Full Bloom

marriage wasn't going to last, I refused to let myself think I had a right to approach you. You were too young, too soft and gentle. I was too old for you, too battle scarred, and to top it all off I was about to be divorced. Besides, I knew your family would be furious if they realized I wanted you, and I knew you probably wouldn't have been able to take them on for my sake."
    Emily sat frozen as she listened to him. Suddenly she could hardly catch her breath. "And after the divorce," she demanded tightly, "why didn't you say anything then?"
    "After the divorce I was feeling bitter and disillusioned. I wanted my freedom again but I also wanted you. I was trying to figure out how to approach you when Brad Carlton came on the scene. Without any warning you were announcing your engagement, Your family asked me to get rid of Carlton and I was more than happy to do it. I delighted in doing it. But afterward I knew you hated my guts because I was the one who'd been sent to buy off the jerk. I felt like the guy who takes the little girl's teddy bear away from her and stomps it into the mud.
    "I figured I'd get over you," Jacob admitted. "After all, there wasn't much to get over. We hadn't even been to bed together. And I knew you sure as hell weren't pining for me. Your heart was set on Carlton."
    "You were right on that point!" Emily was seething again. He would never know that she had taken refuge in Brad's easygoing attentions because she had been so certain there was no hope for a relationship with Jacob. "I don't believe this. You have the nerve to sit there and tell me you'd like to have an affair with me?"
    "Yes."
    "After what you've done to me?" she demanded disbelievingly.
    "I haven't done anything to you. But I've done a couple of very large favors for you. Twice I've saved you from getting married to men who only wanted you because of your connection to Ravenscroft International. One of these days you'll thank me."
    Emily was almost speechless. He sounded so sincere. "Don't hold your breath waiting for me to throw myself at your feet in gratitude," she finally snapped.
    "I won't." He smiled faintly. The pale glow of the dashboard instruments revealed the underlying grimness of his expression.
    "Does my family know about your interest in me?"
    "I haven't discussed it with them."
    "I'm not surprised. They'd tear you to shreds."
    He gave her an odd look. "Not likely. Who would they send to do the job?"
    "What?" She was beginning to have a problem following this discussion. It dazed her to think that all this time Jacob might really have wanted her. It wasn't possible. It was some new game he was playing. It had to be.
    "You called me an enforcer. Someone paid to intimidate and coerce others," he reminded her.
    "Right," she agreed rashly.
    "If your family wanted to intimidate or coerce me, who would they get to do it? Who do you send to intimidate a professional intimidator?"
    It was too much. Emily began to feel a little lightheaded. "I don't think I want to talk about this anymore. This whole evening is beginning to take on a distinct air of unreality. I just want to go home and go to bed."
    "I'll see to it," he promised softly.
    "You do that." She was silent for a moment and then, frantic to change the subject in order to give herself time to think, she went on. "You said you hadn't worked for Ravenscroft for two months. Why did my family contact you to check out Damon Morrell?"
    "Your father and brother knew I was back in the country looking into the possibility of establishing a consulting firm. They contacted me and asked me to do it as a favor. They didn't want to hire an outside investigator if they could avoid it. The fewer people who knew about the situation, the better, as far as they were concerned. They assumed you'd feel more comfortable knowing it was all being kept under close wraps."
    "They thought I'd appreciate their thoughtfulness in using you again? They actually thought it would be easier to be humiliated twice by the same man than it would be to be embarrassed by two different investigators?"
    "Emily, everyone knew it was going to be hard on you. Give your family credit for trying their best to handle things discreetly."
    "What about you? Did you think it would be easier on me knowing you were the messenger boy in both cases?" she asked bitterly.
    "Like I said. I did it for your own good."
    "Do me a favor, Stone. If you promise not to tell me one more time that you were only involved in this