What The Heart Knows (22 page)

He
sat down, powering up his computer and spending a good fifteen
minutes trying to figure out how to find the files for deals, all of
which he looked over every detail of before checking around on the
ideas for the future.

The
new head of acquisitions who, when Lena had turned it down to move in
with her mechanic in Stars Landing and bake cookies, showed up a half
an hour later. Tall, thin, brown-haired, green eyed. Young. Maybe in
his late twenties, early thirties in a pricey black suit. He looked
over at James with drawn in eyebrows for a second before inclining
his head toward him and going about his own work. Seth or Sade or
something like that. He seemed like a nice enough guy but he just
wasn't in the mood for socializing.

Elliott
walked onto the floor a few hours later, the noise outside of James'
office quieting immediately. Through the glass, he watched as
everyone glanced at him and looked extremely busy. Elliott had that
power. That fear-inducing aura that clung to him like a second skin.
He opened the office door, walking straight to the desk across from
James', not even bothering to glance his way. Because he was never,
ever there.

“Carter,”
he addressed the man.

Well
he fucked that name up royally.

Carter
nodded up at Elliott, one of the few employees who didn't seem to
cower at their boss' presence. He ever so slightly tilted his head to
the side toward James.

Elliott
turned slowly, his mouth falling slightly open. He shook his head
once, as if he wasn't sure he was seeing what he was doing. “James?”
he asked, looking back at Carter again before moving across the room.
“What are you doing here?” he asked, looking down at him.
“Are you... wearing a suit?”

“Nice
to see you too, Elliott,” he said, sending him a small smile.

Elliott's
brows drew down, watching him. “Hey Carter,” he called,
not looking at him. “can we have the room for a minute?”

Carter
got up and walked out the door, stopping to sit on the desk of
someone in the other room, obviously not willing to miss whatever
might happen between the Michaels brothers.

Elliott
was silent for a long time, looking at his brother like a puzzle that
wasn't fitting together right. “Last I checked, you were
supposed to be in Stars Landing.”

“I'm
not needed in Stars Landing,” James countered, sounding colder
than he intended, realizing for the first time that he could behave a
lot like his brother at times. “Sending me there was pointless
in the first place.”

Elliott
lowered his brows, moving to sit down on one the the leather chairs
in front of James' desk. “Alright... listen,” he started,
starting to smile a little. “I have an eight month pregnant
wife at home who slapped me last night for looking at her with my
'stupid face', a multi-million dollar deal that is days from falling
to pieces... I cant have a brother with some kind of fucking identity
crisis on top of it all.”

James
snorted. “I'm not having an identity crisis. I just thought it
was time to take work a little more seriously is all. Maybe start
looking at some apartments around here. Find a place close to work.”

“James,”
Elliott said, trying to mask the exasperation in his voice and
failing miserably. “Seriously. What is going on?”

James
sat back in his chair, pulling at his tie until it loosened, letting
him breathe properly for the first time all day. They had never been
the kind of brothers who sat and discussed women and personal lives.
Aside from Elliott's utter lack of touchy-feely emotions until he met
Hannah, Elliott had always been more of a parental figure in James'
life.

Their
mother had needed to work three jobs just to keep a roof over their
heads and shoes on their feet. Their father just a faded memory to
Elliott and nothing but an idea to James. So as far back as James
could remember, Elliott had always been there. The one home when he
got back from school. The one to make him snacks, help him with
homework, play games with him, put him to bed. And later, Elliott had
gotten a job which allowed their mother to stay home and spend
quality time with James.

It
had been a strange shock to his system when Elliott went away to
college, like a parent had gone away. And then their mother had died,
hit by truck, leaving James to go to the hospital and watch as her
life quickly slip away from her.

Then
there came Elliott again, older, colder than he had been when he
left. Full of a raging kind of ambition, something that made the
shitty college apartment in the shitty neighborhood easier to
tolerate. While James turned into an ungrateful, difficult brat
without any similar drive to grab onto.

Elliott
had eked out a life, started a company, provided James with the best
kind of education money could buy. The only problem was Elliott had
to pay dearly for those luxuries. Losing out on the opportunity to be
young and stupid, to get to foster friendships, to experience healthy
relationships. His entire life became work. And it had made him cool
and distant. Intimidating and unfeeling at times.

Until
Hannah.

And
James was having a hard time adjusting to the new, improved
two-point-oh version of Elliott Michaels.

James
shrugged, plastering on one of his jocular, carefree, easy smiles.
“An employee is skimming off the books. And that is the only
interesting thing that that little nowhere town has to offer.”
Aside from a fiery redhead who he wanted nothing more than to throw
onto a bed and fuck until she forgot all about that other guy in her
bedroom.

“Really?
Stealing?” Elliott asked, looking like he didn't quite believe
it. “From an inn?”

“Yeah,
I dunno. I told the manager and told her to take care of it.”

“You...
told
,” Elliott said, smirking at the word. “Emily
to do something?” he asked and James nodded. “and she
didn't staple your balls to something?”

“Come
on,” James grinned. “have you ever met a woman who could
say no to me?”

Elliott
shrugged. When he was right, he was right. “No, but Emily isn't
exactly the usual kind of woman you always parade around with.”

“You
mean... young, beautiful...”

“Vapid,
insecure, gold-digging idiots,” Elliott finished.

James
found himself laughing, a unexpected appreciation of his brother's
observations. Maybe he did have a tendency to date flighty, pretty,
model-types. Maybe that was why Emily had been so refreshing.

“You
seriously weren't interested in her?” Elliott asked.

“Nah,”
James said, waving a hand.

“Hmm,”
Elliott said. “Let's... not tell Hannah that. Until she has the
baby at least.”

James
smiled. “Who would have thought that the way to scare the
untouchable, intimidating Elliott Michaels of EM Corp would be to
bring a pregnant woman in to yell at him.”

“Don't
laugh,” Elliott said, looking like he was about to do just
that. “You have no idea what she's like right now.”

James
scooted his chair back, putting his feet up on the edge of his desk,
looking a little more at ease, a little more like himself. “Wait...
why would Hannah care if I wasn't into Emily?”

Elliott
shook his head a little. “I don't know if it was the hormones
or what... but when Lena got back here to tell us about the inn...
Hannah decided you should be the one to send down there to check
things out. She, ah, thought you two would hit it off.”

James
was silent for a minute, bringing a hand up to his eyes as he thought
about gorgeous raven-haired, gray eyed Hannah and her haughty good
nature. She was practical and independent. He couldn't imagine her
trying to play matchmaker. Especially not with one of her closest
friends. Hell, not with him. She knew about his reputation with
women. “She didn't,” James said, letting his hand drop
down to the armrest.

“Yeah
she did,” Elliott nodded. He sent his brother a knowing smile.
“And judging by this act you are putting on today, I think
you're lying and she was right.”

“What
makes you think Emily could accomplish something that hundreds of
other women couldn't?”

Elliott
leaned back into his chair, stretching out and James was struck with
the realization that he almost never got to see his brother like
that. Relaxed. He was always ramrod straight, always pulled together.
“I think because she is your opposite in almost all ways. She's
serious and ambitious. Grounded. And she won't take shit from you.
Hell, she gave me a talking-to that made me feel like a five year
old.”

“Sounds
like her,” James said before he could catch himself.

Elliott
laughed, a short deep sound that James only usually got to hear when
they were around Hannah. “You're so screwed.”

James
shook his head, putting his feet back on the floor. “No,”
he said. “that's over.”

“So
something did happen,” Elliott said, ignoring the last comment.

“Well,
I mean... come on,” James said, smiling. “the woman is
gorgeous. She dressed up as fucking Jessica Rabbit for Halloween and
told me to take her to my coffin to have sex with her.”

“Your...
coffin.”

“I
was a vampire,” he clarified.

“Right.
That makes more sense. So... did you?”

“Well
I don't travel with my coffin,” James said, shrugging, smirking
a little. “It's a bit cumbersome. And she was piss drunk. So I
took her home and left.”

“You're
losing your touch, man,” Elliott said, clucking his tongue.
“All that time down there and you didn't charm her out of her
clothes? I'm embarrassed to call you my brother.”

“Hey,”
James said chuckling, holding out a hand. “you're not allowed
to have an opinion. You're neutered now. Besides,” he said,
shrugging. “I did just fine.”

Elliott
lifted a brow. “The truth finally comes out. So what? You just
got bored of her?”

James
took a deep breath. He really didn't want to talk about it. If he
talked about it, he had to think about it. He'd need to remember how
good the sex was. He would have to think about the fact that she
obviously already had someone in her life while she was slumming it
with him. He'd have to face the actual facts of the situation and he
was doing everything in his power to avoid that.

But,
there was Elliott, sitting there, giving him his full attention and
he couldn't remember the last time his brother wanted to sit down and
have a real conversation about his life. Most of their discussions
revolved around Elliott lecturing him that it was time to grow up, to
take his work more seriously, to stop living in hotels. And yet now
there he was, not being a boss... just being a brother. And a needy
part of James didn't want to ruin that.

“She's
already got someone,” he said finally.

“What
do you mean she's got someone? Hannah said Emily doesn't date. Not
seriously.”

“Yeah
well apparently Emily doesn't tell her everything. Because I went to
her room to give her some paperwork on this whole employee theft
situation, and a man answered the door. Shirtless, barefoot. Looking
completely comfortable in her space.”

“What
did she say when you asked her about it?” He watched as James'
eyes fell to the desk and he shrugged. “You didn't even
confront her about it?”

“What's
the point?” James asked sounding uncharacteristically defeated.
“We had sex twice. While stranded at a damn lodge. In the same
room. The same bed. It was probably just a lapse in judgment for her.
Drunken ramblings aside, she never pursued me. In hindsight, she was
fighting the attraction. I thought it was because she didn't want to
fuck around with her boss, but maybe it was because she already had a
guy. She was probably upset enough about cheating on him. My accusing
her wasn't gonna do anything to help the situation.”

“So
you just left?”

“Yeah,”
James said, shrugging.

“Alright,”
Elliott said, allowing James to take a breath. He wasn't going to
call him out on his obvious emotional attachment. “So what is
the plan now?”

“The
plan for what? What I am going to be doing? Or what is going to go on
with the inn deal?”

“Either.
Both.”