by Mora Early
She was still by the stage, her back to him now. And then Josh knew without a shadow of a doubt, that it was her. He saw the line of her spine bared by the little black dress she wore, and he remembered kneeling at her feet, looking up at the smooth expanse of her back. Emma was Butterfly.
“Josh?”
He realized Magnus and Ben were both staring at him. Probably because of the wide grin that suddenly stretched across his lips. He patted Ben on the shoulder. “Don’t worry about it, man.” He grabbed Magnus’ hand and gave it a firm shake. “Magnus. Appreciate the info. Why don’t you go get yourself a drink?”
“Josh, are you okay?” Ben asked, his eyes darting between Josh and Emma, who was still talking on her cell phone.
Looking at Emma and superimposing his mental image of Madame Butterfly beside her, Josh shook his head, but the grin didn’t fade. If anything, it got wider. Perfect. She was perfect.
“I’m great, actually. If you’ll excuse me.” Josh strode away, heading straight for his fiancé.
Chapter 10 ~ Thrown to the Sharks
“Todd Ness, if you don’t answer this damn phone I’m going to skin you alive! You call me the minute you get this, you hear me? It’s important!” Emma hung up her cell phone and then just held it, staring down at the picture of Van Gogh’s Starry Night that was her phone’s background image.
Whatever Ben had wanted to talk to Josh about was not going to be good news. She felt it in her bones. Todd needed to get out of town, maybe out of the country. She could probably get him down to Mexico, let him disappear down there. Todd liked tropical weather.
Acid bubbled in her stomach. She’d been on edge all day, and overhearing Josh and Ben’s conversation had put her even more ill at ease. Add to that William Ransler’s bizarre and sort of rude behavior and she needed a few antacids. Maybe another drink or two as well. And now Todd wasn’t answering his damn cell.
“Everything alright, Emma?” Josh stepped suddenly around the potted fern, face a smooth blank.
Her heart raced just at the sight of him. She looked directly into his sparkling blue-green eyes. Not because she wanted to, really, but because she knew it might be the last time he’d look at her like this. As soon as Ben found out who she was, Josh was never going to look at her with anything but contempt. Probably from across a courtroom while she was tried for grand larceny.
“Fine. Everything’s fine, Josh.” Her voice was reed thin. She gave him a wobbly smile.
He took her arm, wrapping his long fingers around her bicep gently and drawing her back behind the fern, away from the eyes of the attendees. “You weren’t planning on running out on me, were you?”
“What? No!” She had been considering it, actually. Going to track down her brother in person. Maybe they could leave together.
“Good.” Josh drew her against his side. “Because I have something very important to ask you.”
Her brow furrowed. Why was he acting so strange? He was holding her too close, for one thing. And the sparkle in his eye had turned almost devilish. Even in the car in the rain, Josh had never come on this strongly. His fingers stroked the soft skin of her underarm slowly as he pulled her into his chest. Emma shivered. “W-what is it, Josh?” He bent his head slightly.
His mouth was still an inch or so from hers. Emma felt frozen is shock, but spirals of lust had begun to curl through her too. Josh had that affect on her.
“Tell me,” he murmured. “Do you have the time, Madame Butterfly?”
Emma gasped, jerking against his hold. But he was too strong. Her struggle was only momentary. He had her. She was done for. She might as well concede it now. She relaxed in his grip. “Ben figured it out?” Emma stared at Josh’s tie, afraid to raise her gaze to his.
In her peripheral vision, she saw him shake his head. “Magnus. He’s another--”
“The behemoth. I know.” Her words fell from her lips like stones, flat and heavy. “I should’ve figured. What gave me away?”
Josh’s other arm snaked around her waist. He ran a big hand down her bare back, from between her shoulder blades all the way to the dip in the base of her spine. “This, in the end. If I live to be a hundred, I don’t think I’ll ever forget that moment in my bedroom when I pressed my lips here.” He brushed his fingers over the spot just above the upper curve of her buttocks. Emma shivered.
“I can’t give you The Watch back. It’s a family heirloom. I won’t give it up.”
Josh’s fingers kept tracing that small circle against her back. She couldn’t think when he did that. Maybe that’s why he did it. Emma didn’t know what to make of his behavior. This is not at all how she thought he’d react. He trailed his fingers up her spine, sliding them into her hair. “Well, then I suppose we can call the police. Send you and your brother to jail. Remind me, does he have a rap sheet already?”
She shuddered. “I’m sure you know he does.”
“Or, there’s another alternative.” Josh tugged her hair slightly, tilting her head back until she was staring into his eyes. A tiny spark of hope kindled under her ribs at the look there. It wasn’t hate or disgust. It was... Well, she couldn’t quite place it. But it wasn’t an angry look, she realized that. Maybe he really wasn’t one of the entitled rich men she despised. Maybe he would understand what she’d done and let her go. Let them both go.
She licked her suddenly dry lips. “What?”
Josh’s mouth slanted over hers before she could blink. And just like before, as soon as their lips touched, Emma went up in flames. The kiss was demanding, commanding. His tongue slid between her lips and laid claim to her mouth. Emma whimpered and clutched at his shoulders. Josh drew away and she recognized the look in his eyes now. Triumph.
“Marry me.”
The world shifted on its axis. She had imagined probably a thousand different things Josh might say when he found out who she was. A hundred thousand. None of them had been this. “I... What? What are you talking about?”
“You heard Ransler. He thinks I’m a serial womanizer who’ll never settle down. But if I got married...” He squeezed her a little. Emma’s breath rushed out in a huff. “Be my wife, just until the movie is done. Then you can keep the watch and the police never have to know. I’ll consider it a fair trade.”
“You’re crazy!” She trembled in his arms. She couldn’t pretend to be married to Josh! The idea was ludicrous. They were too different. Just because they could work together well didn’t mean they would work as husband and wife. Not even fake husband and wife. William Ransler would never buy it!
He slid a finger beneath her chin and tilted her face up. “Come on, I saw the performance you gave as Madame Butterfly. Pretending to be you, married to me seems like a piece of cake for such a stellar actress.”
None of this was right. Emma shook her head. Her brain spun like a top and her heart bounced from her feet to her throat with every word Josh spoke. “No. No. It’s... it’s not possible. I can’t.”
“Even if the alternative is jail for you and Todd?” Josh’s voice dropped low. He tugged her arm, drawing her further from the crowd. He was leading her up onto the stage to get them away from prying ears. Prying ears, was that a thing? She almost giggled. This was too surreal. Maybe she was dreaming. She’d wake up any second in her bed at home. She’d probably left the TV on and that’s where all this craziness was coming from. Seeping into her subconscious from some random late night TV show.
Emma heard a click and then a reverberating tap. Her head jerked up, eyes opening so wide she thought her eyeballs might fall right out. “Josh, what are you doing?” she hissed.
He was standing at the microphone, was what he was doing. He’d turned it on and now he was tapping it. “Excuse me, everyone. Can I have your attention up here please?”
Something that felt like a tornado of emotions whirled in her belly. She tugged at his lapel, trying to get him to release her. His left arm wrapped like an eel around her waist. “Josh!”
Everyone tu
rned to look. Eugenie, Dag, the Ranslers, Ben and Magnus. And all the reporters they’d invited too, of course. Josh beamed that slightly crooked grin Emma usually loved. But it only made the tornado spin faster now.
“I’m sorry to interrupt your enjoyment of the fine food and drink, but I just had one more brief thing to say. On the record, of course.” He winked at Mia Miyamoto. A hundred handheld recorders clicked on. Emma winced.
Her hands shook as she tugged at his arm. He wouldn’t do it. There was no way.
“Most of you may not know this lady at my side. She likes to stay behind the scenes. Regardless, she deserves to have a spotlight shined on her every once in awhile. So today, I’d like to introduce you all to Ms. Emma Ness. She’s responsible for all of this.” He swept his right hand to indicate the room. A polite smattering of awkward applause greeted his words. Emma faint felt. Josh’s smile grew. “And, I’d like to let you all know, she’s agreed to become the future Mrs. Joshua Owens.”
He might as well have thrown a barrel of chum into a school of sharks. The reporters immediately began shouting questions. Camera flashes blinded her. Emma clung to Josh’s side. He beamed at the crowd. She gaped.
What had he done?
###
From the Author
Thanks so much for reading the continuing story of Josh & Emma! I hope you’re having as much fun as I am. We’re getting close to the end now, so stay tuned for Twisted Arrangement Vol 3 (Final one) which will be released on July 9 2013!
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Thank you again, from the bottom of my naughty little heart!
~xxx Mora
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 ~ A Wedding Plan
Chapter 2 ~ Champagne & Blue Balls
Chapter 3 ~ The Engagement Announcement
Chapter 4 ~ Good Mud & the Felon
Chapter 5 ~ Getting A Little Wookie
Chapter 6 ~ It Won’t Ruin the Leather
Chapter 7 ~ Magnus & the Rita
Chapter 8 ~ Meet the Ranslers
Chapter 9 ~ A Desperate Girl
Chapter 10 ~ Thrown to the Sharks
From the Author