The CEO Buys in (Wager of Hearts #1) (22 page)

Chloe stood, picking up the basket of scones and her own plate and knife. Nathan also rose, his head nearly colliding with the chandelier hanging low over the table. As he started to clear the dishes in front of her grandmother, Chloe said, “It’s okay. I’ll get those later.”

He ignored her, deftly arranging the cup, saucer, plate, and flatware for easy carrying. “I have to earn my scones.”

“Your mother raised you right,” Grandmillie said.

Chloe caught the shadow that turned Nathan’s eyes flat, as though he was hiding all emotion. She remembered Ed’s description of Nathan’s mother and realized Grandmillie had touched a nerve with her comment about how he was raised.

Wishing she could comfort him but not knowing how, Chloe led the way to the kitchen. “Just put the dishes on the counter,” she said as she pulled a plastic baggie from a drawer.

Nathan carefully slid the fine china onto the Formica countertop. She watched him glance around the kitchen and wondered what he thought of her little house. She’d painted the dated pine cabinets a crisp, glossy white when they moved in, and the Formica on the counters was a cheerful indigo-and-yellow plaid, but her place was like a fiberglass dinghy compared to his luxurious ocean liner of a home.

He leaned a hip against the counter and folded his arms across his chest. “The job you interviewed for today is at a good-sized company. Have you rethought your policy about not working for large corporations?”

Chloe dropped several scones into a baggie and kept her voice low. “I don’t have the luxury of that policy anymore.”

“Because of your grandmother?” His voice was soft too.

She nodded. “She’s worth the compromise.”

“I was hoping I had something to do with your change of heart,” he said, moving to stand behind her. He lifted her hair from the back of her neck to press his lips on the sensitive skin as he trapped her against the counter with his body. Shivers of pleasure radiated down her spine.

She poked him in the ribs. “My grandmother is on the other side of that wall.”

He took a step back. “And I haven’t done anything she would disapprove of. In this kitchen,” he added.

She turned and held out the filled baggie. “For your breakfast tomorrow.”

He took the scones with a heavy-lidded look. “I’d rather have you for breakfast.” That sent more than mere shivers racing through her. She was about to shush him when he continued, “But there’s always the dressing room at Saks.”

“You wouldn’t dare.” She choked on a laugh as she headed for the door.

He caught her wrist to stop her. There was no teasing in his voice or his face as he looked down at her. “When it comes to you, I’ll dare many things.”

The intensity of his gaze sent a tiny thrill of excitement and panic ricocheting around inside her rib cage. She stared up at him, feeling like a rabbit caught in the hypnotic spell of a snake.

“Keep that in mind,” he said, releasing her wrist and waving her through the kitchen door in front of him.

Somehow she got through the polite good-byes. Nathan gave her a chaste kiss on the cheek at the front door before he headed for the car, his long strides making their modest walkway seem even shorter.

She stood watching as the Rolls glided into motion, noting with relief that the windows were as opaque as Nathan had promised.

As she came back into the living room, where her grandmother sat in her favorite chair, Grandmillie raised her hand in a warding-off gesture. “I wanted to see him for myself, so don’t chew me out.”

Chloe put her hands on her hips. “You might have warned me.”

“What would you have done differently if I had?”

Chloe looked around at the immaculate living room, and her indignation sputtered out. “I would have helped you clean the downstairs and set the table. You must be exhausted.”

“I got Lynda to help me with the cleaning in exchange for some scones.”

“I’m confused.” Chloe sat on the couch. “I thought you wanted me to marry him, but it sounded like you were trying to scare him away with all that talk about evil corporations.”

Her grandmother spun the neck of her cane between her palms. “He’s not what I expected.”

“Better or worse?”

Grandmillie stared down at her rotating cane for a long moment before looking at Chloe. “He’s not like your father’s friends. They were all brilliant scientists, but they were—what’s that word the teenagers use?—nerds. Easy for a smart woman to manage. Your Nathan”—Grandmillie shook her head—“he’s not the manageable sort.”

That surprised a snort out of Chloe. “That’s an understatement.”

“Sweetie, I was hoping he would be someone who would cherish you and take good care of you, but that man could hurt you.” Grandmillie seemed to brace herself. “I could tell what you’d been doing in the car, and I can’t find it in myself to blame you. He’s a hottie too.”

Chloe would have laughed at the second example of teenage slang coming so easily from her grandmother’s lips, but she was too distressed by what Grandmillie was trying to tell her. “He’s out of my league. I told you that at the beginning.”

The cane hit the floor with a bang. “
No one
is out of your league, Chloe! But he’s got a powerful personality that could break you in half.”

“I’ve had some practice dealing with strong personalities,” Chloe said. But Grandmillie’s words had burrowed inside her mind to reinforce her own belief that she and Nathan were not equals.

Grandmillie harrumphed, but her tone was soft. “It’s not your backbone I’m worried about, it’s your heart.”

How did she tell her grandmother this was just about sex? “My heart isn’t involved.”

Her grandmother leveled a stare at her. “You’re not the sort to be intimate with a man without feeling something for him.”

Chloe cringed at the knowledge that Grandmillie was right. Nathan had gotten to her, so she felt more than she wanted to. Serious physical attraction. Admiration. Pity.

That last one was the most dangerous. She felt sorry for the man because he did so much out of a sense of duty and so little out of a sense of fun. In fact, the only time he really let loose was when they made love; he could be almost playful. And that was the chink in her armor. “It won’t last long enough for me to get emotionally involved.”

“I wouldn’t bet on that. He looked pretty smitten.”

Chloe pushed up from the cushions and walked over to give her grandmother a kiss. “I’m going to clean up the dishes. Your scones were fantastic.”

Grandmillie thumped her cane again but made no comment.

Chloe carried a load of dishes into the kitchen and placed them gently in the sink. Then she cut loose with a shimmy across the kitchen floor.

Grandmillie thought Nathan had looked
smitten
!

Nathan got in the elevator to his apartment. Instead of pushing the button to ascend, he leaned against the elevator wall, his arms crossed, his chin sunk on his chest. He’d been thinking about his meeting with Chloe’s grandmother all the way home in the car.

Except for the moments when he’d been remembering what he and Chloe had done in the car before that. He shifted and settled his shoulders more firmly against the wall.

His plan to get Chloe a job at Trainor Electronics had taken a hit. Her dislike of corporations ran deeper than discomfort with the politics. It was personal. She might accept the offer, but only out of necessity. That didn’t make him happy.

Even worse, Chloe’s grandmother had invited him in and then tried to chase him away. She had weighed him and found him wanting.

It felt unnervingly similar to the way his father had judged him. And Chloe would respect her grandmother’s opinion.

After seeing their cozy little house, he was even more resolved to help Chloe keep her grandmother there. It was the right thing to do. That meant an e-mail to Roberta about getting Chloe that position before she took another one.

He hit the “Up” button.

When the elevator doors opened, Ed was waiting for him, dressed in his usual uniform of white shirt and dark suit. “Was there a malfunction in the elevator?” his majordomo asked.

Nathan shoved off the wall and walked through the opening into the entrance hall. “No, I was thinking.”

“Good to know your brain is still working, because I was starting to wonder.” Ed jerked his head toward a doorway. “Ben is in the den with his doctor bag. He says you missed your appointment with him this morning.”

“I had an emergency meeting.” A wave of guilt and exhaustion broke over Nathan. He’d canceled the checkup with his friend at the last minute because he hadn’t wanted to argue with Ben about whether he should be at work or not. “Don’t worry. I’ll let him poke and prod me to his heart’s content.”

Ed nodded. “You look tired.”

“It’s been a long day.” He hadn’t felt it until the elevator had stopped, and the evening stretched out empty in front of him. Despite knowing that Ben would lecture him, Nathan felt his spirits lift at the prospect of having something other than work to fill the next couple of hours.

Ed held out his hand, and Nathan shrugged out of his suit jacket in their familiar daily ritual. As he handed it to the older man, Nathan gave him an apologetic smile. “Thanks for worrying about me.”

“Someone needs to,” Ed muttered before he did his vanishing act.

Nathan squared his shoulders and walked down the hallway to the den. Ben lounged on the sofa, a rocks glass in one hand, the television remote control in the other. “I love watching television on your dime,” the doctor said.

Nathan dropped into an upholstered armchair with a grunt.

“You were dodging me this morning,” Ben said.

“I admit it.”

Ben turned off the television. “How do you feel?”

“Fine.”

The doctor gave a huff of exasperation and stood up. “I’m doing a full workup.”

Nathan waved a hand in surrender. “I’m bone tired. But no headache or any other ache, no fever, no chills, no cough. I do solemnly swear.”

“When you start quoting the Marine oath, I know you’re feeling like hell,” Ben said, but his tone had lost its edge. He flipped open the bag sitting on the coffee table and pulled out a stethoscope. “Just a quick checkup to earn my pay.”

“Forget the pay,” Nathan said. “Have dinner with me. As a friend.”

Ben gave him a sharp look. “It’s past dinnertime. Don’t you have to read fifty reports and answer three thousand e-mails?”

Nathan rubbed a spot between his eyebrows. “I may have lied about the headache.”

“I’ll eat a second dinner because you have an excellent chef.” Ben smacked the stethoscope against Nathan’s chest. “Breathe in.”

Nathan drew in several breaths as his friend moved the stethoscope around. He let Ben take his blood pressure and run a few other basic tests. “Satisfied?” he asked as the doctor folded the stethoscope back into the bag.

“You need rest,” Ben said, picking up his scotch and taking a swallow. “Or you could have a relapse.”

“We both know that’s not going to happen.”

“Which? The rest or the relapse?” Ben asked.

“Both.” The only way he would stay in bed was if he could lure Chloe into it with him. And he would rest only after he’d made her come at least three times.

Ed walked in with a tray of hors d’oeuvres. “Would you like a drink?” he asked Nathan.

“Something with orange juice,” Ben said. “He needs the vitamin C.”

“A Manhattan.” Nathan paused long enough to annoy Ben before adding, “With an orange juice chaser.”

“You’ll find several varieties of citrus fruit on the tray as well,” Ed said.

“Good man,” Ben said. “I’ll hold him down while you force them down his throat.”

“I should have known you two would conspire against me.” But oddly he found the idea comforting rather than irritating. He picked up a miniature skewer of fruit and bit into a piece of pineapple.

Ben watched him with raised eyebrows. “An alien has taken over Nathan’s body.”

“Do you want me to eat this fruit or not?”

Ben sat down and turned to Ed. “What’s for dinner? I’ve been invited to stay.”

A look of surprise crossed Ed’s face before he launched into the menu. Nathan frowned. “How long has it been since you last ate here?” he asked Ben after Ed left.

Ben looked up at the ceiling in thought. “A year, year and a half,” he concluded.

“You should come more often.”

“I come when I’m invited.”

“You’re my oldest friend. You don’t need an invitation.”

“What? I’m supposed to drop by in the hope that a miracle will happen and you’ll be home and not working?” Ben swirled the scotch in his glass.

It was true that Nathan ate out most nights. “Ed and Janice know my schedule.”

“If you think I’m calling your assistants to find out whether you’re available for dinner, think again.”

“Point taken.” Ed returned with the drinks. Nathan grabbed the Manhattan and took a gulp, savoring the burn in his throat. “I’m glad you were free tonight.”

Ben gave him a crooked smile. “Actually, I need to make a phone call.”

Nathan scowled as he grasped Ben’s meaning. “Don’t cancel something on my account.”

Ben stood and pulled his cell phone out of his pocket before heading for the door. “Sometimes friendship comes first.”