For Her Son's Sake

She stopped and pivoted on her heel to face him. “We’re not going to ever discuss that.”

“Into denial now?” he asked. “I shouldn’t really be surprised. That’s how you lost Infinity Games.”

She dropped her bag and aggressively moved back up the two stairs toward him but he simply held his ground, not at all intimidated by her anger. But she wasn’t daunted either.

“You’re right. I did deny we were in trouble but that was business. You are dabbling in my personal life at a time when everything is collapsing and I have no fallback point. I can’t turn to my job if I take a risk on an ill-advised passionate encounter with you. And there’s more than me at stake here. I have a son and I can’t be a complete mess.... So believe me when I say we are not talking about that and I’m going to do my damnedest to pretend it never happened.”

He tilted his head to the side and crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m not like that. I don’t forget anything.”

“Well this time you’re going to. Because we both know that you might give me a chance to win a role at our merged companies but privately you’d never give me anything but heartbreak. I’d have to be a complete masochist to believe anything else.”

She wasn’t playing around anymore. Earlier she’d realized she’d reached rock bottom, and the fact that she’d just had the most intense intimate experience in recent memory with this man made no sense to her.

“Fine. I don’t think an affair is a wise idea either. For the record I’m not some kind of monster, Emma. I don’t get off on hurting women.”

She realized that her words had cut him and that hadn’t been her intent. She shook her head. “I never thought that. I just know where you and I are concerned there is too much baggage. We’re the oldest children in our families. The ones who are determined to carry on our families’ complex legacy, and that makes us the worst two people in the world to ever get involved.”

“I agree,” he said.

“It was probably a fluke,” she said. “Just the tension of the moment. I know I wanted to get the better of you at something.”

He gave her a wry grin. “You haven’t had the best of me.”

“Haven’t I?” she asked. Then smacked herself in the forehead. “I’m not flirting with you.”

“I’d apologize but I’m not sorry. This doesn’t have to be any more complicated then we make it.”

“I agree since we’re not kissing or touching again. Right?”

He put his hands up. “You fell into my arms.”

“You kissed me,” she said, pointing her finger at him.

“I did, but you looked up at me with your lips parted...what was I supposed to do?”

* * *

Kell prided himself on always being in control, and the fact that Emma had shaken him made him want to investigate this further. He didn’t want to ignore it or let it go. He needed to explore why he was weak where she was concerned and then ensure it never happened again.

Seeing the way she was running from him made him reconsider. She had a point. He would never let himself love any woman especially not Emma. He knew that his heart was still too full of hate. He’d never really learned how to care for a woman. It didn’t matter that he really didn’t know her as a person, that her last name had formed his opinion of her long ago.

But his racing pulse and lingering hard-on were sending a different message. He didn’t want to let her go. That’s why he was standing in the stairwell debating something that he knew he should drop. It made no sense that just as he was finally reaching his life’s goal, he’d find time to pursue this. To pursue her. Her?

Was he really doing this?

“I don’t know. I have no idea what that was about. I haven’t been attracted to anyone since Helio.”

With those few words she made Kell feel something for her. She was young, widowed and he’d recently outmaneuvered her in the corporate world. He understood that a gentleman would back away. There was no sense in chasing her.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. I honestly thought I’d never feel anything for a man again.”

“Silver lining?” he asked, sardonically.

“In a way. I’m sorry I enticed you to kiss me,” she said. “I had been a little curious about you since we were interns together.”

He arched one eyebrow at her. He liked Emma when she forgot to be all buttoned up and cool. He had a feeling she wasn’t going to ever be this honest with him again because it left her vulnerable. But he definitely liked seeing her this way.

“Me too. But your grandfather was always watching us back then,” Kell said.

“Yes, he was. I wanted to make a good impression and you were always Johnny-on-the-spot with everything. You were a very hard act to follow.”

He felt a flush of pride at what she said. When he’d been an intern he’d still had a few dreams that the world wasn’t the bitter place his grandfather had always made it seem. Of course after his experience with Gregory Chandler his entire perspective had changed. It was odd to think of those days now. Kell had been a completely different man.

“What can I say? I like to be the best at everything.”

“You certainly are good at kissing,” she said, and then flushed and groaned. “I’m going home now. Don’t follow me.”

He nodded. She was cute when she was flustered. Why was he just now seeing this? Probably because he’d taken over her company, his lethal focus on revenge had shifted somewhat.

“I won’t. I’ll see you at the meeting in two days,” he said, pushing his hands into his pockets. He had another meeting of his own in twenty minutes; he needed to start thinking about that instead of how good she’d felt in his arms and the fact that he could still taste her on his lips.

“Thank you,” she said, turning to walk down the stairs. Seeing the sway of her hips and the way the black Chanel dress clung to them made his breath catch.

“Emma?”

She paused but didn’t turn, just glanced over her shoulder at him. “Yes?”

“I...I don’t know if I’ll be able to resist you if you fall into my arms again.”

There. He’d said it. He felt better for having warned her. “I’m not saying that I want anything to develop between us. But I’m attracted to you and given how much time we spend together I wanted to be honest. If that happens again I don’t know if I’ll be able to stop.”

She gave him a smile that was at once the sweetest expression and the saddest. He’d have to analyze it later because right now he knew he was missing something really important in it.

“Fair enough,” she said.

“But then we both know that life isn’t fair, don’t we?” he asked.

“Yes,” she said in the quietest of voices.

He realized that she’d been hurt more than he wanted to acknowledge. Part of it no doubt had come from him and his hostile takeover but more of it had come from the personal tragedies in her life. And where she was right now.

He wanted to apologize but he wasn’t truly sorry for anything. If that elevator door hadn’t opened, who knew how much further the embrace would have gone. He hadn’t wanted it to end when it had. He was still on fire for her. But earlier she’d pointed out that he was a man of his word in business and he knew he was going to have to be the same when it came to this area too. He wasn’t going to be able to just go after her like any other woman he was attracted to.

It wasn’t fair to her or to him. And despite what the world had taught him, he was beginning to want life to be fair for her. She deserved it.

“See you at the board meeting,” he said, turning and going back up the stairs to the executive floor. When he got there, he walked through the massive reception area. Everywhere around him were the fruits of his labor. The signs of the success that he’d made from the broken dreams of his grandfather.