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He tugged his bow tie loose and left it dangling, drawing her attention to his impressive chest. Heat poured off his long torso, seeping into her skin and setting fire to her better judgment. Her fingers tingled as she traced the muscles beneath his white shirt. He radiated power and vitality. The sensation of all that caged energy weakened her knees.
“What is it?”
His mouth brushed against hers, lingering just long enough to blend their breath. She tried to catch his lips, to compel him to kiss her hard and deep, but he pulled away.
“I’m going to spend the rest of my life making love to you.”
Her heart fluttered against her ribs like a startled canary.
“That’s a pretty big commitment,” she said, unsure what to make of his declaration.
“On the contrary.” His breath tickled her ear, redirecting her focus. She turned her head toward the lips hovering beside her cheekbone, but he pushed back, taking away temptation. “I can’t wait to make you Mrs. Nathan Case.”
Two
At his words, her heart hit her toes. Mrs. Nathan Case?
“What?” She wheezed, unable to breathe. “Have you lost your mind?”
Her hands left his chest and settled on her temples, where a jackhammer had started drilling into her brain.
“Hardly.”
“This isn’t because of the other night, is it? Because I assure you, one night of sex does not require a noble gesture on your part.” She leaned forward and stage-whispered, “I wasn’t a virgin.”
A low chuckle rumbled out of his chest. “You sure didn’t behave like one.”
She let his comment pass unanswered while scrambling to make sense of what he’d just proposed. Unfortunately, she found it almost impossible to think rationally while the scorned sixteen-year-old inside her whooped with triumph. She smothered young Emma’s enthusiasm and concentrated on reality.
Marry Nathan? Impossible. His ability to make any woman feel special did not make him marriage material.
“My father put you up to this, didn’t he?”
“It’s what we talked about this afternoon.” Nathan’s eyes narrowed. “He thinks it’s past time you married.”
“To someone I choose.”
White teeth flashing in a cocky grin. “Got anyone in mind?”
Understanding dawned. She gasped in horror. “You thought I chose you?” An unsteady laugh escaped her. Oh, the humiliation. “I don’t want to marry you,” she said, keeping her tone slow and deliberate so he wouldn’t misinterpret her meaning. “I don’t want to marry anyone. Not right now.”
Not without love.
“Your father seems pretty determined.”
“You have no idea,” she muttered. “But it’s not happening.”
Looking past Nathan’s imposing shoulders, Emma eyed her father’s enormous study and wished they were using more of it for this discussion. Speaking sensibly about all the reasons why they shouldn’t get married would be easier without Nathan’s gorgeous, muscular body trapping her against the door.
In an instant, she plummeted back in time to three weeks ago, when she stood pinned against a different door, her heart thudding madly, her senses alive while he thrust into her. With absolute authority, he had stripped her defenses, made her crazy with wanting and done things to her body that left her in a panting, spent puddle, craving more.
Emma pushed away the memory, locked her knees when they threatened to buckle and marshaled her resentment.
“Why would you agree to something like this?” she demanded.
“Case Consolidated Holdings wants to do business with Montgomery Oil.”
“Daddy made our marriage a condition of the deal.”
A business deal. She might have guessed. A howl rose in her chest. She clenched her teeth together to contain it. How could her father do this to her again? Hadn’t he learned anything from the last time he tried meddling in her love life?
The summer she graduated from college she’d been engaged to an up-and-coming executive at Montgomery Oil. Imagine her surprise when she discovered that the reason for Jackson Orr’s rapid advancement had to do with the deal he had struck with her father when he’d first started dating Emma. Jackson would move up the food chain in exchange for marrying her. When she’d found out, she’d broken her engagement and determined never to repeat her mistake.
“It must be one hell of a business deal,” she grumbled, reaching over to flip on the lights.
Floor lamps chased away shadow. She blinked as her eyes adjusted to the brightness.
“The biggest one I’ve ever done.”
“Then I guess marrying me is a small price to pay.” The bitter taste of the words gave her tone a sharp bite. “What’s wrong?”
