“I’m back,” she heard him say and put the phone back to her ear. “Hey, remember those crazy burgers we used to get from The Sand Bar? Bacon, pepper jack cheese, onion straws, pickles, ketchup, and then ranch on the side for the homemade chips?”
Emma couldn’t help but laugh. “Oh, my goodness! I haven’t had one of those in a long time! I think sixteen-year-old me had an iron stomach!” She laughed again. “What made you think about those?”
“There’s a place here by me that makes something similar. It’s still a drive-thru, so it’s not nearly as good as having it made fresh like we used to get, but every time I get one, I think of you.”
It was both the sweetest and most ridiculous thing she’d ever heard.
“I only had a salad for dinner so that burger sounds even more amazing,” she told him. Her doorbell rang and she frowned. “That’s weird.”
“What? What’s the matter?”
“Someone’s at the door. Hang on.”
She heard him crunching on his chips as he said, “No problem.”
Opening the door, she froze,
There was Garrett–with a goofy smile as he ate a handful of chips–holding out a bag of food to her. She had no idea what to do first–grab the bag or the man.
She opted for the man.
“Oh, my goodness! What are you doing here?” she hugged him tight as he lifted her off her feet and carried her inside, kicking the door closed behind him.
He carefully put her down and grinned at her. “Surprise!”
Laughing, she hung up the phone and took the bag from him as they walked to the kitchen. “I don’t understand. What are you doing here so soon? Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?”
He shrugged. “I thought it would be fun to surprise you.” Then he paused. “But if you’re not cool with me being here…”
Emma never let him finish. She silenced him with a kiss and she wanted to cry because it felt so good to be in his arms, knowing he’d done this for her.
That she had been enough.
He pulled away much sooner than she wanted, but the lopsided grin he was giving her made her smile.
“I don’t want to be rude, but…I just picked these up from The Sand Bar, and you know these burgers are best when they’re hot.”
Her eyes went wide. “These? How many did you get?”
“Two. One for me, one for you.” He shrugged and began pulling food from the bag and setting it up on the table. “But if you’re not hungry, I don’t think I’d have a problem eating them both.”
“Try it and die, Coleman,” she said, taking one of the burgers and sitting down. “I told you I only had a salad for dinner.”
Placing a kiss on the top of her head, he said, “And aren’t you glad you did? Think about how disappointed you’d be if you were all full and had to sit here and watch me eat both of them?” He took the seat opposite her and winked.
“I don’t know. Maybe,” she said, unwrapping the burger. “We’ll have to see if they’re as good as I remember.” And after one bite, she could confirm that they were–in fact–even better. “Oh my God, that’s good.” She moaned happily and caught Garrett staring at her and suddenly felt very self-conscious.
Was I seriously just making sex noises over a burger?!
Clearing her throat, she asked, “So, what are your plans for the weekend? Are you going to stay with your mom or Austin?”
“Actually,” he began carefully. “They don’t know I’m here or that I even planned on coming to Magnolia.” He paused and carefully wiped his hands and mouth. “I was…um…I was thinking of seeing how you felt about me staying here. With you.”
Oh.
Oh…
“I’m not saying anything has to happen, Em,” he quickly added. “I’d be fine sleeping on the couch. I just really wanted to see you and spend some time with you. You mentioned that you have tomorrow off, and we had already made some plans for the weekend, so…please don’t think I’m being presumptuous here. If we’re only going to have a few days to see each other, I don’t want to take time away by spending time with my family.”
“Garrett…”
“No, no…I know. That sounds terrible. Last weekend I kind of ruined my mom and Dominic’s date night, and Austin’s mentioned more than once that having me around ruins his plans with Mia, so if you could just take pity on me…”
“Garrett…”
“I could just go to Magnolia On the Beach or even go and stay at my aunt’s B&B, but…”
Reaching across the table, she put her hand on his. “Oh, my goodness! Stop already!” With a laugh, she squeezed his hand. “Of course you can stay here. I don’t have a problem with that at all. If anything…I kind of like that you want to stay here instead of going someplace else.” Emma couldn’t believe she’d just said that out loud, but it was too late to take it back.
Plus, her burger was getting cold and she figured it would be safer to keep her mouth occupied with chewing rather than blurting out anything else to embarrass her.
The rest of the meal was spent commenting on the food and Garrett telling her about some of his favorite places to eat back in Norfolk. He seemed to enjoy living away from Magnolia Sound, but Emma could never imagine living anyplace else but here. Maybe that wasn’t the healthiest way to live her life, but…this was home. She loved knowing her mom and Ed were less than ten minutes away and that she could drive by Henderson’s Bakery and pick up a box of donuts to take with her when she visited them. There wasn’t a small business in this town that she didn’t know either the owners or someone who worked there. This was a close-knit community, and the thought of living somewhere without that kind of support was just too overwhelming for her.
Together they cleaned up the kitchen, and then Garrett went out to his car to get his suitcase while Emma sat on the sofa to find something for them to watch.
And immediately tossed the remote aside.
She had Garrett all to herself. Did she really want to spend that time watching TV?
Then she looked down at herself and groaned. This certainly wasn’t the look of a seductress, she thought. The leggings and Happy Tails t-shirt were perfectly fine for sitting on her bed while talking on the phone, but it wasn’t something anyone should wear when they were hoping to entice someone.
Ugh…I’m pathetic.
Walking over to the window, she saw Garrett standing next to his car with his phone to his ear. With any luck, he’d be on the call for a few minutes and it would give her enough time to freshen up.
Or at least make sure she brushed her teeth and made sure all the pertinent areas looked okay.
Racing into her room, she immediately went to work.
“I appreciate the call, Dr. Collins,” Garrett said amicably, even though he was seething.
“We really hope you’ll reconsider, Garrett. This is a tremendous opportunity for both of us. Let me send you a copy of the contract. You’ll see there’s a bonus incentive in there for you.”
“For posing for a calendar?” he asked dryly.
“Well, that and posters and appearances at our adoption events,” Dr. Collins explained. “I truly believe you’d be very happy with our clinic and should reconsider.”
Even though the man couldn’t see him, Garrett plastered a smile on his face. “Again, I appreciate the call, but I’m going to pass. Thank you for your time, and I hope you have a good night.” He hung up and fought the urge to smash the damn phone to the ground as he growled with frustration.
Every offer he’d gotten was the same: Go work for the clinic, but be our poster boy.
He hated it–every last bit of it.
It wasn’t fair, and it wasn’t something he was ever going to cave on. For years he’d studied hard and buckled down to do this on his own. He had good grades and graduated near the top of his class. That should have been enough for him to get a decent job at any veterinary clinic anywhere.
But had it?
No.
He’d had a similar call yesterday with a clinic near Baltimore, and when Garrett told them that he was offended, their response was that there were worse things he could be known for.
Seriously?
All his life, he’d struggled with not feeling like he was good enough. It had started with his struggles with learning to read and had continued all through school. If it hadn’t been for Emma, Garrett sincerely doubted he would have graduated.
His family was infamous because his father had left them, and then he and his brothers developed a reputation around town for being wild hooligans.
That description still made him laugh, but it added to the entire explanation of why he felt the way he did.
Hell, it was one of the main reasons–the only reason, actually–that he never made a move on Emma all these years. In his mind, he wasn’t good enough for her. And now that he had finally made his move, what happens? He can’t get a job.
Okay, he could get a job–several jobs if he wanted to–but none of them were based on anything that mattered.
They all wanted the Hot Doc.
It was beyond discouraging to him that he’d worked so hard to make something of himself and this one good deed was going to haunt him forever.
Looking back toward Emma’s door, he sighed. This so wasn’t the way he wanted their night to go.
“Why did I answer the damn phone?” he murmured before grabbing his suitcase and slamming the car door shut. All he knew was that he needed to clear his head before going back inside. It had been a huge risk to simply show up on her doorstep like this, and he wasn’t going to ruin the night by whining about how all his “great” job offers were nothing but bogus.
He walked back up to her front door with a heavy sigh and then mentally counted to ten before stepping back inside. At first glance, he didn’t see her. The condo wasn’t particularly large–mainly an open floor plan where the kitchen and living room were one big space and then there was a bedroom off of it.
“Em?” he called out tentatively as he placed his suitcase down. The door to the bedroom was partially closed and he figured maybe she was in there. With a shrug, he walked over to the sofa and sat down. The remote was right beside him, but when he went to pick it up, he heard Emma clear her throat. When he turned to look at her, he almost forgot how to breathe.
Her long blonde hair was loose and wavy. Her lips were a little glossy and gone was the casual outfit she had on only minutes ago. Slowly, he stood and admired the soft-looking shorts trimmed with lace that showed off her long, tanned legs and the snug matching t-shirt.
His eyes lingered on the shirt because Emma never wore clingy clothes and this was the sexiest thing he’d ever seen on her.
And she wasn’t wearing a bra.
Swallowing hard, he finally made himself meet her gaze and saw her very satisfied smile.
You little vixen…
“Everything okay?” she asked, and her voice was a little huskier than he ever remembered hearing.
“Um…yeah.” He nodded and fought the urge to walk over to her. As sexy as she looked and sounded, he also saw the uncertainty on her face and wasn’t sure if he would steal her thunder by going to her.
But he wasn’t sure how much longer he could stay where he was.
“You were just out there for a little longer than I thought you’d be.” She finally took one small step toward him and then another. Garrett admired not only the soft sway of her hips but also the way her breasts moved. Once she was standing in front of him, she placed her hand on his chest before letting her gaze slowly travel up to his face and her whiskey-colored eyes seemed to be asking him a million different things.
He gently caressed her cheek with the back of his hand. “Do you have any idea how beautiful you are?” he asked gruffly. “How sexy?”
She shook her head.
“I didn’t come here for this,” he clarified, because he had to. “You can set the pace, Em, but…I just thought it was important for you to know that.” Her skin was so soft and he just wanted to touch her everywhere.
Somewhere in the back of his mind, he wanted to argue that this was too soon, that he should just risk ruining either his mother’s night or his brother’s because it was too soon for him to be here with her like this.
Then he remembered–eighteen years. They’d known each other for more than half their lives.
Emma took another step closer, which effectively had her pressed up against him and Garrett nearly moaned with pleasure. “When you stepped outside, I came over here to the couch to turn on the TV. I figured we’d watch something and just hang out.” Pausing, she licked her lips in a very slow and deliberate way that left Garrett feeling more than a little turned on. “But then I figured that…you were brave enough to show up here and ask to stay over. We’ve watched TV together countless times. I wanted us to try something new.” With each word, her voice got softer and a little less confident, and that’s when he knew he had to speak up.
“Whatever it is you want to do, beautiful girl, we’ll do it.” Leaning in, he kissed her cheek and lingered. “We can sit down here on the couch and kiss like we did in the barn.” Shifting, he kissed her other cheek before gently nipping at her earlobe. “Or maybe we can go inside and stretch out on the bed and talk.”
It was Emma’s turn to moan and he heard the slight catch in her breath when he nipped at her again.
“There’s a third option,” he went on huskily. “And it’s one that I think could be mutually satisfying for us both.”
“O…oh?”
Slowly, he kissed his way down the slender column of her throat before kissing along her collarbone. “We can go inside, stretch out on the bed, and…not talk.”
Her hands moved up his chest, over his shoulders, and then up into his hair as she went up on her tiptoes. “I’m all for option number three.”
“Thank God,” he murmured before lifting her up and carrying her into the bedroom. Her legs wrapped around his waist as she locked her ankles behind his back, and it was crazy how sexy it was. He was careful not to bang into anything, and it wasn’t until they were beside the bed that he finally gave in and kissed her lips.
And it was like coming home.
It felt crazy since it had only been four days–four of the longest days of his life–and he was this desperate for the taste of her. Maybe it had something to do with more than ten years of longing and hoping and dreaming about being able to kiss and touch her like this, but Garrett had a feeling it was always going to be like this simply because she was who she was.
He lowered them both to the bed, and as he stretched out on top of her, he couldn’t help but smile. Reluctantly, he broke the kiss because he wanted to indulge himself by looking at her like this.
Garrett swore he’d never grow tired of seeing her like this–sprawled out on the bed, her long hair fanned out against the pale pink comforter. The room was totally feminine–totally Emmaline–and she was finally going to be his.
“Garrett?” she whispered.
“Yes?”
Reaching up, Emma stroked the line of his jaw, her expression serious. His heart sank because he had a feeling this was going to be the moment she told him she’d changed her mind.
“I need you to promise me something,” she went on.
“Anything.” And he would. He’d promise her the sun, the moon, and the stars if that’s what she asked for.
“Promise me that nothing’s going to change. That if we do this, we’ll still always be friends.” She paused. “Even if it’s not good.”
For a moment, Garrett could only stare. His mouth went dry as he tried to search for the correct response. He pushed up so he was still straddling her and looked at her with disbelief. When he saw her own expression go from shy to wary, he knew he was taking too long.
“Em,” he began,
“nothing’s ever going to change the way I feel about you. We’ve been friends for too long and it’s going to stay that way.” Now it was his turn to pause as he took one of her hands in his. “As for nothing changing, I’m afraid I can’t promise that, beautiful girl.”
“But…”
“It’s only going to get better,” he promised. Leaning down, he kissed her softly, thoroughly, before lifting his head again. “And there is no way it’s not going to be good. It’s not possible.” He placed another kiss on the corner of her lips. “You’re far too soft…” Another kiss. “And far too sexy…” And still another. “I want you far too much for it to be anything but.” This time he rested his forehead against hers. “If we do anything you don’t like, you just tell me and we’ll stop.”
It would kill him, but he’d do it.
“It’s just…it’s us,” she explained quietly. “This is a big change and sometimes…sometimes sex can ruin a relationship.”
So many thoughts raced through his head, but the one that stuck was how her ex made her feel this way. Emmaline had always been a shy and quiet girl, but she was sweet and funny and full of life when she felt comfortable around someone. To see how Steven had somehow sucked all that life out of her and left her feeling insecure made him want to punch something.
Specifically, Steven.
But that wasn’t going to happen–not now and possibly never.
The urge, however, was still strong.
“Only if it’s with the wrong person,” he reassured her. “If you want or need more time, Em, then we’ll wait.” Glancing around the room, he spotted a smaller television. “We can stay right here and watch some TV. I can just hold you if you’d like and nothing else has to happen.”
She looked at him like she didn’t believe him.
“I’m serious.” He slowly rolled off of her and sat up, resting his back against the mountain of pillows she had on the bed. The remote was on the bedside table and he grabbed it and aimed it at the TV. “What are you thinking? Comedy? Drama? Any particular series you’re binging on right now?” Garrett did his best to put her at ease because…well…that’s just what he did–what he’d always done. Back when they were still in school, Emma would tutor him, and in return, he’d talk to her about things that bothered her–her insecurities about being a bit of an outcast because she wasn’t part of the popular clique. By the time they’d hit high school, he had definitely become popular because he played football and baseball, and because she was his friend, she got invited to more things.
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