Chapter 19
“What’sup with you and Mr. Tall, Dark, Sexy, Broody?” Rory asked, notching her chin toward the table where Emma had been sitting with Blaze, Chance, Seth, and Ethan. Kane and Alex were the only two not there.
After stuffing herself full of prime rib, a baked potato, and green beans, Emma had moved to the bar so she could chat with Rory while her bestie poured drinks. She was feeling more relaxed than she had in a long time. Simon was out there, somewhere, lurking like the noxious cloud he was, but Blaze was there too, watching out for her. Protecting her.
It was a comforting thing.
Emma toyed with her wine glass. She knew Rory was talking about Blaze in particular. No need to pretend otherwise.
“Nothing. He’s my new neighbor. He invited me to join them for dinner, so I said yes. Gotta eat. Might as well eat with four sexy hotties, right?”
“Mmm, or let them eat you.”
“Aurora Harper,” Emma blurted. “You’ve gotten downright kinky.”
Rory grinned as she topped off Emma’s drink. Emma thought she should have put her hand over the glass, but Rory was too quick.
“Not really. I just read a lot of romance novels. I’m on a reverse harem kick at the moment.”
“A what?”
“Reverse harem. You know, where the girl gets all the guys instead of one man having a harem of women. It’s fun.”
“Fun.” Emma shook her head. “I think all four of those men at once would be terrifying rather than sexy. Have you seen the size of them? No thanks. I’ll keep my sexy times one on one.”
Rory laughed. “To be honest, as fun as the books are, I’m a one-on-one gal, too. I’d just like to get some this decade.”
“There are four testosterone-laden prime specimens sitting over there. Pick one.”
“You mean three, because Blaze is yours. But it’s really two because Chance is an obnoxious prick.” She leaned over to study the four men. “The other two are gorgeous, but they aren’t doing it for me.”
“Blaze isn’t mine,” Emma said. “He’s just a neighbor.”
“Mm-hm. I see the way he looks at you. And you’re blushing, Emma Grace. That’s not nothing.”
Emma shook her head. “You are a truly annoying friend. Do you know that? Yes, he’s beautiful. Yes, he makes me think dirty thoughts. But I’ve got too much going on right now. I need to get established and make sure my dad knows he can retire and start having fun with my mother because the practice isn’t going to implode.”
“I saw your mom at the Piggly Wiggly a few days ago. She looked great.”
“Yep, she’s fine. Her heart is good and strong, and Daddy keeps after her about her medicines.”
“That’s good news. Everybody was shocked when she collapsed at the Mardi Gras parade last year. Your mother always looks the picture of health.”
Emma’s chest tightened. She hadn’t been home then. She’d taken time off and raced to Vanderbilt, where Mama had been transferred for emergency bypass surgery. Everything went perfectly, and Mama was home within a week. Her recovery had been stellar and all her tests good since.
“She does, and fortunately it’s true now.”
“Where do you think they’ll go first after he retires?”
“Probably France. They went to Paris for their honeymoon, but they’ve never been back. This time they plan to go to all the places in France they couldn’t afford the first time. Chamonix, the Loire Valley, Mont Saint-Michel, Aix-en-Provence. Other places I’ve forgotten.”
“That’s really cool. I’d like to go somewhere, but I think I’ll probably be behind this bar until I die.” Rory dropped a lime into a glass and filled it with club soda, flipped the cap off a beer, mixed a cocktail, and put it all on a tray before taking a sip from her glass of ice water.
“You love this old place,” Emma said.
“I do.” She wiped the polished wood bar with a towel and leaned against it. “There’s no other job I’d want, but it’d be nice to get a vacation once in a while. Maybe when Theo and I get it back on firmer ground, there’ll be time.”
“That’s one good thing about all the development around here. There are more tourists than ever. Has to help.”
Rory nodded. “It does.” She gave her head a little shake. “Don’t mind me. Theo tells me I worry too much, and he’s right. We’re doing great, the place is crowded, and we’ve got a band coming on in half an hour. You gonna dance?”
Emma shot a glance over her shoulder at the dance floor. Her heart dropped as she spied a familiar profile. The crowd shifted as she strained to see the man in the corner, talking to a woman. Her heart pounded and her ears hummed. The crowd moved again, people leaning together to talk and then parting, others stopping to say hi and moving on—and Simon wasn’t there.
“Emma Grace? What’s wrong?”
Emma spun to Rory. “N-nothing. Sorry. I thought I saw—” She swallowed. “It was nothing. You know how you think you recognize someone, but it’s just a trick of the light?”
“Uh, sure.” Her gaze speared over Emma’s shoulder. “Don’t look now, but here comes your hot neighbor and he looks ready to break some heads.”
Shit.Emma took a gulp of wine. Her hands trembled, and she swore silently. She really was freaking out over nothing. Blaze was going to think she was crazy. Then he’d get tired of dealing with her.
“Emma.”
Blaze’s voice washed over her, warming all the icy hollows inside her that had been exposed when she’d thought she saw Simon. His hand went to her back, a solid, comforting touch against her spine. She swiveled her head to look up at him and forced herself to smile, though her heart felt like a trapped thing beating the bars of a cage.
“It’s fine. I thought I saw him, but I was wrong.”
Rory had retreated to pop the caps off some beers, but she was watching. A frown sat heavy on her face. Emma didn’t know what to say to make it go away, so she tried to look casual instead.
“Where?”
She pitched her voice low but kept the smile so Rory wouldn’t worry. “I turned to look at the dance floor. I thought I saw him in the corner, sitting at that table near the window and talking to someone. But it’s not him. There are two women at the table and no sign of a man.”
“I’ll check it out. Don’t move.”
Emma stayed put until Blaze returned a few minutes later. She already knew before he shook his head that he hadn’t found anything suspicious. After all the talk about Simon lately, she’d been primed to mistake another man’s profile for his. Especially in a crowded bar.
“You ready to get out of here?” Blaze asked, sliding an arm around her.
Her breath hitched in. “Are you telling me or asking me?”
“I’m asking, but I’ll resort to telling if you say no. And not because I can’t protect you here, but because I can feel you trembling.”
His touch on her spine was light, but it seared her skin anyway. She wanted to lean into that touch. She didn’t, though.
“If we leave now, Rory will be suspicious.”
Blaze bent his head to hers, his lips against her ear. “No, she really won’t, babe. She can see the sparks between us, and she’ll think you want to be alone with me.”
The sizzle that went from her ear to her core left her throbbing and hungry in a way she hadn’t felt in a long time. It scared her to feel this way, and it filled her with joy that she still could.
Before she could think too hard about it, Emma turned and palmed his cheek before curling her hand around his neck. She tugged his head down and pressed a kiss to his lips. She’d only intended a chaste kiss, but Blaze’s mouth opened and she couldn’t help but follow suit. His tongue stroked hers, and that aching in her core intensified. She was wet instantly, her limbs trembling for a different reason now.
Blaze swept her mouth possessively, turning her on the bar stool and fitting her between his spread legs. She had a brief moment of worry that he’d feel the heat between her legs. That he’d know how wet she was. But he didn’t nudge in that close, thank God.
She’d lost control of the kiss the instant she initiated it, but she was quickly becoming too lost in it to care. She’d never felt this kind of fire simply from a kiss.
Desire was biological. It shouldn’t be vastly different from one man to the next.
But somehow it was.
Blaze put his palms on her cheeks and then kissed her forehead. Her lips tingled, her cheeks were straight up fire, and she needed to take her jacket off.
“Whoa,” Rory said. “I was about to turn the soda hose on you two.”
Emma could hardly look at her friend. “Sorry. I was overcome.”
Blaze looped an arm around her shoulders and faced Rory. “Think we’re heading out.” He laid a credit card on the bar. “Can you close out my bill? Put Emma’s on mine. I’ll make her buy next time,” he added before Emma could object.
Rory took the card in two fingers and grinned. “Sure thing, stud. But you be careful with my friend here, or I’ll ban you for life. Just so you know.”
Blaze put a hand over his heart. “Now that’s a threat that gets me right here. What would I do without regular meals from the Dawg?”
“Take care of Emma Grace, don’t be a dick to her, and you’ll never have to find out.”
“Copy that, ma’am.” He bent to kiss Emma’s head again and whispered in her ear. “Gotta go tell my guys we’re leaving. Don’t move.”
Emma could only nod as he walked away. Rory returned with the credit card and receipt. She was smirking.
“Looks like somebody’s about to get some Vitamin D. I’m not in the least bit jealous.”
Emma was going to remain permanently on fire. It was too early for hot flashes, but she thought this must be what they felt like. “I don’t know about that. We’re in the getting-to-know-you phase.”
“Honey, you can talk as much as you like after he gives it to you good.” Her gaze lifted to peer across the room, and Emma knew she was looking at where Blaze stood with his friends. “That is one fine ass, Emma Grace. I’m really trying not to be jealous here.”
Emma laughed. “Ror, I say this with love—there are three other hot men over there. Go grab an ass and see what happens. Maybe even grab Chance’s. Hate sex is a thing, you know. Might be pretty hot.”
Rory snorted. “Not even if you offered me a million dollars. He already thinks he’s God’s gift. If I fucked him? He’d brag to everybody who’d listen. I’d have to endure all the old biddies around here lecturing me about guarding my treasure and not giving away the milk for free.”
“Could be worth it. How will you know?”
Rory just shook her head. “You’re goading me and it’s not going to work. Chance Hughes isn’t worth the aggravation, no matter how pretty.”
Blaze returned and looped an arm around her. “Ready?”
Emma wanted to lean into the heat of him and stay for the rest of the night. “I’m ready.”
“Night, you two,” Rory said as Emma hopped off the stool and Blaze wrapped her hand in his. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”