Those Red High Heels (9 page)

“Well, why don’t you two join us?” Cade asked, his expression genuinely welcoming.

Nora brushed her hand across her chest in a very overdramatic way, “Oh, I don’t think we can. I have a lot of errands to run for the wedding, and Greyson was just saying how busy he is at work. We better pass.”

I let out a breath and felt like a huge anvil had been taken off my chest and I could finally breathe again. That was until Greyson piped in. “Nora, I could use a minute away. I may go ahead and join Cade and Emma, but you can finish your errands. I’ll meet you later this afternoon.”

Nora looked like Greyson had shoved a hot fireball in her mouth, because she was about to blow. There was no way she was going to let Greyson tag along with us, even though it was pretty obvious that Cade and I were on a date.

After a few calming breaths, Nora looked back over at Cade and me. “Well, I suppose Greyson does have a point. It would be nice to take an afternoon off from the wedding planning and work.”

I inwardly cringed. So close, I was so close. Just as I was about to bow out and suggest we do it another time, Greyson cleared his throat and put his hand up. “Nora, really. It’s okay. Call Caroline, and you two can check off a few more items from your list. I’ll call you when I’m back, and we can see where you are from there.” With that, the conversation seemed final. Good for Greyson.

I couldn’t help but smile over at Nora. If one thing was certain, pissing off Nora Mathews was now on my top ten favorite things to do. “Nora, you’ll have to come next time. I've barely heard any of your wedding plans.”

Nora glared at me and was probably plotting my death, but I was ten minutes away from being free of her so she could glare all she wanted.

“Well, now that that’s all settled, Greyson, why don’t we ride together?”

Greyson motioned to the waitress and handed her his card. Cade tried to intervene with his own Visa, but was too late and wiggled his finger toward Greyson. “You little devil, the next brunch is on me.”

Greyson laughed, and waved him off. “I invited you to join us, and I think I’ll take you up on the ride. That way Nora can have the car with her wedding planner. I may need to stop by work later, if you don’t mind dropping me by?”

“Of course, and you’re always working,” Cade said with a wink. I think I heard Greyson mumble that he wasn’t one to talk, but before he could get anything else out, our waitress was back with the receipt and we were off to meet our ancestors.

Chapter Nine

“I suppose have fun on your field trip, even though you’re going to be bored out of your mind. I still can’t believe you want to join those two. Really Greyson, we still have so much planning to do for our wedding.” Nora looked agitated while saying goodbye to Greyson.

I was trying to inconspicuously spy on Greyson and Nora’s conversation, but I was cut short when Greyson’s car pulled up to the curb and interrupted their heated discussion. Nora was angry, and she was not doing anything to hide it. I couldn’t help but wonder what their situation was. Maybe she was pleasant at one point in her life? When I started laughing out loud at my silly thought, Cade shot me a questioning look, but then pulled out his cell when it started to vibrate.

Greyson tried to tell Nora goodbye, but she swatted him away and slammed the door once she was inside the car. I quickly looked away when Greyson turned and started to walk over to Cade and me.

“She’ll get over it. Our wedding is still almost a year away, but you’d think it was next month,” Greyson said as he stopped right next to me.

I smiled and looked up at him. I took in his facial features as he smiled and stared right back at mine. He was a very good-looking man, but he was the type of good looking that if he was yours, you would always be on the lookout for other women who were plotting your demise, and were ready to swoop in and take him away. No wonder Nora was bat-shit-crazy. “It’s a girl thing. Weddings make you nutty.”

Greyson chuckled under his breath and gave me a slight nod. We both looked over at Cade when he let out a loud curse word and pinched the bridge of his nose. “You’re fucking kidding me. I’ve been gone for one whole day, and you can’t even keep Dan Lirke in check. No. Yes, dammit. I’ll be there. Send me my itinerary and I’ll see you later this evening.” With an angry click and a swift kick to the nearest brick wall, Cade turned back toward us and rolled his eyes. “There’s a problem at work. I’m so embarrassed and sorry that I have to cut this short, but my secretary has booked me on a flight leaving in two hours. I need to go fix something.” Cade motioned for me to come over to him. I walked up to his side and he pulled me into a soft hug. “Emma, I couldn’t imagine meeting anyone else quite like you this weekend. I’ll be back, and when I am I hope you’re waiting for me.”

His deep voice and soft words made me swoon, and it made me think that maybe it was a good idea he was getting out of here. I needed a better kryptonite for womanizers, because mine sucked.

When he came down slowly to what only could be our first kiss, I panicked and turned to the side. I quickly pulled away and stuck out my hand, and Cade’s expression went from bewildered to amused. He took my hand and let out a small laugh.

“I’ll see you at the wedding then, right?” I asked and let go of his hand.

“Yes, you will,” he said playfully and then looked over at Greyson, who was obviously starting to get very uncomfortable with our conversation. “Greyson, it was great to catch up, and I’m very sorry I have to split. But hey, why don’t you and Emma still go to Ellis Island together?”

I started waving my hands and saying, “Oh, no. That’s okay.” I looked over at Greyson and said, “I really can go another time. You’re busy, don’t worry about me.”

Cade waved for a cab and looked back to the two of us. “No way, Greyson will be an excellent guide. Take good care of her, and text me a picture when you find your family’s signature. Can’t wait to hear where that beautiful face comes from.” And before we could protest any farther, Cade was in a cab and off down the street.

I shot Greyson a nervous smile. “You don’t have to come with me today. I can go another time. Hopefully, I’m here for a while and I’ll have plenty of opportunities to visit.”

Greyson stared at me for a moment, but then pulled out his cell. He turned his back to me and started speaking to someone on the other line. He was probably calling Nora to come back and get him. Maybe he was even relieved to not have to spend the afternoon alone with me.

A few seconds later, Greyson approached me with an unreadable expression. “I meant what I said earlier. I’m looking forward to a break, and I haven’t visited Ellis or Liberty Island in years. I would still like to go, and if you’ll join me, I think we’ll have a good time together.”

Something inside me, maybe excitement, erupted through my chest and I held back a grin that was threatening to escape my lips. Before I could answer, our black car with Tony in tow, pulled up to the curb and Greyson was motioning me to climb in first.

When we were finally seated, I looked over at Greyson and thanked him. “I really appreciate this. I was getting excited about going. I hope I didn’t ruin any of your plans.”

Greyson looked at me with those damn blue eyes, and I caught myself fantasizing about him once again. How women get anything done around this guy was beyond me. He cleared his throat and must have started his sentence over. Yeah, I got busted for staring. “Emma, this is probably the most down to Earth activity I’ve done in a very long time. I need this, to get away from everything for an afternoon. I should be thanking you.”

“Well, then we both are thankful.” I finally started to feel my body relax, and let the leather mold into my back. These private CIA-style cars were the way to travel. I needed to enjoy this, because soon I was going to be out on my own and a ‘Tony’ wasn’t in my foreseeable future.

As I looked back over at Greyson, I decided I would bring the conversation back to work. I was intrigued about his merger, and secretly wanted to know more about his relationship with Nora. “So, I have to tell you that I have heard quite a bit about you getting ready to take over Lyons Media. Is that what has kept you so busy at work?”

I could see Greyson was also starting to relax. He slid out of his jacket and placed it neatly beside him. “That actually has been simple. My father has had my takeover ready for years. He has worked like a dog all of his life, and he’s more than ready to step down. We have some big accounts right now, and that’s been where all my focus has been lately. That and the wedding.”

“Right, the wedding. Brynn has told me bits and pieces, and Nora seems, nice.”

Greyson let out a low laugh and ran his hand through his hair. “You’re the one being nice.” He glanced over at me, but then quickly looked back straight ahead. I thought we were on our way to being sucked into that getting-to-know you awkward silence, but Greyson cleared his throat and continued, “So, do you know Cade well?”

“Cade? Oh, no. I actually met him last night. I’ve heard a lot about him from Brynn and Collin, but I had not had the privilege of meeting him until now.” I smiled and laughed a little thinking of his charm, and pickup lines.

I thought that would also get a small smile out of Greyson, but he seemed to tense up, and I was starting to think this outing together maybe was a bad idea. I then remembered I hadn’t properly thanked him for my interview with Purple Moon, because we were interrupted before I had the chance. “I haven’t had the chance to tell you how much I appreciate you getting me the interview with Purple Moon. It has been wonderful. So, thank you.” I genuinely smiled over at him, and almost had the urge to place my hand over his. That wouldn’t have made it anymore awkward.

“I’m glad it’s working out so well. Have you enjoyed working on the
Stolen Ivory
account?”

I furrowed my eyebrows together and watched his face for a second. “Are you sure? We don’t have to talk about it now. I really don’t mind waiting until our meeting next week.”

“I’m positive. I would love to hear your thoughts on it.” There was that damn smile again. I inwardly swooned and reminded myself he was off the market.

“Okay, well I guess I could tell you my thoughts on the book, even though you probably already know everything about it.” I cleared my throat and turned toward Greyson a bit more. I noticed the top button of his shirt was undone, and it caught my eye. I also had a flashback of falling against his body at the engagement party, and remembered how firm and wonderful he felt. I did a quick head shake before I lost control and found myself kissing his face uncontrollably. “Well, I love that the book is about four friends who are vacationing in Tahiti. The main character is engaged, and she has invited her three college friends for one last outing before she ties the big knot. I think that invites many readers in the early to mid-twenties. The night they decide to go out on the town and hit the local bars is a great way to introduce how Ivory, the quiet friend, decides to stay in their vacation villa and take a break. When the girls come back later that night and the resort has been ransacked, it is written so well that you can picture dead bodies everywhere, and that it’s basically a massacre. The three girls run to their bungalow, and find that Ivory is missing. You can really picture their faces when they don’t find her body.” I stopped to take in Greyson’s expression. He seemed into it, so I took it as a green light to continue. “So, anyway, I also loved that one of the friends was a detective for an agency in Colorado. She’s new but she has a great natural instinct for solving crimes, and is a complete badass. The clues they find were so well thought out. I was shocked when they found that Ivory had been taken by a huge underground sex-slave organization, and that they tried everything in their power to get her back.”

After I paused for a minute, Greyson put his hands up and motioned me to continue. “Do they find her?”

“Wait a minute, you don’t know the ending to a book you’re marketing?”

“I don’t have time to read it, tell me.”

I pretended to be shocked and placed my hand over my chest. “I’m not telling you the end, you’ll have to read it.”

Greyson just stared at me as if I was pulling some kind of a joke and continued to wait, hoping I would spill and tell him the end. Finally, when I pretended to zip my mouth shut he asked me if I was seriously not going to tell him.