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Who would want to date a man they were about to report to Game Town for keeping sketchy books?
Five
Jonah was forced back to his office for a teleconference after the closet incident, but he wasn’t about to let that whole thing go. Either she knew about the missing money or she didn’t. She liked him or she hated him. But he was going to find out the truth either way.
The next morning, he found her sitting in her temporary office. Jonah watched her silently for a few minutes as she sat hovering over her paperwork, studying it with unmatched intensity. Her nose wrinkled just slightly, a line of concentration settling in between her brows as she scrutinized every number.
Even at her desk and fully immersed in her work, her posture was not slouched over. She sat quite upright, her shoulders back, her breasts pressing insistently against her pink, silk blouse. Her brunette hair was pulled back again, a stray piece framing the curve of her face.
Without looking up, she tucked the strand behind her ear and started to make notes in a spiral notebook. She had some of the neatest penmanship he’d ever seen. Programmers were not known for their handwriting. He typed nearly everything aside from signing his name to contracts and checks. Her handwriting was precise and delicate with full, curling loops and sweeping letters. It suited her, he thought. Rigid and controlled at first glance, but inherently feminine and open if you took the time to study and understand her better.
Audit or no, Jonah was genuinely interested in Emma and it surprised him. She got under his skin and irritated him, but at the same time, she was a fascinating puzzle to try and solve. Yesterday’s encounter just made it that much more intriguing. Figuring her out and breaking down her defenses would be an achievement on par with the first time he’d beaten Legend of Zelda as a kid.
“What’s the matter, Mr. Flynn? Run out of women to abduct so you thought you’d stop by my office and try again?”
The sound of Emma’s voice pulled him from his thoughts. She was watching him, but he didn’t see the tension in her shoulders that was there before. There was even a touch of amusement in her voice, which surprised him. Giving her some space had been the right thing to do.
“I’m sorry about yesterday. I hadn’t intended—”
“That’s fine,” she interrupted. “It’s not a problem. Let’s just pretend it never happened.”
Jonah didn’t expect this. He expected her to be wound tight and ready for a fight, or at least, a harassment suit. Instead, she was insistent on keeping things professional and putting it behind them. Perhaps she hadn’t found Noah’s indiscretion after all. “Can we talk about it?”
“I’d rather not.”
A blush lit her cheeks and Emma let her gaze drop back to her paperwork. She actually looked embarrassed. Jonah had no idea what that was about. It had been virtually impossible to make most of the women he’d dated blush, much less embarrass them with talk of romantic embraces. He wanted to see her porcelain complexion flush pink again, this time after they kissed. Kissing in the dark had robbed him of that tantalizing visual.
“Let me make it up to you.”
At that, she rolled her eyes and pushed away from her desk. The sweet blush was gone. “Please...”
“...go to dinner with you? Very well, I accept. How about o ya for sushi? I haven’t gotten to try there yet.”
Emma stopped in her tracks, seemingly startled by his turn of the conversation. “What? No.”
“No sushi? You’re right. That’s not everyone’s cup of tea. How about a steak house?”
“No. I mean, no, I don’t want to go to dinner.” Her face blushed a deeper red this time; she was clearly flustered with irritation. She brushed past him into the hallway. He took a moment to admire the tight fit of her black pants as she sauntered away, then jogged a few steps to catch up to her.
“Why not?” he asked, pulling alongside.
“It would be inappropriate,” she said over her shoulder.
“Says who? I’m not your boss. I don’t see anything wrong with taking you to dinner as a friendly welcome to my company. I take clients out to eat all the time.”
“You haven’t built a reputation like yours on simply being friendly to women.”
Her sharp words jabbed at Jonah. It sounded like her concerns were less about it appearing inappropriate to others and more about her less-than-flattering opinion of his love life. “Ah, so you don’t want to be seen in public with a man whore like me, right? Would it damage your sparkling reputation, Emma?”
Emma picked up her pace, quickly turning a corner and heading down an empty hallway, probably to the copier again. “Honestly, yes. I’ve worked very hard to get where I am. I’m not interested in men like you or the kind of ‘friendliness’ you offer.”
They stopped outside the elevator and she pushed the down button, refusing to look him in the eye. It made him wonder why. Those words didn’t jibe with the woman who had kissed him in the dark supply closet. “I don’t know...” he teased, letting a sly smile curve his lips. “You might like sullying your reputation a bit with me. It didn’t seem to bother you so much yesterday.”
Her head snapped around to look at him with a frown pulling down the corners of her pink lips. “Or I might end up in one of those gossip rags and have everyone talking about me.”
Jonah hated those publications. Why anyone was interested in his life, he didn’t know. “Who cares what other people think about what you and I do?”
The doors opened and Emma rushed inside with Jonah in her wake. “I care. You might be a millionaire playboy, but I’m a professional. Something like that could cost me my job.”
