Page 11 of An Enchanted Spring

“Do you trust me?”

Emma narrowed her eyes and bit her lip, and Aidan wondered if she would be brave enough to tell him the truth. After a moment, she shook her head.

“No. I don’t trust anyone.”

She was reinforcing his good opinion of her with each word she uttered. Colin would be lucky to add her to his team.

“Smart,” he replied. “But in this case, incorrect. I’ll take you through this contract.” He opened the binder. “If you have any lingering questions, we’ll see what they are and determine, together, if you can take them to your legal team tomorrow. And if I misrepresent anything, you can certainly terminate the contract based on that. See? It says so right here, first paragraph.”

She pursed her lips, and Aidan waited, slightly nervous.He wanted the chance to get to know her. Not because he was intrigued by her intelligence and her sly wit, he hurried to assure himself. No, it was because Colin was right—this woman was perfect to head up a team overseas. He had to get her to sign on first with him, then with Colin.

“All right,” she finally agreed. “Let’s go over this together. But I’m not promising anything.”

He smiled fully at her and set to work.

Emma couldn’t helpbut notice that Aidan’s intense gaze hadn’t left her face as they discussed the contract. It was almost unnerving how focused he was. She tried to suppress her awareness; the thought of that focus on her in a different situation made everything south of her belly clench.

She didn’t bother telling herself to stop with the inappropriate fantasizing; she knew she was a lost cause.

He flipped the binder to the back and slid it all the way in front of her. “If you were given the ability to purchase one item from the lot, what would you choose?”

She frowned. Surely he realized she could never afford one of the relics; just the starting bids were higher than her monthly income. “I don’t like to play pretend, Mr. MacWilliam. I deal in facts.”

“I enjoy hypotheticals, Ms. Perkins, so humor me, if you would.” He gave her an encouraging smile, and her heart turned in her chest. “If money were absolutely no object, and you could purchase any one object in here, what would it be?”

She decided to play along, and once again looked through the various pieces—helmets, coins, a jousting stick, a writing desk, wax seals, even a piece of fairly well-preserved fabric. She was only pretending to notice the items, though—she spent more than two hours drooling over the various piecesearlier in the afternoon. About halfway through the pages, she stopped and studied the picture of a silver sword boasting a large green gem in the hilt, with an intricate pattern etched on the handle. She squinted to see the pattern in greater detail. It was fuzzy, but from what she could tell it looked like the letterM, twisted up with vines, and a sword stabbing through it.

She pointed to it. “This.”

Aidan stroked his chin, regarding her thoughtfully. “Are you sure?”

She frowned at him, again feeling as though this were a test. “You asked, and this is my answer. This sword, had I all the money in the world, is what I would buy.”

“Why? The large gem? It would make a beautiful pendant.”

She was horrified at the thought of desecrating such a pristine relic. She wondered again what he was after.

“No, Mr. MacWilliam. While the gem is very beautiful, what strikes me as special is the etching. If you look closely, you’ll see it’s a letter, entwined with foliage of some sort, and pierced with a sword.” She paused, and realization dawned. She held up her napkin. “That’s the sameMas this!”

Aidan’s eyes burned into hers, his voice low. “What would you do with such a sword, lass?”

Captivated by his intensity, Emma’s breath hitched. “I’d use it to learn about its original owner.”

Apparently, her answer was what he’d wanted to hear. He let out a breath, then gave her a blindingly brilliant smile. Emma tried not to react, but when he smiled like that, her heart stopped and her breathing quickened. She desperately tried to get hold of herself. The man was way out of her league. He was too charming, too smart, too wealthy. More than that, he was a client. She had no business lusting after him.

He was saying something, and Emma tried to shake offthe remnants of that smile and focus back on his words instead of his firm mouth.

“I need your love of medieval antiquities, Ms. Perkins.”

“How do you know I love medieval antiquities?”

He blinked quickly. He opened and closed his mouth. “It’s clear that you have a keen eye for valuable artifacts. You chose the most expensive and rarest item in the lot.” He signaled to the man standing just inside the doorway. “Cian, have them bring the main course.”

He was diverting attention, and Emma’s BS flag went up, but years of experience in her field made her hold her tongue.

“And I need you for another reason as well. You have a reputation for saving your clients from themselves.” Aidan turned his attention back to Emma, and she frowned.

“You need me to save you from yourself?”

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