Page 9 of Dark Truth

I could tell that man anything, that smile said. I could get through any devastation with him by my side. This should be easy to tell him, but it wasn’t. We hadn’t discussed children, only birth control. Then there was his mom. His real mom. Would he hate me, would he react with gentleness, like his father, or would this send him over the edge, as it had his mother? I wish I knew, I thought, and bit the inside of my lip as I leaned over to kiss him hello. I really wish I knew how he’d react to the news I had to drop on him at some point.

Dylan

I knew the moment she walked into the restaurant and looked up. I wasn’t the least bit surprised to see her there. For a moment, I could see she was uncertain about something, but then, her focus changed and her face beamed. Maybe that was the one thing that really made my heart melt about that woman. She was always happy to see me. Really happy.

It made a difference in your life when you knew your presence changed a person’s day. I’d known plenty of times that my presence made my employees nervous or angry, and I knew that my parents enjoyed having me with them, but knowing you made someone’s, a woman’s, day better was something I’d never thought I’d enjoy this much.

“Hi, Emily,” I said to her as she leaned down to kiss me and took a seat.

“Hi, Dylan. How are you?” She looked me over, and I was glad my hands weren’t shaking. She’d have spotted it. “You’ve had your hair cut. It looks good.”

I touched my dark brown hair and felt my lips tilt. “It was getting too long.”

“I liked being able to tug on it.” Her eyes went wide and then narrowed down to let me know she was being provocative.

“Mm, perhaps you should sit closer, pet.” I liked the way she would get turned on in public. It only took a moment, and she had been so adventurous lately that I wondered now what we could get away with in the dimly lit restaurant.

“Perhaps you should take me to Elmo’s later.” Her voice went quiet, but it held a challenge.

“Oh? Do you want to play, pet?” There was something different about her tonight. Mysterious.

“I might be up for a little play.” She smiled, a smile that challenged me to play along.

“We’ll see. Tonight, I think we need to talk about your brother’s letter.” I saw how she tensed, and that was exactly why I’d changed subjects. “I know you want to avoid this, Emily, and I understand why, but you need to make a decision about the whole affair.”

She blinked at me, and I wasn’t sure if it was only because of the sudden change of subject, or if she was angry with me. Emily didn’t anger easily, not from my experience anyway, but there was always a first time.

“You’re right.” Emily reached for her wine glass, but then shifted her hand to her glass of water instead. “I really need to deal with my family, don’t I?”

She didn’t look up at me as she pulled her lip between her teeth. She took another sip of water, and I saw the gold rings on her finger glint in the dim light. She was in distress, but you wouldn’t know it if you didn’t know Emily well. The way she drank the water, slow and thoughtful, as if it was the last glass of water she’d ever have told me all I needed to know.

I cared about her, that was something I’d stopped denying to myself long ago. I knew this conversation wasn’t easy for her, and maybe I would take her to Elmo’s. It had been a while, and we always enjoyed our time there. It could be a treat for coming to a decision.

“Dylan, I want to…” Her words stopped, and blonde brows knitted together. They weren’t as blonde as her hair, but a darker shade that complimented her eyes.

“Go on, you want what, my dear?” I wanted her to face the problem and come to a decision. I was glad to be there to help her make that decision. Even if she didn’t want to do that yet. It was time.

She’d been very stressed since that letter came from Trent. She wanted to avoid confrontation, but she had to face facts. She would have no peace until she came to a decision about it, either way.

“I just want to know if he means it. It could be a trick, you know. To get me to tell him what you’re doing or something.” She held her hand out as if it held all the secrets of the world.

“Emily, you grew up with this man. You said he was a dick, but is he that much of a dick?” I winced because I knew what her words would be before she even spoke.

“He made my father disown me, Dylan.” Her gaze was a little frosty, and I took her hand.

“Sorry, that was insensitive.” I stroked her palm until her eyes cleared and then spoke again. “What shall we eat? Let’s table the discussion for now and eat.”

“The chicken looks nice. I’d really like some chicken.” She hadn’t even looked at the menu, but we’d been here before, and I saw her looking around at other tables.

“What about the roast lamb?” I offered, that was what I wanted.

Her eyes went wide, and she turned a little green. “What’s wrong, Emily?”

“No, lamb. Oh, please, no lamb.” Her hand went over her mouth, and she closed her eyes.

“I thought you liked lamb?”

“Not today. Excuse me a minute, please.” She stood and headed off to the bathroom.