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“Emily.” His tone sends heat sliding over my cheeks.
You’re better than that, Emily.
I’m too hurt to apologize, though.
“Can you tell me what she said to you?” he asks.
I shrug, still feeling embarrassed and confused. “A little random cattiness at Lincoln’s party.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“We weren’t together.” I shrug. “That’s why I was outside on the swing that night. She got to me.”
“Really?” Sympathy draws his mouth down. He carefully steps closer and wraps his arms around me. “I’m sorry. I wish you’d said something.”
“What could I say? She clearly feels something for you.” I frown as I remember that night. “But she left the party with another brother, so I wasn’t…it didn’t seem to matter.”
“And tonight?”
“She stopped those other two girls from harassing me. Wait…are you special friends with them too? Do they also service your club?”
“No. Fuck no. They just started working here. Swan brought them in, though.” He shifts his gaze to the door and blows out an annoyed breath. “They must’ve thought…I don’t fucking know.”
“She must’ve told them she wants you back.”
Dex’s entire body freezes, and he shifts his gaze toward his desk. The guilty expression on his face sets off all my warning bells.
DEX
That wary look in Emily’s eyes isn’t saying anything good.
Honesty. Be completely honest with her. I’ve got nothing to hide. Better get it all out now and be done with this. I’m not losing her over my past choices.
“That might be true,” I admit. “But any romantic feelings are one-sided.”
Emily narrows her eyes. “So you suspect she has feelings for you. Why?”
I knew this moment was coming. Hadn’t expected it to be tonight. “Shortly after Libby’s accident, but before we got back together, Swan came onto me, and I shut it down immediately.”
“I see,” Emily whispers and turns away from me.
I take a step toward her then stop. And wait.
“Well, we were on a break, I guess.” Emily rolls her shoulders in a confident way. Maybe too confident. “You were free to do whatever”— she coughs— “whoever you wanted.”
She turns to face me. The questions shimmering in her eyes shred the breezy confidence she’s trying so hard to project. It would hurt her, maybe destroy us, if I’d fucked someone else. Break or no break.
“Emily, that wasn’t a break to me. It was a blip. A brief miscommunication due to unfortunate events. I didn’t want anyone but you.”
“Sure, but as she so charmingly told me that night, ‘men have needs.’” Her voice rises to a mockingly high pitch that doesn’t sound anything like Swan.
Emily’s clearly pissed.
“I don’t care what other men need.” I grip her chin and force her to look me in the eyes. “This man only needs you.”
She stares up at me. “She’s very pretty.”
“Uh-huh,” I agree. Lying about something so trivial and obvious won’t help her trust me. “I need more than that.”
She tilts her head to the side, drilling twin holes into my forehead with blazing hazel eyes.
I lift my gaze to the ceiling and shake my head. “You’re more than pretty, Emily.” A quick smirk lifts one corner of my mouth. “Don’t you complain about me watching you while you’re sleeping? Why else would I do that, if I didn’t think you were the most beautiful woman in my world?”
Her worries seem to evaporate. A softer expression crosses her face. She lifts one shoulder and leans toward me in a playful way. “Because you’re creepy?”
Laughter rumbles out of me.
“And I never complained,” she protests. “I’ve commented.” She ducks her head, a smile playing over her lips. “I secretly kind of like it.”
“Come here.” I pull her into my arms and she doesn’t protest this time. “I’m sorry I didn’t warn you earlier. I wasn’t sure how to say it.”
“Don’t worry, she took care of it for you. Her descriptions were pretty vivid.” She frowns again. “I better get going.”
“I’ll come over tonight when I’m done.”
She takes a long, deep breath and slowly blows it out.
Dread twists in my chest.
“No, that’s okay. I’ve already had an eventful night. I’m going to try to go to bed early.”
“Emily—”
She flicks her gaze to me. “We’ll talk tomorrow.”
Fuck.
We’re not quite past this yet.
EMILY
The ride to Libby’s school goes by in a blur. I barely remember making the turns or getting off the Thruway.
I trust Dex. He didn’t have to tell me about Swan. He could’ve claimed she was just some crazy girl who had a crush on him and lied about their past…involvement.
But the fact that he works with her and she lives at his clubhouse makes my skin crawl.
Even worse, she’s never leaving. She’s friends with the other brothers’ wives and whenever the single brothers get an itch, apparently she’s down to scratch it.
She was nicer to me tonight. Almost…apologetic even. She rescued me from the two cranky dancers.
He’s thirty-four, of course he’s dated other people. Except, he told me I’m the first person he’s been in a relationship with since his wife died. Now that makes it crystal clear his relationship with Swan was just sex. Not a one-night stand either. A regular, emotionless occurrence. Somehow, that seems worse.
