The Sweetest Gift - Scarlett Cole Page 0,49

that the genetics of taking whatever you wanted had been passed from father to daughter. He guessed she was headed for the same event he was and wondered how he should handle meeting her again.

A part of him wanted to tell her where she could get off. Ask her whether her father had been able to live with the shady decisions he’d made. A part of him wondered if he should play nice, get to know more about the woman—or rather, get to know more of her distillery. It wasn’t unthinkable that Dyer’s could be their first acquisition of a successful small batch distillery, once he convinced his father. But, perhaps he didn’t need to. His father was due to retire, the company becoming Connor’s on the first day of January. Perhaps it could be his first decision No, the first decision was already made—to get rid of his uncle.

And another part of him, a small part he wasn’t overly proud of right now, wanted to know a little more about the attractive firecracker who had set him in his place.

To do all but one of those things, he’d need to use some charm. The idea of apologizing flashed in his brain. On the one hand, it felt almost disloyal to his father to apologize to any Dyer. But on the other, as a man who held himself to a high moral standard, he knew he’d been a dick.

Fuck it.

Why was he so concerned about what Emerson Dyer thought?

He shook his head to clear thoughts of the woman from his mind.

The ballroom was filled with tables covered in blue damask cloths with large white floral arrangements in the center. A DJ played gratingly cheery pop songs as servers circulated the room with trays of glasses filled with champagne, and he immediately thought of Emerson again.

She’d been as good as her word. She’d worked damned hard on the flight, poring over spreadsheet after spreadsheet at speeds even he felt were impressive.

His thoughts were restless and he needed some air before the ceremony began. The ballroom had large doors along one side that appeared to open out to a patio, and he wandered outside. He followed the steps into the lit gardens.

A warm breeze ruffled Connor’s hair, blowing through his suit and white dress shirt. The bright lights of the ballroom flickered in his peripheral vision, but for now he simply wanted to breathe.

“Goddamn stupid heels,” a voice muttered behind him near the stairs.

The frustration made him smile, and he turned to offer his assistance. All he could see was the top of a chestnut brown updo, and a woman with a heel seemingly stuck in the hem of her full skirt.

“Here,” he said, walking to her side, “Take my elbow.”

A pair of familiar almond eyes the color of dark maple syrup looked up at him. “You,” Emerson said, taking his elbow with a scowl. Her fingers were slender and unadorned, nails short and painted in a pale pink.

“A pleasure to see you again,” he said curtly. “Do you always like to make a scene?”

She released the heel from the hem and stood. The black dress was simple, fitted to the waist and falling in voluminous waves to her calves. Only a fool would have missed the way it skimmed her body to perfection.

Her body was trim, her breasts pressed delightfully against the scooping neckline of the dress.

“I didn’t make a scene earlier.” She appeared to be unaware that her hand was still on his arm. Her eyes were focused on him, and he found that he liked it. “I merely responded to your rude behavior. And lamenting my decision to wear heels with a low hem dress is a wardrobe malfunction, not a scene.”

“That sounds a lot like semantics.”

“That sounds a lot like avoidance of your role in the earlier matter.”

Connor sighed. “You are right. I was in a foul mood when I stepped on the airplane. I apologize for the way I handled finding you in my seat.”

Emerson rolled her eyes. “My seat.”

“I suppose that technically it was our seat. It’s called the ‘And Stance.’ You were in my seat, and I was in your seat. Both of us are correct. Both statements are true.”

Emerson paused for a moment, then cocked her head slightly. “I can agree with that. But seeing I was there first and possession being nine-tenths of the law and all that…”

Now Connor grinned. “Are you always this friendly with people you don’t know?”

Emerson smiled, and he