Chapter 11
EMERY
“You’re coming next weekend?” I ask, dodging random junk lying around my messy backroom/work area. I almost trip over a can of stain I left lying on the floor earlier.
“Yeah,” Eve says hesitantly. “Is that okay?”
I want to say no. No, you can’t come because I’m not allowed to tell you about my fake boyfriend, and the very idea of lying to you makes me want to combust into a million tiny pieces. Also, she’d never buy Knox and me as a couple. My sister knows me better than anyone.
“Of course!” I say a little too eagerly.
My heart starts to beat rapidly against my ribs, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she could hear the terrifying Jumanji sound that plays before something bad is about to happen.
Eve is quiet, which makes beads of sweat prickle at my hairline. If I’m like this now, I can only imagine what it’s going to be like having her here in person…I might need to ask Knox about the policy on pausing our little arrangement.
“Okay,” she finally says, relieving some of the pressure building up behind my temples. “I tried to get Eli to come too, but he’s being a jerk. I wanted to do some sibling bonding time. I feel like we haven’t all hung out in forever.”
“Not since the awkward Easter dinner at Mom and Dad’s place,” I cringe, remembering how my mom likes to start a fight with me every time I visit. She used to lay off when I’d bring Patrick around, but my little buffer was no more.
“Yeah,” Eve replies, her tone tightening from the shared memory.
We Bennett siblings don’t have the best relationship with either of our parents.
After years of being pitted against each other to win their affection, we finally gave up and decided to form an alliance.
Now, Eve and Eli are two of my closest friends, which makes my stomach churn even more when I think about my double life.
I’m about to answer Eve when I hear a ding at the front of the store. Now my pulse quickens for an entirely different reason. “Hey, I’ve got to go. Kn—my friend is here to help me with that furniture delivery.”
“What friend?” Eve asks, not missing a beat.
“You don’t know them,” I respond, my answer coming out rushed. “Love you, Eve. I can’t wait to see you next weekend. Bye!”
She rattles off a quick and restrained goodbye before I end the call. I take a deep breath, hoping to calm myself before dealing with another issue.
But said issue has no boundaries and makes me almost jump out of my skin when I hear, “Who are you excited to see next weekend?”
“Oh, sh—” I almost say before making eye contact with a three-foot-tall child with gorgeous blond curly hair that isn’t that different from the chaotic curls poking out from underneath Knox’s hat. “You scared me,” I say, clutching my chest.
Knox crosses his arms and arches a brow, not letting me off the hook from answering his question. Even the little guy looks up at me with an expectant gaze. Yikes, there are two of them now.
“Relax,” I say nonchalantly. “That was my sister. She’s coming to visit for the weekend.”
“Okay, good,” Knox says, his shoulders relaxing with relief.
Before I can question his response, the boy clutches Knox’s jeans and tugs at them. “Oh, right,” he says, looking down at his groupie. He bends down to the kid’s level, making my ovaries clench in a funky way. “Milo, this is Emery. Emery, this is Milo.”
I crouch down to their level. “Hi, Milo,” I say, reaching out a cautious hand. “It’s very nice to meet you.”
He looks up at me with two piercing green eyes, and every mean bone in my body becomes nonexistent. I am just a pile of fluff that will do anything in my power to make this small human happy.
“Hi,” he says with a smile. “Em-ree.”
“You can call me Ree,” I suggest with a gentle smile. “That’s what my brother and sister call me because they could never pronounce my name when we were young.”
“Ree?” Milo asks cautiously.
“Yep. You’ve got it.”
“Or Bambi works too,” Knox says with a wink. I shoot him a nasty glare before rising back to my feet and walking over to the dolly sitting in the corner.
“Is this where you’re working?” Knox asks, taking in the space with a concerned wrinkle spreading across his forehead.
I pause what I’m doing to follow his gaze. Yeah, this place is kind of a dump. I’m using it as a makeshift workspace for now, but in a perfect world, I’d have more time to renovate it and turn it into an area that elicited more creativity and less hoping a spider wouldn’t jump out to ruin my day.
“It’s a work in progress,” I murmur, grabbing the dolly and wheeling it over to the armoire sitting in the middle of the room.
“Right,” he says, scratching under his chin.
His eyes dart to Milo walking around curiously and he’s able to redirect the kid before he crashes into a stack of discarded wood.
“That piece looks great, though. It doesn’t look anything like the piece of junk I hauled here the night your truck broke down. ”
I cringe remembering the domino effect of events that landed us here. “It wasn’t a piece of junk. It just needed a little bit of love and an extra coat of paint,” I say, admiring my handiwork, “but thank you for the half as—wow, I really need to work on my swearing.”
“It’s fine,” Knox replies, taking the dolly from me and positioning it under the right board. His fingers slightly ghost over mine, making me forget we’re not alone. “He’s heard much worse. Trust me.”
I roll my eyes and cross my arms. “Oh, I don’t doubt that.”
He chuckles under his breath and then leans into the large piece of furniture, checking its balance before tilting it back onto the dolly.
My eyes follow the way his biceps strain against his shirt, causing the lines of his tattoos to pull taut.
I think my mouth actually waters, but thankfully, a tiny hand grabbing at the hem of my shorts pulls me out of my muscle-induced coma.
“Can I help?” he asks with an expectant glimmer in his eye.
My mouth quirks. “How about you go ahead and make sure the path is clear while I hold the door open?”
He gives me a quick nod and trots ahead as I instructed. “Ready?” I ask as Knox angles the armoire toward the door.
“Lead the way, Bambi.”
We maneuver through the rest of the shop without any issues.
I’ve done a lot in here in the last few days.
The more boxes I’ve sorted through, the smaller and more manageable it’s all become.
I can feel the wild thrum of excitement beating down on me every time I clear a new corner or put up a new shelf. It is all coming together.
“All good, Milo?” I call ahead, making sure he feels as important as he looks with his eyes focused and his chest pointed forward.
“Ya!” he shouts, lighting up with another adorable smile.
By the time we reach the front, Milo already has the front door propped open, stealing my job right from underneath my nose. “He’s strong for a four-year-old,” I whisper, keeping my voice low for only Knox to hear.
“You’ve known the kid for five seconds, and he gets a compliment. What do I have to do to get that kind of praise, Bambi?”
“It’s simple. You just need to not annoy me for once,” I answer with an amused grin.
He shakes his head and continues to push forward. “I guess I’ll have to work on that.”
I feel a frown ghost over my lips. If I’m being honest, I like our back-and-forth.
I was used to strait-laced guys that didn’t understand sarcasm or playful banter.
It was refreshing to have someone who could keep up with me.
Someone that I could be myself around. But that level of honesty feels too real for a fake relationship.
We step out into the sunlight, and Milo bolts into action as he darts ahead to the truck.
He tries to reach the handle of the tailgate, but no matter how hard he tries, he isn’t tall enough.
It makes me want to laugh, but I don’t want to embarrass the poor kid.
Instead, I give him enough of a boost so he can reach.
“Thanks!” he replies as we let down the heavy tailgate together.
When I set Milo down and look up, Knox’s gaze is settled on me.
I swallow hard at the way his eyes soften with less heat and more of something I can’t name.
I’ve seen him look at me with lust, but this feels uncharted and dangerous in a way that sends shivers down my spine and tells me to run before it’s too late.
Before I get too invested, he blinks a few times coming out of his spell and pushes the dolly forward. “Well, Bambi. Are you going to keep standing around, or are you going to help me?”
Just like that, the moment is gone, and we sink back into the safety of shared teasing.
I tell myself it’s nothing. That he is probably just making sure I’m being gentle with Milo.
But that look continues to replay in my mind the whole ride to my client’s house.
It consumes my thoughts so much that I almost forget to take the cash before we leave.
Lord help me if one look is all it takes to knock me flat on my ass.
“Do you mind if I drop Mi off before I take you home? My brother’s place is right on the way. I also want to show you something while we’re there.”
“Show me something?” I ask, peeling my head from the headrest. I look back at Milo to make sure he’s still snoozing before I continue. Poor guy was tuckered out from playing project supervisor all night, but he did a damn good job. I’d hire him in a heartbeat.
“I’ve already seen it before, Knox. No need to build up the suspense.”
“Are you suggesting you want to see it again? I guess that makes sense. You have been checking out my muscles all night.”
I throw him a flat stare. “Please. The only reason I was staring was because you were transporting a very important work of art.”
Knox’s mouth curves into an infuriating and almost contagious half-smile. “Sure thing, Bambi. Whatever you need to tell yourself.”