Sarah Morgan - Snowbound Seduction

Used to her sister’s outbursts, Emma took a deep breath and tried again to work out if there was any way she could have Jamie living with her in London. The economics just didn’t work. Her job paid well but it was demanding and required her to spend long hours at the office. And on top of that she wouldn’t have wanted Jamie living in her area.

‘We’ll talk about this when I’m home. And I’ll get Claire to take him so that you can go to your party tonight. And please, Angie, just go and give him a hug.’

‘He’s going through a horrible phase at the moment. I don’t feel like hugging him.’

Emma bit back a response that she knew wouldn’t be helpful in the long run. Angie loved Jamie, she knew she did, but her sister bitterly resented the impact that taking care of their brother had had on their lives. Swiftly she changed the subject. ‘Have you picked out a dress for your party tonight?’

‘I’m wearing the red one from last Christmas.’ Angela sounded marginally less angry and Emma relaxed slightly.

‘The one with the lace? You look lovely in that. I hope you meet someone gorgeous.’

‘And even if I did, we both know he’d run a mile once he discovered that I come with a permanently attached nine-year-old brother,’ Angela snapped. ‘And talking of which, I have to go and make him breakfast. And on that subject, thanks for starting a routine of making pancakes on Saturdays because now I’m going to be glued to the stove for hours.’

‘It doesn’t take hours, and it’s fun. We make them together. Jamie makes the mixture, I cook them.’

‘He makes a mess when he cooks. It doubles the work. And talking of work, I’d better go and break the news that the good sister isn’t coming home.’

‘I’m not the good sister.’ Emma thought that if Angela had seen what she’d been up to on the rug the night before, she definitely wouldn’t have used that term. ‘You’re good too. It’s just that you’re tired and disappointed that I won’t be able to take up the reins for a few days and that’s understandable.’

‘Stop being so bloody reasonable.’

Emma bit her lip. ‘I’ll be back on Tuesday. Have fun at the party tonight.’

There was a long pause and then Angela sighed. ‘I’m sorry,’ she mumbled. ‘I’m a horrible bitch.’

Yes, Emma thought, you sometimes are. ‘It’s the end of term and you’re just tired. And I promise that once I’m home you can just put your feet up and have some time to yourself.’

‘So what are you wearing to this fancy party?’

‘I’ve no idea. I suppose I’ll have to buy something.’

‘Just tell me you’re not having dreams of being Cinderella.’

Emma looked around the turret bedroom, with its four-poster bed and velvet drapes. Then she looked at the rug in front of the log fire where, for a few special hours, she’d felt like the most irresistible, desirable woman on the planet. No one’s sister, no one’s PA and no one’s stand-in mother. A woman. She closed her eyes and pushed the thought away. ‘Can I speak to Jamie?’

‘He’s in the shower. He’s going to Sam’s to play this morning. I guessed it would take you a while to get home and I didn’t want him standing by the window watching for you all morning and nagging me. From the sound of it it’s just as well I made that decision.’

Emma felt a stab of guilt but at the same time she was relieved Jamie wasn’t there to hear Angela’s tirade. ‘Tell him I love him and I’ll call him again later.’

‘If you’re not too distracted by partying. Do I need to remind you that office romances never cause anything but trouble?’

‘No, you don’t need to remind me of that.’

‘If you lose your job—’

‘I won’t lose my job.’ Emma ended the call, depressed by the encounter. She knew what was behind it. She understood why Angela behaved the way she did and she didn’t blame her for that, given everything that had happened in their family, but it was still hard to deal with.

She couldn’t think of anything worse than losing the job she had with Lucas but nor could she imagine anything more uncomfortable than spending the next few days in his company after what had happened.

What she really needed was space to sort her head out.

She needed to persuade him to let her go. How was she going to do that? What was the one thing that would make Lucas Jackson send a woman as far away from him as possible? The answer came to her almost immediately and Emma gave a tiny smile. Yes, she thought. That.

CHAPTER SIX

EMMA went in search of Lucas, trying to shake off the guilt that shadowed almost every conversation with her sister. She found him downstairs in a kitchen that looked like something that would have featured in a magazine shoot for a perfect country home. In fact the whole place would make the most incredible family home, she thought, as she looked around her. It should have been filled with happy children and noisy dogs.

Had he originally bought it for that purpose?

Her mind buzzed with questions but they were all too personal and she was trying to make their relationship less personal, so she didn’t voice them. And anyway, she knew he wouldn’t have answered them. That one devastating revelation of the night before had been dragged from him purely because she’d held precious evidence in her hand.

As she walked into the room he glanced towards her and she saw in an instant that everything about his body language was guarded.

Exploiting that, she leaned against the doorframe and gave him a soppy look. ‘While I was upstairs I was thinking a lot about last night.’ Watching, she saw the tension ripple through him like a current ready to repel intruders.

‘What about last night?’

‘I know you don’t want to hear this but—I think I love you, Lucas.’ She blurted the words out, wondering if she’d injected just a little too much Scarlet O’Hara into her tone. ‘Completely, totally, with my whole heart. For ever. I was saving myself for my perfect man and now I realise that man is you.’ Intercepting his appalled glance she almost laughed. ‘I know you don’t want to hear it. It’s awful that I feel this way and the truth is that I feel more strongly about you with every minute that passes. I don’t know what to do! The longer I stay here, the more in love with you I am. Goodness knows what I’ll be like by Tuesday. I suspect I won’t be able to get through an hour without hugging and kissing you at every opportunity. I may even have to burst into a really important meeting just to get my Lucas fix. I’m so glad you’re taking me with you.’

His eyes narrowed to two dangerous slits and then the tension left him. ‘Nice try, but I still want you with me in Zubran.’

‘But I love you. Madly. Passionately.’

‘It doesn’t matter how much you “love me”,’ he drawled. ‘I won’t be sending you home until the job is done.’

Emma slumped onto the nearest chair. ‘You know you’re unreasonable, don’t you?’

‘Demanding, yes. Unreasonable, no.’

Demanding.

He’d been demanding when he’d virtually dropped her onto the rug and stripped her naked.

He’d been demanding when he’d helped himself to her body.

She shivered and tried desperately hard not to think about that. ‘Do you realise that when a woman says “I love you” you go white and then look as if you’re about to go for dental surgery? Apart from hearing that the Dow-Jones has plunged a million points, I’m guessing that the worst words you can hear are “I love you” so I’m going to be saying it every five minutes until I drive you so mad you’ll leave me at home.’

‘You have a warped sense of humour.’ The sleeves of his sweater were pushed back and her gaze lingered on those strong arms, remembering the way he’d held her as the passion had ripped through both of them.