obviously loved him. But working together? Day in and day out? Could that be good for any couple?
“Because we need him,” said Katie, the tone of her voice subtly shifting to petulant.
Emma regrouped.
She wished Katie had discussed it with her. Not that Emma would have overruled her sister, but she might have been able to curb Katie’s impulsive nature.
“Did you at least get help from Human Resources?” McKinley had a top notch HR department.
“What? I can marry him, but I can’t hire him?”
“Katie-”
“Really, Emma.”
Emma clenched her jaw. HR checked references and aligned suitable people with suitable jobs. What would they do if David didn’t work out?
Now she struggled to keep the censure out of her voice. “What’s he going to do?”
Katie pushed out her bottom lip.
“Katie?”
“Vice President of Special Projects Overseas.”
Emma pressed her thumb against the jagged facets of the ring. This time when the memory of Alex popped up, it was strangely comforting. “I see.”
“He’s got contacts in Europe and all over the Caribbean.”
Emma nodded. She wasn’t aware they had problems in Europe or the Caribbean.
“He’s going after convention business and tour clubs.”
Emma couldn’t hold her tongue completely. “Are you sure that’s not too much togetherness?” She wanted Katie to be happy, truly she did. But there was something about this situation that made her uneasy. For Katie’s sake. For the company’s.
“You and Alex are going to work together,” said Katie.
“But Alex and I aren’t-”
“Getting married.”
Emma jerked her thumb away from the ring. “Falling in love.”
“So? Love makes it easier for me and David to work together.”
Emma struggled to find fault with that logic. Technically, she supposed it should be true. Katie and David actually liked and respected each other. Where Alex and Emma couldn’t come within ten feet without arguing or… worse.
Fingers spread, Katie raked her blond hair back over her forehead. “Quite frankly, Emma, if you’re going to worry about anyone working together, I’d worry about you and Alex.”
Emma was already worried about that.
She resisted the urge to touch the ring again.
Quite frankly, she was getting more worried by the hour.
Seven
Emma braced herself for Alex’s entrance.
Her admin assistant, Jenny, had just spent three minutes warning of his arrival, an excited lilt to her voice as she watched him walk through the long office foyer and relayed his every move to Emma.
According to Jenny, Alex was wearing a charcoal suit, a black shirt and a silver-and-blue striped tie that picked up the sunshine through the skylights. He didn’t look upset, but he didn’t look particularly happy either. And, by the way, had Emma ever noticed the delicate cleft in his chin or the way his gray eyes sparkled silver in direct sunlight?
By the time Emma got off the intercom, she only had thirty seconds to smooth her blazer and brace herself for the onslaught of emotions that were sure to be brought on by his presence.
She’d stay on this side of the desk. He’d stay on that side. She wouldn’t touch him, or smell him or look too closely into his eyes. And she would not touch that annoying diamond while he was in the room.
The oak door swung open, the air current swaying the leaves on her ponytail palm.
She came to her feet to face not happy, not angry Alex, with his sparkling silver eyes.
“Hello, darling,” he greeted for Jenny’s benefit before he clicked the door shut behind him.
She drew a bracing breath. “Can I help you with something?” They hadn’t made another appointment to meet, although she knew they had an endless number of things to work out.
“Brought you a present.”
Please, God. No more jewelry. Her right hand went to the ring before she remembered to jerk it back.
But he tossed an envelope on her desk. “Our prenup.”
She glanced at the thick manila envelope. “You wrote it without me?”
He eased down into one of her guest chairs. “Trust me.”
“Ha.” She peeled back the flap and took her own seat.
It was a single page, duly signed and notarized. Alex got half of McKinley upon their marriage, and if either of them initiated divorce proceedings within two years of the marriage, the other got ten percent of their net worth.
She looked up to see him smile. There wasn’t a single thing she could complain about. It meant she couldn’t have a relationship for a couple of years. But she’d expected that. If anything, the agreement favored her.
Then she set the paper down on her desk. “What exactly is your net worth?”
“Less than Nathaniel’s. More than yours.”
“Who’s Nathaniel?”
“My cousin. He’ll be the best man.”
She glanced back down at the agreement. “You’ve already signed.”
“I have.”
“You’re obviously not planning to divorce me anytime soon.”
“Not a chance.”
Emma picked up her phone and dialed the two-digit extension for Jenny’s desk. “Can you bring somebody over from Legal?”
“Right away,” Jenny confirmed.
“Thanks.” Emma hung up the phone. “Probably be about five minutes,” she told Alex.
He nodded. “I hear you hired David Cranston.”
“Where’d you hear that?”
Alex shrugged. “I told you the hotel business was a tight-knit community.”
“Katie hired him,” said Emma, then she immediately regretted the admission.
“Without talking to you?”
Emma hesitated. “We talked.”
“You’re lying.”
“I am not. And how dare you-”
“And you agreed to this?”
Emma compressed her lips.
Alex stared hard into her eyes. Despite her resolve, and despite the knowledge that she’d ramp up her unruly hormones, she gazed right back into his.
“She told you after the fact,” he guessed.
“But I wouldn’t have stopped her.”
“But you don’t like it.”
Emma stood up. “No,” she admitted, pacing toward the picture window. “I don’t like it. But it’s her relationship, her decision. And it’s certainly none of your business.”
Alex stood. “Oh, yes it is.”
She turned. “You going to micromanage Katie’s staff?”
