The Seduction Request. Michelle Celmer
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heart skipped a beat—then it felt as though it had stopped beating altogether. If there was a last woman in the world he wanted to seduce—or more to the point, should seduce—it was Ty’s sister Emily. “You’re kidding. Right?”
Ty’s expression was serious. “I know you guys had some kind of falling out before you left for California, but before you say no, hear me out.”
“Falling out” was a mild way of describing what had transpired between himself and Emily. More like, he’d broken her heart and deserted her. But to have led her into thinking there was hope of a relationship would have been dishonest. Despite what he’d felt for her, she deserved more than he was willing to give. And though they’d vowed to remain friends, things had never quite been the same after their one night together.
He’d never been the same.
But it wouldn’t hurt at least to hear Ty out before he said hell no. He crossed his arms over his chest and took a seat on an unoccupied sawhorse. “I’m listening.”
“There’s a problem with Emily’s boyfriend.”
A sensation that felt too much like jealousy soured his stomach. Of course Emily would have a boyfriend. She was a grown woman. Did he really think she’d been in limbo all these years, unable to love anyone but him?
Well, a guy could hope…
No. He shouldn’t hope things like that. He didn’t. He wanted Emily to be happy. She deserved to be happy. “What kind of problem?” he asked Ty.
“I know she wants to get married and have a family, but this guy is in no hurry to commit. It’s a dead-end relationship. I think deep down she’s unhappy but isn’t ready to admit it to herself. I’m sure it’ll only take a nudge and she’ll realize the mistake she’s making. That’s where you come in.”
“What am I supposed to do?”
“Spend time with her. Show her how much happier she could be without him. My parents and I have tried to talk to her about it, but you know how stubborn she can be. She’ll stay with the guy on principle alone if it proves us wrong.”
“Ty, I’m not in the market for a wife and family. If that’s what she’s looking for, she’s not going to find it in me, and I won’t lie.”
“I’m not asking you to lie. By all means be honest with her.”
“I’m a little fuzzy on the seducing concept. How far do you expect me to take this?”
“As far as you have to.”
Matt could hardly believe what Ty was suggesting. “We are talking about the same Emily, right? Your twin sister. The same sister guys were afraid to ask out in high school for fear you would break their legs? That Emily?”
“You know, you could try just being her friend.”
And suppose a friendship wasn’t enough? It hadn’t been back then. And though hurting Emily in the past had been unavoidable, he didn’t want to hurt her again. He hated the idea that she was unhappy, but he wasn’t necessarily the man to remedy that.
Ty’s tone turned dark. “There is something else. My parents and I have reason to believe this guy might be into something illegal. He and Emily work together. If he’s caught, she could be guilty by association.”
Apprehension raised the hair on the back of his neck. “Illegal how?”
“He owns a nursery. They have shipments coming in constantly from all over the world and he’s always going out of the country on business.”
Genuine fear clenched his gut. “Drugs?”
“That was our first thought.”
“So tell her you’re suspicious.”
“What, and you think she would actually believe me? This is Emily we’re talking about. The queen of I’m right and you’re wrong. She would laugh in my face.”
Matt cursed under his breath, and growled, “Let’s just beat the guy within an inch of his life and make him break up with her.”
“And you know exactly what Emily would do.”
He did. She was so damned stubborn she would stay with the guy just to spite them.
“Emily doesn’t do anything halfway. If she breaks off the relationship, there’s no way she’ll keep working with him and the problem will be solved.” Ty’s tone turned pleading. “If you won’t do it for me, do it for my parents.”
When Ty put it that way it was difficult to say no. Growing up, the Douglases had been Matt’s only real family. He’d shared countless dinners with them, slept over a thousand times, had even gone with them on family vacations. When his own parents couldn’t pull themselves out of a drunken stupor long enough to buy something as basic as new tennis shoes, Ty and Emily’s parents always seemed to find a pair—brand new no less—lying around the house that just happened to be the right size.
Matt owed them. And God knows he owed Emily.
If Ty was right about her boyfriend, it would be worth the sacrifice. No one was going to mess with Emily and live to tell about it as long as he was around.
“I’ll do it,” he told Ty. “Just tell me when and where.”
Emily Douglas pulled the company truck into a parking spot, cut the engine and peered through the windshield at the partially constructed building. Touchdown Bar and Grill was all anyone in town seemed to talk about lately, and honestly, she didn’t see what all the fuss was about. And despite her vow to never set foot within its sport-memorabilia-swamped bowels, here she was.
Swell.
If there had been any way to pass this job off to someone else, she’d have done it. But with Alex out of town, and as manager of the nursery, it was her direct responsibility to give his royal highness, the millionaire, the estimate on landscaping. To add to an already miserable situation, this could be the account to pull Marlette Landscape out of its recent financial distress. She would never forgive herself if she blew this. And Alex, her wayward boss, would never live down the failure of driving the family business into bankruptcy. He meant well, he just had no head for business, and frankly, Emily was growing tired of covering his butt.
In another six months it would be out of her hands. She would have the money to buy the property from her father, then she could get a business loan for the building and her dream of owning her own flower shop would become a reality. But she would never raise the money without a job. She needed this account. The commission would push her that much closer to her goal. She would sacrifice just about anything, including her pride, to see it through.
And wouldn’t Matt—People’s sexiest restaurateur—be surprised to see her darkening his doorway? She’d done a fair job of avoiding him the past eleven years. Not difficult, considering Mr. I Only Date Supermodels Now never came back to Michigan to visit the little people. Apparently the phrase, “I’d still like us to be friends,” fell from his lips as readily as the sweet words he’d whispered to her that night on the beach. He hadn’t meant those either.
But this was business. She had to put aside what had happened all those years ago and act like a professional.
Yet, as she reached for the door handle, a flare of nerves heaved her stomach into turmoil.
What would he be like after all these years? As a teenager he’d been cocky and arrogant. At least, that’s what he’d wanted people to think. He’d never come right out and admitted it, but she knew he was ashamed of his family and probably as insecure as she’d been. That common thread had bound them and kept them close. But he wasn’t poor anymore. She was sure the vulnerable kid who hid behind the bravado, the Matt she’d been friends with, was long gone. Oddly enough, the thought made her sad.
The sun burned white-hot overhead and sweat trickled down her cheek.