She sighed, her head falling onto her open palms in confusion. On the one hand, she’d loved every moment spent in Jack’s company. On the other hand, she seriously did not want to raise her children in the same way she’d grown up.
Was there some way to find a happy medium? She worked hard. Maybe there was some way for her to keep her job and he could move down here. Surely there were handyman jobs here in Virginia!
She could support both of them with her own work, couldn’t she?
But was she really willing to give up her dream? What if she started to resent him later in life? She would slowly grow to hate him and she couldn’t imagine hating Jack. He was too strong, too powerfully built and too kind.
And what if she didn’t start to hate him? What if they had a fabulous life together? What if every moment they were together, they laughed and loved and raised children and chickens? Okay, not chickens. She hated chickens but the children she wanted. Desperately. And lots of them.
Maybe she could be the bread winner and he could stay home and raise their kids. Other families did things like that. She could make it work, couldn’t she? She loved him! They had so much fun together.
That was just sex, she told herself. Focus on the more fundamental issues of a relationship.
Perhaps that was the problem. He wasn’t willing to compromise. Would he even consider moving down to Virginia? She might give up her dream of working in New York on Wall Street, but would he leave his nice, comfy life in Maine?
She slapped some papers on her desk, irritated that he wouldn’t budge even an inch! Of course, she hadn’t even suggested anything so her anger was unjustified.
Damn him! Why was he being so stubborn? Why did he have to insist that she wasn’t happy? Who had happiness anyway?
And she’d be happy as soon as she got to the next level! She’d be happy to not be at the bottom of the job barrel!
The lack of chatter started to break through her frustration and she looked around. When she saw the closed conference room doors, her mind wasn’t sure what to think. She glanced around and realized that everyone else in the area was also looking at the closed conference room doors.
Something big was going down. She could feel it in her bones.:
A moment later, the doors were swept open and Rachel inhaled sharply when she saw Jack standing in the doorway, the owner of her investment firm shaking his hand. This was very odd, she thought to herself, remembering that first night in the Eager Beaver when she’d wanted to hide under the table.
And then he looked over at her. It wasn’t like he even had to look around for her. He knew exactly where her glassed in office was. Those sharp, blue eyes focused in on her like laser beams and she held her breath while he stalked towards her.
What was he doing here? Her hungry eyes traveled from his angry, hard eyes down his broad shoulders to his trim waist, astounded at how incredible he looked! And where had he gotten that amazing suit? It must have cost him everything to get that suit. It was obviously custom made because it fit his body perfectly.
She watched, her eyes hungrily devouring him as he approached while her mind scrambled to come up with some logical explanation for why he was here, why he was in her office building and, more interestingly, why the owner of her investment firm was acting so deferential towards him.
“What are you doing here?” she asked. He towered over her, looking and smelling like Jack. But this wasn’t her Jack – this was a stranger. Those blue eyes that had laughed with her over the past several weekends, who had taught her to sail and enjoy beer, kayak in the ocean and spot the harbor seals – that was not this man. Jack was kind and generous, laughing at life and scoffing at work. This man was hard and…scary.
And then he was standing in her office doorway, those hard, challenging eyes looking down at her with something she couldn’t quite identify. “Be careful what you wish for, Rachel,” he said very softly, his eyes still holding hers captive. “You might just get it.”
Her fingers were shaking and she wanted to reach out and touch him. But something held her back. That look in his eyes. That hardness around his mouth. It was all wrong. “Jack, what are you talking about? Did you change your mind about my job?” she asked, her eyes filled with both trepidation and hope.
He reached out and touched her cheek gently, then pulled his hand away as if he’d just hurt himself. “No, my dear. You’re my new intern. Starting immediately.”
She blinked, trying to keep up with him but why would Jack need an intern? “I don’t understand.”
He moved closer somehow. “You wanted to be my intern, to learn all you could about my investing strategy. Well, as of five minutes ago, you just became my latest intern. So grab your things. We’re off to New York. Your office is already set up and you’re going to learn everything you wanted and possibly some things you didn’t know you needed.”
Her mind was whirling, but still none of this conversation made sense. “New York?” she asked, still not grasping his meaning.
Emerson stood strong, refusing to relent on his hard line despite the confusion and hurt in her eyes. She had to learn this, had to understand that what she was asking for wasn’t what she really wanted. But what was more important, he couldn’t lose her. He had to be strong until she understood.
With that in mind, he pulled back, hardening his heart and glared down at her. “Come along, my dear. You need to be quicker than this if you’re going to swim with the sharks. You’ve already learned some things, but not nearly enough. And for today’s lesson…” he bent down low, whispering in her ear, “you’ve got to learn to be tough and merciless.”
She swallowed, not sure what was going on. “Jack, please tell me what’s happening. Why are you talking like this?” she asked. She reached out to touch him, thinking if she could just feel his strength, she would know that this was the same man who had held her tenderly in his arms on so many of those cold, delicious nights in Maine.
He grabbed her wrist before she could reach him and held her hand away from his body, refusing to give in to the need to have her touch him, to feel those delicate fingers against his skin. This was all for her benefit, he had to keep that in mind. “Not now, my dear. That will have to wait until later.” He looked down at her, seeing the fear in her eyes and forcing himself to continue this lesson. This was what she wanted. If it would make her happy, he’d give it to her but she had to make the decision to accept the life or reject it as he had. It was going to be a tough lesson. For both of them.