She was his competition. He needed to beat her. The investment was an opportunity he couldn’t afford to lose; if he didn’t get it, he knew what the projections looked like.
Tempest would have to permanently close.
All those years, all that energy, and all the money he had given to his business would go to waste, and he couldn’t let that happen. Besides, it wasn’t only about him—he needed a profitable business to pay for his mother’s medical bills.
Luke walked past Emmeline. As he did, she turned her nose up at him, irritated, though the vexed expression did nothing to take away from her beauty. She slung her coat over one arm, sticking her ridiculous hat (that only she could pull off) into one of the pockets before shaking her long hair out.
For a moment, Luke was mesmerized.
“What?” Emmeline snapped, catching him looking.
Embarrassment shot through him, but he gave her an easy smile. “You have fur in your hair.”
“No I don’t.” Still, she touched a hand to the crown of her head.
Luke snorted, and she rolled her eyes at him before stalking off, disappearing from sight. Once she was gone, he felt like he could think again. He went over to the small table against the wall in the back of the shop, where there was a cart with complimentary tea and coffee.
Turning on the kettle, he made himself a cup of tea. When he took the first sip, he wrinkled his nose. This stuff really was terrible. But it was hot, and gave him something to hold, so he continued sipping from the disposable cup.
Nursing his tea, he walked around the shop, trying to see where the best position for the coffee shop on this floor was. Once he had a location locked down, he could work through the logistics.
As he analyzed, he caught a glimpse of Emmeline walking toward a bookshelf. Luke turned his attention to his notebook but lasted a second before he glanced up again, eyes searching for her. She had disappeared between the stacks, and he took a step back, craning his neck to catch a glimpse.
She was scanning the shelves, a painted fingernail tapping against one of the spines.
The image reminded him of that evening years ago, when they had first met in this very store.
Despite the busy bookshop, Luke had noticed her immediately. It was hard not to, and he wasn’t the only one; more than one head turned when she entered a room. A fact she seemed used to. Unperturbed, she had headed for the bookshelves, and he had watched as she searched for a title.
She had tilted her head to better read the spines, and her dark hair was pushed back, revealing the slant of her throat. His gaze had traveled down the slope to her collar; he’d stopped his eyes from wandering before they went lower, desire spreading through him.
Enraptured, he had watched as she strode over to the lounge chair Minh was sitting on, holding a book in one hand and a mug of tea in another.
“Minh, do you haveLetters to Milena?” she had asked. “I can’t find it.”
His heart had kicked as he looked down at the book in his hands.Fate. He had picked up the last copy.
He’d walked up to her, offering her the book and his heart on a silver platter. She’d taken care of the book, he was sure, but she hadn’t handled his heart with the same delicacy.
A fact he reminded himself of often. Behind that beautiful exterior was a heartless woman. She had used and discarded him.
He should have hated her.
Unfortunately, he didn’t. She had gotten under his skin all those years ago and never left. All he wanted was to do the same, to drive her as insane as she drove him.
She walked past him to the back, pausing to pet a blue-scaled baby dragon who was trying to (incorrectly) reshelve a book.
Unable to stop himself, he tossed his empty teacup and headed in the same direction. Pretending to look around, he stole glances her way, indulging himself even as he knew he shouldn’t.
It was impossible not to look at her, like being out in the cold on a winter night for a bonfire: everyone circled around the warmth, watching the flames. No matter how far into the darkness you went, your gaze was still directed to the light.
Emmeline glanced back, and he immediately turned his attention to a random book in front of him, pretending to have been looking at it the whole time. When she turned around again, he shifted his focus back to her, wondering what ideas she was thinking of for the bookshop.
She was brilliant and clever—a fact he needed tonotadmire at the moment when those very qualities would lead to his downfall.
Emmeline whipped around, catching him looking. “Are you following me?” she snapped.
He absolutely was, but he looked at her like she was absurd. “Not at all,” he said. He pointed to the table behind her. “Just getting more tea.”
