Emmy And The Boss. Penny McCusker

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СКАЧАТЬ sorry,” Nick said to Emmy.

      “No need to apologize. This is normal.”

      “It’s normal for people who want you dead.”

      “They don’t want me dead. They’re just comfortable with the way things are. Once they understand that I’m here to make their jobs more secure, they’ll stop hating me.” She laid a hand on his arm. “Trust me, this is nothing compared to some of the things that have been done to me.”

      Even if she hadn’t been touching him voluntarily, her words would have stopped Nick. The idea of anybody doing anything mean to Emmy got his hackles up. It was a new experience for him. Except for wanting to pound Roger. “Like what?”

      “Lots of stuff has happened to my car. My tires were glued to the parking lot once, and when I worked at the forklift company it was—”

      “Up in the air.”

      “Forty feet. They made really big forklifts.” She smiled and shook her head. “It’s been filled with packing peanuts and shrink-wrapped.”

      Nick laughed. “Pretty inventive.”

      “So are these guys,” Emmy said. “They got pictures of me from somewhere.”

      “Camera phone probably.”

      “That explains all the wonderful poses. I particularly like the one where my mouth is open and one eye is shut. I look drunk.”

      “You look beautiful.”

      “That’s because the bull’s-eye hides most of my face.”

      “Nope, that’s not it. I can see your face just fine.” And he kind of liked the target. It summed up his intentions; he had her in the crosshairs and she wasn’t getting away. He might not be the most focused or driven guy in the world, but when he went after something he wanted, he generally got it. And he wanted Emmy Jones.

      

      WHEN Emmy’s doorbell rang that evening, she checked her watch. She already knew what time it was. She always knew what time it was. She checked her watch because she wasn’t expecting anyone, and no one ever called on her unexpectedly, not at seven fifty-eight in the evening. She looked out her peephole and saw Nick Porter. Mystery solved.

      Nick Porter didn’t know the meaning of appointments or calling ahead or work versus personal. Nick Porter didn’t know the meaning of the word no. She could leave him standing out there until he figured it out, or she could open the door and explain it to him. She opted for the second choice, because she didn’t want him loitering on her doorstep all night—she didn’t have any doubt he’d understand why she refused to let him in, but he’d be too stubborn to go away.

      “Go away,” she said as soon as she opened the door.

      He didn’t say anything. In fact, he stared at her for so long she became self-conscious, adjusting her hooded sweatshirt, feeling her sweatpants for holes in strategic places. And when she didn’t find any she got freaked out. “What’s wrong with you?”

      “It’s not me, it’s you.”

      She covered her mouth. “Something in my teeth?” Or her nose! She moved her fingers northward, talking through them. “Be specific.”

      “You’re not wearing a suit.”

      “Okay.” Weird. “But I’m completely clothed, and I’m not working—that is, I’m working at home.” If he thought she wasn’t busy he’d never leave. “I change my clothes when I get home from work, just like normal people.”

      “I miss your legs,” he said, easing her aside and stepping into her entryway. “I like looking at them.”

      And she liked that he liked them. Bad, very bad. “They’re still there, under the sweatpants. I was going to exercise. Yoga.”

      “That explains the great legs,” Nick said. “I’ll bet you’re really flexible, too.”

      “Not so much. I’m just a beginner. I used to do aerobics, but lately I’ve been kind of…restless. I thought maybe yoga would have a calming effect.” And why she felt a need to explain that to him she had no idea. Nervous rambling, that was it. He was looking at her in that intent way he had, and she was letting her mouth run because it was better to babble than throw herself into his arms, which was what she really wanted to do.

      “Go ahead, don’t mind me.”

      “What? Oh, yoga.” Right, Emmy thought, like she was going to do Downward-Facing Dog with him around. Getting sweaty didn’t hold any appeal, either, at least not getting sweaty alone. “I think you should leave.” She held the door open, but he stuffed his hands in his pockets and grinned. And she gave up. “How’d you get my home address?”

      “Your friend, Lindy. She called looking for you. She wanted to know if you were available tonight, but I told her you already had a date with me.”

      “We don’t have a date.”

      “Sure we do. I asked you this morning, and you didn’t say no.”

      “I’m saying it now.”

      “But you don’t mean it.”

      “Yes, I do.” At least she wanted to. And once he left she’d be relieved. “We have a working relationship, Nick. That’s all.”

      Nick studied her for a long, uncomfortable moment, his expression, for once, inscrutable. When he pulled the door open, she thought he’d finally gotten the message. But he didn’t walk out. Instead, he crowded her back behind the door, blocking her in with his body.

      She should have felt threatened. She was scared to death, but not of being hurt by him. At least not physically. “You really need to go home.”

      “I will.” Instead of backing off, though, he leaned forward.

      Emmy leaned away. “You can’t just show up at my house and—”

      “I’m spontaneous,” he whispered, his lips a breath away from hers. “It’s part of my appeal.”

      Of all the things that appealed to her about Nick Porter, spontaneity was pretty much last on the list. She liked things budgeted, itemized, organized and timed down to the last second. Nick Porter was an undisciplined, disorganized wild card. Nick Porter blew her schedules right out of the water, and threatened to drown her self-control. She had the insane urge to fist her hands in his shirt and drag him against her, lips and all.

      She planted both hands on his chest and locked her elbows instead. Her palms began to tingle, and the tingle spread all the way to the crown of her head and the ends of her toes, lingering at all the obvious places in between. And it didn’t stop at a tingle. There was heat, too. Emmy pushed him away before the heat and tingle could gang up on her self-control and make her do something that she’d regret.

      Nick stared at her for a second, looking as shell-shocked as she felt. “I’m going to kiss you, Emmy,” he said, adding, “not tonight,” when she stepped up the pressure against his chest. “I’m going to kiss you when you least СКАЧАТЬ