Page 33 of Deck the Hauls

My chest tightened.

Emily tentatively touched her head. “I’ll be by myself, but I’m sure it’ll be fine. If I feel worse, I’ll call someone.”

I drummed my fingers on the wooden table. I didn’t like the sound of that.

Blake didn’t either, judging by her furrowed brow. “Well, if you have time, why don’t you stay with us for a while, so I can keep an eye on you? Dan, the owner, should be able to get us some ice.”

“I’ll grab it.” I jumped to my feet, pleased I was finally able to help. “Can I get you a drink or anything to eat while I’m up?”

Jenny passed Emily the menu.

“Food would be lovely.” Emily’s eyes ran across the menu. “The steak with sweet potato fries and salad sounds delicious, thank you. And I’ll just stick to water.”

I returned a few minutes later with an ice pack, a glass of water, and a non-alcoholic beer to find my friends laughing.

Emily was regaling them with the story of getting stuck up the tree. In her retelling, I was a superhero whose impressive strength and quick thinking had saved the day. Smiling, Emily caught my eye and my heart flipped like hay on a tedder.

“Wow, Dana, sounds like all that wood chopping paid off,” Blake said with a grin.

“I think Emily is overselling my skills. All I did was help her out of the tree. It was really nothing.” I handed Emily the ice pack.

“Well, I disagree. And thank you for this. There you go again, saving the day.” Emily placed the ice pack on the back of her head. Her jaw clenched slightly as the ice pack made contact.

“Did you tell them about Thursday? My act of heroism backfired.”

Emily laughed. “No, I didn’t tell them about that.”

I shared the story of me storming onto the set, sending my friends into hysterics.

By the time our food arrived, I had almost forgotten why Emily and I were here in the first place. It was only when Emily placed the ice pack on the table to eat her steak that I remembered.

“How are you feeling?” I asked.

“A little better, I think.”

“Oh, good. I’m glad you’re here with us and we have Blake to keep an eye on you.”

“I’m glad I’m here too.” Emily grinned. “Your friends are great.” She bit into a sweet potato fry. “And this is exactly what I need. Crunchy, greasy, sweet goodness.”

Heat rushed to my cheeks as my eyes dropped to Emily’s lips. I dragged them away to focus on the burger in front of me. She moaned. I took a huge bite of my burger to distract myself and nearly choked.

I let out a sigh of relief when Emily finished devouring her food and excused herself to go to the restroom.

As soon as she disappeared out of sight, six pairs of eyes turned to me.

“You seem to be engaging in a number of acts of heroism recently,” Jenny said, a teasing tone to her voice. “Is something going on between you and Emily?”

I blinked.

Shit. Was it that obvious I liked her?

Also…did Jenny actually think Emily liked me?

That was… That was ridiculous.

“There’s nothing going on,” I said, shifting my gaze to Roz. “Somebody volunteered me for Emily to shadow and I’ve just helped her out a couple of times since then. It’s nothing.”

I didn’t sound convincing, even to myself. It may have been one-sided, but my feelings were definitely not nothing.