Emily was so proud of herself for the way she’d handled Christian’s questioning that she was tempted to blow on her nails and rub them against her sweatshirt. But he already looked like he wanted to take a bite out of her. Blowing on her nails andrubbing them against her shirt might be enough to push him over the edge into action. Since she’d spent five minutes convincing him she was determined to live by a tenet that made sure his mouth came nowhere near her, she kept her hands fisted firmly in her lap.
“Question number one,” she said, arranging her thoughts into some semblance of order. It was more difficult than usual because shewas, you know, sitting on Christian’s lap. And he wasn’t helping matters a damn bit by tracing slow circles over her hip with the rough pad of his thumb. Still, she managed, “You said your mother was responsible for your father’s death. Explain.”
He lifted a sardonic brow.
“What?” She frowned.
“I didn’t hear a question in there. But I suppose I mustn’t be surprised. Asking for thingsisn’t really your forte, is it? You’re better atdemandingthings. Bossy to your core.”
“I’ve learned that if Iaskfor something, it’s easy for someone to tell meno. Now stop Christian Watsoning.”
When his brow furrowed into one of his delightfully sexy scowls, she resisted the urge to shoot a victorious fist in the air.
“Thought I told you to bugger off using my name as a verb.”
“Thought I told you to bugger off changing the subject,” she mimicked in his accent.
He glared at her. She glared back. Then his face softened, and his eyes drifted to her lips. The look in them said,I want to kiss you.
She snapped her fingers in front of his nose, forcing his gaze back to hers. She made sure her frown replied,Stay on topic!
He sighed, making it sound like hewas the most put-upon man in the world. Then he opened his mouth, and the story that spilled out shook the foundations of Emily’s emotional walls.
“Both my folks fancied getting pissed…er…drunk, as you would say,” he began, looking off into the middle distance as if it held all his memories. “Not every day, mind you. But on the weekends? Yeah. They blew off steam. Liked to have their matesover or go out on the town. And when they did, it was a proper piss-up, a major party. My dad was actually the worse of the two at the start. Some of my earliest memories are of my mum helping him stumble through the front door of our East End walk-up, then tossing him on the sofa and setting a dustbin beside him in case he needed to heave.”
Emily frowned. She could definitely relate to havingbeen raised by bad parents.
