Every Little Kiss (8 page)

Emma tried to keep her voice steady, even though she wanted to shout. “It’s not messed up to want my life to get back to normal. I don’t need all this distraction, and you’re stable, and everyone already thinks we slept together. What’s the harm in hanging out a little until things calm down? What would be so awful about people thinking whatever they want to think about us?”

He looked utterly astounded, and not in a good way. “Nothing, if you weren’t just doing this to try to fix things so you can keep running your own little corner of the universe where nobody bothers you. This has nothing to do with me. And it sure as hell isn’t about wanting to get to know me. I’m supposed to feel honored that you want to use me? I asked you for a date, not
this
!”

“I do want to get to know you.” She blurted it out, then realized that she actually meant it. Maybe she should have just picked one of the guys who’d called her and tried to
make that work until she was satisfied that the rumor mill had moved on. But that was a complete crapshoot, not to mention a definite waste of time, whereas Seth . . . Without knowing why, she was positive he was worth knowing.

Her revelation seemed to impress Seth a lot less than she’d impressed herself.

“If that’s really what you want, trying to set me up as your fake boyfriend is the wrong way to go about it.”

“I only asked if you wanted to go to dinner with me,” she shot back. “A
friendly
dinner. I never used the word ‘boyfriend.’ Or the word ‘fake.’”

“You didn’t use the word ‘excuse,’ either, but that’s what you’d be using me as. You also didn’t use the words ‘man whore,’ which is what I’d feel like.”

Emma wasn’t quite sure how, but she’d utterly lost control of the situation. Now he sounded angry, which wasn’t at all the reaction she’d been hoping for. Negotiating was something she excelled at—but it was only now that Emma realized she might have overestimated her abilities when it came to subjects that were a little more personal. This wasn’t exactly the same as tangling with Annalise over centerpiece design.

“I’m not asking you to . . . you know . . . do
that
!” she said, her cheeks heating.

“And this is a selling point because why?”

She had a hard time cutting through the mortification to answer, but after a few long seconds, she managed. “You know, one more person being judgmental isn’t helping.” She chewed her lip. “What if I picked out some stuff for us to do and made it my treat? Would that be more appealing?”

He groaned. “Not helping with the whole man-whore thing, Emma.”

She expelled a long, exasperated breath. “Fine! You
know, you helped get me into this mess. You could take some responsibility here.”

Seth’s eyes rounded. “How’s that? I wasn’t anywhere near the Tavern,” he pointed out.

The week’s frustrations spilled over, and then she was shouting. “You took me home! You stayed the night!”

“Okay, you demanded I take you home, and I fell asleep on your couch. But don’t worry. That’s the last time I’ll do that. Problem solved!”

Rather than backing down, he’d simply shouted back at her. His frown was thunderous, and Seth’s words sliced into her more deeply than they should have, considering how little she knew him. Maybe—just maybe—she was being unreasonable. But he wasn’t intimidated by her, and the way he’d refused was a nasty blow to her pride. He seemed to find the idea of a platonic date with her not just undesirable, but offensive. As though the prospect of sex with her was all she had going for her.

It left a bitter taste in her mouth.

“Fine, abdicate responsibility,” she snapped. “I handle things better on my own anyway.”

Seth looked at her so intently that she could feel her skin warm where his eyes grazed it, and she wondered whether she was going to wind up walking home in the rain. At the moment, that didn’t seem like such a bad option. Just when she was about to get up and grab her clothes out of his hands, though, Seth walked slowly to the table and set them in front of her.

“We don’t really know each other, Emma,” he said, “so I’ve got two things I think you need to hear: One, you worry too damn much about what everybody else thinks. And two, if I ever
do
take you out, there won’t be anything fake about it.”

Emma stood, disliking the advantage his height gave
him as he loomed over her. She faced him down, planting one hand on her hip, and fixed him with the glare that usually sent people scurrying away.

“Why does it always have to be about sex? Why can’t men ever just be happy with what’s being offered and quit pushing?”

Seth leaned down until his mouth was only an inch away from hers, and Emma’s breath stilled in her throat.
Is he going to kiss me? Seriously? He’d better not! I think. Well, maybe. Wait, what?
Her confusion was only intensified by the charge that passed between them, lighting up every nerve ending until she felt as though her skin might start sparking. His breath fanned her face, and when his nose rubbed hers, she tilted her head back, eyes slipping shut.

Terrible idea,
she told herself.
I’m going to regret this.
Later.

A single breath left her, almost a moan. And then he spoke, breaking the spell and making her terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad week complete.

“That’s why,” he said. “But until you figure it out, I think we’re done here. Now get changed and I’ll take you home.”

O
f all the things Emma might have asked him to do, pretending to date her was probably last on the list of things he would have guessed. Hell, it hadn’t even been on his list. Who asked a guy something like that?

Emma Henry, that was who. And it was somehow more irritating to know that she was just as attracted to him as he was to her. Being so close to her, watching her eyes close and her lips part, had confirmed that. He’d almost taken advantage of that moment of surrender. But her voice kept playing, over and over again, in his head.

I don’t need all this distraction.

Yeah, well, neither did he. But at least he could accept that he wanted his hands on her no matter how inconvenient it was.

Damn it.

Seth ignored the plaintive looks she kept shooting him as she made her way to the bathroom and back, then when she handed him the clothes he’d lent her, and finally when he led the way into the garage to get in the car. The sight of his motorcycle did seem to distract her, at least. He caught her eyeing it the way a duck might eye an alligator sharing its pond.

It was hard not to smile, but he managed it. The thought of Emma in one of her snappy little outfits on the back of his cherry red Indian Chief was—well, it was pretty hot, actually. Until he pictured the way it probably would play out, which involved her hanging on for dear life and screaming. While he did maybe thirty miles an hour.

It was almost worth going on a fake date with her for.

Almost.

She didn’t speak until he was backing into the road, and then it was stiff and formal. A glance showed him posture so rigid, she looked like she might snap in half.

“I’m sorry if I offended you.” She didn’t sound it, but he expected that. She was just sorry he’d refused. His temper, which had a long fuse to begin with¸ had already cooled.

“I’m not offended. I’m annoyed. There’s a difference.”

“Oh.” Emma folded her hands in her lap and looked out the window. Apparently that was her last word on the subject. Seth drove in the silence. Her silence should have been a relief, he guessed, but he felt his own shoulders stiffening up the longer they were together without speaking. She was a complete puzzle to him. Self-contained, serious, but with a sly sense of humor she let slip out sometimes and some seriously screwed-up ideas about relationships. He wondered if she’d always been this uptight or if she’d just been born that way.

At this rate, chances were he was never going to find out. That was probably a good thing. He’d get around to feeling that way eventually.

You’re not looking for a serious relationship, either,
he reminded himself. Except there was a lot of area between “serious relationship” and “so opposed to dating that you’d rather just hire somebody.”

They hit the light before the square, and Seth finally turned to look at her while they were stopped. He knew he should just let well enough alone, but this afternoon had put a sizable dent in his pride.

His staring caught her attention almost immediately. Emma looked back at him, and in this light her eyes were startlingly blue. Her still-damp hair fell in waves around her face, dark against her fair skin. She was completely, frustratingly gorgeous. He had no idea why she was so against even a simple, honest date, but there seemed to be a lot going on beneath her prickly exterior.
“I handle things better on my own anyway.”
Wounded, angry . . . It sounded unnervingly familiar. He couldn’t let himself get sucked in by Emma.

But hell if that glimpse of some deeper issue didn’t make him want to fix it for her. He hadn’t met Sam. Was she like this, too? he wondered.

“What?” she asked.

“What is it with you? Was it a bad relationship? What?”

“You know,” Emma said flatly, “you already said no. Can we just leave it at that?”

“No. No we can’t,” Seth replied. “Because I’d like to understand why your head is in the place it seems to be.”

“And where do you think that is?”

“Up your ass.”

She pressed her lips together, drew in a breath, and for a moment Seth regretted being so blunt with her. He’d never been great at talking to women. Guys were easier, more basic. There wasn’t any guesswork involved. Women, though . . . They were impossible puzzles to solve. And this particular woman appeared to be one of those giant puzzles that most people never finished, the ones with the billion tiny pieces.

“My head is fine, but thanks. I already explained. I thought, since you seemed interested, that we could try being friends. Friends
only
. That it would be mutually beneficial.”

“You get very eloquent when you’re mad,” he said, trying not to find it charming. She made it hard, sitting there so elegant even in her hoodie and old jeans.

“Thank you.”

“I’m not sure it’s a compliment. It makes you easier to read, at least. Tell me something—what do you see me getting out of this mutually beneficial ‘friendship that looks like more’?”

Emma hesitated. “Well, you said you hadn’t really gotten to know many people. I could be kind of your entry into Harvest Cove society.”

“Uh, even if that kind of thing interested me, which it doesn’t, you’re a loner. You’ve already told me everyone thinks your family is crazy, and I don’t think this place
has
anything you could call ‘society.’ Try again.”

Her eyes narrowed, just a little. “The light’s green.” It sounded like an accusation.

Seth drove through the light and hung a right onto the square. Once he pulled into a spot in the lot behind her building, Seth slammed the car into park, determined to finish the conversation. That was, unless Emma stormed off, but she didn’t seem inclined. She wouldn’t have gotten where she was without being a fighter. Like him.

Of course, right about now he wasn’t thrilled to think about what they might have in common.

“This is pointless to argue about,” Emma said. Her chin lifted, and she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “I asked you to a friendly dinner, which was perfectly reasonable, and you said no. I don’t think it needs any further discussion.”

He heard her phone vibrate in her pocket, and he noticed the way she didn’t answer it. How many guys, he wondered, had been absolutely thrilled last weekend to discover that the gorgeous ice queen in their midst might not be so icy after all? He didn’t think she had any idea how appealing she was, even now. She’d probably been awkward, once. She was still kind of awkward, but it worked on her. That explained her discomfort with the attention, but not her outsized reaction to being sought after. That seemed to bother her more than the video had, and he was sure that had bothered her a lot.

I shouldn’t care.
But he couldn’t shake the way she’d snuggled into him, the way she’d looked standing there in her pajamas the next morning, her hair sticking out at odd angles. She seemed to need somebody, even if she didn’t particularly want anybody. Not that she’d admit, anyway.

Seth exhaled loudly through his nose. His afternoon had started off so well—this turn of events hardly seemed fair. Emma played her fingers across the top of the door, looking around the parking lot. Anywhere but at him. From what he’d seen of her, she was too polite to just dash out of the car. Maybe she just didn’t know how to end the argument.

That made two of them.

“So . . . thanks for the coffee. And the clothes. And the ride,” Emma said. “I guess I’ll see you around.”

“Sure.”

He watched her open the door and couldn’t miss the relief on her face before she turned away. Seth sat there in the idling car and watched her start to walk away. It took a good ten seconds before he slammed his hands on the steering wheel.

“Damn it.”

He yanked open his door, leaving the car running, and got out, walking quickly toward Emma’s receding back. “Emma, hang on a second.”

She stopped, tensed. He could actually see her considering her options before she slowly turned around just as he reached her. She eyed him warily.

“I’m not fighting with you about this, Seth.”

“I’m not interested in fighting about it, either,” he said, glad she couldn’t hear his pulse starting to race. Then she really would be running.

“I’m also not bargaining,” she said. “There’s nothing to bargain over. I don’t want a relationship. You don’t want my friendship.”

“No,” Seth said, “I don’t.” He noted how she refused to back away from him, even though they were basically toe-to-toe. She was used to getting her way when she pushed. So was he. Maybe that was why he couldn’t quite let this go.

Now she looked exasperated. “Then what do you want?”

He took a deep breath, hoping he wasn’t as rusty as he felt, and moved in before she knew what was happening. His arms slid around her, up her back, and he felt her instinctively arch into him the way a cat did when stroked in just the right way. Then he pulled her close, and was surprised to find that Emma didn’t even tense. Instead, she closed the rest of the distance between them, though he wasn’t sure whether she did it consciously. When her body pressed against his, Seth couldn’t bring himself to care. Her head tipped back, and he saw a blend of confusion and longing that resonated with him in a way he hadn’t expected.

But then, nothing about Emma was expected. So Seth didn’t think. He just plunged.

The first taste was sweet, like sugar that still carried a hint of the coffee they’d shared, and incredibly soft. He’d intended nothing but a swift, gentle kiss to give her food for thought. Instead, he felt her lips part against his almost immediately, opening to tease his tongue with hers with a sensual promise that banished every rational thought. The parking lot disappeared around them. Everything vanished but Emma, her body rising against his while he pressed his hands into her back, holding her to him. Her arms slipped around his neck, fingers toying with the hair at the nape of his neck as though she’d just been waiting to touch it. The gentle movement sent hot little sparks of pleasure across his skin.

Deepening the kiss wasn’t a conscious decision. He barely realized it was happening, angling his head to taste her more deeply, feeling her wrap around him until they were tangled together so completely that he felt surrounded by her scent, her warmth. Emma gave a soft, breathy moan, and slow burning desire shifted gears into hot, aching want in the blink of an eye. His hands tightened on her waist, hers on his shoulders, and she rose up, fitting herself against him so that his fevered imagination could conjure them perfectly in this position, except horizontal. And minus the clothes.

A car horn sounded nearby, pulling Seth back to reality with a nasty jolt. He tore his mouth away and sucked in a breath, trying to kick his brain into gear again. But with Emma against him, her eyes hazy and her lips swollen from his kisses, it was impossible to think straight. What the hell had he been trying to prove here? That she wanted him? And here he was, rock hard and making out in a parking lot without a care in the world apart from
getting Emma naked. Which he guessed proved that he was a sex-crazed Neanderthal and not much else.

He needed to get out of here, before he promised Emma as many fake dates as she wanted, maybe even throwing in his soul for good measure, if he might get to touch her again. Because she didn’t just taste as good as she looked. The woman kissed like heaven itself.

“I’ve gotta go,” he said, pulling back abruptly.

Emma blinked owlishly at him, looking as though she needed a few minutes to collect herself, too. That was good—it delayed her inevitable shouting. And her politeness be damned, he was pretty sure she would shout about this.

“I . . .” She frowned a little. “What—”

He’d planned to tell her to think about it and then swagger off like James Dean. Smooth. Classic. She’d be left fluttering in his wake, right?

“I’ll see you around. Later.” He ground out the words, knowing they probably sounded more like caveman grunts than anything else, and hurried back to his car as well as he could, given his uncomfortable condition. He could feel Emma’s eyes on him, but he couldn’t meet them. Not when he put the car in gear, and not when he drove away.

Wanting her was one thing. But whatever this was, this heart-pounding, palm-sweating need for her, was more than he’d bargained for. Emma wasn’t the only one who liked to have some control, and right now, his was just about gone.

Seth allowed himself a single glance in the rearview mirror, and he saw Emma staring after him.
That’s it. Enough. I’m not going looking for her again.
She was so damn stubborn that it might at least buy him time to cool off and get his head on straight. He needed that time,
even though some insistent voice inside his head had pointed out how much time he’d already had.

Not yet.
But the thought of Emma lingered long after he’d left her, and, much like the woman herself, that thought refused to let him be.