The Crush (50)

I stared her down.

She stared right back.

I cracked first. My dad might have taught me how to throw a football, but I learned how to stare down a linebacker without flinching from Paige McKinney Ward—and she damn well knew it.

“We can talk about it later,” she said. “We have all week.”





Adaline



Wine-drunk me was very free with her feelings. If only that came with a clean slate the next day. Unfortunately, I also had a great memory for every single thing that I said.

I didn’t deserve how good I felt the next morning, and by the time Kendall picked me up on her way to the office, I was in the middle of the most epic negative self-talk I’d had in a while.

Idiot.

Idiot.

Idiot.

A selfish idiot at that.

For four months, I’d managed to keep a tight lid on my impulse to word vomit all my butterfly, goose-bumpy feelings to Emmett.

Four months.

Because he was so very skilled at catching me off guard, all it took was one night, and I’d blown all that discipline to fucking smithereens.

He was just there. With the eyes, so warm and happy to see me. And the smile, that crooked little curve of his lips that he probably didn’t mean to show in front of his family.

Four months, and the cycle had begun anew.

He still wanted me.

He’d thought about me just as much as I’d thought about him.

Throughout our morning team meeting, the four of us around the table in the center of the office, I managed to keep thoughts of him at bay. We discussed all upcoming events, updated each other on the progress for each, and covered decorating concepts for what was a bit further down the pipeline.

“Monica, did you ever circle back around with the photographer from Faith Pierson-Walker’s baby shower? We’re gonna need her again for Lydia’s.”

Monica nodded. “She’s booked and ready to go. Lydia signed off on the expense sheet yesterday.”

“Good.” I eyed everyone around the table. “That’s a big one. I know I don’t need to remind you of that.”

They all laughed because I reminded them every single time it came up in our meetings.

“It’s your brother’s wife, we know.” Kendall patted my hand. “It’ll be amazing, don’t worry.”

I blew out a breath. Yes, that too. Events for my own family were always more stressful, but there was also the fact that Lydia’s mom owned the Washington Wolves, so every single person there would probably be a bajillionaire.

Word of mouth had been the engine for my company since day one.

But every single woman I’d hired knew what she was doing. They were the reason I was able to drive home just about every other weekend.

The meeting dispersed, all of them gathering their things, and heading off in a dozen directions for the day. I was the only one left at the office by the time it hit nine thirty. My stomach growled, and I frowned into my empty coffee cup.

There’d been no time for breakfast because of how early Kendall picked me up, and with the whole team in the office, I’d hardly been able to stop and think about what Emmett had said the night before.

You know, when I practically begged him for validation that he was, in fact, going to reach out to me while he was in town.

My head dropped to my desk with an embarrassed groan.

I would’ve mounted him against the door if we’d stood there any longer. But even more than that, I wanted to bury myself in his arms, feel the heat of his chest, the steady pounding of his heart against my cheek. One night of that wasn’t enough, no matter how much I’d convinced myself it was. But I didn’t see a way around it.

Not now.

My phone dinged, and with a sigh, I lifted my head to check the screen.

Emmett: I don’t want to form a negative pattern, so this is your warning that I have your car, a dozen donuts, a really big coffee, and I’m five minutes away from your office.

I stood from my chair so fast that it fell backward. “Five minutes?” I hissed.

There was no wasting time to bemoan the fact that he was determined to throw me off. Snatching my purse off the floor by my desk, I hustled to the bathroom in the hallway outside of our office suite. We rented one corner of a small pod of offices outside of downtown. It was a small, squat brick building with nice big windows and plenty of parking, and of course he’d know where it is because his mother was the one who gave me the check in order to pay for the damn thing.

I ran a brush through my hair and pinched my cheeks. There were dark circles under my eyes because of how long I lay in bed thinking about him, but at least I looked … not horrible.

The red summer dress I’d thrown on was one of my favorites. It was on the short side, fluttering lightly around my upper thighs, and covered in small white polka dots. And because it was the arbitrary line for all the things I chose to wear—it could be paired with sneakers and still look just as good.

Today’s pair was a pristine white. He always seemed to notice, and I liked that too.

As I stared at my reflection, I couldn’t help but notice the way my eyes were sparkling with excitement. It only made things more complicated that he could elicit this sort of reaction on such short notice.

My phone dinged again, and this time, it didn’t give eye-sparkling excitement or a whirl of anticipation in my belly. I read the message as I walked back into the office.