Layers Crossed (4 page)

“Really? So
this could be big, right? I mean, who is this guy, part of a gang?
Is he looking for a kidnapped victim? Or does he need protection
from pimps or the mafia? Is he a Congressman in trouble?”

My mind was
spinning. Within seconds of this news, I was already feeling like a
secret agent.

This time
Tristan was the one to roll his eyes. And they said I was the bad
one.

“Em, slow
down. He’s in the conference room, so if you’re ready to meet your
next case, it’s all yours.”

I threw my
arms around Julian, squeezing tightly. “Thank you. I love you so
much. I promise to do a good job and be the best that I can be.” I
didn’t even care I’d just quoted a military slogan. Julian held me
against him in the brotherly hug I’d adored since I was little, and
then I jumped right into Tristan’s arms.

Lifting my
head up high, I picked up my iPad, saying, “Wish me luck. I am so
gonna rock this!”

“You don’t
need luck, Em. You’ve got all the smarts.” They gave me a
synchronized wink and I chuckled. Even though they were in their
late thirties, my brothers still held the charm they’d had in their
youth. If I could only find someone as strong, resourceful, and as
kind as they were, my life would be set. And if this was true, if
they honestly trusted me with a serious case, I’d owe them big
time. In fact, I’d babysit whenever they wanted and would make
every effort not to roll my eyes again – ever. Ok, maybe I was
exaggerating – that was something I had no control over.

Squaring my
shoulders, I stepped out of my office, heading toward my first
serious case at Cross Enterprises.

C
HAPTER
4

Eric

I nearly fell
off my chair when the door to the conference room swung open.

“You!” she
said.

“What the…” I
immediately stood up. I would have for any woman who had walked
into the room, as I was expecting Julian and Tristan’s sister to do
at any moment. Wait, was
she
their sister? Was Emma the
frivolous and rebellious girl I had been told about? Was she the
spoiled little brat? She sure hadn’t given me that impression three
nights ago. If this was her, this could be complicated, and I
seriously didn’t want to mess this up.

And then the
door slammed shut. Was she mad? Why? Standing there in her slick
business suit, cut specifically for her beautiful shape, she looked
so hot, I wasn’t sure if I was dreaming. Had the room gotten hotter
and my pants tighter? Her yellow blouse underneath the black suit
matched her beautiful hair, which was up in a bun. Emma had that
‘hot office chick’ look patented without even trying. And why was
she standing there with her arms crossed over her chest, frowning
at me? What had I done? She was the one who hadn’t come back like
she’d promised. I’d been worried about her for days. Dreaming about
her every night since the evening we’d met, about caressing her
body, kissing her skin, savoring every piece of her flesh she had
to offer with my mouth, including the dampness between her legs
that drove me to relieve myself every night that she invaded my
dreams. Shit! I was getting hard already, and she’d barely spoken
to me.

Emma lifted
her head up and walked forward with a stone-cold face. She pulled
her hand out saying, “Emma Cross. I’ll be working on your case,
Mr.?”

“Waters. Eric
Waters. It’s nice to formally meet you, Emma.”

Fuck! It was
as if we’d just seen each other for the very first time. Had she
swum in a pool of liquid nitrogen this morning and had ice cubes
for breakfast? She was acting as if I hadn’t seen her nearly naked,
or made a connection with the few words we’d spoken. She couldn’t
have dismissed me that quickly, could she? I’d felt it, and I knew
she had too. We were like two souls who’d found each other in weird
circumstances. Yet she was acting as if the connection we’d had
never existed. As she stood there, shaking my hand for longer than
necessary, the tightness in her neck and stiff shoulders told me
she was trying to hide her emotions from me. Was she actually
feeling something? Was there any way I could matter to her as much
as she mattered to me? I swear, if anyone ever found out this woman
brought me down to the level of a love-struck puppy, I’d never live
this down.

“Please sit
down,” she said.

I waited until
she took her seat across the table before lowering to my chair.

“What can I do
for you, Mr. Waters?”

“Emma, I’ve
been worried about you,” I said.

She paused for
a moment, obviously surprised by my statement.

“You were
supposed to come back and let me walk you to your car.”

“Mr.
Waters.”

“Eric.”

“Eric, I’m
quite capable of taking care of myself.”

“I didn’t mean
to insinuate you’re not, but the place we were in… a lot of bad
stuff happens there.”

“I’ve seen
bad, and I can handle even worse, including whatever business you
have with Cross Enterprises, which I’m assuming can’t be good since
you’re here.” Her reply nearly iced my veins.

“I’m sorry, I
just wish you’d let me know. I was worried.”

She considered
my statement for a moment, and I saw her guard lower for a split
second.

“You weren’t
there when I came out. I left you a note at the bar.”

My eyes
widened. “I had to use the washroom, and I never got a note. Only
your name from the waitress.”

Her face
softened. She drummed her fingers on the table, waiting patiently
as if contemplating whether she should cross the business line we
would sign on today and venture into the personal territory I so
desperately needed her to be in. “Would you have called if you’d
gotten it?” she finally asked. The vulnerable side of her was
unreal – definitely not the way she’d presented herself the night
we met. I was important to her. Allowing herself to ask this
question had to mean that she thought I was special. I was now
certain I was the only one capable of breaking through the sheet of
ice she’d covered herself with.

I leaned
forward, saying, “Over and over again, until you’d agree to see me.
When I realized at the bar I had no way of contacting you, it was
like getting stabbed – actually, worse than that. I felt like I’d
just had a bomb explode yards away, making me numb and dead for
seconds before I realized that I’d live but would never know how to
go on without seeing you again.”

A shiver of
goose bumps appeared along her neck, and I imagined kissing each
one away. God, what was she doing to me? And how? Sitting here all
the way across the table, I might as well have been behind bars.
The urge to touch her and just be close to her was becoming more
like an unbearable itch you had under a cast and couldn’t
scratch.

“What can I do
for you, Mr. Waters?” she asked, bringing me back to the conference
room.

“You’ll be
working on my case?” Of course I knew she’d be working on my case.
That’s why I was here. The irony of my situation was that
she
was now my case as well. This couldn’t have worked out
more perfectly. And hopefully I wouldn’t screw this up.

“I’m one of
the best,” she said with confidence.

And I had no
doubt that she was. My only fear would be her safety. I’d been
thinking about finding the bastard who ruined my and my sister’s
childhoods and haunted my parents for years. When I was approached
by Hunter and given details about taking a girl out of the city and
onto my ranch, I knew her background could only be a bonus. But the
man I was looking for was vicious; and honestly, now that I knew it
would be Emma searching for him, I didn’t want her anywhere near
him.

“Julian and
Tristan…”

“They’re my
brothers.”

“I don’t think
they’d give you the case if they knew all the details.” I was
backtracking, but the urgency I now felt to keep her a bit further
away from my case couldn’t be denied.

Her eyes only
sparked with curiosity at my words – that was not my intention.

“Why don’t you
tell some of the details then, and let me decide, Mr. Waters?”

“Eric.”

“Eric. I can
assure you I’m quite capable of being professional and handling
you.”

The way she
said that zapped through me, collecting like a drug at the bottom
of my spine.

“I have a slew
of bodyguards and resources, even more than my brothers. And if you
want the job done, there’s no one better than me, so why don’t you
tell me what you need?”

What I need is
to hold you in my arms, center you on top of me, and feel you
contract around my cock. I need to feel and kiss your silky skin
and make you detonate with pleasure like dynamite.

“Urgm.” I
cleared my throat, grateful that the table was covering how hard
I’d gotten for Emma. I had to stop this nonsense. This girl needed
to be treated with the respect she deserved, and if I didn’t get a
hold of my need to have her, I could lose her before I even got a
chance to know her.

“I’m looking
for this man.” I pulled out a photograph of the shaggy-bearded
bastard. She took the photo from me, studying it for a moment
before she asked. “Why?”

“Do you really
want to know?”

“Yes, I need
to know everything about this case. How you’re connected to him,
why you’re looking for him, and what you expect to do when I find
him.”

She didn’t say
if
she found him but
when
. I adored her
confidence.

“Number one,
I’m not gonna let you get within a mile of this bastard. Numb…”

She rolled her
eyes.

“Please don't
roll your eyes, Emma.”

“What is it
with you men and me rolling my eyes?”

“It takes away
from your beauty and intelligence,” I answered.

“Oh.”

For the first
time since I’d met her, Emma was speechless, blinking, while her
beautiful long lashes fluttered like fans, outlining her cat-like
eyes. Finally she said, “I will try to stop, but it’s a habit, and
I can’t promise I will. What I was going to say was, please don’t
say ‘number two.’ I can’t stand people listing out their thoughts.
Look, I’m the lead on this case. The more information you give me,
the safer we’ll both be. I can’t help you if you withhold
information from me or treat me like a helpless woman. That’s the
last thing I want or need. If you’re going to hire Cross
Enterprises, you need to trust that we don’t fail. I don’t fail. I
will find this man you’re looking for. Now, from the way the pulse
in your neck speeds up when you mention him, this guy’s dangerous,
right?”

“Extremely.
Does that scare you?”

She smirked.
“There isn’t much in this world that scares me. Why do you want to
find him?”

I took in a
deep breath. It was time to share my story with Emma. This was a
piece of me not many knew about. The idea of retelling one of the
worst weeks of my life to Emma wasn’t as daunting as I’d thought it
would be, though.

“He kidnapped
my sister when she was young. She’s fine now, but I don’t think
she’s ever been able to go on in peace knowing he’s out there. I
want to put him behind bars for what he did, which means finding
evidence that I’ve never been able to.” That was only half the
truth. I wasn’t ready to share with her about the coward that I was
and how I was connected to him as well. Deep inside, I knew that if
I ever found him, I’d never be able to let the bastard live.
Sending him to spend the rest of his life behind bars wouldn’t be
enough.

“You’re not
looking for revenge?” She lifted her gaze, studying me. Boy, was
she ever good.

“I just want
justice,” I lied. “He used to live in our town and disappeared just
after my parents found out he was the one to kidnap Annabelle. This
is the file I have on him.” I passed her the folder full of
newspaper articles, clippings, police reports, and the
investigation that was dropped too soon due to lack of evidence and
a cold trail.

Emma studied
the papers for over twenty minutes while I watched her with intent.
At times when I knew she’d hit a spot where she wished there was a
greater lead, her lips pursed. When she read over what he’d done,
at least the part I wanted her to know about, her lips formed a
straight line. At the time she was shocked, her mouth opened
slightly, giving me the chance to see that perfect gap and her
tongue that skimmed her lips as they dried.

And all I
could think about was how much I wanted to taste each curve of
those lips as their shape changed. I wanted to feel every single
emotion she expressed with them right underneath my tongue.
Fuck!
I had to stop this, so I’d have some time for my dick
to return to its resting state.

“Your sister
has gone through a lot,” she finally said. “I’m sorry.”

“Thank you. Do
you think you can help me?”

“I can do more
than help you, Cowboy.” That vixen smile of hers was back on her
face. “I can nearly guarantee you that I’ll find him.”

I wasn’t sure
if that should make me happy or afraid. The thought of what it
would mean to find the bastard could scare the living crap out of a
corpse.

“Then I guess
I’m your next project.”

She eyed me
from the bottom up before saying, “You certainly are.” Emma reached
forward over the table for a handshake. “Congratulations, Cowboy.
You’ve just hired the best investigator in the country.”

I stood up,
taking her little hand into mine and squeezing it gently, quite
grateful that my erection had gone down. Touching her for the first
time, even if it was just through a handshake, was so rewarding
that if I died now I’d be a very happy man. Who was I kidding? I
could never get enough of Emma. There would never be enough of her
simple touch, her beautiful lips, and sinful body.