I wanted to punch the asshole. And not because he was making my life a living hell, but because he had held Emmerson. Kissed her. Made love to her. I hated the motherfucker, and if he didn’t get out of my face within the next few seconds, I was going to let my fist fly.
Emmerson plastered on a smile. “Thank you, Jason. Same to you and Lillian. I hope you enjoyed the evening.”
Jason looked at her, and I swore I saw longing in his eyes. Or was that regret?
“It didn’t turn out exactly how I thought it would, but it wasn’t a total loss,” Jason said.
Both Emmerson and Lillian looked at him with confused expressions. But when Jason turned to face me and reached for my hand, I saw it in the asshole’s eyes. They said I had won, and he’d lost.
Had he come here tonight in some strange attempt to get Emmerson back? The thought made me feel sick.
“Emmerson, if you don’t mind, can I speak with you privately about something?” Jason asked as he glanced back to her.
My heart started to beat faster, and I almost told him to go fuck himself.
Emmerson’s eyes darted from me and then back to Jason. “Um, of course.”
As the two of them walked a few feet away, Lillian sighed and whispered, “He’s still in love with her, you know.”
I looked down at her. “What was that?”
She tilted her head and watched Emmerson and Jason as they stopped far enough away that we couldn’t hear them speaking.
“He still loves her. His parents had nothing to do with him being here tonight. He wanted to see her.” She lifted her head and looked at me. “A woman knows when a man hasn’t given her his entire heart. And that man right there is very much still in love with your future wife.”
My chest squeezed and I looked back at the two of them. Emmerson frowned, shook her head, and then looked directly at me. I could feel my lungs start to burn as I held my breath. What was he saying to her? Was he telling her how he felt? That he wanted her back?
Taking a step away from Jason, she lifted her chin, gave him a nod, and then turned and walked straight toward me.
Lillian chuckled. “Looks like you know where her heart belongs.”
Before I could reply, Emmerson walked up to me. With a smile so sweet and real, she leaned up and pressed her lips to mine in a short kiss. As she pulled back, our eyes locked and something crackled between us again.
“Are you okay?” I asked, not even caring that Lillian was standing there or that the dickhead was walking up behind Emmerson.
With a nod, she replied, “Yes. I’m more than okay. Ready to leave?”
I glanced over her shoulder at Jason as I wrapped my arm around Emmerson’s waist. He looked like someone had just taken his favorite puppy from him. Focusing back on Emmerson, I replied, “More than ready.”
We walked away, and I couldn’t help but look back over my shoulder. Not at Jason, though—at the woman standing beside him who looked just as defeated as her fiancé.
Emmerson
THE LIMO RIDE to the Fairmont should have only taken five minutes. Instead, it was going on fifteen, and we were still only sitting two blocks away from the country club. Only in Austin, at ten at night, would there be a freaking traffic jam.
Landon hadn’t uttered a word to me since we’d slipped into the limo. Every few minutes, I stole a glance at him as he stared out the window. I knew he was angry, and he had every right to be. I had gotten us into a huge mess, and I had no earthly idea how to get us out of it.
I was engaged. Albeit it was a fake engagement, but I finally got what I wanted. No longer the bridesmaid and all that nonsense.
“I’m sorry I got us into this mess,” I said. “I swear to you, I’ll figure out a way to get out of it before things get too…serious.”
He turned and faced me, and my breath caught in my throat. His blue eyes looked like a storm was brewing in them. “What did he say to you?”
Confused, I asked, “Who?”
He let out a frustrated sigh. “You know who, Emmerson. Jason. What did he want to talk to you about?”
Oh. That.
I twisted my hands in my lap. How in the world do I tell him I’ve dug us deeper into this lie?
He stared at me, and there was something in his eyes that looked like a mix of fear and anger.
I decided the best thing to do was to be honest. “He wanted me back.”
Landon’s mouth fell open. “What?”
“He said that he broke up with me because he didn’t think I wanted to settle down, at least not with him. He said he could walk away from Lillian, that all I had to do was tell him I’d take him back and he’d leave her.”
“What. An. Asshole! His fiancée was standing only a few feet away!”
I nodded. “I thought the same thing.”
“How did that make you feel? What did you say?”
His question took me aback. “How did it make me feel? I didn’t feel anything but sorry for him. I told you, Landon, that I don’t have feelings for him. And what I told him was that I felt sorry for him, but more so for Lillian. And then I said…”
Landon drew in a breath and held it as he waited for me to keep speaking.
“I said I was in love with you and that we were getting married, so he was too late.”
His eyes grew wide.
I shook my head and then buried my face in my hands. “I know, I know! I made things worse, but it was the only thing I knew to say to get him to understand I wasn’t interested in getting back together. I’m so sorry, Landon.”
“You…you really don’t want to get back with him, then?”
I dropped my hands to my lap and gaped at him. “Have you not been listening to a damn thing I’ve said?”
The corner of his mouth twitched with a hidden smile. He nodded. “I heard. You told him we were in love in an attempt to get him to realize it was truly over.”
I sighed. “God, this whole thing spiraled out of control so fast. I still can’t believe it.”
Landon reached for my hand and squeezed it. “Don’t worry, Emme. We’ll get it all settled. I do agree with Hailey, though; I do think it would be good for Serendipity if we played this out a bit longer. Once we get back to Waco, things will calm down. Every now and then you can post a picture of us on your Instagram or do some research trip like Hail said, and then in a few months we’ll release a statement or something that says we’re better friends than lovers. It won’t be hard to find stuff to post. We’re always doing something together. We can post about movie night or we can start doing ice cream Sunday.”
My mouth instantly went dry, and I had the urge to burst into tears. The only thing I’d heard was that we were better friends than lovers. What in the world was happening to me? Why had his words felt like a knife straight to my heart? Why did the idea of breaking up this fake engagement feel like it would rip my heart out?
I gasped and covered my mouth with my free hand.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
I stared straight ahead. The truth of what I had said to Jason rang so loudly in my ears, I wanted to cover them and squeeze my eyes shut.
Glancing over at Landon’s hand in mine, I felt my heart slam against my chest. Slowly, I let my eyes move up until they met his.
Lord above. I was in love with my best friend. I was in love with Landon.
Those words I’d said to Jason hadn’t been a lie to throw him off. They had been the truth. They had spilled from my lips so easily when I’d said them.
I was in love with Landon.
I blinked rapidly as I stared at him.
I’m in love with you, Landon.
And even worse, my body ached for him to touch me. Kiss me. Oh God…make love to me. I wanted Landon on top of me, under me, inside me. The reality of it hit me like a bolt of lightning.
Damn you, Hailey Lewis!
He reached his hand up and gently cupped my face. “Hey, are you okay, Emme?”
With a shake
of my head, I whispered, “No.”
Frowning, he moved closer. “Talk to me. What’s going on in that head of yours?”
I swallowed hard. “I’m not sure you want to know, Landon.”
“Of course I do, Emme. You mean the world to me. There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do to make you happy.”
I swept my tongue over my lips, and I saw how his eyes darkened as he watched the motion. Did he want me as much as I wanted him?
Had I always known somewhere deep inside that answer? Was it buried deep down because I was terrified it would ruin our friendship? There was no way he kissed other women like he’d kissed me earlier. I’d heard it in the way he’d moaned, and felt it when he’d pulled me closer to his body.
“Anything?” I whispered, my voice not even sounding like my own as an edge of desire slipped in.
With his eyes still on my lips, he nodded, and then he looked up to meet my gaze. “Anything.”
Before I could think any more on it, I said, “Kiss me, Landon. Kiss me now.”
A low rumble came from the back of his throat as he pulled me onto his lap until I was straddling him. My gown draped down on either side of his body, and when I pressed against him, I gasped at how hard he was. My God. He must have been hard before I even asked him to kiss me.
Oh my…the idea that he was hard because of me nearly sent me into a tailspin.
“Oh dear,” I whispered as I moved my hips and pressed my core against him. Heat bloomed in my womb and sent a rush of wetness between my legs.
“Emme,” he gasped and put his hand behind my neck and pulled me to him, sealing his mouth over mine in another mind-blowing kiss. The moment his tongue touched mine, an explosion of heat filled our joined mouths, and we both moaned in pleasure.
The fingers of his other hand gripped my waist tightly, as if he wanted to hold me against him, afraid I would move. My hands went to his hair, and I slipped my fingers through it and tugged slightly, causing him to jerk his hips up. I reacted and pushed into him more, grinding my hips and nearly gasping at the feeling of his hard dick against the sensitive bundle of nerves between my legs.
It wasn’t like me at all to crawl onto a man in the back of a limo and rub myself against him like a cat in heat. But this was different. Everything about the whole night had been different. The feel of Landon’s body against mine. His hands on me in a possessive way that made my own body catch fire. The feeling of his tongue dancing with mine. It was almost too much. And the need to come. Lord, I desperately wanted him to touch me.
“Landon,” I gasped as I pressed harder against him. “Landon, I…”
His eyes jerked open and for a moment we did nothing but stare at one another. Our breaths mixed together in pants as if we had both run a marathon. Tell him, Emmerson. Tell him to kiss you again. To touch you.
A voice came over the speakers and broke the trance we had fallen into. “Mr. Lewis, we’re two minutes from the hotel.”
And that was when the real world came crashing back in. Landon slowly helped me move off of him.
I smoothed my dress and drew in a deep, calming breath.
Landon cleared his throat and looked at me. Our eyes met, and I held my breath.
“We should probably talk before we meet with our parents.”
I nodded. “Okay.”
He glanced at the door and repeated what I had said. “Okay.”
When it opened, my father was standing there. He looked between the two of us as if he thought he was about to catch us being naughty. If he had opened that door three minutes ago, he would have found me grinding against Landon like a wanton, no shame at all. Simply driven by a lust I hadn’t ever truly experienced before. And that confused the hell out of me and also scared me. Judging from the pale complexion on Landon, he felt the same way.
“About damn time you two got here. Get checked in and then meet us at the bar,” my father barked before he turned and marched back into the hotel.
Landon helped me out of the limo, and we both watched my father stalk away. I felt like I was ten years old again and had been caught sneaking the horses out to go for a ride with Landon.
We exchanged a look before Landon said, “I’ll get the bags. You go ahead and check in.”
Emmerson
WITH ANOTHER MIND-BLOWING kiss seared into my memory, I fought to regain some composure as Landon grabbed our bags and I walked into the hotel. Hailey and Mike were walking away from the front desk, each wearing a shit-eating grin on their face. I loved Hailey like a sister, but for some reason, tonight I wanted to scream at her. Maybe it was because she’d been right. After that second kiss, there was no denying that there was something between me and Landon. We just needed to figure out what it was. And what to do about it.
It didn’t take Landon long to catch up with me. Probably because I walked slowly to the front counter, since the idea of having to tell my folks I’d screwed up tonight was not really high up on my priority list right now. “Landon, do I look okay? I mean, it doesn’t look like we…like we…”
His eyes softened, “You look beautiful, Emme. Like always.”
After Landon and I checked in at the desk, we headed to the elevator and up to the twenty-third floor.
“Is anyone else on this floor with us?” I wasn’t sure why I asked. Or maybe I knew but refused to admit it to myself.
He looked at me. “I’m not sure.”
The elevator doors opened and Hailey stood there with a knowing smile on her face. “Fancy meeting the two of y’all here!”
“Not now, Hailey,” Landon said as he walked past his sister and made his way to the right. “Your room is over here, Emme.”
I followed him after shooting a look at Hailey. I had a feeling she’d somehow arranged to have Landon and me on the same floor. “Are you on this floor as well?” I asked.
She laughed. “No. I’m on the nineteenth and our folks are on the twenty-eighth.”
Well, that answered my question.
“Funny how Emmerson and I are on the same floor, and you happened to be here waiting for us,” Landon stated as he looked back over his shoulder at her.
Hailey feigned surprised. “Isn’t it, though?”
“Hailey,” I warned.
Landon stopped at my room, and I placed the keycard to the reader. Once the door opened I walked in, with Hailey hot on my heels and Landon bringing up the rear. He set my bag on the king-size bed.
“Look at that view!” I gasped, taking in the lights of Austin while Hailey and Landon stood on either side of me.
“You bitch, you got a better view than me.” Then Hailey laughed. “What am I saying? I doubt I’ll be spending my time looking out the window. More like the ceiling.”
Landon groaned, and I couldn’t help but chuckle. Hailey always did know how to lighten any mood.
“I’m two rooms down, Emme,” Landon said. “Text me after you’ve changed, and we can talk before we head to the bar.”
I nodded and walked with him to the door. Before he fully walked out, he turned around and looked at me. For a moment, I thought maybe he was going to kiss me again, but then he glanced back into the room and frowned at the sight of his sister. “Text me when you’re ready for me to come back.”
The second the door clicked, Hailey launched into a million questions.
“What took y’all so long to get here? Did he kiss you again? Did he admit any feelings for you? What in the world were you thinking when you said y’all were engaged?”
I brought my fingers to my temples and moaned. “I can’t deal with this right now, Hailey. I’ve gotten us into a real jam here, and we have to figure this all out. Even if we do have…er…if either of us did have feelings for one another, we need to work through this first. You don’t go from best friends to engaged and then to being together. It’s all backwards.”
She nodded as she chewed on her lower lip. “I guess you’re right. Are you upset with me for telling you I thought he had feelings fo
r you?”
Our eyes met, and I slowly shook my head. “No, I’m glad you said something. I think you might be right.”
Hailey smiled and rotated her finger as she said, “Turn around, let me help you out of this dress.”
She worked in silence as she unzipped the gown and then went and opened my bag.
“I had to tell you, Emme. I could tell your own feelings for Landon had changed.”
“How in the world did you see that when I didn’t?”
She shrugged. “It’s the way the two of you look at each other. Like just now, when he left. He wanted to kiss you. I could see it all over his face.”
I let the dress pool at my feet before I stepped out of it. Hailey walked over and picked it up, and I grabbed the shirt and jeans she had taken out and laid on the bed for me.
As she hung up the dress, I made my way into the bathroom to change out of the strapless bra and into a more comfortable one.
“We kissed in the limo,” I said through the closed door like a coward.
“I’m not surprised,” was her only reply.
I opened the door and looked at her. “Hailey, I’m so scared.”
She took my hands and led me over to the bed, where we both sat down. “Of what? Your feelings for him?”
Swallowing the lump in my throat, I said, “Yes! He’s my best friend. I mean, besides you, of course.”
“Of course.”
“If we explore this and things don’t work out…”
She squeezed my hands. “Do you want my advice?”
I nodded. “Please.”
“If you and Landon decide to explore this thing you feel between the two of y’all, do it in private.”
I pulled my brows in. “In private?”
She nodded. “Right now you’ve got to fake this relationship, right?”
“Yes.”
“The entire world thinks it’s true, and the only people who know differently are me, Mike, Noah, and our folks. Don’t let our parents know there’s anything between the two of you yet. If they find out, they’re only going to butt in. I’m pretty sure your father is putting on a show. I can’t imagine him not wanting you to be with Landon. Malcolm knows how much Landon adores you.”
Fool for You Page 9
