by Sable Hunter
Inside of her chest, her heart was beating a rat-a-tat rhythm, her palms were sweating and Emma felt like she might jump out of her skin. Just the thought of spending time with a man like Josh made her dizzy.
“Now, the man you’ve all been waiting for ladies…” Jessie’s voice rang out. “Mr. Joshua Long, cowboy extraordinaire. The date he’s planned is a romantic one, watching the sunset together, then a horseback ride in the moonlight and a picnic on our own Guadalupe River. Doesn’t that sound amazing?”
Before Jessie even called for bids, a multitude of voices rose, shouting numbers at Jessie. “Order, order please.” She banged the little gavel in her hand and looked toward her husband for help. Josh watched all of this, his mood varying between fascination at the array of females all clamoring to be with him and a slight feeling of panic. “Lord have mercy,” he whispered.
Emma was very conscious that he was standing right in front of her about to step up for his turn.
“You’re about to twist that dishrag in two,” Doris quipped under her breath.
“Sorry.” She laid it down.
“Step-up, Joshua Long and let the women get a good look at you.” Jessie directed to the squeals of the crowd.
“Bid, Emma!” Doris elbowed her to Emma’s chagrin.
Josh heard the bar manager addressing Emma. “That’s right, Miss Emma, save me,” he whispered loudly.
“A thousand!” one voice cried out.
“Twelve hundred!” another yelled.
“Fifteen hundred!” came yet another bid from the back.
Jessie was repeating the bids, the numbers piling higher and higher.
“Eighteen hundred!” A woman enthusiastically screamed while standing on a chair. Josh’s eyes widened, amazed at the frenzy.
“Eighteen hundred!” Jessie repeated.
“Nineteen hundred!”
“Two thousand!”
Another voice rang out. “Twenty-two hundred from me and my twin. We want a ménage!”
Josh coughed, choking down a laugh as he caught Isaac’s eye who was watching the process with amusement.
“All right!” Jessie cheered enthusiastically. “Twenty-two hundred? Any more bids? Going once…going twice…”
Emma was on her tiptoes, every nerve straining. She knew Josh had been teasing, but a feeling was rising within her that this was it – this was her chance. Josh Long was the first man that she’d ever felt a connection to, a drawing, like maybe when he looked at her, he saw more than just a blind woman. Yea, it was a lot of money, but for a good cause. People might suspect she was buying a date because she couldn’t get one otherwise. But what the heck, there was one thing she’d learned in her life, if you didn’t go after what you wanted, you didn’t have a chance in hell of getting it.
Do it, Emma, I dare you.
Emma smiled. She didn’t know if that thought had originated in her heart or in her mind – all she knew was that she was going for it.
Doing a quick mental review of her bank account, she took a deep breath and shouted.
“Two thousand five hundred!”
“Sold!” Jessie declared with a quick strike of her gavel. “Miss Emmalyn Zachary just bought herself a man!”
CHAPTER FIVE
After the auction, things were crazy. There was a lot of celebrating and business picked up for a time, the orders coming in fast and furious. But no matter how much she had to do, Emma couldn’t stop smiling. She was so excited she wanted to do a happy dance. Whenever she got the opportunity, she drew still and listened for his voice. If he was there, he wasn’t close enough for her to hear. Emma didn’t think he’d leave without speaking to her about their upcoming date, but he could be tired and he did have to work in the morning.
As soon after last call as possible, Emma cleaned up and organized her station. Hearing Jessie’s voice as she talked to Avery about how much money they’d raised, she removed her apron, folded it and laid it on the counter for the cleaning crew to pick up and put in the laundry. It wouldn’t take but just a few minutes for her go to the trailer and get a check. Taking her white cane, she made her way from the bar area to the hall. Finding Fergus waiting at his post, she grabbed his halter and just carried the cane under her arm.
A few minutes later she and the big lab had returned with a check for twenty-five hundred dollars in her hand.
“Emma?”
Josh’s voice coming from straight ahead caused her to stop. She was excited to run into him, her whole body was tingling. “Hey.”
“Hi yourself. Who’s this?” Emma stood by a big yellow lab who was eyeing him with a wise eye.
Emma felt Fergus wagging his tail against her leg. “This is Fergus. He’s my constant companion.”
“So, this is your guardian. Is he a service animal?”
“He is, and so much more. He’s my friend.”
“Nice. I’ve got your empty lasagna plate here. Can I put it in Avery's car for you? Does she give you a ride?"
Emma had this odd feeling that Josh was stalling. “I live right behind the bar, in a trailer I rent from Isaac and Avery.”
“Great, I’ll walk you out and carry it for you.” Josh started to take her by the arm. “Actually, I was looking for you. We need to talk.”
Talk? That didn’t sound good. “Thank you, Josh. How sweet. I just need to do something first.” She waved the check in the air. “Would you look at this and make sure it’s readable? I use a check writing guide, but I’d hate to mess this up. I heard we raised almost twenty-thousand dollars. I think Isaac donated some too, but it’s all good. Right?”
She held out the check and Josh took it from her hand. “Let me see.” He examined her hand-writing. It was surprisingly neat and thoroughly readable. “Looks fine to me…but…” Feelings of guilt warred with the unexpected delight the thought of spending time with her gave him.
“But?” Emma tilted her head up, staring sightlessly into his face. A tight feeling filled her chest. “What?”
Josh shifted on his feet. His knee was beginning to pain him. He needed to get on the road and get home. But this needed to be handled first. “Emma, you shouldn’t have bid on me at all. I was teasing when I told you to save me. I’m sure you could have put this money to much better use.”
Emma felt all of the joy and excitement she’d been feeling drain out of her as effectively as if someone had pulled a plug. “Oh, I see.” She bowed her head, not wanting him to see her face. “You wish someone else had won the bid.” Why hadn’t she thought of that? “Maybe it’s not too late. Jessie could contact the girl who offered the second highest amount.”
Josh let out a harsh breath. “Not what I meant. At all.”
Emma took a step or two back, tugging Fergus as she went. “Well…we don’t have to do it. We’ll just say we did and call it good.”
Footsteps ahead of her at the entrance to the bar let Emma know they weren’t alone.
“Emma, do you have the money? You’re the last one I need to collect from.”
It was Jessie. “Give it here. Just don’t embarrass me.” She held out her hand to Josh and the check was laid in her palm. “Here, you go, Jessie. You did a great job. You’re a perfect Master of Ceremonies.”
“Thanks! Let me know how your date goes. If you could take a picture or two, I’d love to get it on the blog.”
Neither Josh nor Emma responded to her comment. Josh just watched Emma smile at Jacob’s wife and hold out the money she’d pledged in order to spend a few hours with him.
“I’m glad to help,” Emma murmured.
Jessie didn’t appear to notice how stiff Emma stood or the set of her shoulders. Compared to the other women who’d come to the bar for the auction in their hip finery, she was dressed plainly in a pair of faded blue jeans and a green cotton tee decorated with the shape of the state of Texas declaring that she’d ‘just barely survived the Blue Bell famine of 2015’.
Josh thought she looked sweeter than any ice cream and he
wanted a taste of her so much he ached. Hurting her feelings was the last thing he wanted to do. But with his usual finesse, he’d took his size thirteen Justin boot and stepped right in it.
“Thanks, Em.” Jessie hugged her and went merrily on her way.
Emma turned, snapped her finger and Fergus came to stand at her side. She took the halter and pasted a smile on her face. “I needed a good tax deduction.”
After seeing what she’d done, there was no way in the world he was going to disappoint her. “Emma…I…”
“Let’s don’t do this out here. Let’s go into Avery’s office to talk.” She wanted to make it quick, this was embarrassing enough without prolonging the conversation.
Josh followed her, never having been in this part of the club, he was a bit taken aback to see posters of romance novels all over Avery’s wall, very suggestive covers. Isaac’s wife was a big fan of some author called Sable Hunter. His eyes widened, but he didn’t say anything. Little Emma might not even be aware they were there. “As I was about to say before Jessie walked up. We’re going to do this.”
Emma folded her hands together in front of her, forcing herself to stand perfectly still. Truth be known, she felt compelled to touch him. His body, the heat and his strength, seemed to pull her toward him. “You want to take me out?”
“I have never been known as a man who would disappoint a lady.” Josh insisted, his eyes getting hung up on the way her breasts were showcased in the thin tee. “The only problem is that I’m not sure you’d be able to do what I planned. The sunset and horseback ride is probably out of the question. A movie is no good. Dancing wouldn’t work.”
Emma closed her eyes wishing she could sink into the floor beneath her feet. Hearing him enumerate all of the things he didn’t think she could do just made her feel worse. Before she could give it the thought her remark deserved, it just popped out of her mouth. “Don’t worry about coming up with something you think I could do; I wasn’t interested in the horseback ride or the picnic. I just wanted to have sex with you, that’s all.”
Fuck! Josh froze, leaned closer on his crutches, inhaled her sweet scent and almost went to his knees. Had he heard her right? Since he’d returned to Kerrville, he’d had more propositions from beautiful women than he could count, but none of them had knocked the breath from his lungs. Josh felt his cock grow hard as a piece of steel pipe.
So why didn’t that make him happy?
Every other man in the world would’ve been over the moon at the beautiful redhead’s words. But all that stuck in his head was that she sounded just like all of those other women – she wasn’t interested in spending time with him, she wasn’t interested in him as a person. All she wanted him to do was show her a good time in bed, give her a mind-blowing orgasm.
Well, damn him to hell and back.
“I can do that.” He kept his tone even, not betraying that her words had hurt. Fuck. What the hell was wrong with him? “When’s your next night off?”
“Wait.” Emma cursed her blindness. Not being able to read another person’s face was the worst. “I shouldn’t have said what I did.”
“No matter. I’m glad you told me.” Josh held up his hand. Why, he didn’t know. It wasn’t like she could see it. “Tell me, Emma. When’s your next night off?”
“Wednesday.”
“All right. It’s a date.” Watching her chew on her lower lip made him want to pull her close and do it for her. He made a note to put that on his to-do list for Wednesday. “Day after tomorrow. I’ll be at your place at seven.”
“I’ll be ready.”
She had a date!
* * *
Josh walked quickly away on his crutches, or at least a lot quicker than he’d been able to move that morning. He was still shocked Cady McCoy had been able to relieve enough of his pain so he could function. Right now, he was grateful for his renewed dexterity. He was anxious to get out of Hardbodies and do some thinking. This thing with Emma had his stomach in a knot. And the damn thing about it was that he really didn’t understand why.
It wasn’t that he couldn’t deliver, he could deliver in spades.
As he strode toward the front of the club, he called out his friend’s name. “Isaac!” He knew he was still here; the lights were all on and no one had come through to lock the back door.
“Over here! I’m reprogramming Zeus!” Isaac called out.
Zeus? Once Josh entered the main part of the bar, he saw the mechanical bull and understood what he was talking about. “Trying to make it more difficult for folks to stay on?”
“Nah, just changing up the moves. People love to ride it, but they don’t want the same ride every time. Just like sex positions, something different always adds a little spice. You heading out?”
“Yea.” Josh watched him punching buttons, focused on the task at hand. “Your brother’s got a big day planned for me tomorrow. Noah’s going to introduce me to the computer system.”
Isaac made a face. “Yuck. He’s such a nerd.” Glancing up at Josh, he pinned him with a stare. “What did you think about the auction?”
Josh wasn’t a fool. He knew Isaac was talking about Emma. “I was surprised.”
“Why?” Isaac pressed.
Struggling for the right words, Josh sat down heavily in a chair, tired of standing up on his leg. “I didn’t think Emma would enjoy what I’d planned. I chose things I thought a woman would like and at the same time I wouldn’t be forced to take out a loan. Hell, I spent almost everything I had getting the utilities turned back on and paying off the damn doctor for patching up my leg. But I’m not sure about putting Emma on a horse or taking her for a walk to enjoy a sunset. She can’t do those things.”
Isaac shook his head. “There’s one thing I’ve learned about Emma. She can do almost anything she sets her mind to. You could always take her out for a simple dinner. I’m sure she’d be happy just being with you.”
Josh debated telling him the truth about Emma’s request. After all, this was Isaac. It was true they’d grown apart, but as teenagers they’d been inseparable. When his mother left, it had been Isaac he poured his heart out to. When his father had been killed, it had been Isaac who went with him to the funeral home to make arrangements.
But he couldn’t. No matter the hype about his reputation, Joshua Long was essentially a gentleman.
“Why don’t you use the dungeon?”
Josh looked up so fast, he put a crick in his neck. “What?”
Laughing, Isaac rose and turned off the controls on the mechanical bull. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m not telling you to strap her to a spanking bench. The room is nice, carpeted, air-conditioned. There are speakers in there, so you could hear the band. We could get Kane’s wife to pack you a gourmet picnic basket. In fact, leave that to me. I’ll get Avery to set up the whole thing. You can wine her, dine her, and if things get heated and you get lucky, there’s a big king size bed in the corner. Emma’s never been in the room, you don’t have to tell her she’s surrounded by whips and chains.”
“Are you sure?” Isaac’s suggestion seemed to be the solution to his problem.
“Absolutely. When’s this going down?”
“Emma said she was off the day after tomorrow. I told her I’d call for her at seven.”
He reached into his pocket for the key. “Look, I probably don’t have the right to ask this and it’s not really my place. Emma is a grown woman.” Isaac held out his hand to Josh who accepted the old-fashioned skeleton key. “But Avery and I feel responsible for her. Despite her seeming fearless bravado, Emma is still testing the waters.”
Josh cleared his throat, but he didn’t say anything. The woman seemed to know what she wanted and had no problem going after it.
Isaac leaned forward to make a point. “We first saw Emmalyn at an event at the Governor’s mansion. She was engaging, good at her job and it took us a few minutes being around her to even recognize the fact that she was blind.”
“Even after
you know she’s blind, she does a good job at making you forget.”
“True.” Isaac nodded. “We’d just found out Avery was pregnant and she went up to Emma to ask for a non-alcoholic beverage. They struck up a conversation and Avery was impressed at how well she handled herself, the confidence, the determined way she approaches everything in her life.”
“Yea, I think I’ve seen some of those characteristics lately.”
Isaac snorted. “I’m sure. Anyway, I’d left Avery for a few minutes to meet with Kyle and his Secretary of State, Destry Cartwright. They were both involved in the effort to find Noah’s mother. I’m sure you heard about all of that, we tend to make the news more often that we’d like. This is twice our family could’ve been accused of declaring war on Mexico.”
Josh took off his hat and held it by the brim. “When you talk like this, it just reminds me how big the gap is between me and you. Your family is noble, you hobnob with dignitaries, you dine with the Governor, you launch rescue missions into foreign countries. And what do I do?” He barked out a harsh laugh. “I can’t do anything but ride bulls and juggle eager women. My father was a cheat and all I have to my name is a rundown house and some used up land.”
Isaac frowned. “Don’t sell yourself short, Josh. What your father did is no reflection on you. How you’ve lived your life is your business. You’ve accomplished some pretty incredible things and you’re young. The future is what you make it. As for me and my family, we’re your friends. When I went off the deep end after my parents were killed, you kept me from doing something stupid. I couldn’t talk to my brothers, all I wanted to do was get on that motorcycle and drive as far and as fast as I could. If you hadn’t been there for me, I might have just kept going. There was a time when I didn’t care whether I lived or died and you, Josh Long, convinced me not to give up.”
“You don’t have to thank me for that, Isaac. You were my friend.”
