“I love dogs, I love dogs, I love dogs,” she repeated under her breath as she very reluctantly disengaged herself from Trevor’s arms.
“Then I love big backyards with well-built fences and self-serve doggy doors,” Trevor said, rolling over to cover the spot she’d just vacated with his amazingly stunning body and burying his face in her pillow.
She had to curl her fingers into her palms until the bite of her nails proved that yes, in fact, she really was awake. And that remarkably fine ass she was staring at, had, just recently, been cupped into the curve of her body. Really. She didn’t get this lucky. Except she just had. And, if she played her cards right, was about to get lucky again. And maybe again.
Merry Christmas, indeed.
He turned just enough to cock one eye open to look at her. “You’re staring.”
“Sue me,” she said. “You have a world-class backside, and I get to have my hands all over it again. So, I’m going to stare. You’ll have to get used to it from me. Promise me you won’t move and I’ll be the fastest little dog-walker in Virginia.”
“As long as those hands are warm when you get back, you have a deal.”
But a moment later, before she could scramble around and find her clothes, shivering in the morning cold—still no electricity apparently—Trevor was dragging himself into an upright sitting position and raking his hand through his hair. He did rumpled, morning-after beard stubble really well, too. “Wait a second, and I’ll go with you.”
“You don’t have to do that. Enjoy the warm bed. It’s freezing out here. We should probably rebuild the fire. I think the dogs will be okay in the house while it’s light outside, but if we keep the fire going in the parlor, too, I’m betting they’ll just stay up here where it’s warmer. I can put Cicero in his smaller, portable cage and move him in there, too. He shouldn’t be anywhere drafty.”
“Which is why I’m going to go with you and help.”
“Trevor—”
“Emma,” he said, only it was quite adorable and she had to admit, she rather liked hearing him say her name, in any tone.
“Would it help if I said my willingness to help you was entirely selfish in motivation?”
“A great deal. I guilt very easily.”
He grinned at that. “I am not a greedy man when it comes to money or possessions, however, it’s becoming apparent I am going to be a very greedy man when it comes to you.”
She smiled. “I’m listening.”
“So, if I help with critter control and fire patrol, then that means I get you back here sooner rather than later.”
“What about your search?” She put the question out there quite deliberately. The real world was going to come back, and she didn’t think she could bear keeping this wonderful cocoon of cozy perfection going any longer without poking a little bit to see how sturdy a cocoon it was going to be.
“It’ll be waiting for us—if you want to join me, that is—.”
She hurried to button her jeans. “I’ll walk the dogs and move Cicero if you rebuild the fires and dig up something to eat.”
“A deal which I’d be a fool not to take, but I guilt easily, too. And I can’t have you turning into popsicles with the pupsicles, while I’m all warm inside. Doesn’t seem right.”
“Except I’m getting paid to take them out. It’s not like I’m being the altruistic one.”
“Meaning if they were our dogs, you’d just say screw it and jump back into bed with me?”
“Well, no, because then I’d be obligated as their owner to take care of them. If we had dogs, which we don’t.”
“Do you? Have dogs, I mean?”
“No. I can’t where I live. Which I hate, but I’ll get my own place eventually. So, I have everybody else’s dogs. And cats. The occasional guinea pig. I’m an all-service pet provider, you see.”
He looked over her as she tugged on her sweater. “I happen to like what I see.”
“I’m sure I look rather frightening at the moment, but you lie really well. You must really be feeling…greedy.”
“I never lie.” He scooted his legs off the edge of the bed, still quite beautifully naked, and snaked out a hand, snagging her wrist, and tugging her into his lap. “Not about you. Not about this.”
“This?” she asked, this time knowing exactly what he meant, but delighting in letting him express it.
He smiled, and he was such a beautiful man, in ways that went far past his surface beauty, it made her heart catch a little.
“Yeah,” he said, softly. “This.” And he tipped her chin up and claimed her mouth with a kiss that was unlike any they’d shared yet, and they’d shared many during their night together. It was morning, and there had been no bathroom-toothbrush run, so she should have been cringing, but the fairy tale continued and it was simply warm, sweet, and magically wonderful. She really, really didn’t want the real world reality check that was likely in store.
She sighed as he lifted his mouth from hers, and kissed the tip of her nose, then the corner of her eye, then her temple, before pulling her more deeply into his arms. Tended to, indeed. She’d always been the caregiver—strong, healthy, and never thinking about needing it herself. And she was still all those things…but this touched her on a level, soothed her on a level she hadn’t realized needed soothing. Maybe everybody needed tending to, in some way. Maybe he’d been right, about finding your path in life, then sharing it with the person who would enhance the joy already found in it.
Jack’s howl reached new heights of discomfort, making them both laugh. She got up from Trevor’s lap, and liked that he reluctantly let her go, but did, indeed, let her go. He might be greedy—which she heartily endorsed—but he wasn’t selfish. Another trait to admire and respect.
“I’m on dog patrol, you’re fire captain. We’ll meet back here in, say, twenty minutes?”
“You drive a hard bargain.”
She grinned. “No, I believe you’re the one who will have to do that.”
“Cute.”
She leaned in and kissed the tip of his nose, surprising him, and maybe delighting him a little with the unexpected move. “Yes, you are. And after the hard bargain, we can arm wrestle over who has to figure out what to have for breakfast.”
“I’ll help.”
“I’ll let you. I’ll feed the dogs. Then we’ll hunt. And if we can get the power back on, I believe there is a game on later today that has stakes attached to it. If you’re very lucky, you’ll win, and I won’t have to cook.”
“How is it lucky for me to end up cooking?”
She walked to the door. “Did I mention I make really good dessert?”
“Maybe, but I’m thinking you’d make a really a good dessert, so we’ll arm wrestle for that later, too.”
She was smiling when she left the room. And despite the fact that the air in the house was downright frigid, she all but danced down the hallway, let two very anxious dogs out of the parlor, then floated down the stairs and got all three of them into their outdoor winter gear, and out into the frigid, gray morning…still smiling all the while.
And the smile was still on her face right up until the moment she stepped back into the Florida room, and faced a no-longer-smiling Trevor.
Apparently the reality check had begun.
13
“Lionel called,” Trevor said.
“Okay,” Emma said, cautiously, not entirely sure yet exactly what he was frowning about. But given the phone still in his hand, Emma could hazard a guess it wasn’t going to be good. “Wishing us a happy holiday, was he?” Her attempt to lighten the mood fell flat, but his expression did smooth a little.
“I debated on answering it, but I know I’ve put you in an awkward and potentially costly situation with him, so I thought a good offense would be your best defense.”
She appreciated that he’d thought of her. It hadn’t occurred to her what her liaison with Trevor might cost her, in terms of her new career, but she realized she didn’t much
care. Some things were more important, and what Lionel Hamilton thought of her was quickly becoming unimportant. “Not so much, huh?”
“Not so much.”
Emma grabbed two towels and handed him one. Better to keep going through the motions of things being normal. Which was sort of ridiculous since nothing about being here was part of her own personal normal. She started rubbing Jack down. “What did he say about you being here?”
“I told him why I was here.”
“Which went over marvelously, apparently.”
“Actually, he was surprised I was still thinking about it. It’s been a number of years since the subject has come up.”
“But he still wouldn’t tell you. He does know the truth, right?”
“I assume so, but I’m not sure. I know he knows there are things in our family history he’s not particularly proud of, and he’s an intensely proud man. Which is mostly why he’d just as soon I forget my little hunt and pretend I’m fine with who I am and what I was born into. It flabbergasts him that I’d want to believe any different.”
“Do you?” She rocked back on her haunches when he frowned at her. “I mean, what are you hoping to find? That you really are a Hamilton, or that you’re from some other genetic pool?”
“I—I don’t know, really. I mean, I’ve asked myself that. A thousand times. But I’ve grown up a lot in the past six or seven years, and I’m looking more to my future than to my past. It’s more just an old doubt that I need to lay to rest, I guess.”
“What did Lionel say about it?”
“He told me that while he didn’t appreciate my subterfuge, he wanted me to just be done with it, once and for all, then never speak of it again.”
Emma smiled. “Not a surprise, given what you’ve said about him. So…did you tell him you’d found the hidden room in his study?”
“I didn’t mention the avalanche, but yes.”
“And?”
“And he’s rightfully pissed off that I was snooping in what wasn’t mine, but he didn’t bluster too much when I reminded him that I wouldn’t have needed to snoop if he had just treated this like the adult conversation it should have been, years ago, and told me what he knew.”
Emma patted Jack on the head and scratched at his ears, then pushed to a stand. “Why do you think he won’t? I mean, I know he’s a proud man, but…do you think that whatever you unwittingly prodded him to uncover would rock the family in some other way? And, by extension, the foundation of Hamilton Industries?”
Trevor stopped rubbing Martha and looked at her. “You know…I never really thought about that. I mean, it’s a couple generations past, so far as I know, so I wouldn’t think so, but—”
“So, legally, it could still matter. If the liaison was something that might jeopardize true ownership of the company, or something earthshaking like that. Maybe it’s not just a matter of him being embarrassed by family skeletons, but there’s something serious and specific he doesn’t want to get out. Any idea who the adulterous liaison in question might have been with? A rival of some sort, perhaps?”
Trevor tossed the damp towel on the laundry pile with the others and shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans.
Emma was momentarily distracted by the realization when his pants rode down to reveal…more skin, that he wasn’t wearing anything under his jeans.
“Like I said, it was generations ago. I’m not sure how it would still be that critical.”
“Hamilton Industries is more than a few generations old.”
“True, but aren’t there limits on certain things?”
“Legally, maybe. But this is a small county, with close ties. It might not matter what the law says. People’s opinion does hold a lot of sway and everybody loves a scandal.”
Trevor sighed, then swore under his breath. “Everything you’re saying…thinking back over my conversations with Lionel…I think you might be right. I can’t believe I never went in that direction.”
“Why would you have? All you wanted to know was who was in your direct lineage. Did he tell you where the answers were?”
“He said everything I needed to know was in the hidden room.”
Emma’s gaze jerked up to his. “Then why are we standing here?”
“Because,” he said, a hint of a smile coming out now. “Perversely, now that I’ve been handed the key to unlock my own personal kingdom, given what you’ve just said, I’m not sure I want to know what I’ve inherited.”
Emma smiled. “It’s perfectly normal to be nervous, but…you have to know. I mean, you do know that, right? You can’t let anything I’ve said change your mind. I know you’re looking to the future, and that’s right and good and healthy, but…this is a part of who you are.”
“More foundation talk?” he said, smiling, even though he was clearly distracted, his mind probably on new ideas, possible other answers.
“Yeah, of a sort. Do you want me to go with you? Or would you rather go through things alone?” Then another thought occurred to her. “Or…were you coming to tell me you wanted me to leave altogether? Did Lionel fire me for letting you in?”
Trevor reached for her then, and pulled her into his arms. It felt like forever since she’d been there, and she was very happy to be back.
“I did tell him you had nothing to do with letting me in. And no, he hasn’t fired you. In fact, he didn’t even ask after you. He’s not exactly known for treating his hired help like human beings, but then I gather you’ve noticed that.”
“So…he doesn’t know about—”
“Us?”
She smiled, she couldn’t help it. She liked that word. A lot. “Yeah. Us. Is that going to cause other problems for you?” She tried to move out of his arms, her smile fading. “Because this is a much bigger thing than you and I—”
“You and I are a very big thing. And, when Lionel finds out, he’ll feel about it however he feels. I’m not particularly concerned about that.”
“Okay,” she said, trusting him on that. Besides, she wasn’t going to fall apart if every last thing wasn’t perfect. It was pretty damn perfect enough.
“I will be honest and say that I’m not sure how it might impact your future business opportunities in Randolph County. Lionel can be…punitive. And since I don’t know what I’m going to find—”
She stopped him. “Why don’t you do that, then we’ll worry about my business opportunities or sudden lack thereof.”
He kissed her then, surprising her with the intensity of it.
“What was that for?”
“Your business opportunities or lack thereof are a real problem. What I find in that room is an ancient one. It’ll wait.”
“Trevor—”
“Let me ask you something, and I know it’s a bit over-reaching, all things considered, but…Does your family live here? In Virginia, I mean?”
She shook her head. “Connecticut. Much like you, I went to college here, stayed. I work with my college roommate, or did, for your uncle’s company. Chelsea still does, in HR, but I quit seven months ago after I inherited some money from my grandma on my mom’s side. I was good at my job, but I hated it. I love animals, and always wanted to work with them. I can’t stand to see them suffering though, so being a vet was out. I came up with the pet-sitting service idea and…” She smiled. “I’m babbling again.”
“You’re human. And I like mine imperfect.”
She laughed. “Well, you’re getting that with me in spades.”
“So…seven-month-old business.” He pulled her more tightly against him. “Did you know that there are pets in need of sitting in North Carolina? At least, I’m assuming there must be.”
“Huh,” she thought aloud, trying to be calm and casual, when her insides were erupting into a party of hope and expectation. Was he really saying what she thought he was saying? “Is that so?”
“I think it is quite probably so. Maybe you’d consider relocating. Just saying to think about it. We can figure things o
ut long distance if you want, or I could even think about—”
She cut him off with a kiss. “Did I mention I love an adventure?”
“No. No, I don’t believe you did. But I’m immensely happy that you do. So, you’ll consider it? After we’ve had time to make sure that—”
“How much time would that be?”
He grinned. “Want to celebrate the new year in Chapel Hill? Test things out?”
“If we can celebrate after I’m done house-sitting.”
“That can be arranged.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck. “You know, Santa is being very, very good to me this year.”
He scooped her up against him. “That Santa is a hell of a guy, I hear.”
“Well,” she said, kissing him, “he’s got some competition.”
The kiss started out gentle and sweet, but quickly turned into something fiery and passionate. He started to back walk her out of the kitchen, and toward the staircase leading upstairs.
“Trevor,” she said, sighing as he started his way along her neck with those kisses she already knew would drive her wild. “The hidden room. Your legacy.”
“Is in my arms.”
She melted a little, but moved away from his tempting lips all the same. “You want to know. It’s there for you.”
“I don’t think it’s going to change anything. Being a Hamilton or not. I mean, it is who I am, like it or not. It’s helped me, whether I’ve wanted it to or not. But I like who I’ve become, on my own, and whether or not there’s another surname out there I don’t know about that should rightfully be mine, what’s come to me through the family is mine. But that doesn’t matter now. Because I know what I am, and what I’m not.”
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