Page 34 of A Christmas Negotiation

She sharply sucked in a breath. “Feelings?” She had feelings for him, too, but she didn’t have the nerve to express them now. The thought of sitting down and examining them, or daring to put a label on them, was too terrifying an idea. Meanwhile, there was no sign of her period and the drugstore was scheduled to deliver a pregnancy test at any time.

“Please don’t throw my word back at me like I’ve said something horrible. We’ve had a great weekend together and now we’re right back where we started except that it’s quite possibly worse. I don’t see any way that Summers is going to agree to a single term you and I so carefully worked out. The entire deal is off as far as I’m concerned.”

Isabel’s stomach sank. She’d not only disappointed Jeremy, she was about to crush the entire Eden family and her brother, for that matter. Best-case scenario, Eden’s would end up embroiled in a legal battle for months, one that would cost them untold sums of money. Mr. Summers had been headed for the warpath from the very beginning and it was only understandable that this story in the papers would convince him it was the only course. Mindy and Isabel had found the letters extremely romantic when they read them, but there was no doubt that they were the flowery ramblings of a man smitten with a woman who was not his wife. They were a chronicle of lust, passion, obsession and ultimately, infidelity. They told the story of two people casting aside the sanctity of marriage.

“Please. Let me talk to Mindy and Sophie. Let me get to the bottom of this.”

“I don’t see what good it’s going to do, but I’m not going to prevent you from doing whatever you need to do to take care of your client.”

“Gee, thanks. That’s so generous of you.” Isabel retreated to the guest room, fuming and upset and uncharacteristically on the brink of tears. Normally when things went wrong with a case, she immediately went on the offensive. Right now, she wanted to crumple into a ball and hide. She got out her phone and called her brother.

“Hey. What’s up?” he asked, sounding as though he was still recovering from his cold.

“Have you seen the papers?”

“No. Why?”

Isabel gave Sam a quick recap. “So I need to know if Mindy fed this story to the newspapers.”

“I don’t see how she possibly could have. At least not in the last few days. She’s been completely out of it on cold medicine. The only person she’s talked to has been Sophie.”

Isabel felt like a light bulb had been flicked on above her head. Sophie was the most likely person to do something like this. When Isabel had tried to calm her down the other morning, she was all ready to hire a PR person and take Mr. Summers down. “Okay. Thanks. I need to call her and talk to her.”

“Are we in hot water because of this?” Sam asked.

Isabel wasn’t about to couch it. “I’d say we’re about to boil.”

Unfortunately, when Isabel called Sophie’s cell, all she got was voice mail. She left a message, asking—no, begging—for Sophie to call her back. Then she flopped back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling, wondering how she was possibly ever going to get herself out of this.

Jeremy had sought the solitude of his office, closing the door behind him. He wasn’t interested in Isabel’s excuses or reasoning. All he could think about were the things he’d learned about her the first time he’d looked into her career trajectory and discovered what she’d done in Washington, DC. This was straight out of the Isabel Blackwell playbook—when one party can destroy you, you destroy them first. Although he didn’t want to make this situation about him, this was far too much like the things Kelsey had done to him. His heart legitimately went out to Mr. Summers. Who wants to read a newspaper article where their father, in his own words, professes his love for someone who isn’t his wife?

He couldn’t believe he’d fallen back into bed with Isabel. He couldn’t believe he’d let himself get so carried away again. Even five minutes ago out in the hall with her—why had he uttered that word?Feelings?For someone who was supposed to be exceptionally good with words, he’d sure chosen a terrible one. Right now, he had a few too many feelings coursing through his system, anger being pretty high on the list. Everyone was pissing him off—the Eden sisters, the situation and honestly, even Isabel.

Jeremy’s phone, which was facedown on his desk, beeped with a text. Then another. He flipped over the device and scanned the screen.

The first message was from his father.Summers case is no longer under your control. We need to take down Blackwell.

The second was from a reporter, and just because today seemed to be hell-bent on destroying him, it was the same one who’d sought Jeremy’s comment after Kelsey ran her smear piece.Can we talk re: the Benjamin Summers lawsuit?

Before he spoke to either of those people, he needed to call Ben. He didn’t want to risk him talking to his father first. “Ben. Good morning. I got your text,” Jeremy said, wanting to be as upbeat and diplomatic as possible, even though it felt like the world was crumbling around him.

“It appears that the shoe is on the other foot, doesn’t it? I’m embarrassed beyond words at the atrocity in the papers this morning, but I suppose I should be thankful that the Eden’s team has finally shown their true colors.”

“I don’t know about that. We’re still trying to get to the bottom of exactly what happened.” Why was it his inclination to try to walk any of this back? Logic said that he should be going for the jugular right now, but the truth was that he just wanted this done. He couldn’t spend more time with Isabel. She’d shown that she was just as capable of inflicting damage as any woman he’d ever allowed himself to get close to. He needed this case to be over. “I have to tell you that Ms. Blackwell and I worked out some extremely favorable terms for you on Friday. It’s an attractive offer, and yes, today might give us additional leverage for perhaps a few more concessions, but I don’t think we should throw the whole thing out the window because of one story in a tabloid.”

“And I’d think you would be happy about this. Don’t lawyers love leverage?”

“Not when it means that we needlessly drag something out for longer than it needs to go.” He could see this going on for months and months, during which he would have to battle Isabel. He didn’t want that. Frankly, he wanted this whole thing to go away so he could decide for himself, without any outside intrusion, whether he could trust her. Whether they could be something.

“Do you have these supposed favorable terms for me to look at?” Mr. Summers asked.

“I’m in the process of drawing them up. We can meet tomorrow morning if that works for you.”

“Fine. Nine o’clock. My office.”

“Absolutely. I will be there.”

“And if I’m not happy, I’m prepared to drop the gloves and go to war.” The line went dead before Jeremy had a chance to respond. Not that he had anything to say. He’d wait until tomorrow to do battle with Mr. Summers.