by Shannyn Leah
She could care less where her key was, but she wished he’d found it last night to save her this humiliation.
“You said some things last night,” he said.
Her humiliation doubled.
“About my son.”
Tripled.
“Some nice. Most not.”
Emma held her hand up, partially battling another round of nausea, but mostly to stop him from saying any more.
“I was drunk.”
“I think you still are.”
Oh gosh. Am I?
“I’m not sure that changes what you said. Or what you meant.”
Emma set the glass down and dropped her head into her hands, trying to gather her mind into a half-decent state. She sat up, and looked straight at him. There were two of him. Darn it.
“I’m in no condition to discuss whatever happened last night. I hope whatever I said doesn’t affect the merger or your opinion of my family.” She knew her reputation was out the door, but if she could save her family’s... “If you could just give me some time, I would be more than happy to sit down and discuss what happened last night, or what I said...” Although she didn’t want to.
Brock leaned forward. “How about you quietly sit there and work on not vomiting on my floor...again...”
Kill me now.
“...and listen to me while I talk?”
His suggestion terrified her, even though he smiled.
“Okay.” Emma leaned back. “I’m just going to sit back here, if that’s alright?”
He motioned with his hand to go ahead and she rested her head on the back of the sofa, focusing her eyes on him, and trying to settle her stomach.
“I would like to start by saying, I don’t care about the merger.”
I do! My family does. Marc does. Oh no, did my behavior affect the merger?
“And, to go ever further, whatever your actions on this boat are, or were, with my son, will not, in any way, affect the merger either.”
Phew. Okay, relax the strain on your head before it explodes.
“I don’t know where your current relationship with my son sits, but I’m not a blind old man. I can see there is something and right now, it appears to be messy.”
Emma opened her mouth, but Brock held up his hand to stop her and then continued.
“I do not want details, nor am I fishing for any. But, I can tell you a little about my son to ease some of the pain you’re experiencing at the hands of his insecurities, which is probably blinding him to the face that he’s fallen in love with you.”
Emma’s mouth fell open at the bluntness of his words, but she remained quiet. Curiosity overwhelmed her, and she hoped she would be was able to absorb all he was about to say.
“I didn’t raise Grayson in an environment which promotes being in a monogamous relationship, giving his heart to only one woman...or to even consider having children. After his mother passed away...” He paused, as sadness washed over his face.
These Cohen men had more grief under their witty shells than Emma had been prepared to handle.
Brock shook his head and continued. “I distanced myself from Grayson. Sent him to boarding school, found a way to momentarily mask the pain of her death with a multitude of other women, and in the process, I didn’t teach my son anything more than how to be a womanizer.”
Brock leaned back on the sofa, raising an ankle to his knee. It was incredible how similar father and son were.
“To give your heart to the love of your life, comes in many forms, but the one that sticks out to me, is the way a person looks at the one who’s accepted your heart.” He locked eyes on Emma. “The way my son looks at you. Grayson has never given that smile to another person. I only hoped he would figure it out on his own, but I see he needs a little push in the right direction if he’s already let you go. I can’t push him. If I could, Lord knows, I would tell him straight up that he’s in love with you.”
Emma’s breath caught in her lungs and she said nothing. What could she say? Logical said it wasn’t possible to love a man who didn’t want to be loved, especially not in two weeks. Impossible. But, her heart said differently. Her heart screamed for the love she had tried to conceal, but Grayson had made his intentions clear.
“Grayson and I have a dark past that we haven’t outcome and, if I tell him this, it won’t go over well. I know love when I see it. You two have it, but my son doesn’t understand what that means. That’s why I’m telling you. He will be too scared to move forward and that’s my fault.”
Brock paused to rub his hands on his thighs.
“I’ve seen the way my son acts with you. Not just now, but as long as I can remember. He might not have given you the smile, but you had his attention. That’s why I invited you, insisted on you, being here on this cruise. I hoped, for Grayson’s sake, you two would connect on a level stronger than friends. I see you both have, everyone can see you both have, but now Grayson has gone into hiding. I feel I need to interject, before you both step off this boat and away from each other forever.”
Emma was speechless.
“It’s complicated,” she managed.
“Only if you two make it complicated. Grayson makes it complicated most of all and I accept the blame. Understand, Emma, he finds excuses because of our past. Help him push through the mess I have created and to find the feelings he doesn’t understand are love. Love for you.”
Tears slipped down her cheeks and she hastily swiped them away. She wished she’d ended up in her own cabin.
“How are you so certain?”
“Darlin’, it doesn’t matter how certain I am. How certain are you?”
Emma was certain that she’d never been more certain of anything in her life: she loved Grayson Cohen. But she didn’t have any fight left in her. Grayson had drained it out of her that day in the elevator.
Emma heard Brock’s company making her way down the stairs and when she looked up, she almost passed out at the sight.
“Good morning, Emma,” Linda said.
Chapter Twenty-Four
“HEY, WHERE WERE you last night?” Izzy asked Emma, as they sat at a small table in the ice cream shop.
“Sleeping,” Emma answered, not being entirely truthful. She wasn’t in the mood to explain her entire conversation with Brock, or the fact she’d spent the night in his cabin or about Linda being there. It wasn’t her business, but damned if the two of them hadn’t asked her to keep their relationship a secret from Grayson.
Izzy eyed Emma up strangely, giving her no more time to ponder about Brock and Linda having a secret affair.
“Where were you all night?” Emma asked her, avoiding the interrogation.
Izzy waved her hand. “Oh, you know. This and that. The same old, nothing out of the ordinary.”
“You’re acting out of the ordinary. Is there something you want to tell me?” Emma gasped. “Oh, Izzy, did you sleep with Micah?”
Izzy frowned. “Not last night.”
“Izzy, no!”
“Don’t scold me, Miss Sleeping with Grayson. Besides, I learned the hard way that Micah is a big, giant, jerk. Naughty bingo terms: douche-bag, scoundrel, money hungry.”
Emma looked down and jabbed her spoon into her ice cream. “That’s different.”
“How?”
“One day, when you grow up, I will explain the difference. For today, I would like to wallow in my own self pity about Grayson’s real feelings for me and the ones I created in my head.” Emma was a mess inside, but she’d managed to catch some sleep, drown her sorrows in the shower, and now she looked, and felt, half decent.
Izzy was quiet, not jumping in like she normally did, to ask Emma what she meant by her proclamation. She’d expected it, maybe even had said it so Izzy would pry and she could tell her that she’d fallen for Grayson. Normally, she would search Melissa out first, but besides being off in her own little world this whole trip, Melissa would just throw the “head-stupid” card at her. And honestly, Emma wasn�
�t ready for it yet. She wasn’t ready to face how stupid she’d been.
“Grayson’s not that bad,” Izzy said. “I mean at a first glance, he’s sort of a pig, like manwhorish...”
Emma’s eyes dropped shut. Everyone saw it and everyone knew it and yet, she hadn’t believed it. Maybe it was still that foolish girl from university hoping there was more to him, when clearly there was not.
Grayson had flatly told her who he was, but Brock said differently. She agreed with Brock, but neither of them were Grayson, so how accurate were their opinions? Izzy’s, too, but she didn’t know Grayson either. No one knew Grayson like Grayson knew himself. She groaned and put her hand to her head. Her headache could not handle this debate right now.
“But the way he’s been with you on this cruise is someone completely different,” Izzy continued. “I mean...I think he likes you.”
“Friends,” Emma said, filling her mouth with a scoop of ice cream.
“You’ve changed, too. The both of you. I have never seen you this happy with a man before.”
“Friends,” Emma repeated, shoving another scoop of ice cream into her mouth.
“Friends with benefits, I know,” Izzy said. “I understand the term, but it’s different between you two and I know you know that and I know he knows that and I think you should go talk to him.”
Emma looked up at Izzy and was about to ask her what was going on, as soon as she finished her mouthful of ice cream, when Brock’s voice interrupted. “What are my two pretty ladies doing today?” he asked.
Emma watched a flicker of something she couldn’t describe cross Izzy’s face, before she beamed her regular, overly exaggerated, Izzy smile.
“I’m going to sun bathe all day,” Izzy said, standing and grabbing Emma’s arm. “Emma is coming, too. Come on.”
Emma choked with the ice cream spoon in her mouth as Izzy yanked her up out of the chair.
“Sorry Brock, gotta run,” Izzy said, excusing them.
Brock watched the whole ordeal with a confused look. Emma could only force a smile as Izzy dragged her away.
What on earth?
Then realization dawned and Emma’s eyes flew open. She halted and drew Izzy off into a small corner space outside the piazza.
Izzy turned to glare at her.
Emma swallowed the cold strawberry flavor, ignoring signs of a brain freeze, and asked, “Did you sleep with Brock?”
Izzy looked appalled. Appalled Emma had the nerve to ask...or appalled because she’d been busted? What did that mean for Linda and Brock?
“No,” Izzy spat. “Did you?”
“What? No. Don’t try to redirect this to me.”
Izzy’s eyebrows hiked up her forehead and her big brown eyes questioned Emma. Questioned her about what? What was with her?
“That was rude,” Emma continued. “If you slept with the silver fox you’ve been non-stop talking about, at least have the nerve to own it, and not run away like a little coward.”
Another glare from Izzy. “I would own it. Truthfully, though, I would never go after a man who seduces younger women as a hobby. I would never allow myself to be tricked into his bed with false promises, or whatever bull he dishes out.”
“Then what was that all about?” Emma pointed back in the direction of the ice cream shop.
“You tell me.”
“Izzy.” Emma hadn’t even wanted to climb out of bed this morning, but she’d done it, and right now, she wasn’t in the mood for a confusing Izzy episode.
“Emma,” Izzy mocked.
Emma threw her plastic spoon into the closest garbage can and slapped her hands together. “I’m not doing this. I get it, you have a hard time communicating without being rude, obnoxious, mean or nasty, but the rest of the world uses words to talk. You know those little pieces that form sentences and describe to people the way you feel?”
Was she talking about Izzy or Grayson?
Izzy folded her arms. “I don’t really appreciate your tone,” she said.
“I don’t really appreciate always having to dig around into the meaning behind your sentences.” Emma groaned. “You know what, I’m not in the mood for this. If you want to hide whatever you’ve done, fine, hide it.”
“I didn’t do anything,” Izzy said. Emma was sure she was lying.
“Of course not, because you never do.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
Emma shrugged. “I don’t know. Why don’t you go ask your dad. Or should I say Uncle Carl? Or wait, no, you’ve reduced it to Carl. Just Carl. Why don’t we ask Carl what that means? Oh wait, you don’t talk to him either.”
Emma knew she had gone way too far, but she was tired of people not communicating with her. Talking isn’t that hard people, come on.
“Screw you Emma. Perfect little Emma doesn’t make any mistakes. So sweet and innocent.”
“If the shoe fits.”
“Stick that shoe up your ass.” Izzy turned and stalked away.
“There’s Izzy Caliendo, always walking away,” Emma called after her and was rewarded with a single finger salute.
Emma stormed off in the opposite direction, not paying attention to where it led. Obviously, Izzy had gone and done something that Emma was going to have to clean up.
Great, just great!
What else could go wrong today?
Her answer came quickly in the form of the man she’d been avoiding: Grayson.
He stood outside her cabin door, leaning against it, watching her step off the elevator. His dark eyes followed her every step until she stopped in front of him. He covered the access into her cabin.
Obviously, he wanted to talk.
But she didn’t want to talk.
Friends with benefits, she understood the meaning, too, but she wasn’t ready to jump back onto the friend’s saddle, or the benefits. He could shove them both up his ass.
“Grayson, not now,” Emma said.
“What? You don’t have time for me now?” he snarled.
Emma blinked at him.
What was his problem?
“You got what you wanted from me, so now I’m not even worth your time?” he growled.
“What are you talking about?”
“Sex, Emma.”
Emma rubbed her eyes, partially in confusion, and partially from exhaustion. Now she remembered why she’d kept so much to herself in the past. Other people’s drama was exhausting. Grayson wanted only benefits or only friends because he was scared. Izzy had gone and messed something up, like slept with Brock or Micah or...who knew who. Argh!
She looked at him. “Grayson, you let me walk away, remember? Let me go.”
“I went looking for you.”
She waited, thinking he was going to elaborate. He didn’t.
“Here I am.”
“Last night,” he clarified.
“You found me, remember?”
“Then you disappeared, remember?” The accusation in his tone met Izzy’s. Should she avoid drinking the water on this cruise? Was it making people irritable and crazy?
“What is bothering you?” Emma snapped. “The fact that I ended our little fling before the cruise was finished? Is that why you were looking for me last night? For a quick midnight bang? I know I’m easily replaceable.”
“You think that’s what this is about?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t exactly get the Grayson instruction manual and, trust me. with your ups and downs, holy hell, I wish I had.”
“Don’t you turn this into you being just another one of my women, when you know you’re not.”
“Do I? Last I checked you were treating me exactly the same as them. Just another elevator bang.”
“I have never treated another woman the way I’ve treated you in all my life. Not one.”
“Do you want an award for being a thoughtful ladies man?”
“I want you to stop lying to me.”
“Me? Lying? I’m the only one of us two being completel
y honest. You’re the fool who is lying to himself. Pretending you don’t care about me. Pretending you only want friends with benefits. You talk about people not being honest with you, well, how about you try being honest with people. The returned favor is incredible and it’s something you have to earn.”
“Coming from the woman who screwed my father.”
Emma’s mouth fell open.
Did she hear him right? No, she couldn’t have.
“Excuse me?”
“Don’t deny it. Lying doesn’t become you.”
Emma shook her head. This man had trust issues, and his accusation certainly wasn’t worth her time or defense.
“I saw you go into his cabin last night,” Grayson snarled.
Emma walked away from him and back toward the elevator. Her body boiled with anger. Who would do such a horrible thing? Have sex with two men from the same family, in less than a couple days apart? It was clear how highly Grayson viewed her. He knew nothing about her.
“You have nothing to say for yourself?” Grayson stood behind her and Emma spun on her heel to face him. This man was getting absolutely no explanation from her.
“What makes you angrier, Grayson? The fact I ended our fling or that I chose your father to start the next?” It was bad, she knew it, but screw him for making her feel as cheap as the seaweed scum she’d called him.
Red rose up his throat and across his face. “So, you did sleep with him?”
“When did you ever doubt it?”
Deciding the only escape was her cabin, she stormed past Grayson. Her feet couldn’t carry her back to the hallway of her cabin fast enough.
Her cabin...the one beside Grayson’s.
Her insides were ready to explode. She couldn’t decide if she was angrier at him for believing she would go behind his back and sleep with his dad, or hurt that he considered her low enough to do so. No, she knew. It was both.
HER ANGER BREWED AT Grayson’s allegation as she lie in the sun on her balcony for the next few hours.
When she heard Izzy moving around on her balcony, talking with Abby, she recalled her sister’s more than unusual, attitude that morning with Brock. It occurred to her that Grayson might not have been the only one who saw her last night.
