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His head was spinning and his sister knew hinize it Hell, he, Ava, and Declan were all s When their parents had been killed in a plane crash, they had been raised by their grandfather It wasn’t that he was unkind to them; he was just rather indifferent for thefor affection, you were out of luck

Wearily, he ran a hand through his hair "Thanks for letting o Of course Alexia would have ave hi to coo She was never one to press the point on past pain because she daht, just letting you know" Looking at her watch, she stood up "I’ve got to get back to work I’ht for Declan and I have a ton of work to get out of the way before I go over there"

Brant looked at her in surprise "You’re babysitting?" Not that he thought Ava wasn’t capable--she just had a tendency to distance herself fro interactions with anyone, even family

He had expected an insult in return but was surprised when she said, "It’s the closest I’ll ever get to having a child" With that, she turned and left his office as quickly as she had entered

What a day It was barely lunchtiettingruled by her painful past The first was a sucker punch to the gut; the second was disheartening but not surprising He knew he needed to talk to Declan about Ava As for Alexia, he resolved to bury the inforiven hied? She didn’t want him then and she didn’t now He refused to be ruled by his heart again That part of his life was over

With a grimace, Brant threw his half-eaten sandwich in the trash He had no doubt that Emma had made sure it was as inedible as possible He opened his bottom desk drawer and looked at his junk food collection His snack consuh the roof since E for hi him lunch every day when he rarely ever ate it He suspected it was just his perverse need to see those plureen eyes roll dramatically as she snapped off a reply She was a spitfire, and he had grown to enjoy getting burned by her It was the liveliest part of his day

Since he had a few et her blood pu the phone, he yelled for her to come into his office He knew she hated that She never failed to mention it When she walked into his office, he felt his physical response to her almost immediately No matter how much he hated to admit it, his cock jumped to attention anyti to his lunch in the trash, he asked, "Did you just leave that sitting so the sandwich over the sidewalk on your way back to the office?" Settling back in his chair, he waited for the verbal tongue-lashing Hell, yeah, he got off on it; there was no reason anymore to admit that he didn’t He was momentarily speechless, then horrified when her botto that looked suspiciously like tears glistened on her thick lashes Uncertain, he asked, "Emma?" When she turned and rushed froer, stunned What in the hell had just happened?

He hesitated before going to find her Her desk was vacant and the door was ajar leading to the hallway As he walked farther down the hall, he couldn’t believe that he was actually considering going into the ladies’ restrooht it, he was lightly knocking on the door "Emma? Are you in there?"

Brant heard a muffled "Go away"

He took a deep breath and wondered why it was so hard for hiize to her "Emma, I’msorry Ididn’t mean to upset you" When she didn’t answer, he felt co, really" A wo on and then gave hi area kneas an asshole

Finally, Emma said, "I need a little tirateful to hear her speaking that he said, "Take all the time you need, no rush at all, and, EmmaI really am sorry" When she didn’t reply, he turned and walked back into his office, shaking his head in confusion

When Emma had first started as his assistant, he had been desperate to replace her by the end of the first week She had shattered his perfectly organized routine, and he was a disheveled wreck as a result Shesystehts, and al dairy in his coffee At times he couldn’t believe he was still alive or employed Yet as much as he had wanted to throttle her, there was also so about her that he connected with Even when his brother had teased hi rid of E about her that he enjoyed, no ot on his nerves

He had no idea what he had said today to upset her so much He had said far worse to her before and it had never see lunch Maybe a fight with a boyfriend? Wait Did she even have one? He wasn’t sure why it bothered him to think of her with a ht enjoy her antics at the officeromantically involved with such a pain in the ass Fuck, this day just kept getting better and better

Ehter until she was certain that Brant had walked away I can’t believe that shit actually worked Who would have ever iht to his knees by a feell-placed tears and a couple of sniffles--unbelievable! When Suzy had suggested the crying approach, she had been coured that every assistant Brant had ever had must have ended up in tearskick out of it So she was in shock that he had completely dissolved after her first whimper When he followed her to the bathroom, she had been floored Luckily, soreat deal more tiazine She settled back on the countertop and ignored the few people who knocked on the door trying to get in She thought about updating her Facebook status, but decided thatoverboard