Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
“Ow!” Linc watched a pad of sticky notes land on his desk after smacking him in the forehead. He looked around to find Emery standing next to the partition separating their desks, one hand on her hip, glaring at him. “What the hell, Em?”
“You were ignoring me.”
She’d been talking? “I was not. I didn’t hear you.” Because I was too busy thinking about the fact I’m a married man. “What did you say?”
Her sigh spoke volumes. “You know how much I hate coming in for these stupid meetings, and then you didn’t even back me up when I told Sid that.”
Even though Linc and Em in the A.M. ran from six a.m. to ten a.m., once a week their producer, Sid, made them come in at four p.m. for production meetings.
That fact had pissed Emery off ever since they started having them.
She never understood why Sid couldn’t meet with them before they left the station after the end of the show.
No matter how many times Linc explained there were other people’s schedules to consider, she still got annoyed.
“Linc!”
Kind of like now.
“What?”
“You’re ignoring me again.”
Dammit, he was. “Sorry. I’ve got a lot on my mind.”
“Too much to have agreed with me about switching the meeting time with Sid?”
He winced. He should’ve backed her up, and he would’ve if his mind hadn’t been on a certain Southern belle he’d married. He didn’t even remember Em bringing up changing the meeting time. “Sorry.”
“Yeah, you’ve said that. What’s going on with you?” Em leaned her butt against his desk in front of him, so he had to look at her. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” he assured her, sitting back in his chair. He removed his glasses and used his T-shirt to clean them.
“You’re going to scratch those doing that.”
“So I’ve been told.” Every time she saw him do it.
“Can I help with something?”
Even though they didn’t spend as much time together as they used to before Emery and Gage got together, Em was still Linc’s person.
He’d love to be able to talk through his recent marital situation with her, but Em didn’t know he had feelings for Britt.
Plus, he’d promised Britt he wouldn’t tell anyone about their marriage, and he refused to break that confidence.
God, their marriage. He still couldn’t come to terms with the fact they were married.
“I’m good.”
Lie.
“Okay, but if you need anything, let me know.”
“Thanks w—Em.” He’d almost said “wifey.” Only now that he had an actual wife, it felt wrong to call Emery that.
He might not have planned to ever get married, but that didn’t mean he didn’t respect the sanctity of those vows between people who did.
Even though they were only married on paper, it would be disrespectful to Britt to call someone else his wife.
“So, bring both your blue and green ties with you, and you can swap them out based on which dress I wear.”
Dress?
“What?”
Em glared at him. “Are you kidding me right now?”
“Sorry.” Snap out of it! “I was… what were you saying about a dress?”
Instead of harassing him about not listening again, Em looked concerned. She reached out and took his hand. “You know you can tell me anything, right?”
“I know.” He could, and he had. Em knew more about him than possibly even Britt did, which was saying something, and he’d bet money he knew some things about Em that Gage didn’t. He just couldn’t talk to her about this. “I’m handling it.” Though not well, apparently.
“You’re worrying me.”
“Em, trust me.” God, he hated the fact she was stressing about him, and he couldn’t do anything to assuage it.
At least, not yet. “It’s nothing bad, I promise.
” Not unless you count the fact that I married the woman I’ve been obsessed with since meeting her, and now we’re planning to get divorced.
“I just can’t talk about it without breaking a confidence. ”
“So, you’re not dying or anything?”
“I’m not dying.”
“Good, cuz I’d totally kill you if you were. And you know I could hide the body.”
That made him laugh. “With all the serial killer shit you watch? I don’t doubt it.”
She squeezed his hand, then pushed away from his desk. Walking around the cubical partition, she said, “Before you space out again, I told you to bring both your blue and green ties Saturday night, cuz I don’t know which dress I’m wearing yet. That way we can match regardless.”
Saturday. Right. They were emceeing that bachelor auction thing Saturday night to benefit Haven House.
Their radio show ran mornings, Monday through Friday.
Weekend and evening gigs, like this one, supplemented their regular salary enough to make it more than worth their while to do them.
Em always had them color coordinate. She said it made them look more like a team.
Personally, he didn’t see the need. If they didn’t look like a team after having worked together for six years, matching colors wasn’t going to help.
It made her happy, though, so… “Blue and green. Got it.” Hang on. “Why do I have to wear a tie?”
“Because women love men in ties. It’ll help me sell you.”
Shit.
He’d totally forgotten he was slated—also known as “forced” in this scenario—to be one of the bachelors. Minor problem… he wasn’t exactly a bachelor anymore.
“About that.”
“No.” Emery popped her head over the top of the partition and shut him down before he got any further. “You can’t get out of it. You’re already listed in the program. Plus, Sid loves the idea.”
Fucking Sid.
“Only because you sold him on it, Judas.”
“Ooo, pulling out the Biblical references, are we? How can I be a traitor when I only want what’s best for you?”
“Just because you think you know what’s best for me, doesn’t mean it is.
” Emery had offered him up as tribute. Ever since she and Gage had gotten together, she’d decided he needed to find someone too.
This was her lame attempt at matchmaking.
Because somebody paying money to go out with him was obviously the best foundation on which to build a lasting relationship.
Give me a break.
“Beg to differ. When’s the last time you went on a date?”
Does getting married count as a date?
“I date all the time,” he lied, even though he knew she knew he was full of crap.
“Sure ya do. Let me rephrase. When’s the last time you were in a relationship?”
“Relationships are overrated.” Says the man who just got married.
But he’d never planned to. And not just in Vegas. Ever. His parents’ nightmare of a divorce had made him decide that years ago. How’s that for irony?
He raked a hand through his hair. He did not want to have this conversation. “Em, I get it. You and Jessa and Chase all found someone.”
“And Jake, Linc. Even Mr. Player of All Time settled down.” He was about to argue, when she continued. “I’m not saying you have to get married.”
He scoffed. He couldn’t help it.
“I know you don’t want to, and I understand your reasons.”
She did. Em knew all about how his parents had used him as a pawn in their divorce war when he was little.
Getting passed back and forth between them while he grew up and basically being made their bargaining chip when they wanted something?
It sucked. It sucked enough to put him off marriage for good.
Anything that made two people that miserable and bitter, he didn’t want any part of, except now Zana was in the mix. He’d never been more confused.
“Don’t you want to have something more than dinner and a movie and a quick fuck now and again?”
“Wow. Way to pull punches.”
Em closed her eyes for a moment, like she was centering herself. “I’m sorry. That was a raging-bitch thing to say.”
He wasn’t going to disagree. “Ya think?”
“Sorry. I just don’t want you to be alone.”
“Look.” He stood up to be on her level. “I know you mean well, but how can I be alone when I have the most annoying best friend to torment me for the rest of my life?”
That made her smile. “You do. And Britt too. I’m sure she’d be up for tormenting you.”
Every damn day. Only not intentionally and not in the way Em was implying. It wasn’t Zana’s fault he wanted her as much as he did. And now that he had her, they’d be getting a divorce. If that wasn’t validation for his distaste in marriage, he didn’t know what was.
“True, but she’s my best friend who’s only annoying sometimes,” he clarified. “You’re the overachiever.”
“Whatever. Regardless, it’s too late to pull out of the auction. Plus, it’s for a good cause.”
It was. Haven House offered emergency shelter for victims escaping domestic violence situations.
“And it’s not like you have to marry whoever buys you.”
He grinned, though there wasn’t any joy in it. He was already married, and for the first time in his life, he wanted to be. Now he had to figure out how to get his wife on the same page.