For Her Son's Sake (2 page)

“It’d be the perfect revenge,” she said. “Listen, I don’t want to deny that you are entitled to your position. I will work hard, but only if you are going to give me a fair chance at actually keeping my job.”

“It’s going to be extremely difficult to change my mind about firing you, but not impossible.”

She tipped her head to the side and walked forward, putting both of her palms on his chest and leaned toward him. “That sounds like a challenge, Kell Montrose, and I am more than willing to accept it.

“We can both agree that you’ve made no promises and that I will have to work twice as hard to get your acceptance, but when I do, and I can guarantee that I will, you will have to keep me on not because I’m a Chandler but because you are a man of your word and we made a bargain.”

Dammit it to hell and back. She was right. He was a man of his word, and now he’d have to stand behind the commitment he’d just made.

“Are you sure about this?” he asked. “There’d be no shame in walking away from Playtone-Infinity Games. I’m prepared to offer you a very generous severance package that will make you a rich woman. You’d never have to work another day in your life after this.”

Her gaze met his and he saw the steely determination in her eyes. “I can’t. I have a son, and Playtone-Infinity is his heritage too. What kind of example would I be setting if I just walked away.”

Kell had to admit, he respected her for that. She was his enemy—that hadn’t changed—but there was something about her attitude that made him want her to stay.

And to be perfectly honest it would be the coup de grace in his war against her grandfather, Gregory Chandler. True the old man was dead, but Kell couldn’t help but think of how much it would piss him off to see his granddaughter bargaining with a Montrose to keep not only her job but also her pride.

The elevator jolted back into motion, tossing Emma off balance. She let her leather bag slip to the floor as she threw out her arm to try to catch herself. Kell grabbed her and steadied her.

A spark arced between them. He wanted to deny it, but there it was in spades. There was no more than a few inches of space between them. Her scent was sweet and flowery, not at all like what he’d expected.

She’s the enemy,
he thought, but it was too late. He wanted to kiss her. Had wanted to since the moment he’d started staring at her lips.

Playing fast and loose with her emotions and her future didn’t seem like a very sound business idea, but it was just one kiss. Surely, he could have that. It was a prize he’d earned by defeating the Chandlers.

He lowered his head slowly toward hers, waiting to see what she’d do. She didn’t pull back; instead, she tilted her head a little bit to the side and leaned forward in anticipation. He brushed his lips slowly over hers. They were soft. Softer than he expected. He kept the embrace gentle as he searched for some answers to the attraction he felt toward his sworn enemy.

Two

K
ell didn’t taste like the enemy. In fact, his kiss was exactly right, subtle and understated. He didn’t take, but instead made her feel treasured as his mouth moved over hers and his hands held her steady.

She had the feeling he was as surprised by the embrace as she was, and she stopped thinking as he opened his mouth and his hot breath entered her, followed by his tongue.

She clung to his shoulders as their kiss deepened. Assertive now, he pushed her back against the wall of the elevator. His body crowded hers and she felt trapped by his presence and her own desire. His hand came up to the side of her face, the long fingers and big palm holding her as his mouth plundered hers. She shifted around in his arms. Slid her hands into his thick hair. It was just as a soft as she’d expected it to be. Ridiculously sensuous against her touch.

He caressed his way down the sides of her torso, fingers finally coming to rest and tightening on her waist, and then he lifted his head.

She opened her eyes and for the first time saw confusion and a hint of real emotion in that pewter gray gaze of his. She grabbed his tie and pulled him back, leaning up on tiptoe and taking the kiss she wanted. One that had been overdue for a long time.

He groaned as his hand tightened on her waist and he slipped his touch lower down her hips and leaned more fully into her. She felt his erection and wanted more but then the elevator pinged and the door opened. Reluctantly, she let go of his tie.

She retrieved her bag from the floor and stepped out into the carpeted hallway before realizing they weren’t in the lobby. Damn. She couldn’t get back into the elevator with him. Not now. She felt wild and out of control. And as she glanced over her shoulder she noticed he’d followed her out of the elevator.

She groaned.

“Making a list of things to be thankful for?” he asked.

She shook her head. Words were beyond her right now. “Where are the stairs?”

She couldn’t pretend that embrace had been nothing more than curiosity. If she could...if she could, it would be perfect. But it was more than that. More than momentary lust that they’d now gotten out of their systems.

What she needed was to go back home, get back in bed and pretend this day had never happened.

“This way,” he said, leading her down the hallway to one of the emergency staircases. He held open the door for her.

“You don’t have to follow me down,” she said.

“Hell, yes, I do. We have something to discuss,” he said.

“We’re having a meeting in less than forty-eight hours. We can talk then,” she said.

“Really? You want to talk about how one kiss made me hotter than a horny teenager in front of our family and the board?”

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.

Usually this walk made him proud but today it felt a little hollow. When he entered the executive corridor and saw his cousins standing around talking and smiling, he felt left out again. And realized revenge hadn’t brought him what he’d thought it would.

* * *

Emma drove back to Infinity Games’ old headquarters, which now served as the satellite location for the merged company. Even in the middle of the day, the drive from downtown Los Angeles to Malibu wasn’t great. The traffic in this part of the world was ridiculous. By the time she got back, she was ready to call it quits but when she headed up to her office, she found her sisters waiting for her.

Clearly they were here on a mission. She suspected they wanted to help her, and that was touching but also annoying. She was the eldest. The one they turned to for advice and support. She didn’t like seeing them both sitting there looking at her as if she was the fragile one.

“How did we beat you back here?” Cari asked. “You left twenty minutes before we did.”

“Kell and I got stuck in the elevator together. At least I had a chance to talk to him about a new idea,” she said. Then he’d kissed her and made her forget her name.

“Good,” Jessi said. “He can be a dic—dictator but I think he’s fair.”

Fair
. If she heard that word again today she was going to pick up the crystal paperweight her grandfather had given her on her twenty-fifth birthday and heave it at the wall.

“Nice,” Cari said. “You usually call him other things.”

“Yeah, I know, Jessie said. “But ever since Allan and I got together he said I couldn’t call Kell Darth-Sucks-A-Lot anymore.”

“Probably a good idea,” Emma said. “Don’t you two have work to do?”

“Why, yes, we do. Are you trying to get rid of us?” Jessi asked.

“Why, yes, I am. I need a few minutes to myself.”

Cari came over and patted her on the back. “We’re not leaving you alone until we’re sure you’re okay. You know you’d do the same if it were either of us in your position.”

“But that’s because I’m the oldest and I know best,” Emma said.

“You don’t. You just know three more years’ worth of stuff than we do,” Jessi said.

Emma had to laugh. She looked at her sisters and acknowledged how happy she was that they were both moving on with their lives. She was glad that the mess that she’d made of Infinity Games hadn’t taken them down with it.

“That’s so true. But I’m okay. I don’t need to discuss any of this today,” she said.

“Why not? I freaked out when Dec came back into my life,” Cari said. “And I tried to deal with it on my own, but I finally realized I needed you and Jessi to help me out. We’re stronger together, Em. We always have been.”

She wanted to lean on her sisters but she had no idea what she would say to them. She had to find a way to keep her job, stay away from Kell and never again kiss him. It was complicated.

She walked passed Cari and Jessi and put her handbag in the bottom drawer of her desk before sitting down and facing them. On her desk was a picture of Sammy smiling up at her with his little toddler face. He was so sweet and precious to her. She couldn’t afford to be anything other than successful in her bid to create a new role for herself at Playtone-Infinity Games.

“You don’t have to worry about me,” she said. “I’ve got a solid idea.”

“What is it?”

“Taking our charity arm and turning it into a foundation with a full-time chairman.”

“Great idea,” Jessi said. “So that’s a job for you but what will the foundation do?”

“I’ve been playing around with a prototype reading app with Sammy,” Emma said. “It’s tailored to his way of learning. I gave Kell a top-line view of what I’m thinking and he said it was worth pursuing.”