Chapter 4 Emma
Emma
The Bufford Hotel’s elegant ballroom was a dazzling marvel.
Chandeliers, each a cascade of sparkling crystals, hung from high ceilings, casting a warm glow over the massive room.
Tables draped in pristine white linen were laden with colorful floral arrangements, their vibrant hues matching the array of dresses on the women milling around mingling and chatting, their laughter blending with the soft strains of elegant music.
I stood just inside the doorway staring at the black-tie gala, feeling like a fish out of water. A waiter with a tray of champagne flutes filled to the brim stopped and offered me one.
Taking it so I’d have something to do with my hands other than wring them together, I nodded my thanks as I studied the room, electric with energy.
There were only two people here representing Henderson and Hall tonight, and I was one of them, along with co-CEO Rosalind Hall. Gee, no pressure at all. I’d been tasked with meeting and bonding with as many people as I could, told that every connection might be a future client.
And then there was my own agenda—get Rosalind to like me so much, she’d hire me on even after Ruth came back from her leave.
I’d gotten lucky enough to maneuver the seating arrangements so I’d be sitting next to her.
Okay, so luck had nothing to do with it.
When I’d first arrived and given my name to the woman checking us in, I’d feigned horror that I wasn’t seated next to my boss as requested, pretended that I was worried I’d be fired for failing at that simple assignment.
Charm wasn’t my specialty, but she let me switch my ticket. Now I could only hope I still had some charm left in me to come off as memorable, as someone Henderson and Hall couldn’t live without.
I walked the auction aisle and stopped when an item caught my attention.
It was the original blueprints of the Cliff House, a famous historical monument in Star Falls, signed by Alden Dorn, the architect whose work I’d studied in college and had admired for as long as I could remember.
Even though it was early in the evening, I was still surprised no one had placed a bid.
So I did, going with the minimum reserve—$100. The blueprints would never go for that cheap, not to mention I had no business spending money that was earmarked for living expenses, but I couldn’t remember the last time I’d done anything whimsical for myself.
As I straightened and turned to face the room, I caught sight of Rosalind.
She was a tall, fit, elegant woman in her early fifties wearing a long, glittery black dress that could probably be seen from space, along with enough bling to singe eyeballs.
She too was walking by the silent-auction items, taking it all in.
Everything here tonight was so far out of my budget as to be comical, but I moved closer and feigned interest in an item next to her.
She turned to me and cocked her head. “You look familiar. You washed my hair at the salon the other day, right?”
Well, if that didn’t deflate my already-flagging confidence. “No, actually…” This wasn’t at all humiliating. “I work for you. I’m Emma Sumner, level-one architect, filling in for Ruth, who’s—”
“On maternity leave.” Rosalind nodded, and if she was embarrassed by not knowing I worked for her, she didn’t let on.
Henderson and Hall was a massive firm of several hundred employees.
My first and only previous architectural firm had employed three people total, including me.
The other two had been much older, seasoned male architects, which meant I’d at first spent more time fetching coffee and answering phones.
But eventually they’d come to trust me, and I’d learned an incredible amount.
But the Henderson and Hall job was a dream come true—temp or otherwise.
“We love Ruth to the moon and back,” Rosaline said. “Can’t wait for her return.”
I tried not to wilt as I smiled. “I’ll do my best to fill her shoes while she’s on leave.”
“They’re big shoes.”
“I love a challenge.”
“Hmm.” Rosalind turned and read the auction item in front of us. “Oh! This is exactly what I’ve been looking for.” She pointed at me. “Elain, right?”
I felt my smile congeal. “Emma S—”
“Stay here. Guard my spot. If someone adds their name after mine, put a new bid down for me, going up ten K each time. There are two other items I’ve got my eye on. I’ll handle those myself.”
Wait. She didn’t mean to up the bid ten thousand dollars every single time, did she? “Are you sure—”
But she’d already walked off. I closed my gaping mouth and stared down at the auction item.
She’d bid five thousand dollars for a four-day stay at an exclusive five-star resort in Tahoe, an intimate trip for two, including their own sailboat at their beck and call, PGA golf courses, time in a world-class spa, and their own chef and butler.
A woman in a gold sheath, looking like a queen, stopped, hummed appreciatively at the getaway, and…bid eight thousand.
Shit. Shit, shit, shit.
I waited until she’d moved on to pick up the pen. My fingers shook when I put another bid down for Rosalind, upping the amount to eighteen thousand dollars—for a four-day getaway. That much money would change my life.
If I survived this auction.
Pulse racing, I shot daggers at anyone who came too close, when suddenly I felt eyes on me. Turning my head, I locked my gaze on an unbearably familiar and stupidly gorgeous man standing in the doorway of the ballroom.
I knew that build, I knew that face, and I nearly swallowed my tongue as Caleb strode in, wearing a tux that looked made for him.
Only, it wasn’t those broad shoulders or muscular arms that caught my attention.
It wasn’t even the dark-rimmed glasses adding a nerd factor that really revved my stupid engines.
Nope, it was the way he crossed the room like he owned it, his slight limp only adding to the mystique.
A confident, charismatic smile graced his mouth, his bright, expressive eyes revealing a hint of mischief and a warmth that seemed to draw people to him like flies to honey as they stopped him to talk.
Good thing I was immune to his charm.
To prove it to myself, I turned away and protectively eyed Rosalind’s auction item.
Crap, people were milling around. It was getting more crowded, which increased my anxiety by a factor of a trillion.
I wasn’t sure if I could stomach placing yet another ridiculous bid when someone came up behind me, an overgrown someone who leaned into me and murmured against my ear in a low, husky voice: “Whatcha bidding on?”
I stilled, closing my eyes for a single beat, telling myself that he didn’t smell delicious, that I couldn’t feel the heat of him through my ridiculously fancy—thrifted—dress that didn’t have nearly enough material to keep me warm.
He didn’t touch me, but I felt him everywhere, his presence overwhelming.
His scent surrounded me, something woodsy and dark, with a touch of citrus. Heaven. Hell.
“Nice,” he murmured, reading over my shoulder. “Sounds like quite a trip for you and a special plus-one—”
“Yes, so go away.” His jaw was so close to mine, a strand of my hair caught on the sexy stubble of his jaw.
I turned to face him. A huge mistake, because no one should ever look as effortlessly sexy as he did, and do not get me started on those eyes flashing a promise of trouble—the very best kind of trouble. “Far, far away.”
Those hazel orbs took a tour down my body, then made a slow return trip. “You look…”
I squirmed.
“Beautiful.” His breath seemed to catch, making his words all the more genuine. “Absolutely beautiful.”
His voice went through me, breaking down my hard-built defenses and leaving me momentarily unable to speak. Only momentarily. “Do you still say that to anyone with breasts and legs?”
He gave a small wince. “Granted, I did in college. But you had the power back then; you just never knew it.”
“What power?”
I stood between the table and Caleb’s big, sexy self, stunned like a deer in the headlights as he leaned in—smelling ridiculously amazing—his mouth at my ear when he whispered, “I had a crush on you the size of the moon.”
I felt myself still, then forced a laugh. “Yeah, right.”
“Why do you think I kept showing up at the cafeteria where you worked? It sure as hell wasn’t because the food was good.
Or how I always asked you to help me out on the assignments, pretending I hadn’t been paying attention, just to hear you rattle them off with such feistiness.
Damn, I loved the way your eyes slayed me whenever I tried to talk to you. ”
“Are they slaying you now?”
He grinned. “Yep, you still got it. Everyone used to just try and stay out of your way. You remember that one group project where you—”
“We had lots of group projects,” I said. “On each of which I did ninety-nine percent of the work, so you’ll have to be more specific.”
“Yeah.” He scrubbed a hand over his jaw. “I think we’ve established I was a dick back then. But you always managed to knock me down a peg.”
“If you’re talking about that time we were forced to partner up by our TA because he knew that you needed an A and that I could get it for you—”
“You didn’t show up,” he said. “I had to pull an all-nighter, and then at the next day’s game, I tanked, blundered, and lost us the game. Man, I took a public lashing that week.”
“You think that was my fault?” I asked incredulously.
“I think you know how to pick your battles, and you picked with lethal precision.”
That was…maybe true, I could admit to myself, not that I’d say it out loud. “You got the grade you needed to stay on top.”
“That I did.” He glanced at the auction item at my back, and a mischievous look appeared in his eyes that had me immediately wary. “What?”
“I think I should bid on this item.”