Emily Wright had Levi turned inside out. He’d kissed her last night…a few times. And grazed his mouth along the silky column of her neck. What the hell had he been thinking?

He wasn’t. He’d simply reacted to a beautiful woman in his arms. Was it sexual harassment to kiss your assistant if she seemed to be enjoying it? The way her body had pressed eagerly against his…

He sighed harshly. He didn’t have things under control if last night’s ball was any indication. Not inside Club Tahoe.

And not with Emily.

Adam was right. Levi was attracted to his assistant. And Levi worried it was more than that.

He often ventured onto the dock at night, after work. Only lately, instead of worries about the club, it was Emily who filled his thoughts. He’d remember the number of tanning butlers (a.k.a. cabana boys) she thought the resort needed to make the guests happy—which seemed excessive—and he’d smile. Or he might think about the slope of her calf when she bent to pick up a sheet of paper she’d dropped from the perpetual stack of files in her arms earlier in the day. Those were the kinds of thoughts that really pissed him off, slipping in when he wasn’t careful.

Levi hadn’t given a woman more than a passing consideration in almost a year. That he thought about Emily all day long… Yeah, that wasn’t gonna work. He couldn’t date Emily. She was Lisa’s sister, for God’s sake. And his assistant. And he needed her at the club more than he needed her in his bed. He wanted her in his bed, but he wasn’t impulsive like his younger brothers. He planned things out. And he couldn’t afford a one-night stand ruining their working relationship.

Despite the logical reasons to stay away from her, he also couldn’t lie to himself and say he wasn’t drawn to Emily. He was more drawn to her than he’d been to any woman in a long time. Maybe in forever, because he wasn’t the same man he’d been the last time he was in a relationship. Which might explain why he’d kissed her as soon as he got her close.

Jesus, he really was a Cade. He thought he was above the stupid shit his brothers did. Turned out he was wrong.

Lisa had stopped by to drop off Emily’s bag just in time. Her presence had splashed a bucket of ice water on the flame Emily’s nearness had set off. But he hadn’t handled the situation very well. He’d stood there like an idiot, not saying anything. It had been years since he’d seen Lisa. She was still drop-dead gorgeous, but he didn’t feel the pull to her he once did, and that had stumped him.

That and the fact that he’d just been kissing her little sister. Which was damn awkward.

He never thought he’d get over Lisa, but he had. He wanted to see her happy, but he didn’t want to be with her anymore. Hadn’t wanted to for a long time, he realized.

He also never thought he’d get over his dream of fighting fires, but he was slowly accepting that too.

He wasn’t the same man he used to be, living on the edge of life and death, protecting others. It was all he’d known. Yet he felt the same sense of responsibility that had given him purpose in life—taking care of the employees and guests at Club Tahoe, and his brothers. And the only way he knew how to do that was through planning and strength of will.

He’d not planned for Emily. And she was severely testing his will.

He’d stupidly thought he could let things happen for once and not plan everything out. If Lisa hadn’t walked in, Emily would be sprawled out on his bed right now, not down the hall in her office paper clipping God knows what together. He would have slept with his ex’s little sister, an employee, and someone who trusted him to make the right decisions.

There were enough fish in the sea. He didn’t need to dip back into the Wright pool.

Levi barged into his office and placed his hands on hips. A lax attitude about the future was something he couldn’t afford. He had too many responsibilities.

Grace bumped up against his leg. He glanced down and petted her head. She had on one of those doggy cones today so she wouldn’t chew the stitches she’d received from the vet for a benign tumor. He’d brought her in to keep an eye on her.

Levi walked to his desk and pulled up his calendar on the computer. He kept his computer in a password-protected sleep mode every night because it was a pain in the ass to shut the thing down every day and wait for it to start up in the morning. And yes, even this shit was the sort of nonsense he was getting used to. Working on computers all day, with computer administrators making him change his password every two weeks until Levi thought his head would explode trying to remember them all. He needed some sort of system. He’d have to ask Emily about that…

Approaching Emily about something strictly work-related could break the ice that had formed between them after he’d botched things last night. Get them back on the right track. He took full responsibility for his mouth landing on hers…and lingering. It had been impossible to resist when she’d stood so close to him, looking as beautiful and tempting as she did in that skintight dress. As long as he kept his distance, he could keep his mouth off hers.

Which meant no more asking Emily to fix his ties. He’d learn how to do them himself, because he damn well couldn’t be expected to keep his hands off her, with her smoky eyes drawing him in and her soft floral scent filling his nose. That was a one-two punch no man could resist.

Time to man up and go see her. She hadn’t emailed or called him this morning like she normally did at least half a dozen times, which meant he was still in the doghouse. He’d have to make it clear he wouldn’t try anything like last night again. No more touching. He could work with a beautiful woman and not make a pass at her. He had to. Because he needed Emily.

Grace glanced up with a doggy what’re you waiting for look.

“Come on, Grace.” Levi headed for the door, and Grace followed him out and down the hallway.

He hesitated outside Emily’s office. He could hear her talking on the phone, and a weird pull throbbed in his chest. Levi shook it off and knocked once before twisting the knob and striding inside. “Morning.”

Emily said something to the person on the line and quickly ended the call. “Good morning.”

She pursed her shell-pink-tinted lips as though she were sucking herself back into librarian mode and not the sexy vixen she’d let loose last night. But it was impossible to hide what Levi had seen. She wasn’t a pair of sexy legs or his ex’s little sister. Emily was beautiful and smart and she’d saved his ass more than once since she started. He respected her. Which was why he had to get them back on good terms. Platonic good terms.

Even so, he checked her out, try as he might to control his gaze. She was wearing one of her boxy blouses that hid her figure.

Good. He preferred the boxy fit. Less distracting. But the mass of blond hair that was also distracting when allowed to run loose down her back had been pulled into a knot at the nape of her neck. Which only managed to remind him of his lips on that neck…

Man up.

“I need you to watch Grace.” Which hadn’t been at all why he’d come. He’d come to ask Emily about a system for keeping track of passwords, but once he’d arrived, it seemed like a stupid reason to visit her office.

“Grace?” Emily glanced at the dog waiting patiently beside his leg.

“My dog.”

“I see that.” Her eyebrows pulled together as she stared at Grace with the plastic cone around her neck. “Is she okay?”

“She’s fine. Just a few stitches, but I don’t want her to chew them off. And I don’t trust her to not remove the cone. She’s managed it before. Can you keep an eye on her?”

Emily’s mouth parted. He should be looking at her eyes, but his gaze remained on the soft, plump flesh of her lips. And now that he was staring, he realized she wasn’t wearing lipstick. That sexy, wet pink color was natural.

His pants tightened.

She stood, giving him a better view and not helping the hardening inside his pants. “I have meetings with two comedians and another musician to add to our entertainment roster. I also have several meetings afterward to discuss the feasibility of starting a children’s program at the resort. I really don’t—”

“So you’re free. Good.” He turned to leave. Needed to get out before his physical response became obvious, if it wasn’t already.

“Uh…” Emily hurried around her desk and stared leerily at Grace. “I’m not free. Isn’t there someone else you can leave her with? One of your brothers, maybe? I’ve never had a dog. I wouldn’t know how to care for her.”

“I don’t trust anyone with Grace, least of all my brothers.”

She studied him, and he looked away.

“Okay. I’ll watch her.” Emily gave Grace a soft smile.

“Good. I’ll pick her up later.” Levi was out the door before Emily could change her mind. Her soft scent filled the room and sparked memories of her in his arms, which seemed like the only place she should be. But that thought would wear off. It hadn’t been twenty-four hours since they’d kissed. He was feeling residual sexual frustration, that was all.

In the meantime, Levi would stay out of Emily’s office. It smelled like her, and that made things harder, pun intended. He’d call her later and have her bring Grace to him. No more venturing into her part of the building.

Levi headed back to his desk, where he was to meet with two of the lawyers to discuss how things went with Shin Electronics. One of the lawyers had attended a dinner while the company was in town, but neither had been present for the drunken-lady debacle.

Things might have turned south with Shin Electronics. Only time would tell. The company delegation had left first thing this morning, but the CEO had shaken Levi’s hand last night at the end of the party and thanked him for an entertaining visit.

Entertaining? Levi could only assume the CEO referred to the peep show and not the two musicians they’d managed to bring into the bar two out of the four evenings the guests had stayed. This was a classy casino resort. Club Tahoe didn’t need that kind of thing marring its reputation. The opportunity for a top company to book the hotel as its regular West Coast conference destination was likely dead in the water.

The lawyers had advised him to let them handle Shin Electronics, and he’d refused. If it turned out the company didn’t return, he was responsible. But he didn’t trust his lawyers to run Club Tahoe for him. As CEO, Levi would take on the big jobs like anyone else. For now, he’d have to come up with an alternative revenue source and quick.

* * *

Emily leaned down to doggy eye level, where Grace stared back at her from beside the desk. “Looks like it’s just you and me. And for the record, I am busy today. Your dad chose to ignore that part. Did you know he was so stubborn?”

Grace cocked her head to the side adorably.

“Me either! That man has ignored me for almost a day—after he kissed me—and then he has the nerve to come in here and ask me for a favor? I could strangle him right now.”

No response from Grace.

Emily frowned. “I suppose you love him unconditionally. Well, I’ll tell you one thing, he’d be a lot more lovable if he didn’t kiss and confuse people.” She petted Grace’s head. “He’s probably still in love with Lisa. I’m the one who stupidly thought… I don’t know what I thought. I just—like him. When he’s not bossing me around, he’s pretty incredible.” Emily sighed and stood. “All right, Grace. No more moping for us. You have a cone around your head and I’m a dunce when it comes to men, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t important. We have things to do, you and I. We’d better get to it.”

Emily grabbed her workbag with all her important electronics and walked to the door. And realized Grace hadn’t followed.

She made kissing noises with her mouth. “This way.”

She received the same curious head cock from Grace.

Emily patted her thigh. “Grace.”

The dog stood and walked over with her tail wagging.

Emily nodded and breathed in. “Okay, then. I can do this.”

She glanced out the door and into the busy hallway, filled with Club Tahoe executive staff conducting business. “I’m bringing a dog to meetings. This should be an interesting day.”