“Please don’t go,” Chloe, Emma’s five-year-old sister, begged as she wrapped her arms around Emma’s legs.
Emma held back her tears as she turned and hugged her sister. “I don’t have a choice, baby girl.” She smoothed her hand down Chloe’s blonde locks hating the situation that she’d been put in.
“I know,” Chloe moaned. “At least Janie will be here to look after me. She’s fun.” Chloe bounced away from Emma, probably already forgotten that she didn’t want Emma to leave for the evening.
Emma really didn’t want to go out with her boss, Jeffrey Dahlin, tonight, but with the way he’d phrased the invite, it left no room for refusal. He’d made it clear that if she refused she didn’t have to bother showing up for work on Monday.
With Emma being left the soul guardian of her sister after their parents’ untimely death, money was tight. There were also medical bills for Chloe piling up due to her asthma.
But apart from him, Emma loved her job at Dahlin, Dahlin & Associates Law Firm in the town of Karim, Texas. Most days, Mr. Dahlin was too busy to take a personal interest in her, but for the past week he’d been too attentative. He made her feel very uneasy, and although she’d been ready for his invitation yesterday, she hadn’t wanted it.
Jeffrey Dahlin was in his fifties. When she’d first met him, she’d liked him in a way that one liked a boss. He was efficient and known for being a hell of a lawyer. He had a distinguished air about him. He was tall to Emma’s five foot six, and he had the onset of grey around his temples. His suits and shirts were always pressed, not a wrinkle in sight, and she was sure that he thought he was a catch. And maybe to some women he was, but she’d seen nothing but an older man who was respected in his field. Now, he made her stomach turn, which started the moment he began showering her with attention.
She liked to think that her working relationship with her boss was a good one, which is why she couldn’t decide just when he’d started to show an interest in her. She’s never done anything to cause a change in his attitude, and she certainly hadn’t dressed any differently.
Marie, Mr. Peter Dahlin’s personal assistant, had told Emma that Jeffrey Dahlin liked his women young, but that Emma should be all right considering he loved blonde hair. Emma had dark brown hair that touched her bottom when she wore it loose. How wrong was Marie? If it weren’t for Chloe, she would have told him what to do with his offer. It had been on the tip of her tongue, but she’d caught herself at the last minute.
Because of her situation, she’d said yes just as Mr. Dahlin had known she would. The bastard. And that was why she had spent the best part of an hour worrying about it while she tried to make one of her outfits work.
It had been so long since she’d gone out with a man, and while she was getting herself ready, she told herself that she shouldn’t make such an effort.
In the end, she hated herself for the fancy underwear she’d chosen. There was no way he would get a chance to see it, but it made Emma feel better knowing that, although her dress was drab, she was sexy underneath.
Tonight wasn’t a date; it was work. She needed to remember that little fact and she’d be good. It was a work date with her boss, who would never see what was under her clothes.
As she inhaled and exhaled a few times she finally felt settled. She needed to keep a façade of a prickly young woman in place in an effort to send Dahlin packing without him firing her. Emma could hope that he would get fed-up and want to end the evening early.
Holding a hand on her stomach to calm the butterflies flying around inside her belly, she glanced at the clock on her bedroom wall.
She had ten minutes before he arrived.
She fluffed her dark curls with her fingers before fastening her locks in a secure manner to the top of her head. She let some loose strands settle around her face before she applied pink lip-gloss.
Hearing running feet down the hallway, Emma turned just in time to watch her sister—who came flying into her bedroom at full speed—land on the bed. Luckily, the clothes that Emma had all over the bed earlier had been put away so there wasn’t much of a mess for Chloe to make.
Chloe was in the habit of running everywhere, which was why she always had scraped knees. Every week, Emma would have to make sure she stocked up on Band Aides.
“You don’t look very nice,” Chloe blurted while she looked Emma over. “That dress makes you look old.” She gazed up at Emma, her eyes wide with innocence.
Emma didn’t know how to reply to such a question. She certainly didn’t want to admit the truth. “It’s a business dinner so I thought this was appropriate.” She decided that she’d go with the truth she’d prefer to believe instead of the real reason her boss asked her out tonight. He’d been damn evasive about where he was taking her, which hadn’t helped with her unease about the whole night.
“Okay.” Chloe nodded, accepting her answer as she launched herself off the bed and ran back down the hall toward the living room. She hollered, “Emma, I forgot, Janie’s here.”
In a rush, Emma quickly tossed the rest of her clothes back into her closet. Unable to get the door to shut, she turned her back and tried to close it with her butt, and just managed it.
With a heavy sigh, she headed into the living room to make sure Chloe would behave for Janie who wasn’t exactly a spring chicken anymore. As she appeared, she burst into laughter when she saw Chloe sitting astride Janie while she applied brightly colored face paint to Janie’s face; red, yellow, blue, and, when Emma saw what had been done to Janie’s lips, she winced.
“I can see you two are going to have fun tonight. The black lipstick suits you,” she chuckled at Janie.
Janie narrowed her eyes. “I’ll get you back one of these days.”
Emma smiled knowing that Janie loved the time she spent with Chloe.
Many times, she’d noticed how lonely Janie seemed to be, and wished that she knew how to help her only friend in this town.
Everyone seemed to know everyone and they didn’t like new blood, as it had been pointed out to her on more than one occasion. The people of Karim had a habit of sticking to their own circle of friends and she wasn’t welcomed. Yes, she and Janie were close, but it was more a motherly reverence that Emma held for her.
It made her sad some days more than others because she’d never had that one friend you could talk to about anything.
She’d been a loner in school, and even though she’d tried harder to make and keep friends in high school, she’d never succeeded because she liked her own space.
Perhaps it would have made her feel better if she’d had someone to talk to about tonight. Someone who had more experience with men than she did—someone who could give her advice about how to handle any advances Dahlin made because he’d be making one.
“Hey, why are you looking so gloomy?” Janie entered the kitchen and retrieved a carton of milk from the fridge and a glass from the cupboard. “I thought you were going on a date?” Pouring the milk into the pink glass, Janie concentrated on what she was doing, which told Emma the wheels in Janie’s head were turning.
Once the milk was back in the fridge, she turned back to Emma. Janie’s gaze started at Emma’s face and then dropped to her feet before Janie looked up again—a frown marred her brow. “What’s really going on Emma? And please don’t tell me nothing.”
There was no way she could admit to Janie about Mr. Dahlin. She couldn’t let her know how unsettled she was, or the blackmail he was using to get her to go out with him tonight.
Going with a half-truth, Emma admitted, “I’m nervous. I mean he’s—” deep breath “—my boss.”
Janie went quiet while she let it sink in.
“It’s no wonder you’re nervous. You’ve never mentioned that you’re attracted to him. To hear you talk, I thought he was full of himself.”
Emma chuckled and turned so Janie wouldn’t see her wince at her accurate assumption. “Um, perhaps I’ve exaggerated some.”
“Hmm.”
The chime of the doorbell filled the kitchen.
Thank you! Emma briefly prayed to the heavens at being saved by the bell. But then her heart sank when she realized who was probably ringing the bell.
Luckily for Emma, she made it to the door in time to check the security glass before Chloe could open it. Her stomach felt lined with lead when she saw Dahlin on the other side.
It’s only one night, Emma.
“Oh, God,” she mumbled, her forehead rested against the door.
The doorbell chimed again.
“Emma?” Janie questioned, a frown marred her brow.
She needed to pull herself together and stop panicking. Tonight was going to happen regardless of whether she wanted it to or not.
She drew in a deep breath...inhaling before she exhaled with a sigh, and opened the front door to her grinning boss, whose smile momentarily slipped, as he looked her up and down.
He recovered quickly when he noticed Janie and Chloe hovering in the background. “Aren’t you going to invite me in and introduce me?” he asked.
Emma frowned because there was no way he wanted to meet her family. What was he up to?
She really wanted to say no, and was very tempted to give him a shove. Perhaps that would wipe the smirk from his smug lips. He was looking at her as though he couldn’t wait to get her alone. His penetrating grey eyes stared straight through her...no, it felt like they were staring straight through her clothes and he enjoyed what he was seeing. She cursed the sexy underwear she had underneath...she was positive that he knew she was wearing them.
She felt like hurling.