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Initiative in the flesh, plus confidence and curiosity. All packaged as a prim, proper, mousy nanny who had a pretty smile when she let it show. Emma would work out nicely. The more she dealt with, the more he could retreat.
“You might not like your hometown, but I love the quaint shops and cafés.” She rested her head against the back of the seat, her shoulder brushing his. “Quintessential Pacific Northwest coastal town.”
Her wistful, romantic tone annoyed him. So did the tingle racing down his arm from where she’d touched him. “Forest and water, Emma. Please. Don’t get all rose-tinted on me, okay? This is Hicksville and being here held me back, badly. I never would have amounted to anything if I’d stayed in Haley’s Bay. This place was suffocating.”
The words rushed from his mouth before he could stop them. He’d never said these thoughts before. Weird. He was more careful and reserved around strangers. Around people he knew, too.
She tilted her head, attention fixed on him. Her focus unsettled him. He was used to being deferred to. Most bosses were. Emma must not have gotten the memo.
Of course she hadn’t. She consulted with parents and left when they didn’t agree. A free agent unused to following the chain of command. Like him when he’d started his business. How unexpected.
“What?” he asked finally.
“You...” She pursed her lips, full and unglossed.
He prepared for a lecture. Wanted to hear what she had to say if she didn’t drag on for more than a minute or so.
“...couldn’t have done a better job at getting away and making something of yourself.”
The praise filled him with unexpected warmth. Most people complimented him, but AJ never knew if they meant the words or were trying to suck up to him. Emma didn’t seem to be the kind of person to belong in that second group. “Thanks. There’s more—”
She nodded to him, as if encouraging him to continue. “More what?”
Damn. AJ balled one of his hands. He didn’t know why he kept telling Emma things. He didn’t let his guard down around anyone, friend or employee. Fresh-smelling hair and pretty smile aside.
“More I want to do. Places to visit.” Not what he intended to say, but the words were true and the perfect way to change the subject. “Are there places you’d like to travel?”
“Anywhere.”
“In the world?”
She nodded. “The farthest from Portland I’ve been is Puerto Vallarta. It’s hard to get around the flying.”
“You flew today.”
“To help Libby.” Emma’s gaze returned to the view out the window. The limousine followed the road along the bay toward his grandmother’s house. “I should have suggested driving myself and meeting you here, but I was so worried about Libby I wasn’t thinking straight.”
He knew the feeling being with Emma. “When it’s time for you to return to Portland, my driver will take you home.”
She glanced around the limousine, taking in the multiple screens, leather seats, bar. “This is your, um, car.”
AJ nodded. “Charlie drove down from Seattle this morning. I never intended on flying to Haley’s Bay, but I didn’t want to leave Libby alone in New York. She’s too valuable to me. If I’d known she hadn’t been feeling well before we’d left on the trip, I never would have taken her along, but she hid her abdominal pains until they became acute. I waited for her mother to arrive, made sure she was settled and comfortable, then flew here with a couple stops along the way.”
“Oh.”
The surprise in the one word spoke volumes. Emma Markwell had thought the worst of him. She wasn’t the only one, especially here in Haley’s Bay. “You assumed I left Libby in the hospital alone.”
“Maybe.”
“That means yes.”
Emma stared up at him through her eyeglasses, her cheeks red and a contrite look on her face. “It’s nice to know you didn’t. Leave Libby, that is.”
Not a full compliment, but better than being slammed for something he didn’t do. Still, he liked the idea of making Emma squirm since she’d done the same to him. “You’re backpedaling.”
“Not really.”
“I’m a nice guy.”
Emma raised an arched brow. “Are you always nice?”
Damn. “I try to be.”
“Trying doesn’t always work.”
“No, but I can tell myself I didn’t set out to be a jerk.”
“Is this something you tell yourself often?” she teased.
Her sense of humor had returned. She would need every funny bone with his family. “You’ll be able to answer that question on Sunday.”
“That sounds like I should be worried.”
“Maybe.”
Emma laughed. “Guess I deserve that.”
The limousine pulled to a stop. The engine turned off.
AJ glanced to his right. His grandmother’s Victorian stood peacock-blue and proud across a lawn of manicured grass and blooming flower beds. His heart beat like a halyard on a mast. “We’re here.”
“Wow. Your grandmother’s home is perfect. Even with the water right here, the house is what shines.”
He recognized the awe in Emma’s voice. A familiar sense of reverence—of home—brought an unexpected smile to his face. “The house has been in our family for generations.”
Emma’s eyes widened. “That’s a long time to stay in one place.”
“Coles have lived in Haley’s Bay since the Civil War.”
Her gaze bounced from the house to him. “The house isn’t that old.”
“My great grandfather bought the house ninety years ago. He liked the view of the bay.”
“Let me guess, he was a fisherman.”
“And boat builder.”
Emma looked over her shoulder at the bay. She took her time, allowed her gaze to absorb what she saw. “Lovely.”
The dreamy haze in her eyes and a soft smile on her face made her lovely, too. He shook the thought from his head. “The view from the second floor is better. You can see the harbor.”
Charlie opened the door.
AJ motioned for Emma to go first.
She slung her bag over her shoulder and clasped the plastic handle on the cat carrier. Moving toward the open door, she looked like she might topple out of the car. He didn’t need her to get hurt. One personal assistant in the hospital was enough.
He took the carrier from her. “I’ve got the cat.”
Her gaze met his then she looked away. “Thank you.”
AJ followed her out and stood on the sidewalk. Vividly painted terra-cotta flowerpots full of colorful pink, purple and yellow blossoms sat on each step leading to the wraparound porch. His sister Bailey’s creations, he was sure, the sight comforting as his grandma’s crocheted afghans. He only hoped his dad wasn’t part of the welcoming committee.
AJ gestured to the steps. “After you.”
Halfway up, Emma stopped. “There’s a swing.”
The breathless quality to her voice surprised him. He peered around her to see the white slotted-back, two-person bench hanging from thick silver chains. “Looks like my grandmother replaced her old swing. She used to love to drink tea out here and watch the boats. Guess she still does.”
“We had a swing.” Emma took the last two stairs. “Boy, did we abuse that thing. My mom got so mad at us.”
A bright, toothpaste-ad smile lit up her face.
AJ’s chest tightened. Emma looked so lighthearted and happy. She should smile more.
He joined her on the porch. “Us?”
Something—not panic, perhaps surprise—flashed in her eyes. “My, um, older brother.”
“My younger brothers and I played on Grandma’s old swing all the time. Had to fix it more than once after climbing and hanging off the chains.” He set the cat carrier on the porch. “We used to stand on the backrest and swing to see how high we could go. We also jumped off the seat to see if we could clear the porch rail and bushes.”
She leaned over the rail as if estimating the distance down to the lawn. “Sounds dangerous.”
He bit back a laugh. “You sound like a nanny.”
“Occupational hazard.” Her amused gaze met his. “But you can’t tell me no one got hurt.”
He pointed under his chin. “I have a scar to show for the fun we had. My youngest brother, Grady, has two.”
“Your poor grandmother.”
“She didn’t mind. Now our mom—”
The front door opened.
“You’re here.” His grandma stood in the doorway. She wore a pair of light blue pants and a white peasant blouse. All five feet of short gray curls and sharp blue eyes barreled toward him like a stampeding water buffalo, albeit a baby one. “You’re finally home.”
Not his home. He lived in Seattle. But the excitement in her voice reminded AJ that this visit wasn’t about him.
AJ hugged his grandmother. Her rose-scented perfume smelled sweeter than when she’d visited him in Seattle. “It’s not like you gave me a choice, Grandma.”
She tsked, stepped back and assessed him from head to toe. “I like the long hair, but you need the ends trimmed. Go visit Monty at the barbershop. He’ll fix you right up.”
AJ shook his head. “Nice to see you, too, Grandma.”
Emma laughed under her breath.
“Grandmother.” He motioned to his new assistant, who stood with a patient smile on her face and her arm half-extended toward his grandmother. “I’d like you to meet—”
“Is he here?” A high-pitched female voice called from inside the house. “Grandmother Cole? Is he?”
“AJ is here.” Grandma leaned closer, lowering her voice. “Risa has been waiting for you to arrive all morning. Her youngest sister is here, too. And she can’t wait to meet the illustrious and incredibly wealthy AJ Cole.”
Danger-up-ahead infused his grandmother’s tone. His gut clenched. He’d heard about his sister-in-law’s matchmaking from his sister Bailey. Two brothers and his youngest sister, Camden, had been targeted over the holidays last year, making Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners uncomfortable. “I thought her sister lived far away.”
“Hawaii,” Grandma said. “But I suppose meeting a billionaire was worth the expense of a trip to the mainland.”
Crap. AJ blew out a puff of air. Matchmaking friends and relatives were as bad as a case of chicken pox. Enough women wanted a piece of his bank account. He didn’t need an in-law giving one of her sisters a push or inside access to him. On a rare vacation. That he already dreaded. This was not-not-not going to happen.
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