She needed to forget about Michael Knight.
?
Michael gazed at his barely touched risotto and pushed it around with his fork. He inhaled the scent of garlic and bread, instantly thinking of Emily. She’d been on his mind all week. He’d left voicemails and text messages pleading for her to return his call, but it had been as effective as talking to a brick wall. Her office had been permanently closed. He didn’t even know where she lived.
It seemed that Emily Sevenson had moved on and left him sitting on the curb of her life, along with the rest of the garbage.
He deserved it.
“You are looking blue, my friend,” a cheery masculine voice said next to his ear.
He looked up to see Lorenzo rubbing his rotund belly and pulling up a chair to the table. Michael cringed, thinking of Lorenzo’s threat the last time he’d been here with Emily. Was the word out? Did everyone in town know what a jerk he was to that sweet, innocent, beautiful woman?
“I suppose you’re here to kick me out of your restaurant,” Michael said miserably, pushing the plate away. He took a hundred dollar bill out of his wallet and threw it on the table. “I deserve it. I broke Emily’s heart, after all. I’ll get out of your hair.”
Lorenzo laughed, rough and throaty. He smiled and gave a quick shake of his head. “The only broken heart I see around here is yours. You miss the girl.”
“More than I ever imagined.” Michael frowned, pain hitting his chest like a dozen metal-tipped darts. “How is it possible, after only a few weeks? I’ve been trained my whole life to not get too attached to people, things, or ideas. Business was business, and I was great at it. That’s how I made my fortune working for my father. I thought this would be just like that, but she had to go and bulldoze me over. How did that happen?”
“Ahhh.” Lorenzo hummed, his eyes lighting up. “You’ve been bit by the love bug, my friend. And there’s no cure for an illness like that, I’m afraid.”
Michael grimaced. Outside of his mother and little sister, love was a foreign entity to him. Something to be bottled and sold in an app, not a real life emotion. He’d never even considered love as a possibility for someone like him.
“Oh, don’t try to fight it.” Lorenzo laughed, clapping him hard on the back. “That only makes things worse. Why, I remember falling for my Rosie some fifty years back, may she rest in peace. She was a firecracker, I tell you what, but it was love at first sight. Asked her to marry me three days later. Never did recover. Not even with her ten years gone now. Amore grabs a hold of you and never lets go. Best to just give into it before it eats you up alive.”
Michael stared at his plate, trying to comprehend Lorenzo’s words. Did he really love Emily? He’d never felt this way before now, as if the world had lost all color and vibrancy. All he could think about was her. He had a desperate need to hear her voice, even if all she did was yell at him again. It wasn’t a common experience for him. He was in uncharted territory.
“I see you need a minute to take this all in,” Lorenzo said with a hearty laugh. He pushed himself out of the chair. “I’ll bring a piece of my tiramisu. It always helps in a crisis. President Kennedy himself had a piece right before the Cuban missile crisis. My dessert saved the nation, I tell you.”
Michael didn’t hear Lorenzo laughing as he walked away. All he could think about was Emily’s scornful last look at him before she walked out of his life. Could he really be in love with a woman who hated him?
And how would he ever recover?
Chapter Twelve
Emily gazed up at the imposing Linex Investments office building, feeling quite small in its shadow. She’d driven past it a hundred times during her time in Silicon Valley, but she’d never had the desire to go inside the insanely tall building until the disaster of last month’s app launch.
And here she was again.
She took a fortifying breath and marched into the lobby. An attractive slim woman with a sleek ponytail eyed her over the metal countertop.
“Do you have an appointment?” she asked coolly.
“Um...no.” Emily swallowed, holding a wrinkled envelope in her hand. “I’m here to see Michael Knight. My name is Emily Sevenson. I can wait around, if he’s busy.”
She picked up the phone and pressed a few buttons, holding it to her ear. “Emily Sevenson to see Michael Knight. Yes, I’ll hold.”
As they waited, the secretary swept her scrutinizing gaze over Emily’s red sun dress and strappy sandals. Instantly, Emily wondered if she should’ve worn something more office appropriate. She crossed her arms over her chest and attempted to cover her bare shoulders with her hands.
“He’ll see you,” the secretary said suddenly, hanging up the phone. She dropped a visitor’s badge on the counter. “Take the elevator to the thirtieth floor. His office is to the right.”
Emily breathed a sigh of relief, grabbed the badge, and padded lightly on the cement floor toward the elevators. She pressed the silver button and instantly, a door popped open. As she rode the elevator up toward Michael’s office, she went over the speech she’d rehearsed in her head. If she went in prepared, he couldn’t distract her with his boyish good looks and charm. At least, that was her hope.
All too soon, she arrived at the thirtieth floor and the doors slid open to reveal none other than Michael Knight himself, standing there in a black suit that fit his tapered torso like a glove. Her breath caught in her lungs when they made eye contact. His hooded eyes pinned her with a heavy expression, one full of pining and regret. He flexed his hands at his sides, closing them into fists and then releasing them again.
She hesitated, wishing for one moment that she hadn’t come. It had been a month since she’d last set eyes on Michael Knight, but this was too hard. Already, she could feel herself being drawn to him, like a moth to a flame. It wasn’t fair.
“My office?” he offered quietly.