13. Emerson
15 hours later and I still felt unsure about Tilly’s plan. When I texted her and tried to use my family and what they would think as an excuse, she sidestepped my worries by saying all I had to do was tell them I was using Stone for his fame, and they would definitely be on board. I parted my lips to protest, but then closed them. She did have a point.
She also promised me that I’d only have to fake date Stone for a few games and a few shows. All we needed was to get the press and tabloids talking about me. A talent scout would have to take notice. Then I could break things off with Stone once the ball was already rolling.
I hated the idea that I needed to use Stone to start my career, but he seemed willing, and I was desperate. I’d already tried to get discovered the organic way, but it seemed like nothing was working. It was fake a relationship with Stone Walker or accept my fate as a barista at The Jumping Bean forever.
“What can it hurt?” I repeated Tilly’s question under my breath as I pushed against the counter and straightened. There was a lull at work. And when things slowed, all my thoughts and fears came rushing back into my mind.
“What can’t hurt?” Rachel, my co-worker, asked as she dumped that morning’s coffee out into the sink. She rinsed the pot out and returned it to the coffee machine to make a fresh batch.
I glanced over at her. “Nothing.”
She frowned at me. “You just muttered something under your breath.” She narrowed her eyes. “Are you keeping a secret from me?”
“Nope,” I lied.
She eyed me. I could tell that she didn’t believe me, but I just smiled at her and turned my attention back to the front of the store. What did it mean to fake date someone? What were the rules? Were we supposed to kiss? People who dated kissed. Would people suspect that my relationship with Stone wasn’t real if we didn’t?
If we kissed, how much kissing was required? Did I even want to?
“Emerson?” a deep voice invaded my thoughts.
I yelped and turned, heat flooding my entire body as I pushed the thoughts of kissing Stone from my mind. “Yep?” I asked, focusing my attention on the customer standing in front of me. “Brett?”
Brett was standing there wearing a pair of jeans and a lime-green construction shirt. He looked embarrassed as he pushed his hand through his hair and met my gaze. “Yeah. Sorry, did I startle you?”
I needed someplace for my nervous energy to go, so I brushed off the counter with my hand. “Sorry, I was just lost in thought.”
He studied me. “Was it a song?”
“Huh?”
“You said you were lost in thought. I thought, maybe you were thinking about a new song.”
I pinched my lips together as my mind returned to what I had actually been thinking about. There was no way I was going to speak those words, so I just slowly nodded. “Yep. That’s what I was thinking about. Lyrics.”
He shoved his hands into his front pockets. “Amazing.” Then he shrugged. “Can I hear some of it?”
It was like I’d picked up a shovel and was digging a deeper and deeper hole for myself. “You know, I don’t really like sharing my songs before they are solidified in my mind.”
He nodded. “Ah. Gotcha.” Then he smiled. It was soft and uncomplicated, unlike Stone.
I glanced around. “Did you come for some coffee?” I motioned toward the register.
Brett smiled and stepped closer. “Coffee and…” He paused as he met my gaze. “And the coffee maker.”
My cheeks heated. I had not expected that answer. “Oh, yeah?” I asked.
He nodded. “I feel bad for how things went down the other night. I wanted to talk to you to see if you could forgive me.”
I waved away his concern. “Don’t even worry about it. Alcohol was involved.”
He smiled at me. “Yeah. It makes you do crazy things.”
I nodded. “That it does. In fact, there are a ton of songs about the things it makes us do.”
“That’s true.”
I leaned forward and lowered my voice. “If you want to keep standing here, you’ll have to order something.” I smiled. The sound of the front doorbell filled the air, and I straightened, hoping it wasn’t Wanda, the shop owner. “Can I take your order?” I asked, a little louder than I would normally.
“Yes, ma’am,” Brett said as he stepped closer to the counter. “I would like a regular coffee with cream.”
“Got it,” I said as I glanced over at him and smiled. Standing here, talking to Brett, felt easy.
Things with him were uncomplicated. It was nice. Sure, he didn’t give me the kind of butterflies that Stone did, but it was nice to not have to worry about my family when flirting with him.
The sound of someone clearing his throat behind Brett had the two of us glancing behind him. As soon as I saw Stone’s icy glare, my blood ran cold. I pursed my lips, my body instantly reacting to his presence. Brett glanced at me before he glanced back at Stone.
“What are you doing here?” I asked before I realized the words left my lips.
Stone raised his eyebrows. “Getting coffee,” he said as he met my gaze head-on.
I glanced over at Brett and gave him a quick smile before I turned my focus back to Stone. “That’s so strange. You’ve never gotten coffee here before.”
Stone looked unbothered by my observation. He shifted his bike helmet from one hand to the other. “I like to switch it up.”
Heat pricked my skin. I hated that he seemed cool and collected while I felt so discombobulated.
“Hey, you’re that guy from the bar.” Brett turned to face him fully. “I wanted to apologize for my behavior that night. I should have never drunk that much. I never meant anything untoward with Emerson.” He stuck out his hand and waited for Stone to take it.
Stone’s eyebrows went up. He pulled his gaze from me and just stared at Brett as if he were daring him to keep talking.
Brett laughed for a second before he wiggled his fingers. When it became apparent that Stone wasn’t going to accept his handshake, he curled his fingers into his palm and dropped his hand. “Anyways…” Brett snapped his fingers before he clapped his hands.
I stared at Stone, confused why he was acting this way toward Brett. I could tell that he was making Brett feel nervous, and it was making me mad. Why was he acting like his? Nothing happened that night. It wasn’t like Brett treated me bad.
I pulled my gaze from Stone and smiled up at Brett. “Rachel will fill your order. Will you excuse me?”
Brett looked like he wanted to protest, but I moved from behind the register before he could respond. He was down by the pickup place by the time I rounded the counter and grabbed Stone’s arm.
He seemed confused as I motioned for him to follow me. Thankfully, he didn’t protest, and he let me lead him into the nearby supply closet right next to the bathrooms. I shoved him inside, turning the light on once we were both in.
“What the heck?” I asked, turning to face him. All I was staring at was his broad chest.
I moved to step back but when I ran into the door I’d just shut, I realized that coming into the closet wasn’t the smartest idea I’d ever had. If he was a normal-sized human, it would have been fine. But Stone wasn’t normal. He was tall and broad, and being in this tiny closet just amplified the size difference between us.
He was staring down at me when I finally brought my gaze up to meet his. I studied him, unable to break away. The air around us sizzled with electricity. It was as if he was daring me. It always felt like he was daring me.
I finally found my voice. “Why did you do that?”
He frowned. “Do what?”
I sighed as I moved my gaze to stare at his chest. Even though he was wearing a shirt, I could see his muscle definition, and it made my heart pound. “You’re not my brother. You’re not my protector. You have no moral obligation to keep guys away from me.” I hated that when I was around him, my head felt cloudy and thoughts were hard to express.
He lifted his hand and rested it on the rack of cleaning supplies next to me. He drummed his fingers on the plastic liner that sat on top of the shelves. I was grateful for something else to look at other than his deep blue eyes that seemed to suck me in every time he looked at me.
“Doesn’t a boyfriend have an obligation to protect his girlfriend?”
Goosebumps erupted across my skin. I swallowed, hating and loving the sound of those words on his lips. Why did I like it so much? He wasn’t my boyfriend. I wasn’t his girlfriend. This was a purely contractual agreement.
“Of course, he does,” I said, slowly bringing my gaze back up to meet his. “But that’s if it’s real. This”—I motioned between his chest and mine—“is fake.” I blew out my breath, grateful that I’d said those words. They were helping to ground me in reality. “And we haven’t even started this relationship yet.”
I could feel his stare. It was boring into me. He had so much he wanted to say, but he wasn’t saying any of it. And from the intensity of his stare, I wasn’t sure I wanted him to tell me.
“So, please. Don’t drive off a guy who may want me once this arrangement between us is over.” I glanced up at him.
His eyes had darkened. His eyebrows were drawn together as if he were trying to process what I’d just said to him.
“You want to date that guy when our fake relationship is done?” His tone was daring as he held my gaze.
I wanted to pull away. I didn’t want Stone to see the truth. I was confused and conflicted. All I knew was that, one day, Stone was going to walk away. He always left, and I needed to be prepared for that. I needed to be able to pick up the pieces and move forward. Or I would crumble and never recover.
“Yes,” I finally whispered.
That seemed to surprise Stone. He grew quiet as he studied me. Then he sighed, pushed his hand through his hair, and shrugged.
“Fine. I’ll be nice. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to go out of my way to talk to him. We won’t be friends.”
“Of course.”
He scrubbed his face and glanced up at the ceiling before dropping his gaze to meet mine. “Under one condition.” He took a step closer to me. His cologne filled my nose and made my head swim.
“Okay,” I whispered, staring at his chest, unable to focus on anything else but how close he was to me.
He slid the pad of his forefinger to my chin and pressed up until my gaze met his. He leaned into me. My heart was pounding so hard that I feared he’d know exactly what he was doing to me. He would know the feelings that were coursing through my body.
“When we are dating…” He paused as his gaze flicked down to my lips. “You are mine.” He glanced up at me. “Even if it’s fake.”
He leaned in, and my whole body stilled, waiting for him to touch me. His arm brushed mine, and suddenly, the pressure of the door against my back disappeared as the door swung out. He raised his eyebrows.
I swallowed in an attempt to ground myself in the present. I hated that I was more flustered by this interaction than he was. I nodded and turned to leave. Brett was lingering by the front door when I walked around the corner. He frowned as he came over to me.
“Everything okay?” he asked. He glanced over at Stone, who walked past but didn’t bother to look over at him.
“Peachy keen,” Stone said as he stepped up to the register and gave his order to Rachel.
Brett looked over at me, and I smiled. “Everything is fine. I just had something I needed to talk to him about.”
“Who is he?” Brett asked as he glanced back at Stone.
“He’s my neighbor.” It was true. Sure, we had more history than that, but I didn’t want to get into it with Brett, certainly not here.
Thankfully, that seemed to appease him. He nodded before he brought his hand up to my elbow and motioned for me to step to the side. I followed his lead until we were standing next to the front windows.
“Did you used to date him?” Brett asked, his voice low.
“Stone?”
He nodded.
“No. He used to be best friends with my brother before…” I didn’t want to repeat my parents’ normal talking points. I didn’t think what happened back then was as black-and-white as they did. “They had a falling out.”
Brett glanced up at Stone, who was standing by the pickup window. He was scrolling on his phone. If he was bothered by the fact that Brett and I were having this conversation, he didn’t show it.
“It was in the past, and we’ve all moved forward.”
Brett glanced down at me. “Really?”
I nodded. “Really.” I smiled. “We just help each other out. That’s it.”
Brett looked relieved as he focused back on me. “That’s good to hear.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Oh yeah?”
He smiled. “Yeah.” He pulled out his phone. “Any chance I can get your number?”
“What for?”
“Well, I’m thinking I have to eat dinner, and you have to eat dinner…”
“Of course.”
He winked as he pushed his phone in my direction. “What are the chances that the two of us end up at the same restaurant?”
I took his phone and punched in my number. “I think there’s a high probability.” I handed his phone back to him. “I’m pretty open unless I’m at a gig.”
He took his phone and slipped it into his back pocket. “I’ll reach out to you.”
I smiled. “You do that.”
He took a sip of his coffee and set the bottom of the cup into his palm. He grinned at me before he glanced at his watch. “I gotta head back to work. I’ll text you later.”
“Sounds like a date.”
I watched as he walked through the front doors and then stopped to wave before he let the doors swing shut behind him. I waved back, and once he was gone, I blew out my breath and turned.
Stone was standing behind me, holding his coffee cup. His gaze was on the door as if he too were watching Brett leave.
“That was sweet,” he said and then took a drink of his coffee.
I glared up at him as I moved to step around him. “Brett is nice.”
“Too bad you’re going to have to break it off in a few days.”
I stopped moving.
“I mean it, Emerson. To make this work, you can’t have a sidepiece. You don’t want that kind of publicity.” He glanced down at me.
I turned my attention to the menu above the register. “I know.” I took in a deep breath and turned to focus on him. “I promise you, on Friday, it will be just me and you.”
His expression softened. “It’s best not to embroil yourself in a scandal. You don’t want that.”
I held his gaze and nodded. “I know.”
He pursed his lips and held my gaze for a moment longer before he dropped it and left. The sound of the doorbell hitting the glass marked his departure.
Rachel was staring at me when I joined her behind the counter.
“What was that?” she asked. “Who were they? Why did you take that tall, hunky one into the closet?”
I rested my arms on the counter next to the register before I stepped back and leaned my head forward, stretching my arms out. I could feel Rachel circling around me. “Rachel?”
“Yeah?”
I tipped my head to the side so I could look up at her. “If I promise to tell you everything, can you promise me something?”
Her eyes were wide, and she nodded.
“Don’t make me tell you right now.”