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Her insides twisted into an uncomfortable knot. To her dismay, she realized that she’d expected his eyes to light up with pride at her accomplishments. She wanted him to appreciate her craft and to understand how important this show was to her, not just because she needed to restore the money to her account, but also because it would prove that she could take care of herself by doing something she was great at.
What an idiot she was. Bad enough that he whipped her into a sexual frenzy with his lazy smiles. She’d really be setting herself up for heartache if his opinion of her started to matter.
Nathan tapped a roll of blueprints out of the tube he was holding and spread them across her worktable, using pliers, the box that held her loose stones, and the necklace she’d shown him to weigh down the corners.
“I brought you some sketches for the remodel on your loft.”
She shook her head. Exhaustion dragged at her shoulders. “I don’t have the money or the time to think about remodeling my loft right now.”
“Let me do it.”
“No.” Emma bristled. He wanted to fix up her place to sell it. “Why won’t you listen to me?”
Instead of reacting negatively to her sharp tone, Nathan left the sketches and circled her worktable. He’d come within reach before she caught the intent in his eye. Back against the wall, surrounded by equipment, she had no place to flee. She held up her tweezers.
Ignoring her defensive stance, he spun her around on her stool. His hands settled on her shoulders, thumbs rolling deep pressure into her muscles. Rather than feeling sexual, his touch pleasured her on a whole different level. She groaned her appreciation and let her head drop forward.
“You should take some time off,” he told her, massaging his strong fingers down either side of her spine. “You’re working too hard.”
“I have to get ready for the show.”
“You’ll concentrate better if you’re not so tired.”
Did he know she wasn’t sleeping? Crashing on Addison’s couch wasn’t ideal. Between staying up late to sketch new designs and her best friend’s early-rising brood, she was lucky to snag four hours of shut-eye. The first few nights it hadn’t been bad, but now, in the second week, she was feeling the effects of weariness. She’d messed up an important piece yesterday afternoon for that very reason, but she couldn’t stop, much less slow down.
“I’ll sleep when the show’s over,” she said, pulling away from his invigorating massage before he convinced her to take a break. His hands on her back made her long for him to apply that healing touch to other parts of her body, parts that were achy for reasons having nothing to do with jewelry-making. She fussed with the gems on her worktable. “Until then, I intend to work until I drop.”
“Take five minutes and look at what my architect came up with.”
Exhausted and awash with conflicting desires, she gave him a taste of her frustration. “What part of ‘I’m not going to sell my condo’ aren’t you getting?” she muttered crossly. “Did it ever occur to you that I don’t like being told what to do? You bullied me into moving out of my loft and now you tell me that you’re going to remodel it so I can sell it because we’re getting married. You’ve never once thought about what’s best for me.” Emma’s chest heaved as she drew breath for her next onslaught of temper. “Go away, Nathan, and take your plans with you.”
She indicated the ones he’d spread over the table, but really meant all his plans—the ones for her loft, the ones for her future and, most important, the ones for her heart. She moved the weights that held the floor plans flat and they curled up on themselves.
Emma returned to sorting sapphires, her hands shaking hard enough that she could barely pick up the pink gem she intended to place into the gold setting. Although Nathan was a difficult man to ignore, she put her heart and soul into it. He stood beside her for a long moment, impatience rolling off him, before he dropped a perfunctory kiss on the top of her head and walked out of the room.
An insistent ringing disturbed Nathan’s grim thoughts. The meeting with Lucas Smythe had gone worse than he’d expected. The guy was definitely considering selling his company and offering Case Consolidated Holdings first crack at it. Sebastian and Max were full of smug delight and Nathan was fighting hard to stop them from shutting down his venture with Montgomery Oil. With three weeks to go until Valentine’s Day, the only thing keeping his deal with Silas alive was the fact that Smythe was not one hundred percent ready to let go of the business his family had owned for the last hundred years.
