Love and Chaos by Elizabeth Powers Read Free Book Online Page B

see Mason as someone who would add a personal dimension to a business
arrangement. Maybe once they’d been married, it would have eventually happened.
But before the deal was finalized? No, probably not. Jen may have given it a
shot, but Mason wanted an emotion-free relationship. And while Mason would
undoubtedly be able to keep emotion out of a sexual relationship on his end, he
would probably be concerned that such emotion could develop for the woman he
slept with. So no, Emma didn't think they’d been together.
    Emma
couldn’t quite picture Mason in bed. He was sexy as hell, yes. His body was a
work of art, and Emma had a feeling that he would know exactly how to touch a
woman. She felt a slight tingle just thinking about that, but pushed it aside.
Mason was cold and hard, she thought. His lovemaking would not be passionate or
out of control - it would be pleasant for the woman, to be sure, but there was
no way that he would ever lose himself in a woman, unless some woman could
reach him, and break through that hard outer shell. That woman would need to be
someone amazing – someone way more attractive and appealing than Emma Jameson.
And while she liked to think that she was a nice person, she was not anyone who
could break through the kind of hard that made up Mason Parker.
     
     
     

 
     
     
     
     
    Four
     
    That
evening, after waving Rhoda and her colleagues off to happy hour, Emma finished
up some last minute paperwork and then headed over to the doggy day care
facility to pick up a waggly and very happy Chaos. Back home, she let him out
into the back yard, and while he scouted the perimeter for errant squirrels,
Emma changed out of her ivory suit and into a black skirt paired with a
short-sleeved red silk blouse. She added a pair of black heels, pulled her hair
down from the chignon and simply pulled it back into a ponytail, and then fixed
her makeup. As she was applying lipstick she noted her hand in the mirror, and
pulled it back to look at the ring on her finger..
    Nobody
had noticed it today. It was a new ring, clearly, but it was on the right hand,
so it called no attention. It was lovely, Emma thought as she studied it. And
it signified something that still sort of terrified her. She was married. To
one emotionless and kind-of-intimidating man. With some trepidation, she moved
the ring back to her left hand.
    Sighing,
she glanced at the clock, then let Chaos back inside to feed him before
re-crating him while she headed out for dinner. On days like this, she felt
extremely guilty for not being home all day with him, but as long as she gave
him something to gnaw on in his crate, he seemed content. Plus, doggy day care
always wore him out. Doggy socializing was serious business, and Chaos was
nothing if not serious about playing with other dogs. He was probably whooped.
    After
guilting her into giving him a frozen Kong of peanut butter, Chaos settled back
into his bed and started chewing on his treat, barely looking up when Emma
called good bye to him. As she headed to her car, she looked down at herself
and rolled her eyes. This was why she kept a lint roller in her car. Chaos
didn’t seem physically capable of holding on to any fur at all when she was
around.
    Quickly
running the lint roller over her skirt, she inspected herself carefully for any
remnants of fur, then hopped into her car and started the engine. It wouldn’t
take her long to get to the restaurant, and if there were any justice in the
world, she’d have a glass of wine in her before Mason showed up. Tonight, she
badly needed Dutch courage.
    For
a Friday night, Emma was surprised to find that parking wasn’t too difficult.
Mason had chosen a restaurant that was very close to a garage, so rather than
drive along the streets looking for metered parking, she just pulled into the
lot, took the ticket offered by the machine, and quickly found a convenient spot.
After one last look in the mirror, she headed for Alamaya.
    Walking
in the