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“Thanks.” I slid into the passenger seat and felt my face flame with embarrassment. I was glad someone had noticed other than Anastasia, but his compliment was unexpected. “Mace is right, you know. I saw some of your female fighters, beautiful and fit.”
His jaw tightened as he started the engine and put the car in motion and I wondered if Emmett was the type to simply ignore things he didn’t want to talk about. When he nodded, I realized he wasn’t, he was the kind of man who took his time and thought about what he wanted to say.
He turned to me and said, “I have eyes and yeah, the women are attractive. But I train them and that can get messy so I don’t do it.”
I didn’t know how to react so I just answered him with a question. “Never?”
“Never.”
His blue-eyed gaze swung to mine at a red light, allowing me to see that he serious.
He pulled away from the light and said, “They’re like a mix of employee, sister and student, you know? I have to be on their ass about everything from training to diet to PR, brutally honest about their flaws and protective all in one. It’s exhausting without the addition of attraction or romance.”
“You’ve given this some thought.”
He nodded. “I work a lot and those are the women I see most.” Emmett shrugged and I couldn’t look away from his strong capable hands and the corded muscles of his forearms as he navigated the car through traffic. He was also a fine specimen of a man.
“Enough about me. How did your second night go?”
“Good, actually. Thanks for asking.” I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I was. So much of my life had been about Lance, and now I was learning to be my own person, not just part of a couple.
“Well?” he said, checking his mirrors. “You gonna make me pull the details out of you?” He had a way of asking about me without looking me in the eye.
I laughed and told him all about my shift. “I like it. The players are all characters straight from a movie or something, funny and rich but otherwise just like the rest of us. I like that I can joke with them without pissing them off.”
Emmett let out a bark of laughter, a bit nervous I thought, but maybe I was being overly sensitive. “You give those guys shit? I’d love to see that.”
I shoved at his shoulder. “You don’t think I can roast with the best of ’em?”
“Oh, I’m sure you can. That’s exactly why I want to see it for myself. So you plan on keeping the job, then?”
“Yeah. Why wouldn’t I?” My whole body went tense, and I realized I was waiting for Emmett to talk me out of it.
He hesitated for a moment. What was that about? Then I breathed a sigh of relief when he said, “No reason, just curious, I guess.” His gaze slid to mine, a million questions swimming in his blue eyes. “You okay?”
“Yes. No. Sorry.” I realized I sounded like a crazy person and I let out a shaky laugh. “I thought you were going to talk me out of it.”
“Why would I? This is the biggest smile I’ve seen on your face since I met you. Seems like it’s good for you.” That was what Emmett said but I noticed his jaw tightened a little.
“Provo says Lance wouldn’t want me to do this kind of work, whatever that means. My parents think I should go back home and marry some pastor friend of theirs. And Evan seems to think I just don’t belong. I guess I was feeling defensive.”
“Evan’s a prick to everyone so don’t mind him. It’s not personal, just the nature of his work. Provo, well my guess is he promised Lance he’d look after you, and that’s a tough line to toe.”
Emmett opened his mouth and then snapped it shut, piquing my curiosity.
“What?”
He shrugged and pulled into my driveway. “My relationship with my folks is shit, so I don’t have much wisdom to offer.”
It wasn’t the first time he shared that he wasn’t close with his parents, but I suspected if Emmett wanted to tell me more, he would.
“And if you were, what would you tell them?”
“That if they really gave a damn about me, they’d let me figure out what to do after my entire fucking world crashed. And if they couldn’t do that, I’d tell them to get the fuck away.”
“I wish I could do that. I’ve chosen avoidance.”
He flashed an adorable, boyish grin. “That’s always an option, too, Vanessa. There’s no way to know what you need when it comes to grief. Find something that works and stick with it until it stops working.”
“You really think so?”
He nodded. “I know so. Trust me. I’m wise beyond my years.”
