14. Following Orders
FOLLOWING ORDERS
“ W arren,” Stacy said to him the following Sunday. “Thank you for the flowers.”
“Hey,” he said. “It’s not every day my baby sister finishes law school.”
“I know,” Stacy said. “I’m so excited. I can’t wait to walk the stage and get my diploma. It’s only the start. I need to study for the bar.”
“Take your time,” he said. “Don’t rush just yet on where you want to land.”
“I’m not sure if I’m going to take it in New York or Massachusetts. I’ve had a few firms reach out to me and some classmates.”
“That’s wonderful,” he said.
“I don’t want to not make money,” she said.
“Don’t go there,” he said. “The lease on your apartment is good until the end of the year. If you want to stay there, I’ll renew it. You tell me.”
“I like the area. Or at least more than New York. I don’t know if I want to go back home, you know.”
“I know one hundred percent,” he said. “I’ll support anything you do. Stephanie went back to the area because of Mom, but you don’t have to. None of you do.”
“I wish Mom would leave, but she won’t,” Stacy said. “I just hate living there. Everyone knows who I am in relation to you.”
He sighed. “I’m sorry about that,” he said.
“Don’t be sorry. It’s more frustrating than anything that people don’t leave us alone and always want to know about you.”
There wasn’t anything he could do about that.
As long as their father left them alone, that was all he cared about.
Sean Showers still lived in their hometown, but the last he knew, left the family alone.
“You could come stay with me,” he said. “If you want.”
Though he wasn’t sure if he wanted his sister around if he was trying to get to know a woman better.
Not that he’d seen Emma in a week.
He had some obligations to meet this week and she was finishing a book. He was lucky he got a text every other day from her.
At least she texted him first a few times. Or maybe it was following up on his.
Guess this went back to her and her lifestyle.
He should be happy that she wasn’t some clingy woman. But maybe he wanted that with someone too.
No, never.
He just wanted to get to know her more. Not just through her writing.
And he had to admit he’d read four of her books in the past week. One of them had a sexy cover and had his blood pumping and his dick hard as a rock, throbbing, and wanting a release in a few of her scenes.
Holy shit. Now he had to wonder if she was like that in bed.
And wasn’t that shitty of him to think that? It’s not like he wondered if she murdered like the other part of her books.
“I don’t think so,” Stacy said. “I’ll never get any studying done. I’m better off here for now. As you said, I’ve got a few months to decide on where I want to go.”
“I hear your phone breaking up. Do you have a call coming in?”
“A few texts. Some friends and I are going to dinner. Are you coming to commencement on Tuesday night?”
“You know I’ll be there,” he said. “Mom will be here in a few hours and then she and I are going together. I managed to talk her into taking the week off and coming to visit.”
“Good,” Stacy said. “Mom needs a break.”
“I tell her all the time, but she never listens. I’ll spoil her.”
Stacy laughed. “I think it’s more likely she’ll spoil you. You get lonely in that big old house by yourself. Stephanie told me how much fun you two had on draft weekend. I wish I could have been there.”
“Don’t worry about it,” he said. “We’ve got next year.”
“We do,” Stacy said. “I’ll see you on Tuesday. I’ll find you, I promise. I’ll just look for the large crowds gathering and know everyone is flocking to you.”
“Bye,” he said and hung up. He hated that would be true for his sister’s big day, but there wasn’t much he could do about it and he wasn’t about to miss it.
He tossed his phone on the counter and pulled out some cut-up fruit that Marcia always prepared for him. He’d made sure the house was stocked for his mother’s arrival so that she didn’t have to do anything other than relax.
When his phone started to ring, he picked it up to see who was reaching out and was stunned that it was Emma.
“Hi,” he said. “Coming out of your cave?”
She laughed on the other end and it sent shivers through his body, his dick hardening again.
Good lord, he hadn’t reacted this way toward a woman since he was in middle school.
“I just finished my book. It took a bit longer than I thought, but I’m coming up for air and can take some time off while I gather my thoughts for the next one and edit and tweak this one. It’s good to walk away for a few days though.”
“Do you know what you’re writing next?”
“Kind of,” she said. “I’ve got two storylines in my head, but I’ll work out the one I want soon enough. I’m sorry I haven’t been around much.”
“Don’t worry about it,” he said. “You warned me and I was busy too.”
“I did warn you,” she said. “But I don’t want you to think I’m blowing you off. Can we get on video? I want to see you.”
He grinned. “I’d like that. Let me get my laptop.”
“I’ll do the same,” she said. “I’ll call you back in a few minutes.”
She hung up before he could say bye. He shook his head and put his phone down and then went to his office to get his laptop and brought it to his deck. It was a nice day out and he might as well get some fresh air.
His feet were up on a footrest, the laptop open. It started to beep and he saw Emma on the screen.
“Hi,” he said. “You look cute with your ponytail on one side.”
She put her hand up. “It didn’t start that way. I guess I should have looked at myself before I called. Urgh, I’m a wreck.”
She didn’t look it to him. Her hair was a bit messy and lopsided, but that was it.
She was fresh-faced like he was used to seeing.
“Nah,” he said. “You’re not in your pajamas, are you?”
“No,” she said. “I sleep in a tank top and my underwear. Most times I remember to pull shorts on when I get up to start writing, but not always.”
He didn’t want to even picture that in his head.
But he was going to torture himself. “Do you wear boy shorts or bikinis? I don’t picture you as the thong type of woman.”
“I don’t care for a piece of string between my ass cheeks,” she said, shivering. “Do I have a few? Sure. Research and all so I know what it feels like when I write about it.”
Which answered his question about one of the sexy scenes he read when the female lead was prancing around in a thong.
Wonder if she did that though? Only one way to find out.
“I’ve been binge-reading your books,” he said. “I’ve got to know…”
She was bouncing on the chair she was sitting on. He could see she was in her sunroom but not in her lounge chair that she normally wrote in.
“Let me guess,” she said. “The sex scenes? Have I done them?”
He felt the heat creep up his chest. “I think that’s only a natural question with your research and all.”
“Don’t you want to know how many people I’ve murdered?” she asked, laughing.
“I know. I feel like a dick even asking that question, let alone thinking it. But I’m a guy who is very attracted to you and maybe I’ve got to worry about not keeping up with the men in these books. Jesus, that’s a lot.”
She started to laugh. “I have been told before that I’ve got high expectations of my men because I write them the way I want.”
Exactly what he didn’t want to hear.
“So I do have to worry,” he said.
“Nope. You’re in good shape. You’ll be fine and be able to keep up.”
She was torturing him. “You’re cruel.”
“I hadn’t planned on calling to have sexy video flirting, but I can pivot. My mother told me to have an open mind with you so I’m following orders.”
“You told your mother about me?” he asked. He hadn’t told anyone in his family yet. Why bother when he didn’t know where things might go?
Which wasn’t true since his mother did know that he went back to find Emma, but then he hadn’t filled her in on anything else.
She wasn’t the type to ask either, figuring he’d let her know if there was something to report.
“I did. It was bound to get back to her. She put me in my place on a few levels. My family knows my flaws and how I keep to myself.”
“Hence the reason she told you to have an open mind?” he asked.
“Yep, but I’m positive she didn’t mean it this way. What are you wearing? Stand up and let me see.”
He laughed and put his laptop down and angled it so that she could see him in his T-shirt and shorts.
“Your turn,” he said.
She lifted it and had it scanning her sitting in her chair, her shorts rising fairly high into her crotch. They looked like athletic shorts. The running ones though he knew she didn’t do that.
“This great guy I know showed me some exercises so I celebrated the end of my book by doing them for twenty minutes. My legs hurt now. I even got sweaty. I need a shower.”
He was trying to find any sign of sweat on her, but her navy shirt was baggy again that he could see.
“Do you use your hands in the shower or a washcloth?”
“Oh boy,” she said, rubbing her hands together. “This is getting dope. Give me a second to adjust. My juices are flowing.”
He groaned. “You’re going to be good at this, aren’t you?”
“You have read some of my more intimate scenes. What do you think?”
“I think I’m doomed in more ways than one. We have to stop now. My mother will be here in about thirty minutes. I don’t need to be embarrassed.”
“I’m sure your mother knows you’ve had sex, and since she’s got three kids, she knows what a worked-up penis looks like.”
“Ewww, Emma. We are talking about my mother.”
“See, you’re not turned on any longer, are you?”
“You did that on purpose?”
“I did,” she said. “And since you do have to go soon, I just wanted to let you know that I do miss seeing you in person.”
Warren felt a flutter in his chest over that confession. “The same,” he said. He saw a gray tail pop up in the camera blocking Emma from view, her hands reaching out to snag the creature he hadn’t seen full on yet.
“Sorry. Lucky likes to try to get on my lap when I’m doing things. He never wants attention when I want to give it to him.” She put the kitten down, but it jumped back up and was walking around her.
“Does he sleep with you?”
“I’m not sure where he sleeps,” she said. “Sometimes I wake up and he’s on my chest; other times he’s not even in the room. He roams at night. I think he’s still trying to figure it out. It works for us.”
“Kind of like us trying to maneuver this?”
“That’s a good way to think about it,” she said. “Are you going to sleep on my chest too?”
“I’d probably squish you, but I’d like to be next to you.”
“I’d like that too,” she said. “But I’ve got some bad news.”
“What’s that?” he asked.
“I’ve got to fly to California on Thursday. It’s a last-minute thing. I can’t go into too many details, but it’s work-related. My mother is flying with me. I’ll be back the following Tuesday. We are going to take a few days there to relax since it’s the long holiday weekend.”
“Good for you,” he said. “Maybe we can try to find time to see each other the following weekend? I’ve got my sister’s commencement ceremony on Tuesday. That’s why my mother is coming. She’s staying the week and both my sisters will be here for the long weekend.”
“Sounds like we both have plans anyway, but I’d like to see you the following weekend. Or anytime sooner once I’m back.”
“We’ll make it work,” he said. He heard his phone going off. “Hang on. I’m getting a notification on my phone and it’s in the kitchen.”
He put his laptop down and ran to grab it, saw his mother saying she was coming up the street.
“Everything okay?” Emma asked when he walked back.
“My mother is here. I’ve got to open the gates,” he said.
“Gates,” she said. “Fancy.”
He laughed. “I’ll reach out later if I get a chance. If not, I’ll be in touch.”
“I know you will be,” she said. “I’m pretty hard to resist.”
She disconnected before he could say she didn’t know the half of it.