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Oracle grins, taking a step back.
“And what plans would those be?” There’s more than a hint of irritation in my voice.
Emmett shouldn’t be approaching me because he’s jealous of another man, and using our conversation from yesterday is a low blow seeing as he was so quick to walk away from it. It’s childish, and that’s something coming from the guy who claims I’m too young for him.
I fight the urge to cross my arms over my chest and kick out an irritated foot because I’m trying to be the mature one.
“We’ll talk later about a few more predictions I have,” Oracle says, winking in my direction before walking away.
“That guy is no good for you,” Emmett says, his eyes on me instead of watching the new Cerberus member walk away to join another group of people.
“You mentioned going on a date and seeing where it goes.” His nervousness is apparent when he clutches at the back of his neck, pulling his hand down as if he’s trying to work out some tension that has built up there.
I tilt my head, scrunching up my nose.
“Do you really think I’m going to fall for this?”
“Fall for what?” He looks equally confused.
“You see another guy talking to me, and out of jealousy, you come over here and try to make your move?” I shake my head. “No, Emmett. If you weren’t capable of stepping up before there was competition, why would I jump at the opportunity you’re providing now? Grow up.”
I walk away, knowing it’s a gamble, knowing there’s a very real chance the man may never ask me out again, but I can’t tell him yes even though my heart is racing in my chest.
I put myself out there with him, and he shot me down. I’m not going to get all giddy and jump for joy because he felt the need to approach me when he saw another man talking to me.
I spend the rest of the gathering skirting the larger groups. Emmett doesn’t come up to me again, but his distance doesn’t keep others from approaching either. By the time the party dwindles, many of the folks with kids leaving not long after the sun faded out of the sky, I have a list of new orders. I had to start telling people I’d have to schedule their projects, but not one person gave me the impression they expected to be pushed to the front of the line.
Although I’ve kept my distance, I’m always aware of where he is in the room. I can’t control that part of me that keeps looking in his direction. It’s how I see the defeat in him take over.
My heart clenches painfully when I see him drop his eyes and turn toward the hallway leading to his room.
Chapter 18
Legacy
I’m thirty years old, meaning by my age, I’ve made more mistakes than I can count, but this dread inside of me that I may have made the biggest one yet is louder than the din of the party.
She shot me down and then spent the rest of the evening chatting with people. I swear, even from across the room, I could hear the tinkle of her laughter. It’s clear she isn’t in the middle of a performance. She isn’t doing anything that makes me feel like she’s purposely trying to torture me, but that still doesn’t change the fact that she is.
I tell Newton goodnight, ignoring Stormy’s chuckle as I walk away and head for my room. Maybe I’ll be given a chance to apologize to her tomorrow, but I doubt she’ll ever agree to date me. I consider my thoughts on her being too young, but it seems like I’m the immature one here.
“Emmett.”
I spin in the direction of her voice, fully considering the possibility that I’m hallucinating right now.
Her cheeks are flushed as she approaches me. I know she hasn’t been drinking, and the distance between here and where she was standing when I left the room isn’t too great.
I want to raise my hand, brush my thumb over the heat on her face, and ask her why she’s so flushed.
I chalk it up to nerves. There’s just something about that thought that makes my dick threaten to pay more attention. What is it about a woman’s inexperience that makes a man want to go all alpha and take charge?
“I umm,” she says, stepping a little closer to me.
I swear I’d be able to taste the sugar on her lips from the soda she was drinking earlier if she got any closer.
My throat works on a swallow, my own set of nerves taking the opportunity to flare up.
Jesus, it would be so easy to just loop my arm around her back and pull her against me. The urge to do so reminds me of how perfectly her body fit against mine when I stopped her from falling when I took her shopping. I can’t recall a single other moment in all my life when I wanted someone so badly.
