Lost In His Kiss (Love, Emerson Book 4)

by Isabel North

  Jenny, face flushed with annoyance, smoothed down her strawberry-blonde hair.

  Lila took out her phone and started tapping at it.

  “Lila, put that down. We’re not telling anyone else yet. Just family.”

  Lila kept her eyes on her phone. “I’m not sending out a bulletin, I’m making a shopping list. Wet wipes. Plastic bags. Ginger tea.”

  Jenny scowled.

  “Don’t even give me that look,” Lila said without glancing up. She could feel the look. “You were a nightmare when you were pregnant with Kate. A nightmare.”

  “I wasn’t a nightma—”

  “Jenny, you threw up everywhere. This time I am not taking chances. Every single pocket I own will have sick bags and wet wipes in, every single purse. This is my vow to you.” She peered up at Jenny. “Unless you want a repeat of the infamous grocery store incident of Kate’s pregnancy, month four?”

  Jenny shuddered.

  “Didn’t think so.” Lila set her phone down. “You stick to throwing up. I, meanwhile, am throwing you a party. Not for the baby. For the wedding.”

  “We don’t want to make a big deal out of it.”

  “No big deal. The whole thing’s already planned. Family and close friends over for drinks and a barbecue.” She smiled. Couldn’t quite force a grin, but she didn’t think Jenny noticed. “It was your engagement party, but all I have to do is call the printer and change the banner. Cancel the barbecue and get a big-ass cake instead. Elle and I have been working on it since you told us about the engagement. One whole week ago.”

  “You know you are the best friend in the world, don’t you?”

  “I do indeed. You are blessed.”

  Derek sauntered into the bar when Jenny was working her way through the second plate of wings they’d ordered. Lila had switched their drinks to sparkling water, insisting they needed bubbles even if they couldn’t have champagne. Through narrowed eyes, she watched Derek stroll over to their table.

  Lila liked Derek. She loved him for Jenny. She’d helped him pick out the engagement ring. When his business was in trouble, with his landlord about to sell his garage out from under him, Lila leaped into the fray without a second thought. It was even possible that she had bent the code of sisterhood into a pretzel to make sure that Jenny ended up with him, since he was so perfect for her, and Jenny had been in love with him forever.

  All that aside, it seemed that Lila was pissed at him.

  Derek Tate was six foot one—very sensitive about that extra inch—with shaggy blond hair, wicked blue eyes, tattoos, and a warm, caring soul.

  He was great.

  Really, he was. He was…

  Nope. She was still pissed at him.

  “I hope you’re proud of yourself,” Lila said when he came to a stop beside their table.

  Derek immediately pointed at Jenny. “All her idea. Swear.”

  “Uh-huh,” Lila said. “Congratulations, Derek. You treat her right or—”

  “Yep. You’ll turn my testicles into ovaries, tell my mother about my cock piercing, and run over my motorcycle.”

  “So long as we’re clear.”

  “We’re clear. Do I get a hug?”

  Lila jumped up and threw her arms around his hard waist, giving him a big squeeze. “Congratulations on the Tater tot. Good work.”

  Derek released her with a groan. “I told you she’d call him that,” he said to Jenny

  Jenny grinned.

  “You ready to go?” Derek asked.

  “Yep.” Jenny started to dig around in her messenger bag.

  “I know you’re not about to try and pay on your wedding day,” Lila said.

  “Would I be so stupid?” Jenny stopped rummaging and slung her bag over her shoulder. Derek lifted it off and slung it over his. Jenny swiped for it. “I can carry my own bag, Derek.”

  “Of course you can,” he said. “But as you’re occupied carrying my child right now, I don’t mind doing the heavy lifting.”

  Lila was about to ask if Derek planned on hovering around Jenny while she was lifting things much heavier than a small messenger bag, which she did on a daily basis being a gardener, a mother, and, you know, a woman. Instead, she said, “You guys need me to take Kate tonight?” Having a six-year-old in the house would put the brakes on any wild celebrating, that was for sure.

  Jenny’s cheeks pinkened. She was still yanking on the strap of her messenger bag, trying to get it off Derek. He fended her away easily. “Thanks, but no. Derek, goddammit. Give me my bag.”

  “You are taking this whole low-key theme to extremes.” Lila watched them tussle. Derek sighed, and gave in.

  “We’ll save the screaming for the honeymoon,” Jenny told her, triumphantly hanging the bag over her shoulder.

  “Ooh,” Lila said. “When’s that?”

  Jenny wrinkled her nose and looked at Derek, then back at Lila. “Eh, we’ll plan something when we have the time.

  Behind her, Derek mouthed, I’m taking her right now.

  “So…Kate’s with Elle?” Lila raised her eyebrows. The question was for Jenny. The eyebrows were for Derek. He took out his phone and started texting.

  “Yep. We’re picking her up on the way home,” Jenny said.

  Lila’s phone pinged. She glanced at Derek, then at her phone. She read the message he’d sent. Seattle tonight. Napa tomorrow.

  “You’re not on the Triumph, are you?” Lila said with a frown.

  “How would we fit Kate on the bike? Also, children and motorcycles do not mix. Derek’s driving, of course.”

  Derek smiled at Lila, his blue eyes warm.

  Lila leaped up again. She hugged Jenny. “I’m so happy for you. Both of you. Now stop wasting time, and get your asses on the road.”

  * * * *

  The bar grew busier after Jenny and Derek left. Lila gave up the booth, not wanting to hog it all on her own, and sat at the bar.

  “Hi.”

  Lila stared broodingly into her glass. The bubbles had popped. It wasn’t sparkling water anymore. It was plain old flat water. She took a sip. Tepid flat water, since the ice had melted.

  “Hey,” a voice said with a thread of amusement.

  Tepid water that tasted kind of gross, like weak, bitter lemon. She was drinking flat, warm, bitter water. Lila pushed the glass away.

  “Yo.” Knuckles rapped the bar in front of her and Lila glanced up, startled.

  Kurt smiled down at her.

  Lila stared back at him.

  “You okay?” he said when she didn’t return the smile.

  Lila shook her head. “Me? Pshaw. I’m fine. Yes. What? You kidding? Yup.”

  “Well, that’s convincing.” Someone called from the other end of the bar. Before moving off, Kurt said to Lila, “I’ll be right back.”

  “Take your time.”

  Kurt Evans was the owner of Emerson’s most popular bar-restaurant, which he had either unimaginatively or egomaniacally named “Kurt’s”, and Lila had been sighing after him for going on two years now.

  She was not alone in her admiration. Kurt was powerfully built, had a face symmetrical enough to make you look twice, and an air of all-round competence that Lila found appealing on many levels.

  Lila believed in going for what you wanted and had made her interest clear. Kurt had always turned her down. Sliding her empty glass back and forth in the film of condensation that had formed under it, Lila wondered why.

  They flirted all the time. It had become a habit. More than that, it had become their thing. That thing they did. Lila teased him. Kurt took it, served it right back. Despite the flash of heat he showed her every now and then, he never took it any further than flirtation.

  Then again, Lila realized, she hadn’t taken it further, either.

  She’d never made it clear that her teasing was for real.

  Was it?

  She propped her head in her hand and watched Kurt serve the woman who had called him over. The woman laid a hand on his forearm as
he set a wineglass in front of her.

  Lila narrowed her eyes.

  Kurt gave the woman a killer grin, said something that made her laugh, and came back to Lila.

  “What’s got you looking like someone stole your favorite toy?” he said, leaning into his hands, angling his head down to look at her.

  “Maybe because someone has?”

  He raised a brow.

  “Never mind,” she told him.

  “Get you another drink?”

  Lila considered it, then pushed her empty glass toward him. “Another sparkling water, please.”

  Kurt was silent a moment. “You’re drinking…sparkling water?”

  “It isn’t my usual straight shot of moonshine, I grant you, but I’m in the mood.”

  Kurt opened his mouth to say something, then closed it.

  “People can be in the mood for sparkling water,” Lila said.

  “Not in my many, many years of experience as a bartender. It’s less a choice drink and more a no-choice drink. As in, non-alcoholic and no sugar or caffeine. No one ever wants it.”

  “I want bubbles.”

  “Champagne has bubbles. Prosecco. White wine spritzer. Mimosa. I can keep going with about fifty cocktails off the top of my head, but I think you get my point.”

  “I’m driving.”

  “Sparkling water coming right up.” Kurt flashed her a grin, then his eyes cut to the side and he lifted his chin at the bartender who came out the back in a hurry.

  “Sorry I’m late, boss,” Ruth huffed.

  “No problem. You know the rules. I’ll be docking your pay.”

  Ruth muscled him out of her way. “Try it. Hey, Lila.”

  “Hi, Ruth.”

  “What are you drinking?”

  “Sparkling water.”

  Ruth shooed Kurt away. “I’ve got this. Get back to your important business stuff, or whatever it is you do in your lair.”

  “Netflix,” Lila suggested.

  “You think?” Ruth said. “I always assumed online poker.”

  “Accounts,” Kurt told them. “See you around, Lila. Go easy on the water. Ruth, she tries to order another, you cut her off. Two’s the limit. Hear?”

  Lila rolled her eyes at Kurt as he left. She watched him pause at the other end of the bar and speak to someone before leaving through the door marked STAFF ONLY.

  Kurt was hot enough to give any woman flutters when he smiled. He owned his own business. He was great to spend time with.

  Why hadn’t Lila been serious with her flirting, again?

  She should get serious.

  Shouldn’t she?

  Yes, she should.

  “One sparkling water, straight up.” Ruth set her drink in front of Lila.

  “Thanks.” Lila grabbed her water, chugged it, and slammed it back down. She hopped off the stool and straightened her shoulders.

  “Uh-oh,” Ruth said. “Looks like someone means business.”

  “Yep. Bye, Ruth.”

  She was going to ask Kurt out.

  Lila smoothed creases from her skirt with hands that were damp purely from the condensation on the glass and not even remotely because she was nervous because she was Lila Baxter, damn it, and she did not get nervous asking guys out.

  Not even a little.

  She walked the length of the bar, eyes fixed on the STAFF ONLY door as if it would disappear if she looked away for a second.

  A game was playing on the television at this end, opposite the booths. The crowd was thicker and louder. Lila ignored the occasional bump and apology, until she was pinballed in a cluster of goal-celebrating dudes who hadn’t even noticed her trying to ease past. One guy leaped off his stool and cannoned right into her, sending her flying.

  Great freaking start, Lila had time to think, waiting for her face to kiss the floor. An arm shot out and someone caught her around the waist, taking her clean off her feet. She was lifted back to standing and set gently down, and the arm dropped away.

  “Woah.” Lila turned to the man who’d saved her from being trampled by a group of idiots and/or flashing her underwear at a group of idiots as she scrambled off the floor. “Nice catch.”

  The man nodded. Lila had nothing more than a brief impression of wide dark eyes, either brown or green, before he returned to his drink.

  Okay, not friendly. His attitude didn’t dent her gratitude one bit. She reached up—damn, he was tall—to lay a hand on his big shoulder, and gave it a squeeze. “Thanks,” she said, and took advantage of a gap opening in the crowd to dart through.

  Feeling the man’s attention on her, Lila glanced back as she opened the door. His face was shadowed by the brim of his cap, but she knew he was looking at her. Lila blew him a jaunty kiss, and slipped away from the noise and the crowds.

  The door closed with a thump. All sound from the bar cut out.

  Lila straightened her blouse, fluffed her hair, and strode to Kurt’s office.

  She gave the door a brisk knock, then panicked.

  Bad idea.

  Run.

  She was turning on her heel when Kurt yelled from inside, “Yeah?”

  You’re committed now. Just do it.

  Lila turned the handle and stepped in.

  Kurt sat behind an enormous desk, frowning at a laptop. He held up a finger and clicked the mouse a few times before he looked up. He blinked with surprise. “Lila.” He snatched the reading glasses off his nose, opened a drawer, dropped them in, and slammed it. It bounced open. He slammed it again. This time it stayed shut.

  Shame. He looked hot in glasses. “I have to know,” Lila said, tilting her head at the laptop. “Netflix or poker?”

  Kurt stood and came around the desk. He twisted the laptop to face her for a moment, showing a complicated spreadsheet. “Still accounts. My favorite.” Leaning against the desk, he folded his brawny arms over his chest. “Did you and Ruth have a bet?”

  Lila could still back out of this. And she was considering it. She wasn’t a body language expert, but she wasn’t completely stupid, either. As well as his arms, Kurt had crossed his legs.

  It was not an encouraging stance.

  She could agree with him that she came to settle a bet between her and Ruth, get Ruth to go along with it…but she was here now. She’d see it through.

  “Listen up, Kurt,” she said. “I have a proposition for you.”

  He watched her, cautious.

  Yeah, he was going to say no, wasn’t he?

  Lila persevered. “I like you. You like me. You’re fun, we get on, and in the interests of full disclosure, your tattoos are awesome.” He didn’t crack a smile. “What do you say? Want to go to dinner sometime?”

  Kurt dropped his gaze to the floor for a moment, and blew out a breath. “Lila.”

  She arranged her face in a hey, no big deal, just asking kind of expression.

  He looked up. “I don’t think you and I are a good idea.”

  Lila cocked a hip. “Good idea or bad idea, that’s irrelevant. Fun idea? That’s what counts.”

  “I can’t give you what you’re looking for.”

  Lila narrowed her eyes a fraction. “Dinner. Dinner is what I am proposing here.”

  Kurt shifted, uncrossing his arms and hooking his thumbs in his front pockets. “We both know you were proposing more.”

  “Coffee after dinner.” Lila made finger guns. What the hell am I doing?

  “If it was just that, I’d say yes. In a heartbeat. Believe me.”

  Lila blinked. “Then say yes, because it is just that.”

  “It’s not.”

  “It is. I am asking you out for dinner and coffee.” Stop making finger guns. “Very straightforward. We get on. We’re attracted to each other. We could have fun.”

  Kurt’s voice was gentle when he said, “You didn’t follow me back here because you’re looking for fun, Lila.”

  Did he have to say it like that? Followed him? She didn’t follow him. She came back here because it’s w
here he was. There was no following. That sounded desperate.

  “You want more,” Kurt said.

  “I do, huh?”

  Kurt nodded.

  Wow. “All right. I’ll bite. Enlighten me, genius who can see into my brain. What more do I want?”

  “You turned thirty. Your best friend is engaged and living with her fiancé, has a kid, a family. It’s perfectly natural for you to be looking for the same thing.”

  Wow. Lila pointed at Kurt. “I’m looking at you for that, am I?” She’d joked about having Kurt’s babies with Jenny before, key words here being joked, and with Jenny. For Kurt to assume she’d locked her desperate spinster sights on him put her hackles aaaall the way up.

  He shrugged.

  “Weird. I thought I came in here to ask a friend out for dinner and maybe, if it ended up that way, coffee. I had no idea I was on a husband hunt. Or searching for the man to sire my children. Phew. Thanks, Kurt. Without your insight, I could have ended up in a whole load of trouble, married to and knocked up by a man I’d only wanted to share a meal with. Not the rest of my life. Thank god one of us is smart enough to know what I’m really thinking. I’m surprised it’s not me, what with us discussing, you know, my intentions and motivations, but I forgot. I’m in the presence of a penis. My feeble estrogen-based reasoning skills are vastly eclipsed.”

  Kurt had the stones to laugh, the asshole. “Honey—”

  “I have to admit, Kurt, you disappoint me. I thought you were a good guy.”

  He stopped laughing. “Because I turned you down, I’m not a good guy? That’s not fair.”

  “That’s not why I’m re-evaluating my assessment of your personality. If you don’t find me attractive, I at least thought you knew me well enough to be straight with me. You could have said, ‘Thanks, Lila, but I don’t feel the chemistry. Let’s continue our harmless flirtation, okay? Awesome. See you, buddy.’”

  “Right. It’s that simple.”

  Lila stepped toward him. “It is that simple. What, you think I haven’t heard no before?”

  “Not really.”

  Lila hesitated. That was…kind of flattering? Kurt shifted and his focus dropped to her lips. “What the hell are you doing?” she demanded, reaching out and lifting his chin with the flat of her hand, directing his eyes back up.

  “What?” He curled warm fingers around her wrist.