Chapter Thirteen #2
“Everything’s fine, Mrs. Booke,” Will said quickly, allowing the words that weren’t his to flow out of him. “I was just checking in with Lamar and telling him how brave he is.”
Her smile was watery and so full of love for her son. “So brave, sweet pea. And guess what!”
“What?”
“Daddy just called. Look who’s waiting for you at home.” She turned her phone so her son could see, and Will could tell the boy was looking at a picture of his new dog because his face lit up.
“My dog!” Lamar pointed to the screen and smiled at Will. “Look, mister! That’s my dog now!”
The sugar sweetness of the scene would delight romance readers everywhere, Will thought bitterly. But he gamely looked at the screen, saw a picture of a gangly dog who looked like a cross between a greyhound and a husky. The result was pretty cute.
He opened his mouth and let the words come. “Look at that. She’s happy to be home.” He patted the kid’s arm. “Rest up, buddy. You’re going to have a lot of playing to do when you get home.”
*
Will had slipped into a parking spot a block down from Bright Ideas while he’d spoken. They were parked, but Emmy made no move to get out of the car.
“You did a good thing, Will.”
“I did what I was supposed to do,” he countered. “It was all written. I can’t describe how… used I feel. Fucking Pinocchio has more autonomy than I do. You have no idea how frustrating this is.”
“You’re right,” she said quietly. “I can’t even imagine it.”
He shook his head before dropping it back against the headrest and closing his eyes. “I shouldn’t be taking it out on you.”
“Who else?” she asked. “I’m here for you if you need me. No script. No all-powerful author calling the shots. If you need to vent, go for it.”
When he opened his eyes again and looked at her, he saw that she meant it. “Thank you. That might just keep me sane for a while longer.”
“That’s a change of pace for me. Usually people find themselves telling me that I’m driving them crazy.”
“You’re just misunderstood.”
She laughed as she unbuckled her seatbelt. “That’s what I’m always saying.”
Will followed her into Bright Ideas. Bright had a salesclerk working for her now, a young twenty-something girl with purple hair and a nose ring. The girl smiled when she saw them walking in and waved.
“Welcome in! Feel free to browse.”
“Thanks,” Emmy said. “I’m actually looking for Bright, though. Is she here?”
“Yeah, let me go get her for you.”
They wandered a bit while the twenty-something went to find Bright, eventually stopping at a wall of paintings depicting naked men with beer bottles in place of their penises.
Will studied the artwork with a quizzical expression. “What is this supposed to mean? Is it a commentary on men or alcohol? Or sex?”
“All of the above, probably,” Emmy said. “Maybe you should get one. Support local artists.”
Will managed a smile. “I’m more of a whiskey guy.”
Emmy silently pointed to a painting on the end that depicted a prominent Jack Daniel’s erection.
Will sighed. “I walked right into that one.”
“Hey, guys!”
“Saved by the manic pixie dream girl,” Emmy whispered, making Will snort.
They turned to greet Bright. Her curly hair was tied up with a bandana and she wore a denim bracelet on her left wrist.
“Good to see you! Bianca said you needed something from me?”
“I have a request,” Emmy told her. She held out the bag that contained the old gardening tools. “Do you think you’d be able to freshen these up and turn them into a wind chime?”
Bright took the bag and looked inside. The expression on her face turned to pure delight.
“Absolutely! What a good idea. I can work with this tonight. Could you pick it up tomorrow?”
Emmy glanced at Will, who nodded. “Yes. We can come back tomorrow.”
“Excellent. This is going to be a lot of fun. I can’t believe I never thought of doing anything like this.” She started walking toward the back. Will and Emmy followed. “I’m going to give you the Bright Idea discount. In that you gave me a new bright idea. It’s a discount that I made up just now.”
“I appreciate it,” Emmy said.
“Since you brought me the tools, I only need to charge you for the supplies to assemble the chime and the labor.”
Bright named a price that made Will’s eyebrows shoot up, but Emmy didn’t bat an eye. Bright ran Will’s credit card for the fifty percent deposit she’d requested, then took the tools back to her office.
“It’ll be worth it,” Emmy assured him. “I keep wanting to offer to pay you back, and then I remember my wallet doesn’t exist in this realm.”
He shrugged. “I’m trying to remember that money doesn’t mean much to me anymore.”
“I appreciate you spending it anyway.” On an impulse, Emmy pushed herself up on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. “Thank you. I’m excited to see what Bright comes up with.”
He didn’t respond, only stared at her mouth long enough for Emmy to feel her blood start to hum. There was no mistaking his intent. The man was thinking about kissing her. Interestingly enough, she didn’t back away. And when he started to lean in, her lips parted, seemingly of their own accord.
Then Bright bounced back into view. Will’s back snapped straight. Emmy closed her mouth, pressing her lips together for good measure.
“All set!” Bright declared. “Oh, almost forgot, here’s your receipt! I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon!”
“Yeah, thanks.” Will stuffed the receipt in his pocket.
Neither of them spoke as they got back in the car and started home.
Emmy was sure he’d been about to kiss her.
She was slightly less sure that she’d been about to kiss him back, but it had felt that way in the moment.
What happened to keeping her distance from the romance novel protagonist?
She silently chastised herself as Will drove home with his eyes fixed on the road ahead.
No entanglements with the fictional man.
None. No matter how sexy he was. And sweet. And funny.
Damn it.
She was about to suggest that they make out just to break the tension when Will spoke.
“I’ve got an early shift tomorrow, so I’m going to hit the hay.
I’ll take you to pick up your wind chime when I get back.
” His eyes held a glint of humor when he flicked his gaze over to her.
“But if it’s ugly, I’m taking it back and exchanging it for one of those beer-penis paintings.
And I’m gonna hang that painting in your room as punishment. ”
Emmy laughed. “That’s fair enough.”
Just like that, they were on even footing again.