The Billionaire's Masquerade Page 0,29
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.
“Jack?” she whispered, her eyes wide with both confusion and fear.
His mouth compressed into a line as he came to the point where he had to admit his deceit. He wasn’t proud of it, but he wouldn’t have changed anything. Being Jack had given him a taste of what Rachel was like as a woman versus what she would have shown him if she’d known who he was.
Bowing slightly, he mocked the names he’d been given as a child. “Emerson Jackson Watson, at your service. And you are Rachel Carson, my new intern. Let’s go.” He turned around without another word and walked out of her office. She blinked, trying to absorb what he’d just told her.
“Wait a minute,” she called out to him, uncaring that the rest of her co-workers were all watching avidly as he turned around, wanting to see this drama played out. “Are you telling me that you…?”
He stopped, bracing himself for the hurt in those lovely, green eyes. “I’m the man you’ve been trying to find for the past three weeks. So now that you have me, it’s up to you to take the internship or leave it. Either way, you have five minutes to grab your things and meet me downstairs or toss the opportunity to someone else. The choice is all yours.”
Without another word, he turned around and walked out of the building.
Rachel stood there, wondering what had just happened. The hurt that was starting to build up inside of her was almost debilitating. Jack and Emerson Watson were one and the same? That didn’t make any sense. Jack was a handyman. Emerson Watson was one of the wealthiest men in the world! What was going on?
Her manager stepped closer, his eyes moving between the now-closed elevator doors and her pale features. “Ms. Carson, you’re exceptional work over the past few weeks has provided you with a great deal of visibility. Hence your newest role as Mr. Watson’s intern,” he told her sternly. “You have been given an opportunity that people would literally kill for. What are you doing standing here staring at the empty hallway?” her boss asked, looking at her as if she’d lost her mind.
Rachel looked at her boss, her mind still in a quandary. But she quickly grabbed her purse and her computer, not even bothering to put it on suspend as