by K. A. Linde
“Okay, whatever. Landon called this morning,” she said.
My head snapped back up to her. “What for?”
She tilted her head. “Miranda, of course. Why? Why do you look so scared?”
I painted my face back into a mask of indifference. “What did Miranda do now?”
“She wants to keep him in Tampa for Christmas,” Morgan said with a wave of her hand.
“He’s not considering it, is he?” I asked.
She sighed. “I guess he is.”
I grabbed my office phone off the desk. “I’ll call him right now and set him straight. He can’t stay there because of Miranda. It’s Christmas, for Christ’s sake.”
“I know, Jensen. Miranda has it in her head that Emery Robinson is here to win Landon back,” Morgan said with a roll of her eyes.
“That seems very unlikely,” I said. I made sure to keep the edge out of my voice. “She’s leaving in a few days.”
“What?” Morgan asked. “No, she’s not. Landon said she was staying here for a while.”
“He…what?” I asked, my mouth going dry.
“He tried to tell Miranda that she’d be leaving soon to get her off his case. But she didn’t believe him, and it turned out, she had a reason. Emery told Landon at Sutton’s wedding that she was staying here indefinitely. But I mean…I don’t know why Emery is back in town, but it sure isn’t for Landon. He doesn’t even live here. Miranda is out of her mind.”
I was completely silent. My head was spinning. Landon had said that Emery was leaving only to appease Miranda. I’d never brought it up with Emery because I thought I already had all my cards in order. She was supposed to be leaving in a few days to head back to Austin. She was supposed to be finishing her PhD. She was not supposed to stay in town after we fucked all night.
“Shit,” I hissed.
“Right? So, you have to call and convince Landon to bring Miranda here for Christmas. Do whatever you have to, all right? I mean…I can even call Emery or whatever and ask her to stay away from Landon if that helps…” Morgan trailed off when I said nothing. “Why have you gone pale.”
“Morg,” I said, meeting her worried gaze, “I fucked up.”
Fourteen
Emery
“And he just threw my clothes at me and then drove me home!” I recounted to Heidi over lunch.
“Bastard!” Heidi said on cue. “What a bastard!”
“Right? I mean…we had sex for hours last night, and then this morning, it was like a light switch had been flipped. Walking into this, I just knew it was a bad idea. He totally used me.”
“And it sucked, using him back, right?” Heidi asked, digging into her pad thai—our requisite best friend meal—at the downtown Thai Pepper.
“Dude, the sex was phenomenal,” I told her for the hundredth time. “The turning into a jerk in the morning and dumping me at Kimber’s, like a dorm-level walk of shame, not so much.”
I twirled my own extra-spicy pad thai noodles on my fork and dug in. I was famished after my late-night sexcapades. I’d only had two tacos, half of a bag of marshmallows, and some Hershey’s chocolate in the last eighteen hours, and I was starving.
“Yeah, well, at least you had some fun,” Heidi said. “That was good for you after Professor McJerkface.”
I snorted into my food and then hacked and coughed to clear my airway. “Professor McJerkface?”
Heidi shrugged and winked at me. “Pretty much.”
“Well, it was a good time. But, you know…it was more than that.” Thoughtfully, I set my fork down and sipped on my water. “I kind of like him.”
“A Wright brother?” Heidi asked with wide eyes. “Aren’t you President of the Anti-Wright Family Fan Club?”
“Something like that,” I agreed. “But he was different.”
“Oh, boy! Here it goes,” Heidi said.
“What?” I demanded.
“You’re doing that thing.”
“What thing?”
“You know,” Heidi said. “The whole the guy is a jerk, but he’s different with me. News flash, Robinson, he’s not different. He just wanted to fuck you.”
I flinched. “Thanks for that cheery message.”
“Gah, I’m sorry. I had a weird night, and I worry about you. What happened with Landon was bad enough.”
“You were the one pushing me into Jensen’s arms.”
“Yeah, but that was before you got all doe-eyed and decided he was different. I like Jensen just fine. He’s a great boss. He cares about his employees. He knows what he’s doing, and he makes us all a lot of money. But I can’t pretend that he’s this perfect person either. I’ve heard that he sleeps around when he’s at business meetings out of town.”
“Ugh! I don’t want to think about it. We’ve all done stupid things. I don’t want to judge him. Maybe he’s just a manwhore, and that’s what last night was about. But you should have warned me!”
“I thought you’d fuck around with him as a nice rebound, Em. I didn’t think it’d be anything.”
“Well, it’s not,” I said instantly. “It’s definitely not. Remember the whole dropped me off at Kim’s like he was taking out the trash? Because I’m pretty sure, no matter how different he was with me, that asshole sure shone through.”
“Good. That’s good. I don’t want to see you get hurt again.”
“I’m not going to get hurt. Now, what was this about a weird night?” I asked her.
She brushed her hand in front of her face and laughed. “Nothing honestly. I had a strange phone call, and I ended up talking to the person all night. It was unexpected.”
My eyebrows rose in question, but Heidi was already moving on to another topic.
“Do you want to go shopping with me and Julia sometime this week?”
“Two weeks before Christmas. Your favorite time to shop.”
“All the crowds and sales and screaming—it makes for a great horror flick.”
“Sure, I’m in. I can never resist a good bit of horror.”
Right then, my phone pinged noisily.
“Fuck,” I groaned, digging it out of my pocket.
I’d forgotten to turn the ringer off this morning. I’d taken a good long shower and an even longer nap once I got home and left the ringer on, so I could get Heidi’s text when she got out of her morning meeting.
I clicked the button, and my screen lit up. I had a text message from Jensen. My stomach dropped, and I glanced up at Heidi.
“Let me guess…lover boy?”
“Yeah.”
I swiped to open and read the message.
Emery, are you free this afternoon? I canceled my meetings for the day and wanted to see if you would be interested in getting coffee. I know this little place over by campus; it’s my favorite—Death by Chocolate. I don’t know if you’ve ever been since it’s pretty new. I could meet you. Say two o’clock?
“What does he have to say?”
I passed the phone over to Heidi. “I’m way more confused now.”
“He wants to meet you at Kimber’s bakery?” Heidi asked with a chuckle.
“I’m sure he doesn’t know that she owns it.”
“True, but damn. I wonder what happened in his head. Besides the fact that canceling meetings is so not like him. I’ve never heard of him willfully canceling a meeting. He must have realized how much he fucked up.”
“Maybe.”
“Or he wants round two.”
I snatched my phone out of Heidi’s hand. “There’s no way.”
“Well, are you going to meet him?”
“Did curiosity kill the cat?” I asked her.
“Yeah, but it had nine lives and shit.”
Death by Chocolate was the love child of my sister’s bachelors in food science and her achievements in culinary school. The sugary-sweet smell was what I always associated with Kimber. When we were younger, I used to jokingly sing the Bagel Bites commercial jingle to her with new words about all the baking she did.
&
nbsp; “Cupcakes in the morning, cookies in the evening, chocolate at suppertime. When Kimber’s in the kitchen, you can eat baked goods anytime,” I hummed to myself as the bell dinged overhead.
It was a quaint and totally adorable coffee shop and bakery. The floors were black-and-white tiles, and the walls were iced in mint glaze. The countertops were powdered-sugar white granite, and the cabinetry was a buttery lemon bar. Each table was a different-flavored French macaron with cushioned fruit-tart chairs. Elaborate wedding cakes in glass boxes decorated the room. The best part was the bar filled with row after row of sweets hiding behind glass, just waiting to be enjoyed.
“Can I help you?” a girl asked. She wore a Death by Chocolate apron and looked to be a Tech student.
“I’ll take a snickerdoodle cookie and two of the strawberry macarons, please.”
“And a slice of death by chocolate cake,” Jensen said from behind me.
I nearly jumped out of my skin and whirled around. “Jesus, you scared me.”
“I didn’t mean to sneak up on you. I thought you’d have heard the bell chime,” he said.
My eyes traveled the length of him, and I enjoyed every single moment, as if I were looking at my last sunrise. He had on a midnight-black suit that had to have been custom-fitted for his body. His button-up was white and crisp with a herringbone texture that had always been my favorite, and his Texas Tech Red Raiders red tie. And, even though he was dressed as sharp as ever, it was his eyes that caught me. Dark as Kimber’s famous chocolate cake and looking at me like most of the customers did when the cake was presented to them.
“It’s fine,” I said, turning my back on him.
Because it didn’t matter how hot he looked or how much he looked like he was ready to devour me again, he had reminded me all too well why I had sworn off the Wright family.
“Anything else for you two?” the woman asked. She placed our treats on the counter.
“I’ll take a cup of coffee,” I said.
“Make that two.”
I pulled out my wallet to pay. I did not want him to think this was a date.
He shooed me aside. “I’ve got it.”
“I can pay for my own things,” I said irritably.
“I know you can, but I invited you here. So, I’m paying.” His face was stern, and I realized he had switched into business mode or something. Because he was not brokering any arguments.
I raised my hands in defeat and grabbed my plate of sweets. “I’ll get us a table.”
A table was open in the back corner, and I plopped down into the open seat that faced the rest of the store. I was maddeningly curious about what Jensen wanted to talk about mere hours after ditching me. Part of me wanted to have a plan for whatever was going to come out of his mouth, but I felt woefully unprepared.
Jensen set our coffees along with his slice of cake on the table. I added cream and sugar while I avoided eye contact.
“Emery,” he began, “I…”
I glanced up at him over the rim of my coffee. I blew on it a little and then took a sip. “What?”
“I think I’ve made a horrible mistake.”
“And what would that be?”
“Going on a date with you,” he answered.
I was out of my seat before I could even process what had been said. “Well, that’s just…that’s wonderful, Jensen.”
“Emery, sit down. Come on, just sit.”
“And why should I?” I set my mug of coffee down but didn’t sit. “We had an awesome time last night, and then poof, you turned into an asshole. Then, you invited me here, only to tell me you regret last night?”
“Emery, please,” he said. His body was still, perfectly in control. He didn’t even glance around at the people who were looking at me funny. “Let me explain.”
I sank back into my seat. “Explain what?”
“I thought you were getting your PhD. I thought you said you were still at school in Austin, studying history and European mistresses. That’s what you told me. That’s what I thought. But you’re not doing that,” he accused.
My blood ran cold. “What do you mean?”
“You’re staying in town, aren’t you?” he asked. The idea seemed to distress him.
“How could you possibly know that? I’ve told only a handful of people, and even my mom doesn’t believe me,” I told him.
“Because you told Landon,” he said with raised eyebrows.
“You talked to Landon?” I gasped. “About me?”
“Not…exactly.”
“You didn’t tell him what happened, did you?” I asked with wild, wide eyes.
“Look, I didn’t talk to him. Morgan did. His wife is still pissed that you’re here. Morgan didn’t know about what happened with us. So, no, he doesn’t know. And I’d like to keep it that way.”
“You said…didn’t know. Morgan didn’t know, but she does now?”
Jensen shifted uncomfortably. “It was kind of an accident.”
“Oh, for the love of…” I cried, trailing off. “You don’t want Landon to find out about your big mistake, but you told Morgan? Are you out of your mind?”
“Starting to feel like it,” he grumbled.
“Great. You brought me all the way here to tell me what a big mistake I was and that Landon is probably going to find out.” I grabbed my snickerdoodle cookie and took a giant bite out of it. Then, I gave him a thumbs-up and mockingly nodded my head.
“It’s not like that. It’s more a matter of principle, Emery. I had a great time, but I don’t date girls in town. And, if I had known you were staying, I never would have asked you out.”
I swallowed back the choked words that wanted to come out at that statement. I was wrong. Jensen Wright was not different. He was just like every other guy on the planet. He’d used me for sex, and then he’d ditched me. And, even worse, he was making it a point to cement that knowledge with me in person.
“I guessed that when you dropped me off this morning. You didn’t need to come here to tell me that to my face,” I told him with venom in my voice. I pushed the plate of macarons toward him. “Have a macaron. They’re my sister’s favorite. She owns this bakery. She’d want you to have one.”
I stood and walked away from Jensen.
“Emery,” he called.
And then I heard him curse loudly. He jogged to keep up with me as I walked to my Forester waiting on the street.
He grabbed my elbow and tried to pull me to a stop. “Emery. Hey, stop.”
“Why?” I asked. “We had one night together. What am I to you?”
“I don’t know!” he said, frazzled. “I don’t know, all right? It’s like some goddamn self-preservation kicked in, and I had to stop this before it got out of hand.”
“How could it possibly get out of hand?” I demanded.
“Because being with you breaks all the rules!”
“Rules are meant to be broken.”
“Not these rules.”
I shrugged. “I have rules, too. I swore, I’d never look at another person from the Wright family. I decided Wright isn’t right,” I said, mocking the Wright Construction motto. “Yet here we are.”
Then, suddenly, Jensen’s fingers pushed up into my loose ponytail. His palms cupped my cheeks. His dark eyes gazed down into mine, and I didn’t move a muscle to stop him. The energy felt charged, heating the air between us and dragging me into his downward spiral. I could see our breaths mingling in the frigid air. His lips met mine, soft and tender, searching to make sure this was allowed. I was frozen for a second before I met his touch. He pulled me against him, crushing our mouths together. And it didn’t seem to matter in this moment that we were in broad daylight on one of the busiest streets in Lubbock.
I couldn’t get enough of his mouth, his body. The feel of him through the layers of clothing. The taste of him. He was everywhere.
Slowly, my brain came back to my body, and I shoved him away from me.
“How dare you!” I spa
t. “You cannot send me mixed signals like this, Jensen. Either you want more or you don’t. I won’t play games with you. I’m tired of being jerked around by men who think that they can do whatever they want.”
“Emery, that’s not—”
“Save it,” I said, raising my hand to silence him. “I’ve heard enough.”
Fifteen
Emery
I leaned back against the giant glasses sculpture outside of the Buddy Holly Center. They were iconic to the legend who had been born here and gone on to such fame. I’d worked here on and off throughout most of high school, and being back felt just as surreal as everything else that had been happening in my life. I felt like I was reliving high school, only with a different Wright brother.
Betty hit the curb in her old red Buick LaCrosse and then parked in front of the center. She waved at me from the driver’s side. I could only laugh. She had always been out there.
“Hi, Emery, dear. How are you?” Betty said. She hurried over to where I was standing and then gestured for me to follow her.
“Doing all right. How about yourself?” I asked.
Betty jingled the keys and then hit the door with her hip to let us inside. “I’m just fine. This way. Oh, you know the way.”
I did, but I didn’t say anything.
“I’m dreadfully sorry that we’re closed today. We had to do some maintenance and decided to shut down during the holidays.”
“Maintenance?” I asked.
“Replace the floors, new roof—that sort of thing. Wright Construction offered to do the whole thing at a discount since we’re a historic museum. Isn’t that wonderful?” Better asked. She finally reached her office and let me inside.
“Just wonderful,” I agreed, unable to escape the Wrights for even one day.
“That Jensen Wright came over to tell me himself.”
“That was nice of him,” I said through gritted teeth.
“Here we are,” Betty said. “Thank you for being able to meet with me today. I’m going to Florida to visit my grandbabies for Christmas, and I won’t be back until after the New Year. It would have delayed everything for you.”
“This is great. I appreciate you coming in early for me. Who is going to be here to let people in for the construction crew?” I took the stack of paperwork from Betty and hastily filled out the sections to get my job back and be on payroll.