Her Way (2 page)

“Whew. Wet panty alert,” Ana piped in.

Matt groaned again, but Emma couldn’t disagree. The man inspired some feelings in the downstairs department, that’s for sure.

“Soooo,” Matt said slowly, “you have a thing for this Will guy?”

Emma turned back around and had to hold back a giggle. Her brother was staring Lynn down.

“No!” she protested. “Just surprised to see him, that’s all.”

“Okay.” Satisfied with that, he rose and moved next to his sister. He bent at the waist, hand on her shoulder. “Gotta run. You okay? Call a cab or let Hannah drive you home, all right?”

“I will.” She leaned over and pecked him on the cheek. “Thanks for putting up with us girls tonight.”

Matt straightened and glanced around the table, his gaze finally resting on Lynn. “Anytime.” With that, he walked out.

“So are you ever going to jump the poor man or what?” Ana asked.

“So, I wonder what Will’s been up to.” Apparently, Lynn was going to ignore the question.

“Why don’t you go ask him?” Emma focused on the man again.

“Nah, we didn’t run in the same circle. He probably wouldn’t even know who I was. So, ladies, are we still on for shopping tomorrow?”

The conversation dimmed around her as Emma stared at Will. She shifted in her chair as she just drank him in. From his dark, wavy hair down to his black shoes. As she decided that he definitely filled out his pants nicely—at least from behind—he turned.

Emma’s mouth suddenly went dry and her stomach quivered. Unable to look away, she met his gaze full on. After a moment—or what felt like an eternity to her—the corner of his mouth quirked up into a slight smile.
Oh God, stop staring like an idiot.

“Emma?”

She turned slowly back to her friends who all stared at her.

“Yeah?”

“You okay? You want to go home?” Hannah asked.

“No, no, I’m fine. What were you saying?”

“We wanted to know what time we should pick you up for lunch and shopping,” Ana informed.

“Oh, I guess around eleven, eleven-thirty. Does that work?”

“Sure. And we’re going to do something about your clothes.” Ana gave her the once over and frowned. “And maybe your hair. Should we call in the morning and see if there’s an opening at the salon?”

“No.” Emma reached up and touched her hair. “What’s wrong with it?”

“Nothing, but you could so use a change.”

Emma frowned as her friends nodded in quick agreement. Was she really that hideous? She shook herself mentally.
Stop obsessing.

“One more round? Beer?” she asked. “Or something else?” They all assured her they were fine. “Well, I’m going to have one more. Be right back.”

She stood, shocked when she wobbled a bit, and headed across the room. It wasn’t until she stood at the gleaming wood bar that she realized she was right next to the hot former classmate of her friends. Unable to help herself, she lifted her head and glanced to her right. Yep, there he was. And he was looking right at her. Oh boy.

“Hi,” he said.

The sound of his deep voice actually weakened her knees. She gripped the edge of the bar and smiled. “Hi.”

“What can I get ya?” the bartender asked.

“Bud light, please.” She didn’t even turn. No, she just kept staring at the guy beside her. Classy.

“Do I know you?” he asked, leaning down slightly.

“No, why?”

“Well, I saw you sitting with Hannah and Lynn and wondered if you went to school with us.”

“And they thought you wouldn’t remember them.” She laughed. “No, I went to a private school.”

“Ah. I’m Will Calonen.” He held out his hand.

She put her hand in his and just looked at him. God, he had the most amazing green eyes. Clear, clear green a gal could just get lost in. And that little half smile with one corner of his mouth lifted. Emma sighed.

“And your name?” he asked, a hint of laughter in his voice.

“Oh God, I’m sorry. I’m Emma. Emma Lawrence. Nice to meet you, Will.”

“And you.” His thumb rubbed over the back of her hand lazily for a moment before he released it.

Emma grabbed the beer the bartender set in front of her and smiled at Will. “You should come over and say hi to Hannah and Lynn.”

“I’d like that. Just give a minute, okay? I need to say hi to my sister.” He nodded toward the back of the bar.

“Oh, well, if you’re meeting someone—”

“Nah. She’s part of the band, the guitarist, and they’re getting ready to go back on. Just want to let her know I showed up.” He winked.

“Okay then.” She slid her hand down his arm and headed back to their table. Flopping down, she grinned at her friends. “He’s gonna come say hi.”

“Really?” Lynn drawled. “You were looking pretty cozy with him.”

“We just said hi and introduced ourselves, that’s all. He recognized you both though.”

“You rubbed his arm, Emma. Are you taking my earlier comment to heart?” Ana grinned.

“Earlier comment?”

“That you need to get laid? ‘Cause if that’s the case, you couldn’t have picked a better specimen than him.” Ana gave him the once over. “Though there’s a guy a few tables away that I wouldn’t mind getting to know in an intimate way.”

Emma laughed. “Well, the band’s warming up now. Why don’t you ask him to dance?”

Ana took of sip of her beer and tilted her head to the side as if considering. “I might just do that. ‘Cause I’d like to take me home some of that.”

Hannah snorted. “We can’t take you anywhere.”

Ana sniffed delicately. “I have no idea what you mean. I simply enjoy myself. I just happen to enjoy myself much more with a truly spectacular male. You should seriously consider it, Hannah. That guy there is pretty hot; he’d do.”

Their friend stared at her for moment. “I’d prefer to actually get to know a guy before jumping in bed with him. Go fucking figure.”

“Okay, guys,” Emma interjected. “Enough.”

“Hello, ladies.”

Emma felt a rush of relief when she heard Will’s voice. At least he hadn’t come over in the middle of the getting laid conversation. She looked up at him, and heat flared in her middle. Ana had a point. The guy was seriously hot.

“Hi, Will, have a seat.” God, was that her voice, all breathless? Her face heated and she took a quick swig of the beer in front of her.

“Good to see you again, Will,” Lynn said, sliding to the chair next to her, leaving the one next to Emma vacant.

Will sat down and glanced around the table. Lynn and Hannah he knew. The woman sitting between them didn’t look familiar though. His gaze settled on Emma. Her face was slightly flushed and she met his eyes briefly before looking quickly away. She was the reason he’d come over. Sure, he didn’t mind saying hi to his old schoolmates, but they hadn’t been good friends or anything. No, this little brunette intrigued him. A lot. He couldn’t quite figure out why, but he was looking forward to finding out. He smiled at the other women briefly.

“Hannah, Lynn, it’s been a while.”

“I’m Ana,” the other woman said, reaching over the table to shake his hand. “And you met Emma up at the bar, of course.”

“Nice to meet you.” He had to raise his voice to be heard as the band started playing. “You all having a good time?”

Emma’s three friends all chimed up in the affirmative, but Emma remained silent, staring at the tabletop. Was she suddenly shy around him? He couldn’t think of anything Hannah or Lynn could’ve said that would make her uninterested in him. He leaned over until his mouth was near her ear and rested a hand between her shoulder blades.

“Everything okay? You don’t mind that I came over, do you?”

She turned, her face now a mere breath from his. “No, of course not. Everything’s fine. I’m glad you came over. Really glad.”

“Me, too.” He leaned back, but kept his hand right where it was.

“Well, I’m going to go find a dance partner.”

Ana jumped up and gave Emma a pointed look. He wondered what that was about as she danced away from the table. Glancing back at Emma, he saw she looked slightly uncomfortable, her teeth biting down on her plump bottom lip. He wasn’t the only one who noticed.

“You okay?” Lynn shouted over the music.

Emma’s tongue darted out to wet her lips before speaking. Will’s cock twitched in response. He found himself wondering what she would taste like. Her lips, her skin.

“I’m fine.” She turned to him and blurted out, “You wanna dance?”

Surprise and pleasure filled him. “Yeah.” Standing, he pulled her to her feet and led her to the dance floor. He glanced back to see the two women sitting at the table grin at each other.

Emma put her hands on his shoulders and moved close to him. He slid his hands around to rest on her lower back, her waist length curls brushing against them. She swayed her hips in time to the music and looked at him from beneath her lashes.

“I should warn you, I’m not the best dancer.” She rose up on her tiptoes as she spoke, her breasts trailing up his chest.

He bit back a groan as his cock strained against his pants. Tightening his hold on her, he pulled her harder against him. “You’re doing just fine, sweetheart.”

“Hmmm. Good.” She laid her head against his chest.

They moved to the music, not speaking for several minutes. He noticed his sister watching them from the small stage, brow lifted as she played. Well, word would spread through the family that he’d been out with a woman. He loved his family, but no secrets were sacred with that bunch.

Will closed his eyes, focusing on the woman in his arms. God, she felt good. Fit against him perfectly. He ran his hands up and down her back, finally coming to rest just above the curve of her ass. He resisted the urge to cup it and pull her full against his erection. She was obviously quite shy, and he didn’t want to frighten her away.

Emma tilted her head, breath fanned against his neck. She sniffed loudly before announcing, “You smell really good, Will. I could just smell you all night long.”

He chuckled and leaned back a bit to see her face. Her dark brown eyes looked sleepy, half closed, and a sweet smile kissed her lips.

“Are you drunk, Miss Emma?” he teased.

She pulled at her lip again with her teeth as she seemed to consider his question. She then held her hand up, her finger and thumb close together. “Just a little, I think.”

“Ah, I see.” He pulled her back fully into his embrace.

“But I don’t think that would affect my sense of smell.” Her voice was muffled, her lips pressed against his front.

“I’m sure it doesn’t. Thank you. You smell pretty damned good yourself.”

She sighed happily and rubbed her cheek against his chest. They kept moving even as the song ended and the next one began. Kept swaying slowly although hard, fast music surrounded them.

When he felt her leaning heavily on him, he slid his hand up to cup her face and pulled back to look at her. “Sweetheart, do you want to go sit down?”

“Okay,” she agreed.

He kept her close to him, his arm around her shoulders, as they made their way back to the table.

“Have fun?” Lynn asked when they sat down.

“Yeah,” Emma said, her soft voice barely traveling across the table.

Hannah laughed. “You getting sleepy, drunk Emma?”

“Hmmm,” was all she murmured as she rested her chin on one hand. The other hand lay on Will’s knee.

“She’s not a rowdy drunk,” Lynn informed him. “She just gets sleepy.”

“Did you drive?” he asked Emma.

She shook her head. “Took a cab. Hannah’s driving us all home, I think.”

Will looked back at the dance floor where Ana held court with several men then back at Lynn and Hannah. “If you guys aren’t ready to leave, I can drive Emma home. I don’t think she’s gonna last much longer. I promise to get her home safely, and she can call you when I drop her off,” he suggested.

“I’m ready whenever…ow!” Hannah glared at Lynn, who blinked at her innocently.

“That’d be really nice of you, Will. We’re not quite ready to go and obviously Ana’s not.” Lynn smiled at him. She grabbed a napkin and pulled a pen from her purse. “Let me write you directions.”

“Emma? Is that okay with you? If I bring you home?”

She tilted her head toward him. “Yep. Oh, you’ll get to see my new house. I just moved it. It’s all mine.” She rubbed her hand up and down his thigh.

He fought the urge to shift as his cock rose to the attention. “Cool.” Taking the napkin from Lynn, he said his goodbyes and helped Emma to her feet.

They left the bar and made their way to his truck. He opened the door for her and couldn’t contain his laughter as she tried to get in. Her feet kept slipping before she could boost herself in.

“Come here, sweetheart.” He turned her around and, hands on her waist, lifted her into the seat. Making sure all limbs were inside, he closed the door and circled the front of the truck.