Chapter 45
Emma was still enjoying the warm glow of getting paid when she reached the bottom of the stairs and noticed the man sitting in the living room.
He held a teacup loosely between long fingers, his posture relaxed but unmistakably composed. Then he looked up, and their eyes met.
Emma's brain stopped working for approximately two seconds.
Nathan Grant?
She replayed the conversation from downstairs.
Wait. That Nathan?
He was related to Lawrence?
A flicker of panic crossed her face, but it disappeared almost immediately. Running into two clients at the same time was high on Emma's list of things she'd rather never experience, but there was no way she could have predicted this.
Besides, she'd checked her contracts.
There was no clause saying she couldn't pretend to be someone else's girlfriend at the same time.
Nathan hadn't expected to see her either.
Tonight, in the white dress with her long hair falling loosely around her shoulders, Emma looked softer than usual, almost sweet enough to be mistaken for innocent. It was very different from the brighter, more striking version of her he was used to seeing.
Somehow, both suited her.
"You—"
Lawrence spoke before Nathan could finish.
"Nathan, this is Emma. My girlfriend."
Nathan paused, his thumb moving slowly against the side of his teacup.
"Your girlfriend?"
He'd been about to ask Emma what she was doing here.
Now he wasn't sure he needed to.
Lawrence was calling her his girlfriend. Nathan didn't know whether that meant she really was, whether there was another arrangement involved, or whether the truth sat somewhere in between.
He didn't ask. Not yet.
"Yes."
Lawrence reached for Emma's hand.
Her lashes fluttered.
What exactly was he doing?
He had literally just ended their contract upstairs, and now he was introducing her as his girlfriend.
Was the Isabelle assignment still going?
At this rate, Isabelle was going to lose her mind before Lawrence ever got around to taking her back.
Still, Emma had already been paid for tonight, so she let Lawrence hold her hand and gave Nathan a gentle smile.
Nathan's arrangement with her existed because of Helen anyway. Helen wasn't here tonight, which meant Emma had no role to play for him.
Nathan said nothing.
His gaze dropped briefly to their joined hands. Emma's fingers looked small in Lawrence's, and the two of them were close enough in age that, standing together, they looked natural.
Well matched, even.
His eyes lingered for a moment before he looked away.
Mrs. Vance frowned at her son.
"Why are you making such a production out of it? Do you really think Nathan cares whether you have a girlfriend?"
Nathan was her younger cousin, and Mrs. Vance had backed him long before his position in the Grant family was secure. There had been plenty of family complications in those years, especially on his father's side, but she'd never doubted which of the younger Grants had the ability to take charge.
Time had proved her right.
Nathan had risen to the top of the family, and the support she'd given him years ago had eventually benefited the Vances as well.
When Lawrence left the family business to build something of his own, Nathan had opened doors for him too, providing introductions and access to resources that would otherwise have taken years to secure.
Mrs. Vance knew her cousin well. Beneath the polished manners, Nathan was far more detached than most people realized.
Lawrence's love life should have been the last thing to interest him.
Nathan set down his teacup.
"Actually," he said mildly, "I'm interested."
Lawrence shot his mother a look. "See? Nathan cares."
Mrs. Vance gave her son a look that suggested she regretted raising him.
Across the room, Isabelle was having an entirely different experience.
This was her first time meeting Nathan Grant in person. Until tonight, she'd only heard about him.
For some reason, she'd pictured a man in his thirties who spent his life running companies as older, heavier, and far less attractive.
Instead, Nathan was strikingly handsome.
There was a calm maturity to him that made Lawrence seem almost boyish by comparison. Isabelle had wanted to introduce herself the moment he arrived, but the quiet authority around him had made her hesitate.
Then Mrs. Vance had mentioned that Nathan had a girlfriend.
For nearly a year.
Of course he did.
A man like that being single would have been more surprising.
Still, Isabelle couldn't help wondering what kind of woman someone like Nathan Grant would choose.
Lawrence pulled Emma down onto the sofa beside him.
"You really have a girlfriend?" he asked. "Since when?"
Lawrence couldn't remember ever hearing about Nathan having a serious relationship. As far as he knew, Nathan had always seemed married to his work.
Nathan didn't answer immediately.
His fingers moved slowly around the rim of his teacup while his attention returned to Lawrence and Emma.
Their hands were still linked.
Emma noticed.
She was very good at noticing things while she was working, and Nathan's gaze had returned to their hands often enough that she could practically feel it on the back of hers.
She quietly slipped her fingers from Lawrence's and reached for a napkin from the table instead.
That should help.
Nathan had paid for an annual arrangement, even if she only actually worked one day a week. Seeing his contracted girlfriend sitting there holding hands with another man probably wasn't the most pleasant experience.
Lawrence felt her hand disappear from his and turned toward her.
Emma was wiping at her arm with the napkin even though there was almost nothing there.
Almost.
A reddish scrape near her elbow had already formed a thick scab.
Lawrence frowned.
"What happened to your arm?"
Now that he'd ended the contract, asking about something like this felt different. He no longer had to pretend every bit of concern belonged to an arrangement that was about to disappear anyway.
Emma hadn't even opened her mouth when Nathan answered.
"She fell out of a tree."
Silence.
Emma looked at Nathan.
Lawrence looked at Nathan.
"Wait." Lawrence's brows pulled together. "Really?"
Emma wanted to disappear into the sofa.
She couldn't quite figure Nathan out.
She'd assumed he would have every reason to pretend they didn't know each other. Lawrence had introduced her as his girlfriend first, and Nathan was far too composed to create an awkward scene over something like this.
Besides, Emma's contract with Lawrence was already over.
She only had one week left with Nathan.
Soon this entire situation would be irrelevant.
This wasn't one of those ridiculous revenge romances where a woman got dumped and immediately went after her ex's older, richer relative.
Emma wasn't trying to get revenge on anybody.
These men were clients.
Very generous clients.
So why had Nathan answered for her?
That was practically inviting questions.
Men were impossible.
"Yes," Emma said gently.
Lawrence turned toward Nathan.
"How did you know?"
Mrs. Vance cut in before Nathan could answer.
"It's obviously a fall. Not everyone needs every little thing explained to them the way you do."
Lawrence frowned slightly, but his mother was already standing.
"It's getting late. Let's eat."
She'd asked Nathan about his girlfriend twice now, and he hadn't answered either time. Apparently, he didn't feel like discussing it.
That didn't surprise her. As far as Mrs. Vance was concerned, men like Nathan had bigger things to worry about than romance.
Which was exactly why Lawrence's endless relationship drama annoyed her so much.
Isabelle, however, had noticed something Mrs. Vance hadn't.
Nathan had been watching Emma.
Not constantly. Not obviously.
But enough.
As far as Isabelle knew, Emma was just a college student with no background that should have brought her anywhere near someone like Nathan Grant. There was no reason the two of them should even know each other.
So why was he paying so much attention to her?
A possibility occurred to Isabelle.
Nathan was interested in Emma.
And Emma looked like her.
Isabelle's mood lifted almost immediately.
If Nathan liked Emma's face, didn't that mean his taste already leaned in the right direction?
A girlfriend wasn't a wife. Relationships ended all the time.
Suddenly, losing Lawrence didn't seem quite as catastrophic as it had five minutes ago.
Nathan Grant was hardly a downgrade.