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“Sorry.”
“Stop apologizing.”
“Sorry,” she said again, then laughed. “You think I’m a Nazi?”
Tucker sat in an armchair near the door and held a throw pillow in his lap, wondering if he ought to go find some sweats, then remembering he hadn’t brought anything with him.
“I think you’re great at your job. I believe I’m on the record saying that.”
Emmy slumped onto the bed and let her purse fall to the floor. He couldn’t see her face but thought better of adding anything to the conversation until she spoke again.
“Can I ask you something?” she said.
“Sure.”
“How do you know when something is over?”
“What do you mean?” He stretched his legs out, uncomfortable with the long limbs being cramped up in the small chair. He was hopeful her words meant what he suspected they did, but for all he knew she was talking about her job.
But if she was talking about her job, why wouldn’t she be at Simon’s apartment?
“I don’t know.”
“You do know.”
She was quiet as she kicked off her shoes and tucked her legs up underneath her. “Simon was making dinner. For another woman.”
“Oh.”
“And I wasn’t mad.”
“No?”
“I mean…he says she was coming over for work, and I have no reason not to believe him. He’s not the one who’s been kissing other people.”
They both fell silent.
“But you weren’t bothered by the idea of him having another woman in his apartment?”
“No. I was…relieved?”
Tucker’s heart skipped. It actually skipped. He opened his mouth, and the words came out before his common sense could stop them. “Why did you come here?”
Emmy propped her chin on her folded hands. “I needed a friend.”
“And I was the first person you thought of?”
“You were the one who was ten blocks away.”
“Ah.” He set the pillow aside and got to his feet, then sat on the bed next to her, a safe person-sized distance between them. “Friendship by proximity.”
This close he could see her smile and it was dangerous, because this close meant he could kiss the upward curve of her lip with only a lean.
“Thank you for coming with me today,” she whispered.
“Of course.” He put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close, planting a kiss on the top of her head. “Whatever you need.”
She yielded to him, melting against him and settling her head into the crook of his neck. When she sighed, her breath was warm on his bare skin, and he tingled all over.
