“I can’t believe how you’ve replicated the original. This is…”

“How did you do this?” Emma asked, gazing up at him.

Ryan’s blue eyes hypnotized her as he stepped closer. “I didn’t do much,” he said, his voice deep and husky. “The book’s beauty was there to see. All I had to do was look.”

She barely managed to swallow. Her skin ached where he had touched her, the kind of ache she’d never thought to feel, the kind she was sure other women made up when they’d talked of such things.

“I think I understand what Uncle Gilbert wanted me to see. So I guess…we can go home now.”

Ryan nodded curtly. “If that’s what you want.”

“It is.” She just didn’t trust herself to stay here with him any longer. If she did, if he showed her any more or touched her again, who knew what would happen?

Dear Reader,

Four special women shatter the barricades they’ve built around their dreams, in Silhouette Romance this month. Be it openly defying the life role set out for them or realizing their life’s ambition, these independent ladies represent the type of aspirational heroines we’re looking for in Silhouette Romance.

Myrna Mackenzie launches our newest trilogy, SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE, with Much Ado About Matchmaking (SR #1786) in which a woman who doesn’t think she’s special or beautiful enough for the worldly hero finally gets the courage to listen to her heart. The Texan’s Suite Romance (SR #1787) rounds out Judy Christenberry’s LONE STAR BRIDES continuity and features a woman who knows Mr. Right when she meets him but now must help him heal enough to let love back into his lonely life. When her screenplay is made into a movie set on her family’s ranch, one woman thinks she’s fulfilled all her dreams…until she meets one very handsome stuntman. Watch this drama unfold in Lights, Action…Family! (SR #1788)—the concluding romance in Patricia Thayer’s LOVE AT THE GOODTIME CAFÉ miniseries. Finally, Crystal Green wraps up the BLOSSOM COUNTY FAIR series with Her Gypsy Prince (SR #1789) in which a sheltered woman bucks her family’s wishes to pursue a forbidden love.

And be sure to come back next month when Elizabeth Harbison puts a modern spin on Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew.

Happy reading,

Ann Leslie Tuttle

Associate Senior Editor

Much Ado About Matchmaking
Myrna Mackenzie

www.millsandboon.co.uk

MILLS & BOON

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Books by Myrna Mackenzie

Silhouette Romance

The Baby Wish #1046

The Daddy List #1090

Babies and a Blue-Eyed Man #1182

The Secret Groom #1225

The Scandalous Return of Jake Walker#1256

Prince Charming’s Return #1361

*Simon Says…Marry Me! #1429

*At the Billionaire’s Bidding #1442

*Contractually His #1454

The Billionaire Is Back #1520

Blind-Date Bride #1526

A Very Special Delivery #1540

*Bought by the Billionaire #1610

*The Billionaire’s Bargain #1622

*The Billionaire Borrows a Bride #1634

†The Pied Piper’s Bride #1714

†Midas’s Bride #1719

†The Black Knight’s Bride #1722

Their Little Cowgirl #1738

Instant Marriage, Just Add Groom #1755

Much Ado About Matchmaking #1786

Silhouette Books

Montana Mavericks

Just Pretending

Lone Star Country Club

Her Sweet Talkin’ Man

Family Secrets

Blind Attraction

Baby and All

“Lights, Camera…Baby!”

Morning Beauty,

Midnight Beast

MYRNA MACKENZIE

is the winner of the Holt Medallion honoring outstanding fiction and a finalist for numerous other awards, including the Orange Rose, the National Readers’ Choice Award, the Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice and Wish RWA’s Write Touch. She believes that humor, love and hope are three of the best medicines in the world and tries to make sure that her books reflect that belief. Born in a small town in southern Missouri, Myrna grew up in the Chicago area, married her high school sweetheart and has two teenage sons. Her hobbies include dreaming of warmer climes during the cold northern winters, pretending the dust in her house doesn’t exist, taking long walks and traveling. Readers can write to Myrna at P.O. Box 225, LaGrange, IL 60525, or they may visit her online at www.myrnamackenzie.com.

Shakespeare’s Recipe for Romance

In Much Ado About Nothing

Take 2 conquering warriors returning to peacetime activities.

Throw in 2 lovely young cousins.

Add in 1 matchmaking uncle.

Mix generously and see how things are turning out.

Add 1 devious troublemaker, determined to spoil everything.

Correct this problem by bringing in more people to help throw the young lovers together.

Add a few white lies and a dash of secrecy and whispering.

Drop in another pinch of pure mischief by the matchmakers, a dollop of dastardly plotting by the nefarious villain and a generous smidgen of stubbornness on the part of the young lovers.

Allow to simmer. Then read on and savor as true love sets out to conquer all!

Contents

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Epilogue

Prologue

Gilbert Messmer frowned as he put down the copy of Much Ado About Nothing he had finished reading and looked out the window to where his niece, Emmaline Carstairs, was gathering herbs from the garden. Tomorrow would mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of the day his dying sister, Danielle, had asked him to care for Emmaline as his own, so, why was he worrying about Emma’s fate now?

At twenty-nine, she was already grown up. But something had happened lately that had made him wonder if he had really kept his promise to Danielle as well as he should have.

“Of course I did. I fed Emma, I clothed her, I gave her a place to stay and I cared about her.”

Gilbert grimaced. Did you really? Ever since his wife had died giving birth to his daughter Holly soon after Emma had arrived, he had been a different man, divorced from much of life, married to his business.

He’d been a good businessman, but hiding from his grief at losing his wife, he’d given most of what little affection he had left to Holly. What had been left for Emma, and why was he worrying about that now?

“You know why,” he whispered. It was because Holly had fallen in love and gotten engaged to one of his two new business associates, and she was blissfully happy. Her excitement reminded him of how deeply he had loved his wife, of how he and Lila had once laughed every day.

Watching his daughter come alive with love had been a gift, pulling him from the fog he had lived in for years.

While Holly awakened each morning these days with stars in her eyes, here was Emmaline quietly laboring in his garden as she so often did. For the first time ever, Gilbert wondered if she actually liked working in the garden.

He had never asked. Instead he’d just allowed her to take care of necessary tasks here at the Messmer’s mansion and at his hotel. She always seemed to be working or taking classes related to her work. Had she ever felt the kind of joy that Holly was feeling? If Danielle’s spirit visited him today could he tell her that he had done all he could for her child?

No, but what could he do now?

“Something. I promise you, Danielle, that I’ll make amends.” But how?

Gilbert glanced down at his book. “Maybe Shakespeare would have had some good ideas about what a penitent and neglectful uncle should do to make sure his niece is happy,” Gilbert muttered. Shakespeare certainly seemed to have a fascination with the human condition.

Gilbert stared at the gilt lettering on the cover. He loved the comedic tale he had just finished for the tenth time. Shakespeare had filled the pages with romantic heroes returning from war, a young couple in the throes of new love, a dastardly villain, another couple who couldn’t keep from verbally sparring with one another, and of course, lots of matchmaking.

“Hmm,” he said and looked out the window again.

Emmaline glanced up just then and gave him a small, sunny smile, waving at him before returning to her task.

She really did resemble her mother with that dark hair and those solemn gray eyes. “Twenty-five years,” he whispered. “How selfish you’ve been, Gilbert. How blind.”

But now his eyes were opening, and he would begin again if it wasn’t too late. All he needed was a plan. All he needed was to start doing what he hadn’t done for years—placing his daughter’s and niece’s needs first. Before business.

How to begin? What to do? What would make Emmaline happy?

“Maybe…” he mumbled. Maybe if Emmaline found the same kind of happiness that had set Holly aglow these days…

Foolish, desperate thought. Emmaline had made it clear she didn’t want to marry. He didn’t even know why.

Still, Holly hadn’t planned to marry yet, either, and now that she was engaged, she was ecstatically happy.

It could happen to Emmaline.

Maybe it could happen to Emmaline. But how when she was so determined never to look for love?

Gilbert picked up his book. He lovingly rubbed his thumb over the dark green leather. Fanning the pages, he breathed in the scent of the paper and remembered the fates of the characters. The matchmaking…

“No. This is Shakespeare. It’s fiction,” he told himself.

But Emmaline toiled on, alone. She would be more alone still once Holly was gone. And if there was a chance that she could have a happily ever after, that he could redeem himself for the mistakes he’d made with her over the years?

Gilbert sighed. “If only I could find the right man…surely there must be one man made for Emmaline.”

The thought sank in. It took hold and filled him with hope and impulsive joy. Suddenly Gilbert wanted to laugh and kick up his heels. He felt younger than he had in decades.

If there was a perfect man for Emmaline, he intended to find him. He was pretty sure he might know one who would do, someone that Emma had already met, a former military man just like one of the heroes in the play. And when he did, he would take a page from William Shakespeare’s tale. If there was the slightest chance that Emmaline could find love, then he was going to make it happen.

Chapter One

“Are you sure you’re okay, Emma? You don’t look well.”

“No, really. I’m fine.” Emmaline clutched her book tightly and hoped her cousin Holly wouldn’t notice how rigid her body had gone at the announcement. In truth, she didn’t feel at all well. Panic was setting in fast at Holly’s announcement.

She placed the research book she had been studying on a nearby table. “Are you absolutely sure Chris is bringing Ryan Benedict with him? To stay here?” Emmaline asked.

Holly’s eyes lit up when Emmaline said Christopher’s name.

“I’m totally sure,” Holly said with a laugh. “Ryan and Chris are business partners. Why wouldn’t he stay here?”

Because I don’t want to see him, Emmaline thought . Because the last time I saw him we shared the most casual of kisses, and I—well, I don’t even want to think about my embarrassing reaction to the man. She had been flustered, like some virginal woman from a bygone era who had considered it a sin to even think of kissing a man. Thank goodness her family knew she didn’t want a husband. Otherwise, they might have thought she was actually interested in Ryan.

“I’m not saying Ryan shouldn’t stay here,” Emma said. It’s just that Chris is coming because you’re engaged and planning your wedding, but Mr. Benedict’s reasons are related to business with Uncle Gilbert’s hotel chain. I thought perhaps he’d stay at the hotel.”

Holly rolled her eyes. “Don’t be silly, Em. Ryan is Chris’s best friend, so of course, Dad invited him to stay. He made a special point of asking him. Why? Don’t you like him?”

Careful, Em, Emmaline warned herself. She turned what she hoped was a placid smile on her younger cousin. “How can I dislike him? Except for that brief meeting a few weeks ago, I’ve barely even met Ryan Benedict.”

Holly frowned at her cousin. “But I know you, Em. You’re trying too hard. There is something wrong, isn’t there?”

Against her will the memory of that meeting forced itself into Emmaline’s memory. Her uncle had called her into the living room to drink a toast to the business partnership his company had just entered into with Chris and Ryan’s company. The first person she had seen had been Ryan. With that dark hair, lean GQ looks and military bearing that was still with him years after he had left the service. He had turned those navy-blue eyes on her, and her breath had caught, a fact that had irritated her to no end.

She was not the kind of woman who allowed herself to be swayed by a man’s looks or magnetism, having learned all too well how dangerous that kind of thing could be.

Then Holly and Chris had announced their engagement, the result of a courtship that had begun two months ago when Holly had gone to St. Louis with Gilbert to check out C&R Technologies and had met Chris. Holly had spent a lot of time in St. Louis since then. Emma and barely seen her and had only met Chris once or twice. Not that it mattered.

Suddenly Chris had shaken Uncle Gilbert’s hand, pounded him on the back and hugged him, and then everyone in the room was kissing and hugging. Emmaline, who had never been a very physical kind of person, had found herself standing next to Ryan, looking up at him as he gave her a wicked grin. “May I, Ms. Carstairs?” he had said. His voice had been low and husky and dangerous, as if he was inviting her to remove all of her clothing rather than to share in Holly and Chris’s celebration. In the next second, while she was getting her bearings and without waiting for her to answer, he had lightly placed his lips on her cheek. Idiot that she was, awkward with this very physical man, she had jerked, turned and just for a second his mouth had brushed against the corner of her lips.

The room and all its occupants had fallen away. Her skin burned. She’d wanted to…she didn’t know what she had wanted to do, but it surely involved placing her hands on him, having him place his hands on her. Rational thought had proven impossible.

Later she had reminded herself that it had been a celebratory kiss, no more. A meaningless gesture of the kind that people took part in every day. But that was later.

In the brief time when Ryan Benedict was touching her lips, accident though it may have been, heat had rushed through, her breathing had gone rough and shallow, her mind had gone blank. She had the horrifying suspicion that she might have actually swayed toward him, maybe—please, no—even placed a hand awkwardly on his chest.

For half a second after he stopped touching her, a crazy thought had gone through her head. He would make beautiful babies, and she wanted a baby.

Immediately reality had stepped in. What on earth was she thinking? After all these years of fighting to keep her emotions in a jar, she was not going to allow herself to act girlish and irresponsible now.

She had already done that. At a hotelier’s convention several years ago she’d met, dated and fallen for a man who claimed to want her, but who had really wanted her to help him with Uncle Gilbert’s business for his company. So…hadn’t she learned about men who pretended to care but didn’t? Hadn’t her mother been betrayed by her weakness for Emmaline’s faithless father? Emma wasn’t going to make those kinds of mistakes. If she wanted a baby, there were ways. Pursuing a man, especially one like Ryan who probably had women lining up to sleep with him, wasn’t one of the ways.

“Em?”

Emmaline realized that her fists were clenched and she was gritting her teeth. She looked at her cousin. “I’m sorry, Holly. What?” she asked, as casually as possible.

“Are you really okay? I just suggested that you might not like Ryan, and you practically disappeared on me. It’s not—that is, I saw him kiss you and the way you looked afterwards—”

Emmaline quickly shook her head. “That was nothing.”

Holly looked unconvinced. “Em…”

“Holly,” Emma managed to say. “Don’t even go there. You know that I gave up the hunt for the right man the way other women give up wearing their hair in pigtails. I’m beyond that stage of my life and I’m happy about it, so you don’t have to worry about me, okay?”

“You sound like you’re ancient.”

Emmaline managed a laugh. “Where men are concerned I am. But seriously, I’m sorry if I zoned out on you. There’s so much going on now that we’ve decided to renovate the hotel. I’ve been…brainstorming new decorating ideas,” she said, pointing to the book her uncle had unexpectedly given her the other day.

She was sorry about the white lie, but she truly didn’t want Holly to worry, which brought her to another thought. Holly’s recent engagement had made Emma realize she needed to concentrate on her own goals. She would be more alone now, and she did want a child, someone who would belong to her and to whom she would belong. Just as soon as Holly was married, Emma hoped to begin checking into the possibility of adoption.

“Em, can I ask a favor of you?” Holly said, a trace of worry in her voice, her pretty brow bunched.

Emmaline looked at her cousin, waiting.

“Ryan is like a brother to Chris. If there’s anything about him that’s bugging you…well…”

Immediately Emmaline felt like a jerk. Holly might be her cousin, but they had grown up like sisters. Emmaline had never let anyone hurt Holly, and she wasn’t about to start now, especially when she was the culprit.

Emmaline shook her head. “Don’t worry, sweetie. Ryan Benedict may be a bit more overt than I’m used to, but I’m very good at adjusting.”

She smiled at Holly to reassure her, but Emma still had reservations. Because if Ryan had noticed her reaction to him, he would know that she was susceptible to him, and that kind of knowledge was how her former boyfriend, John, had betrayed her. According to her mother’s diaries, being unable to control her feelings for her husband was why Danielle Carstairs hadn’t foreseen him abandoning her. So Emmaline had good reason to give Ryan Benedict a wide berth.

Still, Holly and Uncle Gilbert had every right to invite Ryan to stay here.

“Any moment now,” Holly said, glancing down at her watch. “In fact, I’ve go to go get ready. “Oh gosh, I’ve got to run. Chris just called on his cell and said that the trip from company headquarters in St. Louis hadn’t taken that long and they were running ahead of schedule. They’ll be here any moment now, and I’m not ready. I don’t want Chris to see me looking like a hag.”

Which was one thing her petite, blond cousin could never look like, Emmaline thought. But she was glad when Holly immediately left the room. It prevented her cousin from seeing the shocked expression on Emmaline’s face.

“Any minute now?” Emmaline whispered. That certainly didn’t give her any time to mentally prepare herself.

She blew out a frustrated breath and glanced down at the book she had carried upstairs: Shakespeare and His World. How thoughtful of Uncle Gilbert, he had a fondness for Shakespeare, and so did she.

Why did she have the feeling that Shakespeare would have been amused by her situation? “Well, I’ll just have to keep things light. I’ll pretend I’m one of Shakespeare’s actors and act as if nothing ever happened,” she said as she stepped into a drab black dress that she found in the back of her closet. Because she wasn’t about to let Ryan Benedict know that she even remembered touching him.

He was only here for work Ryan reminded himself as he maneuvered his black sedan down the long, curving driveway that led to the Messmer mansion just outside the hamlet of Avon Lake, Texas, not far from the coast. The fact that he was remembering Emmaline Carstairs’s lush pink lips right now didn’t change things.

“Hell,” he said.

Chris looked at him. “What?”

Ryan tightened his hands on the steering wheel. “Nothing. I just remembered something I forgot. It isn’t important.”

Which was the truth, because he had no interest at all in Emma Carstairs. He dated women who weren’t interested in anything beyond his bed and what he could buy for them. That was just fine. It was the way Benedicts had always done things, probably because Benedicts didn’t have hearts. They had ambition and a certain amount of cunning and brashness, and with that combination they generally got what they wanted.

Emotions could never be part of the deal, because when emotions were added to the mix, things got ugly and people got hurt. He’d watched too many people in his life get hurt, and he wasn’t going to be a part of that anymore.

He especially avoided serious types such as Emmaline appeared to be. If she chose to get involved with a man, she would expect things that someone like him could never give.

Not that that would happen. The minute he had stepped away from her after that simple kiss, she had frowned as if she didn’t like him. So why on earth was he thinking that he’d like to swoop in and actually taste her lips fully this time and feel her hand pressed against his chest again, risk breaking his rock-solid rules about women like her?

No question, this was going to be a long month.

“I don’t know what you’re brooding about, but leave the car here, and let’s go, Ryan,” Chris said. “I can’t wait to see Holly. It’s been hell without her these past few weeks. I thought October would never get here.”

Ryan smiled. “Spoken like a man firmly under the spell of a woman.” He pulled up to a long, brick walk-way that led past a plaza with fountains, glossy green shrubs and pink and white flowers to the cream-colored mansion’s colonnaded front entranceway. He climbed from the car, rubbing his knee to keep from limping too much. Long drives still affected the old wound.

Chris laughed. “Under the spell of a woman? Don’t knock it just because you’ve never been there.”

“I wouldn’t think of criticizing the fact that you’re in love,” Ryan told his friend. “Just because I’m not the emotional type doesn’t mean that I’m not happy for you.”

“I know. And thanks. I know this isn’t exactly an ideal situation for you, being here to work while I get to play and plan my wedding.”

Ryan shook his head. “That’s not a problem. You know that work is what makes me tick.” In fact, the army and work were the first places in life where he had made a difference, where his presence mattered. He’d gone without sleep to build this company with Chris, a friend from the service. C&R Technologies was his life now. It was what kept him content, so working while Chris pursued romantic interests didn’t bother him at all.

But despite his intentions, Ryan forgot everything in the next moment. Gilbert and Holly Messmer had come out to greet their guests, as had Emmaline. The sun kissed her shoulder-length dark hair and her pale skin, setting her quietly aglow despite the baggy black dress that she was wearing. She smiled at Chris, giving him a warm, welcoming look that transformed her normally solemn expression and made it impossible for Ryan to keep from staring at her pretty mouth. Almost immediately, however, her eyes slid away to look at something over Ryan’s left shoulder as she said hello to him in a painfully polite and prim voice.

If he had wondered whether Emmaline had forgotten that touch they had shared, he had his answer.

She hadn’t forgotten and she wasn’t happy to see him.

Hmm, there was probably only one way to handle this. Take the smart route and ignore her. It was the way he would have chosen just yesterday.

But with the intriguing memory of that moment when she had turned and he had tasted those delicious lips, there was no ignoring the woman. If he wanted her out of his thoughts, he was going to have to defuse the situation, treat it like any other project. No doubt he was fantasizing about her because he didn’t really know her, maybe because forbidden fruit always seemed tempting. No doubt she disliked him because she thought he might have been hitting on her.

If he took the initiative and turned the situation into, gentle teasing, they could both get past that false start they’d made down the wrong path. They might even become friends, a desirable arrangement if his partner and best friend was marrying her cousin.

“So begins round one,” he said beneath his breath.

Emmaline looked up at him and blinked, that frown drawing her brows together. “What did you say, Mr. Benedict?”

Keep it light. Surely she has a sense of humor.

“I said what a delicious shade of lipstick, Emmaline,” Ryan said with a smile. “What do you call it? Kiss-me-pink?”

For a second he thought he heard her gasp. Her eyes grew large and startled. Then, she suddenly pressed her lips together. She crossed her arms, lending some shape to the loose black dress she was wearing. He tried not to notice that her small breasts perfectly suited her slender figure.

“I’m sorry, wrong shade,” she told him, “although it is pink. Presumptuous pink, to be exact.” She gave him a slight smile, arching one brow.

Gilbert blinked. “What an incredibly odd name for lipstick, Emmaline. Is that really what it’s called? Oh well, I never did quite figure out all that girlie stuff. I probably should have been paying more attention. You’d think raising two girls I would have learned a thing or two by now, wouldn’t you?”

His voice sounded so sad that Ryan felt sorry for him. “You’ve raised two fine young women, sir,” he told Gilbert. “I’d say that that means you know quite a lot.”

“Yes, Uncle Gilbert,” Emmaline said. “Don’t mind me. Mr. Benedict and I were just—” She stopped, clearly uncertain how to go on, and Ryan wanted to laugh. She was trying so hard.

“We were just engaging in idle chatter since we don’t know each other very well. Chris tells me we’re to stand up together at the wedding,” Ryan volunteered.

Ah, she didn’t know that. Those serious gray eyes blinked. “Holly?”

Holly shrugged. “Well, of course you’re going to be my maid of honor, aren’t you, Em? I know we haven’t discussed the details of the wedding. I’ve been gone so much lately and been so wrapped up in Chris that I…well, I forgot to ask. But I just assumed you knew that I’d want you. Who else would I choose? And who else would Chris choose but his best friend?”

“I wasn’t thinking that far ahead, and I wouldn’t make that kind of assumption,” Emmaline said. Ryan noticed that she didn’t look at him. “But…thank you, Holly.”

“And never mind about arguing about shades of lipstick,” Gilbert said to Ryan. “You and Emmaline will have plenty of time to get to know each other, especially since you’ll be working together closely.”

Working together? Closely? Despite the warnings echoing through his brain, Ryan thought of that kiss. How right it had felt, how wrong it had been. Glancing to the side, he locked eyes with Emmaline who was looking just as shocked as he felt.

“We’ll be working together? What do you mean?” she asked.

Ryan had a feeling he knew and he was surprised that Emmaline hadn’t been told, but he wanted to be very clear on this. “Yes, what exactly will Ms. Carstairs and I be doing together, Mr. Messmer?” He had a bad feeling about the direction things were taking.

“Call me Gilbert, please, Ryan. No need to be formal when your best friend is marrying my daughter, and you and I are business associates. As for what you’ll be doing with Emmaline, that’s easy. She’s going to assist you at the hotel.”

“Assist him doing what?”

Ryan really wished she hadn’t asked that. Immediately his eyes were drawn to the way her shoulder length dark hair lay against the scooped neck of her black dress. He could easily imagine himself easing the dress down off her shoulders, assisting her out of every stitch she was wearing until…

Damn, don’t think that, he ordered himself and tried to pay attention to what Gilbert was saying to his niece who was looking as tense as if she had just been told she would be spending all her time with a man-eating predator.

“I know I usually handle the behind the scenes stuff regarding the hotel chain and you handle the day to day operations of Texas Lights, but this is a special situation. Let me explain a bit,” Gilbert told Emmaline. “C&R Technology is a two-man operation, as you know. They energize old businesses by instituting new technology. Hotels are their specialty, which is why we’ve linked up with them. Chris is the idea man, the dreamer, and Ryan is the man who makes everything work, the technician. He’s the one who has to go in, feel around and get his hands dirty, to thoroughly examine the place and figure out how to make Chris’s dreams work with our situation.

“And,” Gilbert said, turning to Ryan, “since Emma manages the Texas Lights Hotel, the first one we’re renovating, she’s the one who knows all the intimate nuts and bolts of the place. She’ll assist you in whatever way you need. Won’t you, Emma?”

Ryan almost felt sorry for her. If Gilbert hadn’t been such an old-fashioned guy who meant that comment in the most innocent of ways, his words might have made the lady blush. But Gilbert was an old-fashioned gentleman, and Ryan had a feeling that Emmaline wasn’t a blushing kind of woman. She was the kind who kept her heat hidden inside.

A challenge, his subconscious said.

Stop thinking of her that way, he told himself.

He turned to her, hoping his voice wouldn’t reveal his thoughts. “I’ll definitely need your help. The Texas Lights is a historic hotel. We’ll be introducing the most current technology. I’m afraid this is going to be a challenge, Emmaline,” he managed to say, not sure if he was really discussing the hotel or the fact that they would be thrown together day in and day out.

And then, seeing that she was genuinely distressed, he took pity on her. “Somehow we’ll make it work.”

She stared up at him with those intense gray eyes that only made the copper highlights in her dark-brown hair shine more brightly. He was pretty darn certain that she didn’t want to hear that the two of them would make anything work. Instead she wanted to make a quick exit.

Interesting.

“I’ve seen the timeline. This will take a few weeks, won’t it?” she asked.

“Three or four. How long have you been involved with The Texas Lights?” Ryan asked. Perhaps a change of subject would get her to stop looking at him as if he were the spawn of the devil.

Emma blinked as if she was surprised that he had asked her such a mundane question. He wondered what she’d been told about him. He did have a reputation, and a lot of it wasn’t good.

“I…around twenty-five years,” she ventured.

Now it was his turn to blink. She couldn’t be as old as she was indicating.

Holly chuckled, a move that prompted Chris to pull her back against him, his arm encircling her waist. She turned slightly and gave him a loving look before turning back to Ryan.

“Emmaline isn’t lying, Ryan. Her mother died not long before I was born. Daddy had a baby, a four-year-old girl and a hotel to run. He’d put me in a crib at the hotel and let Emma tag along after him at work. We both grew up there, but she was the one who loved it. She started polishing the newel posts and running errands just as soon as Daddy would let her.”

“I see,” Ryan said, and he believed he did. He looked at Emma. “So the hotel is very special to you,” he ventured.

She gave him a careless shrug. “I run the hotel,” she clarified.

Holly rolled her eyes. “She loves the hotel,” she said, “and she doesn’t especially like change.”

“And I’m going to change lots of things,” he said, discovering yet another reason why the woman might dislike him.

“This is going to be a very good thing, Emmaline,” Gilbert told her. “In many ways. I promise you it will. You’ll see.”

“Ryan will help you. He’s an expert at explaining things,” Chris said, resting his cheek against Holly’s hair. “And then he’s good at making things go the way he wants them to go.”

Dead silence met this statement. Had love completely blinded and addled Chris? Ryan had to think so. If anything, Emmaline looked even more upset.

“You, more than anyone, know that the Texas Lights has been losing money, honey,” Gilbert said. “We have to do something, and I think this renovation is just the ticket.”

Emmaline nodded slowly. Obviously she and her uncle had discussed this before. “I know. Closing the hotel last week so we could do this renovation was necessary, but I just don’t want her character to be destroyed in the process. She’s a truly lovely hotel. She’s special,” Emmaline said, and this time she gave Ryan a defiant glance. Obviously she didn’t trust him one inch.

He felt a niggling sense of disappointment. It wasn’t that every woman in the world fell in love with him. It was just that very few disliked him on sight. The fact that Emma appeared to have done so rankled. That they had touched somewhat intimately, and now she wanted nothing to do with him brought forth some primitive male instinct to battle to win her. He ordered himself to ignore that warrior reflex, to remember that he was a man who could only hurt a woman like this if he allowed himself to pursue her for a while, but it wasn’t easy.

She was biting her lip, her small white teeth pressing against the pink flesh. He suppressed the urge to reach out and touch the softness of her mouth.

“We’ll have to talk,” he said, working hard to keep the dare out of his voice.

Gilbert smiled at that. “Yes, you two do that. Emmaline, you need to tell Ryan about anything that’s bothering you.”

Ryan fought to keep from thinking of her lips. If he had to discuss everything about Emmaline Carstairs that was bothering him, the aftermath of that accidental kiss would come first and the hotel would rank a distant second.

Which was totally wrong. He had come here only to work, but the fact that Emmaline was his guide was getting in the way.

“I’ll look forward to dinner then,” Ryan told her.

“I will, too,” she said politely, but there was a hint of fire in her eyes, and Ryan would swear what she was looking forward to was skewering him with a dinner fork.

Well, at least this job wasn’t going to be dull….

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