Twisted Arrangement by Mora Early Read Free Book Online Page B

her phone and sighed. Todd was due at her house for supper, and she could just imagine what his dinner conversation topic of choice was going to be. “I really need to get going. Thank you for the coffee.”
     
    She slid from the chair and quickly gathered up her bag, still half worried he’d glance inside and go ‘Aha! You’re planning to crash my ball and steal back the watch your no-good brother lost to me fair and square!’
     
    But she wasn’t . She’d just bought a very pretty, miraculously cheap, bright red ball gown. She pushed the rest of her mocha at him in the hopes of distracting him with sugar. “Here. For your sweet tooth.”
     
    He snatched the cup up and took a big gulp, once again flashing her that lopsided smile. “Thanks, Emma. I’ll see you Tuesday.”
     
    She muttered a quick goodbye and hurried out of the coffee shop, heart fluttering aggravatingly fast. It was just a stupid smile , for God’s sake, she told herself. There was no reason for her lungs to go all tight.
     
    Emma was so busy fuming at herself for her ridiculous physical reaction to Josh that she had walked several blocks before his final words penetrated her brain. Obviously he expected her to accompany Shinae to the mansion. Some clients were like that, preferring her hand on every trigger, so they knew who to blame if things didn’t go the way they liked.
     
    Emma slid into the driver’s seat of her beat-up old Camry and sighed. Straight from one demanding man in her life to another. Just what she needed. She started the car and headed home.
     
     

Chapter 6
     
    Josh sat in his office, twirling the pocket watch he’d won at poker a few weeks ago between his fingers. It was a handsome piece and had a good heft in his hand. He stared moodily at the etched gold case. He’d just gotten off the phone with Morse Goodweather, the director he’d hired months ago for this project. Morse had called him all in a lather, wanting to know why he hadn’t been informed that half their funding was being pulled. It took him almost two hours to calm down the volatile wunderkind and convince him they were not about to sink.
     
    He’d curse Arnold Purefoy to Hell, if he believed in such a place. He had no idea how the man had become the head of a large studio with such fragile nerves. Still, Josh needed to get William Ransler signed, or this whole project, the last two years of his life, would disappear in a puff of smoke.
     
    He spun the watch again, watching the light glint off it, and sighed. Things were coming along well, he assured himself. He’d been in almost constant communication with Emma in the week since she’d brought the decorator by. They’d made progress by leaps. She’d talked him through the design process with Shinae, helping him refine his ideas for decor until they’d come up with a scheme that all three of them thought was best: understated elegance with small touches of what Shinae referred to as ‘feistiness’. He’d finalized the guest list and chosen invitations, signed off on the press release and read through stacks of catering menus. He’d been a bit lost on that last task, overwhelmed by all the delectable sounding food, but thankfully Emma had stepped in and suggested a tasting, which saved him from blindly selecting something at random.
     
    As soft-spoken as she may be—borderline shy at times—Emma was efficient and hardworking as all get-out. Josh thought she could give Martin a run for his money. But the thought of having that slight, waifish woman with her striking green eyes and that mass of dark hair at his beck-and-call floated all kinds of interesting images to the surface of his mind.
     
    Josh wasn’t quite sure when it had happened, but by working so closely with her over the last week, the sympathy he initially felt toward her for her shyness had slowly begun to morph into attraction.
     
    He’d even surprised her into a laugh, once. They’d been doing the second walkthrough