Chapter 11 #2
“And chimera-roasted coffee,” he added. “That would make a good business. Maybe we can be business partners.”
Emmeline brewed the coffee, and they hung out for it, enjoying one another’s company—until she showed her true face and broke his heart.
“It wasn’t your idea,” Luke said, snapping back to the present, to him and Emmeline in the bookshop. “It was ours.”
She furrowed her brows, though recognition flickered in her dark eyes. Coals of anger burned to life within him. He couldn’t believe it. She really didn’t remember.
“You may have gotten Inferno up and running two years before Tempest,” he said hotly, “but that’s only because I actually had to spend time finding investors. Daddy didn’t just hand me the money.”
Her lips parted. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t I?” he pressed. “What twenty-two-year-old gets together enough capital to start her own business?”
“I worked hard, just like anyone else,” she replied, but her voice had lost some of its edge.
“Poor little rich girl,” he sneered.
Her face twisted. “So what if my father helped me out?”
“So nothing. Just don’t accuse me of copying your idea when it was ours.”
They were both breathing heavily, on the edge of their seats as they faced each other.
“Fine!” she snapped. “You didn’t copy my idea. Happy?”
But he wasn’t, not at all. She had to think about that time; it couldn’t just be him.
“Stop trying to distract me,” she said, blowing a stray tendril of hair out of her eyes. It bounced up, then back in place, landing by her lips. His gaze dropped.
“I . . .” he started, but she was already looking away. He clenched his jaw.
He hadn’t been trying to distract her, but he was being distracted himself when he really shouldn’t have been. He needed to focus.
Two weeks of six were already done, and while he’d made progress on his proposal for the coffee shop, there was still a long way to go. Muttering an oath under his breath, he returned to his laptop.
Trying to regain his bearings, he looked at his notes, checking over the projected financials for his plans for the coffee shop addition. It took him about ten minutes to stop his thoughts from racing, but the calculations were a good way of getting his emotions under wraps.
After some time, he stood to search for the contractor on file for the bookshop. Now that he had an idea for what the project would cost, he needed to reach out to the contractor to get a quote, which he would most certainly try to negotiate.
When Luke went to the filing cabinet to search for the contractor’s file with the business’s history, he found something else.
It was a profit report from the last three years that had evidently been misfiled; both he and Emmeline had been looking for this.
The store manager Ola had said she would find it for them, but now he wouldn’t have to wait for that.
An idea sparked in his mind.
“I found the profit report,” Luke said, holding the file up.
Emmeline glanced up from her laptop, standing up from the chair she was sitting in. She came over to the filing cabinet to see, and after she’d had a glance to corroborate his claim, he quickly closed the file while she was still looking.
“Finders keepers,” he said smugly, and her mouth jutted open.
“Not fair! Let me see it.” She reached for it, and he shook his head.
“Nah.”
Narrowing her eyes, she made an irritated sound. “You’re being petty.”
“Don’t care,” he replied with an easy shrug. He truly didn’t. She had been quiet all week, and then she didn’t even remember the idea of animal-roasted coffee was theirs. Now, he wanted nothing more than to piss her off.
“Don’t be a child.” She folded her arms across her chest.
He gave her a pleased smile. “I think I’m going to keep this.”
Her eye twitched. “Fine,” she snapped, going back to her chair. “See if I care.”
Following behind her, he sat down in his seat. As Emmeline went back to typing on her laptop, he opened up the file.
Emmeline’s fingers slowed on her keyboard as she looked over, and he bit back a smile.
“Hmm,” he loudly mused, jotting something down in his notebook.
He pretended to be absorbed by the file, making exaggerated sounds of interest, as if he was discovering groundbreaking information. He could feel Emmeline’s intrigue, her darting glances increasing in frequency.
Thoroughly entertained, he made more notes, smiling to himself as he sensed Emmeline losing her patience.
Until finally she snapped.
“Give it to me!” she said, holding out her hand.
Luke stood, stepping away from her with the file. “Why should I do that?” he asked.
“You’ve had it for long enough.” Emmeline stood as well, glaring as she reached for the file.
He held it up, out of her grasp. She may have been tall, but he was still taller. She made an appalled sound, coming closer to reach for it again. He craned his arm back, and she reached over him, her chest brushing against his.
Amused, he wrapped his free arm around her waist, holding her in place against him.
Hissing, she stomped on his foot, and he grimaced, though he still held onto her, keeping the file out of reach.
“I was thinking of giving it to you,” he said as his foot throbbed. “But that wasn’t very nice.”
“I’m not a nice girl,” she told him, flashing her teeth. “Now give it to me before I do something worse.”
For some reason, her threatening him made his pulse race. This is what he had been expecting when he got her to agree to coming to the bookshop at the same time as him. It was the most excitement he’d had all week, and the hurt he’d felt earlier faded away, replaced with adrenaline.
Luke cocked his head to the side, considering her. His arm was still locked around her waist, her body pressed against his as she reached in vain. Heat spread through him.
“Alright,” he conceded. “I’ll give it to you—on one condition.”
She made an impatient sound. “What?”
He paused, thinking. “Forget it,” he said, pretending to change his mind. “You won’t accept it anyway.”
“What. Is it.” She gritted the words out. Her cheeks were pink. He shouldn’t have enjoyed bothering her so much, but he did. “You don’t know the lengths I’m willing to go.”
Her voice was a dare, and so, he dared her back.
“A kiss,” he said.
Her lips parted, eyes widening. She stopped moving. His hold on her waist loosened. She could have stepped away then if she wanted, but she was standing entirely still.
“Come on,” he said, voice lowering. “It’s not anything we haven’t done before.”
He wanted to remind her of their past, to torture her with it the way he was tortured. She may have pretended she didn’t think of that time, but her sharp intake of breath at his words made him think that maybe she did.
It couldn’t have meant so little to her—not when it meant so much to him. Perhaps she truly did need a reminder.
He knew she would never agree, but he could tease her. His gaze dropped to her lips, and her cheeks flushed. She bit her lower lip, flustered.
She did think about it.
It was enough for him to know that it wasn’t all in his head. The past and the present. She felt it, too, she was just better at hiding it, at resisting. It was probably the clever thing to do, truly, but when could he ever be trusted to be clever around beautiful women?
Especially not Emmeline Sterling.
It was why he was about to hand over the file without his condition being met when she surprised him by meeting his gaze dead-on, a determined glint in her eyes.
“Alright,” she said.
He froze, blood roaring through his ears.
“What?” he asked stupidly. Luke hadn’t considered that she’d actually agree. His pulse quickened just at the thought, and then she inched closer.
“What?” she repeated, voice sultry. “Nervous?” She batted her lashes, and any feeling of superiority he felt vanished.
He was no longer in control of the situation, not at all.
Trying to stay cool, Luke swallowed the lump in his throat, but it was hard to deny the effect she was having on his body.
“Like you said,” she continued, putting a hand on his chest. “It isn’t anything we haven’t done before.” His heart pounded as she drew nearer. She leaned forward, voice dropping to a whisper. “Do you remember?”
He started short-circuiting, the situation entirely out of hand as her fingers played with his necklaces, long nails scratching the skin of his chest. The sweet scent of jasmine invaded his senses, making him dizzy.
Emmeline looked up at him, and he wanted to drown in her kajal-lined eyes. Her gaze dropped to his mouth, her lips parting. He still couldn’t believe this was happening, but who was he to complain? Anticipation fizzled through him. He drew closer to her.
Just as her lips skimmed his, he felt cold air across him.
Confused, Luke blinked and realized two things at once: Emmeline was smiling triumphantly a foot away from him, and the file was gone from his hands. Instead, it was in her grasp.
She had distracted him to get it.
“You didn’t actually think I’d give you the satisfaction, did you?” she asked, gloating. He wanted to steal a kiss—surely that would put an end to her gloating—but he couldn’t take such a liberty without knowing she wanted that, too.
She had played him, but he wasn’t angry. His heart was still beating much too fast, and he knew she was affected, too. He could see a blush high on her cheeks, noticed the way her hands were slightly trembling despite her confident tone.
They were micro-changes, but with her, he was always paying attention.
Luke walked past her, stopping just behind her. Emmeline paused, turning her cheek toward him. He brushed aside her hair, baring her ear.
“Trust me,” he said, voice low. “The satisfaction is all mine.”
She touched a hand to her cheek, all her gloating gone.