to her very recent attempt to do just that. “Is he really such an ogre? Do you know him well?”
“I guess I know him as well as just about anyone knows another person.” That was an evasion and he felt only slightly uncomfortable with the omission of his true identity. But he had to admit, he was fascinated by this woman. He wanted to get to know her, to understand her without his reputation hindering their conversation.
“What’s he like?” she asked, feeling comfortable talking with him despite the ever-present need to touch him, smell him and…she had to stop thinking things like that!
Emerson gestured to the porch, offering her the lone chair at the front of the cottage. “He eats up little stock brokers like you for breakfast,” he teased.
Rachel laughed and Emerson’s gut tightened at the soft, husky sound. She didn’t look like the kind of woman who would laugh like that, he thought, watching her green eyes brighten with her wide, breathtaking smile. She relaxed back into the surprisingly comfortable rocking chair. “The man you want to work with has no principles. He’s hard, distrusts humanity, and hasn’t had any reason to change his impression. He’s seen the worst of people because of his talents, and he’s learned to play the game well enough to be on top of the dung heap. He prefers to separate himself from that world.”
“Is that why he moved out here to Cape Elizabeth?” she asked softly, feeling sadness and compassion for the man she hadn’t yet met. “But if he hates people and the financial world so much, why does he continue to invest?”
Emerson shrugged. He couldn’t really explain why he hadn’t simply retired from the investing world completely. He had enough money stored up for several lifetimes but there was just something about investing, in drawing conclusions about where a company or even a country or commodity was going to go. It was like a puzzle, a mystery that was an almost compulsive, driving need within him. “I can’t really answer that question,” he told her honestly.
“What’s his secret?” she asked slyly with a huge grin.
Emerson looked at her and wanted to take her into his arms and make love to her right here in the sunshine. He wanted to put that smile on her face because of a joke or because he made her feel good, not because he had some secret investing strategy he could relay to her. There wasn’t really any sort of trick to what he did anyway. He just read the news and saw the bigger picture.
“Perhaps his secret is here, in the water and the sunshine.”
That definitely wasn’t the answer she was looking for. She frowned and shook her head, trying to understand but coming up empty. “I don’t get it.”
He smiled gently and took a long sip of his lemonade. “I didn’t think you would,” he said with resignation. “The man you’re looking for is the kind of guy who relaxes as often as he works. He doesn’t try to be the first to discover the next big thing, he looks at life, enjoys what comes his way and shrugs off the opportunities that he misses. There’s a lot out there to do. It would be difficult to try and have it all.”
“I disagree,” she replied primly. “And if anyone has it all, it would be Emerson Watson. The man has more money than god and all the power behind that kind of wealth.” She might be shallow to want that kind of power, but she didn’t care. She would never go back. She’d lived the life of a pauper and it wasn’t kind or gentle. It was having people take advantage of you because you didn’t have the power to force them to be fair and courteous. It was going without meals and walking long distances when the car broke down again. It was missing parties with friends because she either couldn’t get a ride to the party, or didn’t have anything appropriate to wear and was too insecure to go in what she had, knowing that the other guests would laugh at her outfit. Poverty was painful, not empowering.
Emerson saw the emotions flit over her lovely, delicate features and something struck him hard. She wasn’t just a flighty, greedy investor. There was much more to this woman. She had depth of character that was usually missing in the people who sought out his financial advice. “Is that what you want?” he asked