“I’ll remind you of that when you accidentally get pregnant by a man whose name you don’t know, Violet.”
“Listen, honey,” Harper interjected. “I’ve made plenty of mistakes where men are concerned. But not even one of my best moments were as sexy or romantic as what you told me about your night with him. You jumped in with both feet and scared yourself. Okay, I get it. But that doesn’t mean you have to stay out of the pool entirely. If you’re not ready for the deep end, at least put your feet in. Test the waters. Letting your hair down every once in a while won’t hurt anything. It might be good for you.”
Popping the casserole dish in the oven, Emma dusted her hands off on her yoga pants and eyed her friends’ wine with a touch of jealousy. If she didn’t put an end to this discussion, her friends would continue to badger her and they’d miss the show they’d come over to watch. “That is all well and good, but I’m not getting in a pool of any kind with Jonah Flynn. Not that he’d want to once I’m huge and pregnant anyway.”
“With his baby!” Lucy pointed out.
“It doesn’t matter. Does he look like the paternal type to you? I’ve told you my reasons for avoiding Jonah, but if nothing else I’ve said convinces you, know that it’s a major conflict of interest. I’m auditing FlynnSoft. If even so much as a whisper of a relationship pops up about Jonah and me, past or present, my credibility is shot. I’d probably lose my job and permanently damage the reputation I’ve worked so hard to build. No man, not even Jonah Flynn, is worth that. Not to me.”
“Well, they’re going to find out when the baby is born and everyone figures out what happened between the two of you. There’s no avoiding that. Your only option is to tell Tim you can’t do it. That would be the most forthright answer,” Violet said.
“Technically. But can’t isn’t in my vocabulary. I refuse to back down from this challenge, even if there’s a risk.”
Harper nodded in resignation and Lucy sighed. Emma hoped her friends would leave it alone, at least for the next two hours.
“Of course,” Harper said with a smirk, “if I was going to sully my reputation and ruin my career for a man, it’d be for him.”
* * *
Jonah was sitting at his desk Wednesday afternoon when his phone rang. He recognized the number as his financial advisor, Paul. Hopefully it was good news.
“Paul,” he said. “Tell me what I want to hear.”
There was a hesitation on the line that instantly told Jonah he was out of luck. “I’m sorry to tell you, Jonah, but it’s going to take me at least two more days to get everything handled. We could look into getting a short-term loan to get you the money, but the banks are really tight on those lately with the market the way it is. I doubt it would come through any faster. Any chance you could borrow it from...um...”
“From my mother?” Jonah asked.
“She does have more liquid assets than you do. That’s the only reason I would even suggest it.”
Jonah sighed and shook his head. He wanted to keep this situation as close to his vest as he could. “I don’t want Mother to know what Noah’s done. Ask someone for three million dollars and they’ll sure as hell want to know what it’s for. At least she’d ask me. She’d give it to Noah without blinking.”
“Then why didn’t he just borrow it from her in the first place?”
Jonah ran his fingers through his messy hair. “I have no idea. The less I know about what he’s up to the better. Listen, just move things as quickly as you can and I’ll do what I have to on this end.”
They wrapped up their co
nversation and Jonah hung up. He’d given Emma some space this morning, hoping maybe the money would come through and he wouldn’t need to continue pursuing a woman who was clearly disinterested in him. It was fun for him, a challenge he’d never had to face before, but he couldn’t spend all his time trying to woo the ice princess. He still had a company to run.
Apparently that task was back at the top of his to-do list for the day. He had some time on his calendar, so he slipped out from behind his desk and went in search of his elusive prey.
He spotted her on the twenty-fourth floor down the hall from her office. She was leaning over the copier, pressing buttons and eyeing the pages as they spat out. Jonah was tempted to come up behind her and whisper something in her ear, but nixed the idea. Somehow he thought that might earn him a slap or a knee to the groin.
Instead, he just watched her from a distance, admiring the curve of her calves highlighted by her knee-length skirt and four-inch heels. She held a pen gently to her full, soft lips, the lower one pouting just slightly and urging him to reach out and brush his mouth across hers.
The best thing about watching her from here was that her defenses were down. She was relaxed, a faraway daydreaming look in her eyes as the constant rhythm of the copier lulled her mind into thoughts about something other than accounting. He didn’t know what she was thinking about, but the corner of her mouth curved in a smile. It made her face light up in a way he hadn’t seen before. She was always so proper and guarded around him.
It was then that she turned to glance down the hallway and spotted him. Her green gaze ran over the length of his body for just a moment, her tongue darting quickly across her bottom lip. He thought he caught the slightest hint of something other than derision in her eyes, but before he could be certain, she snatched her papers from the copier, turned on her heels and started off in the other direction.
She was avoiding him again. No more avoiding.
Jonah marched up behind her. She was easy to catch with those high heels slowing her escape. He spied one of the janitorial closets just to her right and got a bad idea. Without so much as a hello, he wrapped one arm around her waist and opened the door, tugging her inside.
“What on Earth—” she shrieked in surprise, but quickly silenced when the door slammed shut and they were suddenly cloaked in the darkness of the small space.
The room was slightly musty, smelling of industrial cleaner and old cardboard, but the subtle scent of her lotion cut through it all and sent a spike of need down his spine. Memories of the night with his butterfly flooded his mind in an instant. He’d made love to her in the small, private space of his laundry room when no place else was available. If he’d had a second chance with her, he would’ve made up for it with a bed covered in satin sheets and rose petals. That’s what she had deserved.
Again, like the laundry room, the janitorial supply room wasn’t the best or most romantic choice, but he would take what he could get. He had no intention of trying to seduce her here, but if this was the only way he had of getting her alone to talk, so be it. He was tired of this game.