Page 36 of Loving Emma

“I hate to think what would have happened if you hadn’t turned up.” She gestured to Emma, resting back against the seat, her arms folded protectively across her chest and her eyes closed. “He said he was going to get her home, but seeing how they were earlier, that seemed off to me. But I don’t know how I would have stopped him. I just…”

The poor girl was pretty torn up, and I couldn’t blame her. “You did good, watching out for her like you did.”

Handing me Emma’s belongings, she said, “And you did good, punching him out like that.”

I could almost laugh at that. But not quite. I tucked Emma’s coat around her as snugly as I could. “Thanks for all your help, Briony. I appreciate it.”

“No problem. She’s lucky to have a friend like you…or…whatever you are.”

Whatever we were.Who the fuck knew? Definitely not me. I shook Briony’s hand, said thanks again and climbed into the truck, making a mental note to contact the restaurant tomorrow to take care of the bill, including a very generous tip for her. How did it come to this? Driving Emma to the hospital to have her tested for a fucking date rape drug, for Christ’s sake. I was struggling to process it all but, instead, pushed it away and focused on what needed to be done for Emma.

Luckily, we were in and out of the hospital pretty quickly. The ER was quiet when we arrived and Ted’s sister-in-law led Emma away with a supportive arm around her waist. She could walk, but she was still pretty shaky and not really with it. They came back half an hour later and I noticed Emma was looking paler and even more exhausted. There was nothing they could give her to counteract what she’d ingested, apparently, so the advice was get her home and into bed, so she could sleep it off. And lots of water, of course.

Once I’d helped Emma back into the truck, I said, “Should I let your dad know what’s going on? Will he be worried you’re home so late?”

She flinched, looked down at her feet. “No, he’s got a nurse with him tonight.”

Jesus. So she’d expected not to go home tonight, had seriously intended to sleep with that guy. The thought sent fresh acid roiling around my gut.

“What do you want to do then? You can’t really go home in this state.” There was an edge to my tone that was incredibly unfair to her.

She flinched again. “I don’t know. I can’t think.”

I took a deep breath. “Okay, here’s what we’re going to do. You can sleep at my place. We’ll get your car whenever you want tomorrow and as long as you’re up to it, you can drive yourself home then. Your dad’ll be none the wiser.”

“Okay.”

I could barely get a handle on the hot jealousy running through my veins as we drove back to Esperance, even though I had no right to feel that way. She was a grown woman who could sleep with whomever she wanted. But dammit, I wished that that was me.

By the time I eased into my driveway, Emma had fallen back asleep, but she wakened slightly when I pulled her out of the truck and into my arms.

“I can walk,” she mumbled.

“Bullshit.”

She didn’t argue further, just rested her head on my shoulder with a soft sigh. Once I had carried her inside, I realized I was stuck. What was she going to sleep in? Not this lacy dress. And not naked, obviously. “You can have one of my shirts, I guess.”

“Mmkay.”

It made the most sense to go straight to my bedroom and let her change in there, so that’s where I took her, setting her down gently on the edge of my bed. I pulled a shirt from my drawer and, turning back, realized the unavoidable. She was not going to be able to get changed by herself. Her head was bowed, her hands rested loosely on the mattress. It was like she was asleep sitting up.

Just get it over with.So I did. I knelt down and undid the straps on her high heels, placing them neatly next to the bed. That was the easy part. But there was no way I could do the next part without seeing her underwear, and if my memory served me—which it did, impeccably well—there was no doubt it was going to be sexy. I refused to entertain the idea, for even so much as a nanosecond, that she wouldn’t be wearing any at all. That would end me.

I laid the shirt out on the bed, so all I had to do was throw it over her the split second she was undressed. “Stand up for me, please, Em.” I helped her up and she half leaned against me while I undid the zip and quickly slipped the dress off. Intense relief. She wasn’t naked underneath it. But then, huh? I frowned. No sexy underwear. Just cotton knickers and bra, plain, probably from Target or Walmart or something like that. What did that mean? She went out on a hot date, where she’d made arrangements for her dad so she didn’t have to come home, but…wore her normal underwear? I wasn’t about to ask her, obviously. I said instead, “Would you like your bra on or off?” I’d much rather leave it on, but I didn’t want her to be uncomfortable.

“Off.” She tried to do it herself, but her fingers fumbled at the clasp and she quickly gave up.

“I’ll do it.” As fast as I could,alsoobviously. Without looking, even though the memory of Emma Carter’s breasts was permanently engraved on my brain. I was a gentleman, and this was not the time, so I did what I had to do and grabbed the shirt, desperate to cover up all of that gorgeous, naked skin. It didn’t happen quite as fast as I would have liked because she struggled a bit to get the shirt over her head, but we got there eventually.

I’d meant for her to sleep in the spare room but once she was changed, she tumbled immediately back onto the bed. Okay, well, I could sleep in the spare room, no problem. Pulling the covers back, I said, “Here you go.”

She got in and her eyes were closed even before I’d pulled the covers back up over her. Unable to help myself, I leaned down and ran my hand over her head in a gentle caress. She was safe. The worst hadn’t happened. I moved toward the door, but then her voice stopped me in my tracks.

“Where are you going?”

“To sleep in the spare room.”

There was a long silence and I thought maybe she’d drifted off to sleep. But no. “Please.”

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