Controlling Interest (41 page)

Then the song ended. He stepped back.

Holy smoke, she was crying.

“What's the matter?” Matt's voice cracked in the sudden emptiness after the music stopped.

Natalie hastily swiped her fingers under her eyes and looked around. Thank goodness nobody was looking at them, so she gave him a teetering little smile, the best one she could produce. Dancing with him, being held casually in his arms with his chin against her temple, was exquisite torture. “Nothing. Thanks, Matt. I've got to go — ”

“Oh no you don't.” He slid in front of her so that she had to stop or run over him. Which would have been a pleasure, except he was too big and solid. She could feel his eyes burning on her face. “Come here.” He pulled her through a door into a hallway outside the banquet room. It was blessedly quiet.

They stared at one another. Every sensation gathered on Natalie's skin until she felt like she'd run headlong into a cactus.

Matt was the first to show signs of life. He gave her a little grin, so that his dimples slashed his cheeks. “Can you hear me now?”

She picked at her bracelet. “What do you want?”

He sobered. “I want to know what
you
want.” His voice sounded strained. “The paperwork on the partnership will be finalized next week. We've got cases coming in. Your dad's happy. Your mom's happy. Heck,
I'm
happy. Everybody but you . . .”

Natalie shrugged. “What makes you think I'm not happy?”

“I don't know. I can't explain it. Ever since we got back from Mobile, you've been so . . . so weird. Why are you acting like this?”

She looked up at him in despair. He was asking all the questions, without volunteering his own feelings, and she couldn't answer honestly without sounding like a pathetic twerp. “I'm just tired, Matt. It's been a long day.”

“You need to relax. Let's dance again.”

She backed away. “I'm in charge of the party. I've got to get back inside and mingle.”

“Not yet. Please, Natalie.” He sounded wistful.

One stitch at a time.
She waited for him to say something else, but he just looked at her sort of helplessly. She swallowed. “I have to go.” She stepped around him.

“Hold on.” This time he took her by the upper arms. She could feel the weight of his hands, hard and masculine and urgent. “Nat, come on. I've been trying to figure out the right time and place, but it never comes. The right words, they just disappear.” He glanced at the door, through which another rock song could be heard booming. “At least we're well chaperoned. I know you worry about stuff like that.”

She looked up at him in disbelief. “Now's a fine time to think of that!”

“There are probably a lot of things I haven't thought about enough.” He sighed, rubbing his thumbs against her bare shoulders. “I've dragged you all over Mississippi and insulted you and kissed you and treated you like my little sister until it's no wonder you want to haul off and slap me.”

Shivering, she backed toward the door. “I didn't say I wanted to slap you.”

“It's all over your face.” He followed, catching her hands in his. “Or something is. Maybe I'm misreading. Anyway, I wanted to tell you I'm sorry for taking you for granted. And that I'm really glad we're partners because . . . because I can't do without you now.”

Natalie felt the metal door behind her. There was no place else to go. The feel of Matt's fingers threaded through hers took every coherent thought out of her head. “What?”

He was a very affectionate person, she reminded herself, staring at the little polo guy on his shirt. He'd kissed her on the forehead several times, plus that electrifying occasion in the pantry. He liked girls, and she happened to be female. He didn't mean anything personal.

Her gaze moved to the tanned opening of his unbuttoned shirt. She wanted to kiss him there. But probably that would not be a good idea.

“I said, I can't function without you.” He almost sounded angry.

She looked up at him and found his eyes blazing into hers.

“Natalie, you are the most irritating, beautiful, brilliant woman I've ever met. You challenge me and make me a better man, because you don't let me slide by with mediocre. I'm pretty sure God gave you to me on purpose.”

“Matt — ”

“No, wait. One day I'll let you do all the talking, since that's what you're good at, but I need to say this before I lose my nerve.” He smiled then, lifting her hands against his chest. “I want to do this right. Your dad said I should give you time to make up your mind — but if you think you could give me a chance, I'd be the happiest man in the world.”

Natalie blinked up at him as relief and joy rushed through every nerve ending in her body. She thought she understood him, but she'd better make sure. “I've already told you I don't want more than a fifty-fifty share of the agency. Daddy agreed — ”

Matt's expression fell. “I'm not talking business. I'm handing my heart over to you. I've never done this before, so I probably didn't say it right, but I'm falling in love with you. I want to court you. I want to pick you up and take you out on dates and hang around with your family and maybe . . . maybe duck into a closet every now and then.”

It was her turn to frown. “Then you
don't
want to be business partners?”

“Of course I do! Lord, no wonder I've spent the last few weeks whacked out of my mind. I want the whole stinkin' enchilada!”

They stared at one another until Natalie began to laugh. “Boy, that was romantic.”

Finally Matt cracked a smile. “I told you I was messed up. Okay, it's your turn to say something.”

“I don't know what to say.”

“Well, that's a first.” He put his mouth next to her ear. “I'll give you a hint. How about something like ‘I feel the same way, Matt,' or ‘Shut up and kiss me, Matt'?”

“I feel the same way, Matt,” she breathed. “Shut up and kiss me.”

He did.

Fireworks

Elizabeth White

Susannah is out to prove that pyrotechnics genius Quinn Baldwin is responsible for a million-dollar fireworks catastrophe during a Mardi Gras ball.

With her faithful black Lab, Monty, she moves to the charming backwater city of Mobile, Alabama, to uncover the truth. But this world-traveled military brat with a string of letters behind her name finds herself wholly unprepared to navigate the cultural quagmires of the Deep South.

Captivated by the warmth and joy of her new circle of friends, Susannah struggles to keep from falling for a subject who refuses to be anything but a man of integrity, compassion, and lethal southern charm.
Fireworks
offers a glimpse into the heart of the South and a cynical young woman's first encounter with Christ-like love.

Softcover: 978-0-310-27390-5

Pick up a copy today at your favorite bookstore!

Fair Game

Elizabeth White

Jana Cutrere's homecoming to Vancleave, Mississippi, is anything but dull. Before she's even reached town, the beautiful young widow hits a stray cow, loses her son in the woods, rescues an injured fawn, and comes face to face with Grant Gonzales, her first high school crush.

Grant recently returned to town himself amid hushed controversy. His only plan: leave the corporate world behind and open a hunting reserve. Seeing Jana again ignites old memories . . . and a painful past. Tensions boil over when he learns exactly why she returned. Jana plans to convince her grandfather to develop a wildlife rescue center — dead center on the prime hunting property he promised to sell to Grant!

With deadlines drawing near for the sale of the property and no decision from her grandfather, can Jana trust God with her and Grant's future, or will explosive emotions and diametrically opposing views tear them apart?

Softcover: 978-0-310-26225-1

Pick up a copy today at your favorite bookstore!

Off the Record

Elizabeth White

Judge Laurel Kincade has it all—brains, beauty, and an aristocratic Old South family to back her up. A political rising star, she's ready to announce her candidacy for chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court.