One More Taste (One and Only Texas #2)(78)

It wasn’t that late, only ten o’clock, but for a rancher like Decker who woke before the crows to tend to the horses, the hour was well past his bedtime. Emily darted past him into the house. “Sorry. I need to talk to Carina.”

She found Carina sitting on the sofa watching TV, her belly protruding between her bent knees as though she were wearing a watermelon under her pajamas. “What’s wrong?”

What a question. What wasn’t wrong? There was only one place to start the story. “I slept with Knox. A lot.”

Carina gasped, then made a cumbersome attempt to leap to her feet. Decker snatched his cowboy hat from a peg near the door. “Okay, that’s my cue to scram. I’m gonna go check on the horses.”

Emily had never seen a man disappear so fast.

Carina waited for the door to close behind Decker, then smacked the sofa cushions in time with her words. “You what? You what?”

Emily let the humiliation wash over her. She knew this was the worst Carina had ever seen her, but their love was unconditional, so she had nothing to hide from her friend. “I slept with Knox,” she repeated, more slowly this time.

“By a lot, do you mean a lot in one night? Or…”

“More than one night. A lot of nights. My place. His place.” Emily cringed and closed her eyes. “His mother’s place.”

“Oh my God, Em. How?”

Restless and agitated, Emily started to pace absentmindedly in front of the sofa. “What do you mean how? You’re the one who’s pregnant. I think you’re plenty aware of how it’s done.”

“You know what I mean! I need details. You … and Knox … you two—” Carina’s words were cut off by a grunt of pain. “Ow. Damn it.”

“What happened? The little guy’s kicking harder?”

“Well, yeah. But this was just another Braxton-Hicks contraction. Don’t mind me. I need details, now! I can’t even picture you and Knox as a couple. He’s so … so … reserved. And you’re … you.”

“We’re not a couple. The thing between us isn’t even physical,” she said, almost to herself. It was a nutso idea. Of course, their attraction was physical. They couldn’t keep their hands off each other. “I mean, it is. He’s so hot, I can’t even deal … I mean, that body … and the sex is … wow … but it’s not…” But when Emily thought about everything she loved about Knox, the aspects of him that had captured her heart, his eight-pack abs didn’t even make the list. It wasn’t his body. It wasn’t infatuation or lust. Her feelings ran so much deeper than that.

Carina groaned. “You’re driving me crazy. Spit it out already.”

She whirled to face Carina, fully aware that her horror was showing on her face. “I think I’m in love with him. I think that’s what this is. Love.” She nearly choked on the word, it was so foreign a concept. She grabbed fistfuls of her hair. “This is horrible. It feels terrible. I can’t sleep and food doesn’t taste good at all and I feel like my life’s spinning out of control and all I can think about is him.”

Carina was back on her feet. “You’re in love? You’ve only known him for a month.”

“I’ve practically been living in his house for that month. I’ve been studying him for a month. I climbed inside his mind and his soul, and then I let my guard down and I let him climb inside me.”

Carina scrunched her face up. “That doesn’t sound all that romantic.”

“Huh? No, not like that. I mean, yeah, but—” A frustrated growl. “Double entendres are the bane of my existence! You know how I get when I want to fix someone the perfect meal. I get inside their heads.”

Carina snagged Emily’s hand and tried to drag her down onto the sofa next to her. “That’s what makes you such a great culinary artist.”

“Yeah, well, I got inside Knox’s mind and I learned everything about him. And then he got inside my head, too. And I fell in love.” Holy shit. She was in love. Her throat tightened even more. She gasped, struggling to draw a full breath. “I ruined my career over a man. Over love, of all the goddamn terrible things.” Dizziness made her sway. This time, she allowed Carina to pull her down onto the sofa, where she pressed her hands over her eyes. “What have I done?”

Carina rubbed her back. “Your career’s not ruined. Knox is a professional. He’s not going to let—”

“I quit, Carina. Tonight, in front of all the partners at his firm. I quit the resort. I turned down the restaurant because I can’t live like this anymore. He has too much control over me and my future.” Her throat tightened. “He boxed me in.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow down. You quit your job here?”

“It was the only way.”

“You don’t have to do this, Emily.”

Emily could see shades of Knox in Carina’s expression and tone of voice when she spoke the words that echoed his. How fucked up was that? She’d slept with her best friend’s cousin? Knox was practically family. That was how low she’d sunk. “Yes, I do. I don’t have a choice. He left me with no other options.”

Carina pulled Emily into a hug and released a long, slow exhalation that prompted Emily to do the same. “I’ve got you,” Carina cooed. “Everything’s going to be okay.”