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She scouted out a good spot, and settled in to watch the parade, but her attention kept wandering as she found herself searching the crowd for four familiar little faces... and three handsome male ones, although she denied that, even to herself.
That was until she caught part of the conversation of the two women next to her.
“Oh, my lord,” the one closest to her said, elongating the words, and fanning herself theatrically with her hand. “Just look at those three hunks with their adorable children.”
Her friend followed her line of sight to the opposite side of the wide street and so did Emalee, her breath catching in her throat when she saw Xander with Alex and Axel each holding one of his hands and looking like two little peas in a pod. Kyros was next to him with his arm around the shoulders of a glum looking Kira, and Coll had little Nicky in his arms, so the toddler could see.
Her throat thickened as she watched them, feeling like the sad kid outside a candy store looking through the glass at all the things she couldn’t have.
Perhaps this hadn’t been such a good idea after all. But just like the sad kid she’d likened herself to, Em couldn’t drag herself away, and the parade passed unnoticed as she soaked in the image of all seven of them.
And then it happened. Maybe it was because she was staring so hard and he sensed it, or maybe it was the sun glinting off her distinctive red hair; but there was a gap in the procession, and at that very moment Axel turned his head and looked straight at her.
The next few minutes seemed to happen in slow motion. The little blonde boy pulled out of his father’s hand, and with Xander still holding onto Alex, he was slow to react.
In the ensuing commotion Axel sprinted across the street without a thought, right in the path of the oncoming float, the driver of which was undoubtedly too high up to see the five-year-old who ran out in front of him.
People screamed adding to the bedlam and the noise seemed to finally get through to the little boy who stopped dead and stared at the massive flatbed truck that was rolling towards him, all decked out with a gingerbread house which several elves were dancing around.
Emalee was moving before she even consciously thought about it. Plowing through the crowd which was thankfully thin since she’d found herself a place so close to the front.
Onlookers were yelling and pounding on the side of the truck, but she didn’t bother to stop and see if the driver was taking any notice.
With just a foot or two to spare, Em grabbed Axel up into her arms and swung him out of the way, but as she whirled around, her foot hit a patch of ice, and she stumbled, and would have fallen herself if a pair of strong arms hadn’t settled around both her and the child.
Her breath was coming in short, noisy gasps and Axel had started to cry.
Oh god! This was all her fault. If he hadn’t seen her, he never would have run into the path of oncoming traffic.
The thought of what could have happened overcame Emalee and she burst into tears herself.
“It’s all right. You’re safe... he’s okay.” Kyros addressed both of them at once.
His voice settled her, and Em pulled herself together. A shooting pain arrowed through her ankle, but Em ignored it as she passed the boy to Ky since he’d been the one to chase Axel down, being the most unencumbered.
The procession continued around them, cutting them off from the other side of the street once again.
“I’m so sorry,” Emalee sobbed, as Kyros hugged Axel to him. “I’ll get out of here so I’m not causing any more distractions.”
“Emalee...” Ky shouted after her, but Em turned tail, pushing through the crowd, barely able to forgive herself, and hurried towards her hotel.
She didn’t move as fast as she’d like. Now that the adrenaline had worn off, the sharp pain in her ankle was making itself known, and she found herself half hopping, half limping, as she stumbled forwards, holding onto the walls of the buildings for balance.
Thank goodness it wasn’t far.
Em groaned with relief when she finally made it back to her suite.
She fumbled with the key card and pushed through the door without bothering to check if it closed behind her or not, and collapsed onto the bed, face first, thankful to be off of her feet.
For long moments she just lay there, reliving that horrific moment over and over in her head, while her shoulders quaked, and her entire frame shuddered with her noisy sobs.
Which was why she probably didn’t hear anyone entering her room until a hand on her shoulder had her squealing in fright and scurrying to get away and landing in an undignified heap on the carpet when her ankle gave way beneath her.
She let out a pained yelp, but before she could right herself, strong arms had lifted her up off the floor and were striding back out of the room.
Em did her best to push her hair out of her face with her mittened hands so she could see what was going on, when a voice growled in her ear. “Stop wriggling before I drop you, or I will spank your ass so hard you won’t be able to sit down for a week.”
Emalee froze, the words both shocking and arousing her at the same time so her body didn’t know quite what to do with itself.
