Page 59 of Without Regret

The moment Emma stepped through the massive double front doors of my house, I moved towards the foyer to intercept her. My eyes drank in the sight of her in a dark blue dress that hugged her curves and with her hair left soft and long. It was all I could do not to take her hand and lead her upstairs to my bedroom. Thankfully, Simon’s presence standing beside her kept me from acting on the impulse.

“Good evening,” I greeted, taking Simon’s hand first.

“You have a lovely home,” he remarked, glancing around.

“Thank you.” I turned my gaze to Emma, trying not to get hard over the shade of red her perfect, pouty lips were tonight. “You look lovely tonight. Appreciate you coming.”

“Thanks for having us.” She seemed on edge.

“Let’s get you both some drinks and—”

My father’s voice came up from the side of us. “Ah, you must be Simon Granger. Trevor has told me so much about you. I’m Charles Newhall.”

It was a lie that I’d said anything about Simon, but I figured my dad had gleaned plenty of information about Simon from Phillip.

“I am indeed Simon. A pleasure, Mr. Newhall.”

My father’s gaze landed on Emma as I introduced her. Although she was smiling, I could tell it was forced. If I wasn’t mistaken, she was nervous. I wondered why. “This is Ms. Emma Brown. She also works on the team for Stone Group.”

“Nice to meet you.” My dad took her hand with a smile.

“You as well, Mr. Newhall.”

I noticed her eyes barely met mine.

But luckily, my dad gave me the opportunity I’d been hoping for, speaking to Simon. “If you don’t mind, I have a few people here I’d love to introduce you to.”

“Of course I don’t mind.”

“Terrific. If you’ll excuse us?” The two men moved on into the ever-increasing crowd of people and left us alone.

“Hi,” I greeted, feeling breathless at the vision in front me and the fact I hadn’t touched her in days.

Her face heated a sexy shade of pink. “Hi.”

“Any chance I can steal you for a few minutes to talk?” I wanted to apologize for losing my temper with her yesterday.

Her brow rose. “Talk?”

I smirked. “Yes. Although after missing you this week, I wouldn’t object to taking care of what’s on your mind later.”

Crap. I instantly saw her panic and replayed what I’d said. Missing her. Clearly a trigger. But I wouldn’t let it deter me. I knew she had to have missed me, too, even if she wasn’t able to admit it yet.

“We don’t need to talk, Trevor. That’s the whole beauty of this situation. Not having to worry about stuff like that.”

My eyes narrowed. “I see.”

Just then, my sister’s words cut through, interrupting our conversation and calming my irritation. “Hi, Emma. I’m so glad you could make it.”

Emma turned, appearing relieved to have my sister as an excuse to table our discussion. But then I saw her stiffen and realized why. Next to Avery was Adrienne. The overly aggressive, commercial-property-manager-who-thought-Emma’s-accent-was-adorbs Adrienne.

“Trevor. How great to see you again.”

She came in for the hug, which I awkwardly returned with a what the fuck look towards my sister. “Um, you, too.”

Adrienne was dressed in what could only be described as the tightest dress known to man. Her hair, as my momma would’ve said, was high enough to be acquainted with Jesus.

“You two know each other?” Avery glanced between the two of us.

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