Kelton gestured to a cot and sleeping bag. “I’m camping out.”
“Why?”
The grin slid off his face. “I’m not letting that guy hurt you, Em.”
Emmy shook her head, the anger sliding away. “Oh, Kelton. You can’t do this.”
“I am doing this.”
“If you haven’t noticed, the man doesn’t seem to want to kill me. He wants to kill any other guy who cares about me.”
Kelton’s cocky grin was back. “Let the dude try and come at me.” He motioned to his pile of supplies, which included treats, as if this were a fun campout, and a long lacrosse stick. “I can be vicious with this thing.”
Emmy half laughed. “I’ve seen that, but this isn’t a game, and this guy is not going to give you time to get your stick in your hand when he comes at you with a knife.” She shivered just thinking about it and dialed Abby’s cell phone number.
A few minutes later Tyrell had marched a furious Kelton home, and Emmy was back in her deadbolted, alarm-activated house. She couldn’t help smiling at the sweetness of Kelton trying to watch out for her, but the thought of that guy coming after her neighbor with his knife removed the smile from her face and filled her with dread.
20
EMMY’S MOUTH WATERED AS SHE LIFTED the serving platter filled with lemon chicken, stir-fried veggies, and shrimp-fried rice from the back seat of her car. She balanced the tray on one arm and knocked on Josh’s black front door, glancing at the patrol car that had followed her from home.
Josh swung the door open a few seconds later. His grin got so wide she was able to savor the dimples on display and the warmth in his blue eyes. He wore sweats and nothing else, his broad chest and defined abdomen marred by bandages, but her mouth still went dry and her face flushed.
“What did I do to deserve this?”
Emmy tilted her head to the side as if debating. “I’m not sure … maybe fighting to save my life and getting knifed?”
Josh stepped out of her way, gesturing her inside. “This smells good enough. Maybe I’ll try for another knife fight.”
Emmy’s smile froze. “That wasn’t funny.”
He placed a warm hand on her back. “You’re right, it wasn’t.” He guided her through the living room into a well-organized kitchen with big windows, antique white cabinets, robin’s egg blue walls, and a cozy two-person table.
Emmy set the food down.
“Will you stay and eat with me?” Josh peered over her shoulder at the abundant spread.
She turned and found herself face to chest, and oh what a chest it was. She swallowed and licked her lips. “Sure. I think this is one of those times that my food actually turned out.”
“I’m sure your food always turns out.” He brushed some hair away from her face.
Emmy watched the muscles in his shoulder bulge, then forced herself to look into his eyes instead of ogling him. “No. But that’s what I get for never following a recipe.”
“A recipe would interfere with your natural artistic abilities.”
“Exactly.” Emmy smiled, loving that he got that so easily. Grayson had teased her about sometimes failing in the kitchen and asked her repeatedly to use a recipe. As always when she found herself comparing the two of them, Emmy felt a rush of guilt.
“Excuse me for a second.” Josh walked down a short hallway and disappeared into a bedroom. She heard his grunt of pain before he came back with a baggy T-shirt on.
“You didn’t have to get dressed for me.” Emmy blushed at exposing her desire, knowing how out of line she was to want him uncovered.
“My mom would kill me if I ate dinner with a lady without a shirt on.”
Emmy smiled. She’d like to meet his mom. She had always loved Grayson’s mom, but their phone calls were growing shorter and further apart.
The food was every bit as wonderful as Emmy had hoped. She was savoring a bite of the zesty lemon chicken when Josh turned the conversation to her. “You know a lot about me and I don’t even know where you grew up.”
She swallowed and took a long sip of water before answering, “Detroit.”
“And where did you learn to sing and act?”
“My aunt paid for years of private lessons. When my mom died, she made me go to American Conservatory Theater for a Master’s in Performing Arts.” She couldn’t look at him. She wanted to share with him and get to know him, but it was just so painful to talk about. You’d think as an adult you wouldn’t need your mom, but she missed her all the time.
“I’m sorry to hear about your mom.”
“Thank you.” She focused on her plate, really not wanting to talk about it.
“What happened?”
“Cancer.”
Josh pulled in a quick breath. “That’s tough.”
Emmy clutched her napkin. “Yes, it was.”
“You got your master’s in Detroit?”
“No. San Francisco.” Emmy breathed a sigh of relief that he didn’t ask more about her mom.
“So you moved to California for graduate school?”
“No, I moved there earlier.”
“Emmy?” He set his fork down and lifted her chin with his fingers.
Her breath came in short puffs as her skin tingled from his touch. She forced herself to be brave and look at him.
“What’s wrong? What don’t you want to tell me?”
She twisted the paper napkin in her lap until it shredded. “I didn’t have the great American childhood.”
Josh blinked. “What does that mean?”
She studied the fabulous food that was growing cold. It didn’t matter as she’d eaten plenty, and this conversation would’ve ruined her appetite even if she was famished. Josh’s plate was nearly empty. “Are you done? Let me clean up.” She stood. “Where do you keep your Tupperware? You can eat this tomorrow.”
Josh didn’t say anything as he found storage containers and helped her clean up. He grunted when he bent down to look in a lower cabinet and cringed when he had to reach up.
“Please, go sit down. I can clean this up quick.”
“Normally I’d fight you on that, but I am really tired.”
Emmy gave him a forced smile. He looked at her with such concern before walking out of the kitchen. She watched him go. Even injured and disheveled, he was the most handsome man she’d ever known.
Emmy shook her head, fighting tears for some reason. He was so kind to not pry when she wasn’t ready to share, but she almost wished he would. He’d risked his life for her, and she was falling for him fast. She wanted to confide in him and have it over with.
It would be so easy to be with him, to just let it all go, and ask him to hold her as they talked. Instead, she took her time putting away the food, washing the dishes by hand, and scrubbing the small table and counter several times. She stacked the dishes she’d brought on the table and forced herself to walk into the other room.
Josh sat on the leather couch, resting his head against the tan wall behind him. Emmy wondered why he wasn’t in the huge recliner; the couch seemed too small for his long frame. His eyes opened at the sound of her approach. He blinked, smiled, and patted the spot next to him. “Thank you again for dinner and for cleaning up. It was the best food I’ve had in a long time.”
Emmy sank down next to him, fighting the urge to cuddle into his side. She’d probably hurt his stitches and declare her undying devotion. Neither a good idea. She clasped her hands together, inhaling that unique blend of musk and salt.
Josh reached over and covered her hands with his large fingers. Emmy unclasped her hands, turned her left hand over, and interlaced their fingers. She glanced up at him. His grin told her she’d done a good thing.
She leaned closer, and he bent his head to capture her mouth with his. Emmy lost all track of time and rational thought. She savored each movement of his lips and his hands in her hair and around her waist. She wanted him closer. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pulling herself against his chest. He moaned. She r
ecognized it wasn’t a moan of passion and jerked back. “Oh, Josh. Your stitches. I’m so sorry.”
“I’ll take a little pain for a kiss like that any day.” His eyes were lit with a mischievousness she loved.
Emmy’s face filled with color. “I would take the kiss too, but not if it meant hurting you.”
“I’m tough.”
“Well, I can see that!” She threw her hands in the air when his grin broadened. “Never mind. How about we hold off on the kissing until you’re feeling better?”
His eyes widened. “Why would we do something stupid like that? I don’t care if you bump into my stitches.”
“Well, I do! I obviously can’t control myself when you start kissing me.”
Josh chuckled. “That’s the best thing I’ve ever heard.”
Emmy blushed deeper. What was she going to admit to next? “I’m not saying anything right. Maybe I’d better go.” She started to stand.
Josh tugged on her hand. “Please, don’t. I love having you here with me.”
Emmy loved being here. The house was clean and masculine and one of the few places she felt completely safe. But she also knew how attracted she was to Josh. She didn’t want to hurt his wound or do something she might regret.
She sat back down next to him. He held her hand softly and asked, “Tell me all about you. Please?”
Emmy stiffened. “Do you really need to know?”
“Yes.” He gave her a lingering kiss then leaned back and grinned. “You admitted at the hospital that you want to be with me. A guy with a knife couldn’t chase me away. You might as well tell me all your secrets.”
“What if my secrets make you run?”
Josh’s warm gaze on her face felt better than a tropical breeze. “Oh, Em. Nothing you could say would make me run.” He lifted their clasped hands and kissed her fingers. “Nothing.”
Emmy covered the distance, pressing her lips to his to show how much she loved his response. She tried to hold back so she wouldn’t hurt his stitches again, but the intensity and attraction merged perfectly with the love she felt for and from him. When they finally broke apart, she gasped for air.
She took several deep breaths, pushed her hair back over her shoulder, and studied their interlocked fingers.
“Talk or I’ll kiss it out of you.”
Emmy grinned. “I’ll take the latter, please.”
He gave her a tender kiss before reclining into the sofa and pulling her against his shoulder. “Did it work?”
Emmy nodded. She licked her lips, then plunged ahead, beginning with her childhood—or rather, lack of a childhood—growing up hungry and destitute in Detroit. She shared her ache for a complete family and how her mother had tried to make things fun when she wasn’t working, how hard it had been to watch her suffer through the cancer treatments and then waste away. As she talked, he rubbed her fingers.
He responded kindly, asking questions to flesh out the story. When she got to teenage years and her best friend, Grayson, Josh gripped her hand tighter. Though he nodded encouragingly, she could tell it was difficult for him.
“Grayson wanted to get me away from my aunt and the theater in L.A. We moved to Cannon Beach right after our honeymoon in Tahiti.”
Josh actually flinched.
“Sorry,” she said. “This has to be hard for you.”
“No.” He shook his head. “Okay, yes, but just because I’m selfish and want you all to myself.”
“You’ve got me all to yourself.”
He kissed the side of her mouth, whispering against her lips, “Sorry for being selfish.”
She swallowed hard, staring into the blue eyes that completely captivated her. “I get it. I don’t like to think about you being with your ex-wife.”
“Good to know you understand some of my jealousy.” He smiled. “But there’s a difference. I have no desire to be with my ex-wife; that choice was taken from you and Grayson.”
Emmy sighed heavily. He was right, and the remorse she sometimes felt when she ached to be with Josh but still didn’t know how to let go of Grayson was like being under a heavy blanket on a hundred-degree day.
“I’d better get going.” She stood, and he didn’t tug her back down. Retrieving her dishes from the kitchen, Emmy walked toward the front door.
Josh met her there. “Housley will be here in a second to follow you home.”
Emmy nodded her thanks, knowing he would not only follow her home but check inside her house and garage. She appreciated how diligent they were with her safety, but she longed for the innocence of life before Grayson’s murder.
Josh trailed a hand down her face and cupped her chin with his strong fingers. “I know this is hard.”
Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes. She refused to let them fall. All she wanted was to spend every minute getting to know him, kissing him, becoming a couple … but was she ready for that kind of commitment? She wanted to be.
“We’ll get through it.” Josh’s eyes darkened to a midnight blue, filled with determination.
Emmy had to blink back the tears again. “We?”
He tilted her chin up and bent his head, giving her a soft kiss. “Yes, we.”
“So we are a we?” She couldn’t stop a laugh at how silly that sounded.
“The best we I’ve ever been a part of.” Josh kissed her again. This time it was not soft and it was not short. Emmy savored it, hoping she could stay a part of this “we” for a long, long time.
21
JOSH CALLED THE NEXT MORNING and asked Emmy to lunch at Mo’s. Grinning at the mirror, she finished applying mascara and did a little twirl in her white sundress. She couldn’t wait to be with him again. The doorbell rang and she danced down the stairs to get it.
“Josh—” Her smile dropped as she realized who was on her doorstep. “Aunt Jalina?”
Her aunt wrapped her up in her fleshy arms, then screamed over her shoulder, “Carl, hurry up!”
Uncle Carl moved as fast as his bony, arthritic body would allow. Emmy pulled from Jalina’s embrace and rushed down the stairs to hug her uncle.
“Oh, darlin’,” he whispered. “How are you?”
“I’m doing wonderful.” She smiled up at him. “It’s so good to see you.” She had to blink quickly to hide the tears. Uncle Carl may have been the only one left who knew everything about her and loved her just the same.
Josh’s truck pulled up to the curb, and Emmy felt her smile grow. Well, maybe there was one more person who was getting to know her that well and might even love her.
“What is this nonsense about you being accosted?” Aunt Jalina shrieked.
Emmy cringed and tried to keep a positive expression on her face. Why couldn’t Jalina have come to visit just to say hi? “I’m fine, Auntie.”
Josh descended carefully from the truck and walked across the lawn to them. Emmy held out a hand. “Josh saved me.”
She beamed at him and filled with warmth as he took her hand and gave her one of his dimpled smiles. He wore jeans and a baggy Mo’s T-shirt that said, “Bite me.”
Carl’s lined face welcomed Josh. He extended his hand. Josh released Emmy’s hand to shake with her uncle. “Thank you for protecting our girl,” Carl said.
Jalina’s expression puckered like she’d just eaten a lemon, rind and all. “Who are you?”
Josh turned to her aunt and extended his hand. “Josh Campbell. Nice to meet you, ma’am.”
Jalina inhaled slowly and glared at him. “So this man saved you, Emmaline? What is he, a gardener or a pool boy?”
Josh looked confused; his hand dropped to the side.
Emmy reached for his hand and held it in both of hers. Her aunt was not snubbing her man. “Josh is a firefighter, Aunt Jalina. A hero in every sense of the word, and my personal hero.”
Josh smiled uneasily at her.
Jalina tilted her chin up. “I can see that you might be smitten by his looks, but you have no right to turn your back on your wealth and sta
tus and start dating a common man who would wear a T-shirt like that.” She pointed a squishy hand.
Emmy straightened. “You cannot even understand how superior Josh is. He’s wearing a loose T-shirt because he almost got killed protecting me two nights ago and anything fitted would rub on his stitches!”
Jalina nodded. “Like I said, we really appreciate Josh saving you, but you need to think about how hard it would be to have a relationship with someone who is obviously below your social status. He could never provide for you like Grayson has. How do you know he isn’t just after you for your money?”
Josh tried to pull his hand out of Emmy’s. She clamped down tighter on his fingers. “I am completely capable of providing for myself, and you know as well as anybody that I don’t give a snot about social status! Josh is the man I am choosing to date. You can get behind that choice or you can leave.”
Uncle Carl lifted his hands. “Now, Jalina, don’t go driving a wedge.”
She turned the force of her scowl on him. “She’s driving the wedge! We are leaving!” She marched toward the car, muttering, “Ungrateful little brat—gave her everything and she turns her nose up at me.”
Uncle Carl shook his head and gave them a sad smile. “It was nice to meet you, Josh. Take good care of my girl, will you?”
Josh swallowed and nodded. “I will, sir.”
Emmy gave her uncle another hug. He whispered into her ear, “Don’t let her bother you, darlin’, she’ll get over it. She just throws these fits because she loves you and wants what’s best for you.”
Emmy met his blue eyes, which were dimming with age. “Josh is what’s best for me.”
Uncle Carl nodded. “I trust your judgment, darlin’.” He patted her arm before turning to the car.
“Sorry you drove all this way,” she said.
He turned back with a smile. “It was a nice drive up. We’ll see how the drive home goes.” He winked. “Give her a few weeks. She’ll be thrilled for you when she sees you’re happy.”
Emmy nodded, wishing she could understand her aunt the way her uncle did.
Uncle Carl took his time getting to the car, waving goodbye to them as he drove away. Jalina stared straight ahead, but Emmy could see her mouth moving. Poor Uncle Carl.
Shadows in the Curtain (Destination Billionaire Romance) Page 10