What The Heart Knows Read Free Page B

conditioner sample
sizes in the shower were expensive brands. Which was also smart.
    He
moved back into the bedroom, wondering what would possess someone to
make such good choices in the toiletries and such poor choices in
decorating. Maybe it was simply something as simple as money issues.
Which would no longer be a problem with EM Corporation footing the
bill. The sky would be the limit in upgrades.
    He
walked toward the window, opening it and looking out on the town.
There was a crashing sound in the hallway, followed by Emily's voice,
“Damn it damn it damn it,” she said, and he heard her
walking closer, then rapping on his door.
    Curiously,
he walked over and opened it. There she was, rubbing her knee with
one of her hands. There was some kind of bottle in the other. “You
alright?” he asked, not even trying to mask the humor in his
voice.
    “Fine,”
she snapped. Of course he heard her fall. “Here,” she
said, holding out a bottle of scotch to him. “this is for you.
I was under direct orders to bring it to you myself,” she said,
angry. Freaking Eric O'reilly. She was going to make him pay for that
little prank some day.
    James
took the bottle, finding a note attached and opening it. He smiled,
reading it out loud. “If you're going to be dealing with Em
on a daily basis, you're going to need every drop of this. - Eric”
    “That's
Lena's boyfriend,” Emily supplied.
    “Yeah,
I know,” James said. Of course he knew. He worked with Lena for
years before she decided to fall in love with the local mechanic and
start a baking business. Of all things. “He's a wise man,”
James said, smiling at her.
    “He's
a moron,” Emily rolled her eyes. “Besides,” she
said, crossing her arms. “I got two dozen brownies from Lena
for having to deal with you.”
    “Trade
you a shot for a brownie,” James said, holding up the bottle.
    “Not
a chance in hell, pretty boy,” she shook her head.
    “Pretty,
huh? I thought you said I'm not your type.”
    She
hated him. Right then and there, no matter how attractive he was, or
how charming... she hated him. She needed to go downstairs and plow
into those brownies until she wasn't thinking about pushing him into
that room and tearing his clothes off. Which, she was totally
convinced, was a normal reaction to hating someone.
    She
needed to calm herself down. It was only hour one and she was already
losing her cool. If he wasn't so cocky she might have been able to
just let it slide. Cocky. Good looking. Fun sense of style. He was
exactly her type.
    “You're
not,” she said, her tone not even convincing to her own ears.
    James
raised a brow. “Tell you what,” he started. “you go
binge eat... six or so of those brownies to try to feel better about
your overwhelming attraction to me...” he held up a hand as she
opened her mouth to object again. He had her number and she knew it.
“and then meet me downstairs for a tour in say... thirty
minutes?”
    Emily
lifted her chin. Orders. He was giving her orders. They were phrased
like a question, but they were orders. So it was starting. She
slipped a sickeningly sweet hospitality smile on her face. “I
would enjoy nothing more than showing you all the exits from the
building,” she said and turned to walk away.
    “Miss.
Brennan.”
    Of
course he wasn't going to let her have the last word. Or her haughty
little exit. She took a deep breath and turned, eyebrow raised.
    “Game
on,” he said, the side of his lips turned up slightly.
    Oh,
that bastard.

Three

    Emily
stormed into the kitchen a moment later, knocking into one of the
servers carrying a handful of dirty dishes toward the dishwasher.
    “He's
that bad, huh?” Meggie, the main cook asked as she stirred
something on the stove.
    Meggie
was a transplant. She showed up in Stars Landing one day with her
fancy culinary degree and an ability to deal with Marion's mood
swings about the menu. She was incredibly short and just shy of
overweight. She had a tendency