Collide (Collide #1)(72)

Again, Emily said nothing.

"Come on," he breathed. "We'll do it another day."

"I know; it's just that I took off from work, and I was really looking forward to - "

"Emily, stop trying to make me feel bad," he let out, his tone clearly annoyed. "This is important to me. I'll be at your place by six." With that, the line went dead.

After the shock of him abruptly hanging up on her wore off, Emily rose to her feet and reluctantly started packing up what was supposed to be their little romantic getaway. As she tucked the sheet into her backpack, she straightened at the sound of her name being called out from a distance. Before she even turned to see the face, a familiar tingle traveled up her spine. She knew who it was. When she finally spun around, Gavin was jogging across the park, smiling, with his niece and nephew at his side. The backpack slipped through her fingertips as she took in his casual attire - a white V-neck T-shirt, cream-colored cargo shorts, and a blue New York Yankees cap. Emily tried to gather her racing thoughts as he approached.

It wasn't just that his presence pulsed through her. It wasn't that his masculine scent lingered on her senses, burning in her mind and plaguing her every dream. It wasn't even that damn kiss. It was his unwavering charm, bold confidence, insane sexiness, and the undeniable male dominance he exuded. Every bit of it seeped from his pores. All of those things - a truly lethal cocktail - scared and fascinated her at the same time. It was as if a twisted paradox occurred whenever she was around him. As much as she seriously felt the need to flee from him at that very moment, she also felt irreparably drawn to him. Suddenly, she became aware of the heightened charge in the air. A tense kind of feeling seemed to press in on her lungs, making her feel breathless. To top it all off with a heavy dose of whipped cream, seeing him now flooded her psyche with their last encounter two weeks ago.

Breathe, Emily...

"Emm-mi-me!" Theresa squealed, running toward her.

Kneeling down to hug her, Emily looked up to Gavin. "What are you guys doing here?" she asked as nonchalantly as humanly possible, considering the circumstances.

Gavin hunched over and propped his hands on his thighs, trying to catch a decent breath. He then stood straight up and smiled. "I'm babysitting for a while and decided to take these two squirts here to play some soccer."

Timothy wrapped his arms around Emily's leg. "Uncle Gaffin took us to feed the duckies, too."

Gavin swished his hand through Timothy's hair. "Yep, we had a certified feeding fest with Donald and Daisy."

"Very cool," Emily replied with a smile. "A business mogul and a nanny all in one."

"Add it to my resume," he laughed.

"I can't believe you spotted me here," Emily said.

"Well, I actually didn't see you; these two did."

"Uncle Gaffin told us to say we saw you first, Emm-mi-me," Theresa confessed, curling her finger through Emily's hair. "But he did saw you first and said to come wif him to say hi to you."

Drawing up a brow, Emily watched Gavin's face turn a light shade of crimson. "Using children to tell a fib, huh?"

He shook his head and smiled. "Damn, you caught me. Add that to my resume as well." Emily laughed at his response. "What are you doing here?"

"Dillon was supposed to meet me, but he got called into New Jersey." She lifted her backpack from the ground. "I was actually getting ready to go home."

Theresa pouted her lips. "Can you stay and play soccer wif us, Emm-mi-me?"