Precious Surprises - Andrea Laurence Mills & Boon M&B

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wrapped her arms around his neck, tugging her body closer to him. The darkness and the familiar feel of her in his arms roused thoughts of his butterfly again. If he didn’t know better, he’d swear he was with her, in his laundry room. Without thinking, he let his right hand drift to her chest, stopping short of groping her breast, but aligning his hand where his butterfly’s tattoo would be.

      She must have misinterpreted his intentions because Emma instantly stiffened in his arms and jerked away from his kiss. “What the hell are we doing?” she whispered.

      “Wait,” he protested, the distance between them suddenly painful. Jonah let go of her to fumble for the light switch, but the instant he did, he felt her pull away and scramble for the doorknob. The door flew open, flooding the small room with light so he could see her dash away from him and down the hallway to the ladies’ room.

      Flopping back against the wall, Jonah ran his hand through his hair and wished away his erection. That hadn’t exactly gone to plan.

      So pulling her into a dark room and pinning her against him might’ve been the wrong tactic if he’d really just wanted to talk. And he had, at first. His body just had other plans. So had hers, but he went too far, as always. Damn.

      He shook his head. Something about her just wasn’t quite right. She was nervous around him. Avoided him at all costs. Refused to accept gifts or dinner dates. He’d watched her interact with other employees, and the stiff, overly polite veil dropped. She was still professional, just not militantly so.

      Emma was just insistent on keeping the wall up between them. A wall that in the dark, crumbled in an instant. She’d let him in for a brief moment, then regained her senses and ran as fast as she could in the opposite direction.

      For some reason, he absolutely repelled her and had since the first moment they met. He didn’t understand at all. Yes, he was a force of nature when he wanted something, but he was also friendly, laid-back and fairly easy to get along with. Why would she fight something her body so clearly wanted?

      Unless...

      Jonah swallowed hard and looked out the door to watch Emma peek out, then dash down the hallway back to her office. Maybe his plan was too little, too late. Perhaps his enterprising accountant had already found the discrepancies in the books. If that was the case, it would explain a lot.

      Who would want to date a man they were about to report to Game Town for keeping sketchy books?

       Five

      Jonah was forced back to his office for a teleconference after the closet incident, but he wasn’t about to let that whole thing go. Either she knew about the missing money or she didn’t. She liked him or she hated him. But he was going to find out the truth either way.

      The next morning, he found her sitting in her temporary office. Jonah watched her silently for a few minutes as she sat hovering over her paperwork, studying it with unmatched intensity. Her nose wrinkled just slightly, a line of concentration settling in between her brows as she scrutinized every number.

      Even at her desk and fully immersed in her work, her posture was not slouched over. She sat quite upright, her shoulders back, her breasts pressing insistently against her pink, silk blouse. Her brunette hair was pulled back again, a stray piece framing the curve of her face.

      Without looking up, she tucked the strand behind her ear and started to make notes in a spiral notebook. She had some of the neatest penmanship he’d ever seen. Programmers were not known for their handwriting. He typed nearly everything aside from signing his name to contracts and checks. Her handwriting was precise and delicate with full, curling loops and sweeping letters. It suited her, he thought. Rigid and controlled at first glance, but inherently feminine and open if you took the time to study and understand her better.

      Audit or no, Jonah was genuinely interested in Emma and it surprised him. She got under his skin and irritated him, but at the same time, she was a fascinating puzzle to try and solve. Yesterday’s encounter just made it that much more intriguing. Figuring her out and breaking down her defenses would be an achievement on par with the first time he’d beaten Legend of Zelda as a kid.

      “What’s the matter, Mr. Flynn? Run out of women to abduct so you thought you’d stop by my office and try again?”

      The sound of Emma’s voice pulled him from his thoughts. She was watching him, but he didn’t see the tension in her shoulders that was there before. There was even a touch of amusement in her voice, which surprised him. Giving her some space had been the right thing to do.

      “I’m sorry about yesterday. I hadn’t intended—”

      “That’s fine,” she interrupted. “It’s not a problem. Let’s just pretend it never happened.”

      Jonah didn’t expect this. He expected her to be wound tight and ready for a fight, or at least, a harassment suit. Instead, she was insistent on keeping things professional and putting it behind them. Perhaps she hadn’t found Noah’s indiscretion after all. “Can we talk about it?”

      “I’d rather not.”

      A blush lit her cheeks and Emma let her gaze drop back to her paperwork. She actually looked embarrassed. Jonah had no idea what that was about. It had been virtually impossible to make most of the women he’d dated blush, much less embarrass them with talk of romantic embraces. He wanted to see her porcelain complexion flush pink again, this time after they kissed. Kissing in the dark had robbed him of that tantalizing visual.

      “Let me make it up to you.”

      At that, she rolled her eyes and pushed away from her desk. The sweet blush was gone. “Please...”

      “...go to dinner with you? Very well, I accept. How about o ya for sushi? I haven’t gotten to try there yet.”

      Emma stopped in her tracks, seemingly startled by his turn of the conversation. “What? No.”

      “No sushi? You’re right. That’s not everyone’s cup of tea. How about a steak house?”

      “No. I mean, no, I don’t want to go to dinner.” Her face blushed a deeper red this time; she was clearly flustered with irritation. She brushed past him into the hallway. He took a moment to admire the tight fit of her black pants as she sauntered away, then jogged a few steps to catch up to her.

      “Why not?” he asked, pulling alongside.

      “It would be inappropriate,” she said over her shoulder.

      “Says who? I’m not your boss. I don’t see anything wrong with taking you to dinner as a friendly welcome to my company. I take clients out to eat all the time.”

      “You haven’t built a reputation like yours on simply being friendly to women.”

      Her sharp words jabbed at Jonah. It sounded like her concerns were less about it appearing inappropriate to others and more about her less-than-flattering opinion of his love life. “Ah, so you don’t want to be seen in public with a man whore like me, right? Would it damage your sparkling reputation, Emma?”

      Emma picked up her pace, quickly turning a corner and heading down an empty hallway, probably to the copier again. “Honestly, yes. I’ve worked very hard to get where I am. I’m not interested in men like you or the kind of ‘friendliness’ you offer.”

      They stopped outside the elevator and she pushed the down button, refusing to look him in the eye. It made him wonder why. Those words didn’t jibe with the woman who had kissed him in the dark supply closet. “I don’t know...” he teased, letting a sly smile curve his lips. “You might like sullying your reputation a bit with me. It didn’t seem to bother you so much yesterday.”

      Her head snapped around to look at him with a frown pulling down the corners of her pink lips. “Or I might end up in one of those gossip rags and have everyone talking about me.”

      Jonah hated those

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