Stiletto Secrets (11 page)

“Yeah, yeah, I know. Ten.”

“Make that a twelve.”

“Excuse me,” Emma glanced from Adam to Nicholas, “are you two actually rating me?”

Nicholas nodded his head in Adam’s direction. “He is.”

“Hey, at least I’m giving you a twelve.” Adam shrugged a shoulder and winked at her.

Emma looked up at Nicholas. “You gave me an eight?” She crossed her arms and scowled at him.

“In my defense, I had only seen you in that hideous maid’s uniform then.”

Emma had to chuckle, and she gave him a little playful nudge. “You are unbelievable.”

“Ah, look at you two. Already acting like a loving couple,” Adam crooned mockingly.

Nicholas shoved him against his chest. “Shut up.”

All three of them stood there laughing when Nicholas suddenly turned serious. “Dammit.” He leaned closer to Emma. “Brace yourself.”

Emma looked up just in time to see Mr. Blake approach them. She instinctively reached for Nicholas’ hand.

“What in God’s name do you think you are doing?” Mr. Blake bit out without drawing too much attention to them, and then glared in Emma’s direction. “And who is this?”

Nicholas squared his shoulders. “Oh, Dad. You know Emma, right? The one that cut her hand and bled all over your expensive carpet? She’s my date for the evening.”

Mr. Blake glowered down at Emma with so much hostility, she found it almost too hard to breathe.

He looked back at Nicholas and turned every shade of red imaginable. “The maid, Nicholas? What are you trying to pull here?”

Emma sucked in a breath when Nicholas wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her closer into him. “Like I said, she’s my date. Emma and I just
connected
.”

She was too stunned to say or do anything. With Nicholas’ arm around her waist it was impossible for her to think straight.

Emma looked up and noticed Adam clutching his fist in front of his mouth, smothering a laugh. At least someone found this entire situation amusing.

Mr. Blake’s eyes narrowed. “You think you’re a smart-ass?”

“Not at all. I’m just trying to have a nice peaceful evening with my date.” Nicholas tightened his hold around her waist.

“Do you really think I’m buying this charade?”

“Oh, I assure you, Father, this is not a charade. Emma and I are the real thing.”

And then Nicholas did something Emma did not expect—at all. He pulled her closer and laid one hell of a kiss on her.

At first she was too stunned to react, the feel of his warm, soft lips against hers catching her completely off kilter. But the more he kissed her, the more his warmth spread through her, the more she felt herself getting sucked into the moment. Her body became liquid in his arms, and she closed her eyes drifting deeper and deeper into their kiss. It was a simple kiss, neither of them opening for the other, but it made her legs feel weak nonetheless.

All too soon Nicholas pulled away, and when her eyes fluttered open she noticed the way he was staring down at her with a wistful look in his eyes. It made her think that he had experienced the exact same feelings that she did, even though the kiss was all for show.

Mr. Blake stepped closer and tugged Nicholas on his arm. “Do not make a fool of me tonight. I’m warning you.” Then he shot Emma a sideward glare. “You and your maid.” He jerked away from Nicholas and walked in the other direction as if nothing had happened. Emma knew that Mr. Blake could be intimidating, she just didn’t know to what extent.

And then someone clapped behind them. “Well done you two.” Adam continued a few more lazy claps. “I have to say, that kiss had even me fooled.”

Nicholas turned to her. “I’m sorry. Are you okay?” He still hadn’t let go of her.

“Yes, I’m fine.”

She felt out of breath, still completely enthralled by feeling his lips against hers. Even though she had kissed Nicholas before—which of course he wasn’t aware of—this kiss was completely different. It was soft, and gentle, and not driven by sexual hunger, but by something else.

“Ooh, incoming.” Adam turned around, making a beeline to the bar on the other side of the room.

Nicholas glanced behind them. “Fuck.”

“What? Who is it?” Emma turned around, her heart still thrumming with excitement from their kiss. Then her entire world came to a stop when she saw who had approached them.

“My, my, my, hello, Emma.”

Emma’s spine turned as cold as ice, her throat stone dry.

Suddenly it felt like all the air got sucked out of the room as Emma glared at the woman in front of her. “Hello, Claire,”

Nicholas glanced from Claire to Emma. “You two know each other?”

Emma didn’t take her eyes off Claire, and noticed the smug little grin that crossed Claire’s face. “Oh, Emma and I go way back.”

“Emma, do you know her?” Nicholas asked softly.

“Yeah.” She nodded. “Claire is my stepsister.”

SO
imagine Nicholas’ surprise when he learned that Claire, the woman he had spent the last two hours dodging, was actually the stepsister of the woman he had asked to pose as his date.

Nicholas pointed at Claire, but kept his eyes on Emma. “This is your stepsister?”

There was no way anyone could have missed the poison arrows Emma’s stare was shooting straight at Claire’s forehead. And of course Nicholas was aware of all the oxygen that had been sucked out of the room within a nanosecond.

Emma didn’t take her eyes off Claire. “Yes, she’s my stepsister.”

Nicholas shook his head. “Hold up. If you and Claire are stepsisters, then that means that—”

“Henry Tremaine was my father.” Emma bit her lip.

“Holy shit.”

Nicholas’ head felt way too small to make sense of it all. How in God’s name was Henry Tremaine’s daughter working as a maid in his house?

“Emma darling.” Claire sported one of her fake smiles. “It’s been forever.” She stepped forward and placed her arms on Emma’s shoulders, pulling her in for a little hug. Was it Nicholas’ imagination, or did Emma suddenly seem like she had the urge to vomit?

Emma pulled back and then searched the crowd around them before turning her attention back to Claire. “If you touch me again, I will rip out those fake hair extensions of yours so fast your head will spin.” Boy, Emma seemed really, really pissed at Claire. Why?

Claire’s little Botox smile remained plastered on her face. “Emma, there is no need for that. We’re practically family.”

“You are not my family. You and your mother are nothing to me.”

“It’s such a shame you feel that way. I so enjoyed all the times we played in the garden as little girls. I almost felt like we were real sisters.”

“Stop!” Emma blurted out, and a few people looked in their direction. “Just, stop.”

Claire cocked a brow. “What’s the matter, Emma? No good childhood memories for you?”

Nicholas was shocked to say the least. All he did was gawk at the two women like a total loser, until Adam finally nudged him in his side.

“Dude, you better do something before we have a bitch fight on our hands. Not that I would mind, but I don’t think Pops is going to be impressed.”

Nicholas grabbed Emma’s arm. “Emma, come on. Let’s go get something to drink.”

Emma continued to look at Claire, but as Nicholas persuaded her to follow him, Claire called after them, “I love the dress, Emma. I’m surprised you could afford it.”

And then Nicholas kind of lost it.

He let go of Emma’s hand and abruptly turned around, walking toward Claire. He brought his face inches from hers. “I see right through you, Claire. So you can stop your bullshit.”

Nicholas was about to turn away from her when he stopped and leaned back in. “And by the way, you and I, it’s never happening.”

He didn’t stick around to see the expression on Claire’s face, but he imagined that it was something between brooding and angry. Nicholas was so sick of her and his father’s bullshit that he just could not deal anymore. He took Emma’s hand, gripped it tight and led her through the crowd to the bar.

A lot of people were staring at them, and he gathered that what just went down had already spread throughout the dining hall in hushed whispers.

When they reached the bar he turned to Emma who still seemed shocked and incredibly angry. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

“It’s okay. You couldn’t have known.”

He took a deep breath. “Fuck me.” Nicholas pulled his hand through his hair, unable to fathom the idea that Emma was in fact the daughter of an engineering millionaire. What the fuck did Claire and her mother do to Emma and her sister? How did they manage to somehow get everything, putting Emma in a position to work as a goddamn maid?

Shit.

“Are you okay?” Nicholas reached up and placed his palm on her cheek, forcing her to look up at him. “Are you okay, Emma?”

She nodded. “I’m fine.”

He couldn’t help but notice how soft and warm her skin felt against his palm. Beautiful blue-green eyes stared up at him, and for a moment he thought about how amazing it felt to kiss her. It was a fake kiss, he knew that. But the way her lips felt against his, the way their mouths just melted together, it was a slow burning feeling of warmth and desire that just kind of flowed through him.

There was also something very familiar about her kiss. The way she moved her lips against his, it was like he had felt them before, which of course was impossible because he had only met Emma a few weeks ago.

He pulled his hand away from her face and turned toward the bar. “Can I get you a drink? A glass of champagne maybe?”

Emma, too, turned to the bar. “That would be nice, thank you.”

They stood in silence as they waited for their drinks to arrive. The minute it did, Nicholas handed her the champagne and almost downed his entire glass of scotch.

What the hell was happening to him? First he had developed this very unhealthy obsession with the hot stiletto stripper, and now it seemed like he was starting to have a
thing
for the maid.

And what the fuck was that?

Since when did Nicholas develop a
thing
for anyone?

He took the last sip of his drink and placed the empty glass on the bar. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not particularly, no.”

He noticed her twirling her champagne flute on the counter, her nose all scrunched up.

He shot her a half-grin. “You’re doing it again.”

“Doing what?”

He brought his newly refilled drink up to his mouth. “Scrunching up your nose.”

Emma’s frown got replaced with a shy little smile. “You shouldn’t be so observant, Mr. Blake.”

“I love being observant.”

Their eyes met again and Nicholas felt all warm and tingly inside.

Warm and fucking tingly? What the fuck?

Nicholas swallowed the last of his drink and turned to her. “Okay, I think I’ve had about enough of this evening. Are you ready to ditch this party?”

“I thought you’d never ask.” Emma took another sip from her champagne and turned, hooking her arm in his.

Nicholas looked down at her standing by his side. Why did it seem like she became more and more beautiful the more time he spent with her? It was like he noticed something new about her every time he looked at her. Like now, he noticed the tiny almost undetectable little dimples that appeared on her cheeks every time she smiled. It was the cutest thing.

And he was starting to sound like a pussy.

“Are you two lovebirds heading out?” Adam’s voice came from behind them.

Nicholas turned to Adam. “I think I’ve had enough of boring for one evening.”

“Thank God. I’m with you guys.” Adam didn’t even wait until they exited the hall before he pulled off his bowtie. “Holy shit, I can breathe again.”

Emma snickered and Nicholas loved the sound.

“So, Hunter just called. You two lovebirds feel like hitting the town?” Adam stared at them expectantly.

Nicholas turned to Emma and shrugged. “You want to get out of here?”

And cue Emma’s scrunching nose. Nicholas just smiled as he watched her seemingly deep in thought.

“Sure, why not. I’ll need to change first. Where are we going?”

“Just a local bar, get a few drinks.” Adam pulled off his tuxedo jacket. “I’ll get the car while you two get changed.”

“Yeah. Emma and I will go get changed quickly.” And then Nicholas noticed both Adam and Emma staring at him. Emma with big, round eyes filled with
panic
? And Adam with eyes that screamed,
Fuck yeah you man whore
.

Goddammit
. “I mean, Emma and I will go get changed separately, not together.”

Adam pursed his lips and winked at Nicholas.

“Oh fuck off would you!” Nicholas shoved Adam against his chest, and then took Emma’s hand. Then it occurred to him that he had taken her hand quite a lot during the course of the evening. Plus, they didn’t have to pretend any longer, they weren’t in the dining hall anymore. So why was he taking her hand and leading her up the stairs?
Odd.

They reached the top of the stairs and Nicholas gave her a sideways glance. “I have to warn you, Hunter and Adam, they can be a bit…They can be a bit like dicks really.”

Emma laughed. “Oh, I think I can handle them. Besides, Adam looks kind of cool.”

“Oh he is, but he can be a bit of an ass sometimes.”

“Nicholas?” Emma stared up at him. “Are you sure you want me to go with you?”

“What? Yes, of course I do.” Fuck, he sounded a bit over eager there.
Dammit.

“Okay. I just need ten minutes.”

Just as Emma started down the hall to the spare bedroom she got dressed in earlier, Nicholas called after her. “Emma?”

“Yes?” She turned around, and for a moment she kind of took his breath away. The gray of the dress against her ivory skin definitely worked with the color of her eyes. They seemed brighter, more intense and just really fucking beautiful.

“You can keep the shoes.” He smiled warmly.

“What? No, I can’t.” She lifted her dress just a few inches and glanced down at the shoes on her feet. “They were your mother’s. I can’t.”

“Yes, you can. And you will.”

“Nicholas—”