AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She nodded. “Yes,” she replied around the lump in her throat. “I’d like that too.”
Looking at Jason, she saw an answering heat there. If she were honest, Jason scared her a little. The way he affected her. He so easily turned her body to fire, and all he had to do was smile. That kind of power scared her. No, damn it. She was a confident woman now. Not the shy, overweight girl she’d been in school. She was in control of her own emotions. She could do this.
In less than half an hour, Emma and Jason were back at her shop. As she unlocked the door, a movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. She turned to see a man in a hoodie standing across the street. The way he stared at her, as if filled with hatred, gave Emma the willies.
Jason followed her line of vision and asked, “Do you know that guy?”
“No, but it’s a little creepy the way he’s just standing there watching us.”
Jason frowned. “Yeah, it is.” He nudged her inside, then shut and locked the door behind him. He went to the back and a moment later came back and said, “Just making sure we’re all locked up tight.”
“Thanks,” she replied, more glad than ever that she wasn’t alone tonight.
He smoothed his palm over her back as he stared out the front window. “Have you considered moving your shop to a safer neighborhood?”
She bit her lip and watched the man across the street. She shivered. “I wish I could, but this is all I can afford.”
He pulled her close and squeezed her tight. “Maybe you should think about getting a dog. One trained in protection.”
“That’s not a b
ad idea,” she said as the notion began to sink in. “I love animals, and it’d be nice to have the company when I’m here alone.”
“I can help you find one,” he offered. “There are lots of dogs at shelters in need of a loving home.” Jason pulled out of her arms.
Emma’s heart filled at the idea. “I love it.”
He nodded. “Good. We’ll get busy on that project later, though.” When his gaze landed on her again, his lips tilted sideways. “Now, where were we?”
Emma pushed the eerie feeling away and concentrated on the gorgeous man in front of her instead. She lifted her arms around his neck and stepped closer. “Is this about right?”
He dipped at his knees and wrapped his arms around her, then lifted her into his arms. “No, but this is,” he replied as he’d carried her up the stairs to her apartment. This time he didn’t put her on the bed. Instead, he sat with her perched on his lap.
She cringed at the thought of all her bulk on top of him. “I’m too heavy.”
He frowned. “Don’t put yourself down. I don’t like it.”
Her face heated. “I wasn’t.” His black look called her a liar. “I’m only speaking the truth. I’m not exactly the ideal body weight.” Then she thought of his lack of enthusiasm toward her when they were in high school together, and all her bravado vanished.
He was silent a moment, and Emma began to feel awkward perched atop him. Finally he said, “You seriously thought I didn’t want you because you were overweight?”
She felt unaccountably weepy. Talking about her high school days always did that to her. Being a teenager was for the birds. “You never paid much attention to me.” She quirked a brow at him. “Unless you needed help on a test.”
“Ah, I’m starting to get the picture now.”
She gritted her teeth. “God, men are so dense.”
He cupped her chin. “I did want you then. You were always a temptation to me. Why is that so hard to believe?”
She squinted at him. “You never said anything. You never even flirted.”
He cupped her chin in his palm and murmured, “That’s because I would’ve done very naughty things to you. I don’t think you were ready for that. Do you?”
She shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not. We’ll never know now.”
“How about we make up for lost time, then?”
Emma could refuse. She could send him home right now, and he’d go without a fight. But that wasn’t what she wanted. She wrapped her arms around his neck and laid her heart open. “I want you more now than I ever have. You’re in my mind all day. I couldn’t sleep last night because I kept thinking about that kiss.”
