Page 31 of Burned By the Broken Doctor

“Calm down,” I plead, my voice tight. “Just listen.”

She won't. Her voice rises, laced with hysteria. “Listen? To what? How stupid I've been to fall for your act? How pathetic I am to let you…” Her voice trails off, replaced by a strangled sob.

Frustration bubbles up inside me. “It wasn't an act! And this isn't some grand betrayal, alright? We got carried away.”

“Carried away?” she echoes, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “Right. That's all it was. Just a little harmless…carry-away, like the kiss that started this whole trouble.”

“Emma?”

“Don’t call me!” All my attempts to reason with her are clearly going to land on even more deaf ears. “Can’t believe I was so stupid.” She bites her lower lip, whispering almost to herself.

A part of me wants to tell her she looks great with the confused look on her face, but I know I’ll regret it if I ever say those words.

“Did you drug me or something?” She wrestles to climb over the side of the bed again, and I pull her back, gathering her into my arms.

“Emma, calm down,” I grunt loudly. “Just listen to me for a second.”

“No, Liam!” She shoves at my chest, but I don’t let go. “I’m mad for even following you here. This… This was insane.”

“We need to talk about this,” I insist. “You can’t just run off.”

She narrows her eyes at me, her frustration boiling over. “Why not? Let me go right now and you can go and tell the whole town that our relationship is a sham. I need this done with immediately.”

I take a deep breath, trying to keep my own emotions in check. “I’m not going to do that.”

“What?” She freezes, staring at me like I’ve grown a second head. “What do you mean by that? You have to?—”

I put a finger on her lips to shut her up. “I mean,” I mumble, keeping my voice steady, “I won’t be telling anyone that the kiss was a sham or that we’re not dating. Not yet, at least.”

Emma’s face twists in confusion and anger. “Why the hell not?”

“Because I have a proposition for you.”

“Typical!” She cuts me off, her voice rising. “No! Don’t give me some bullshit excuse, Liam. I can’t believe I was stupid enough to think you wanted to say something that makes sense. Let me g?—”

I grab her by the shoulders, pressing my lips to hers to shut her up. It works. She freezes. Her lips suddenly stop moving, eyes wide, breathless.

“Now you’ll listen?” I ask quickly.

She stares at me with wide eyes without saying a word.

“I need us to keep this up a little while longer. Just until after Damon’s wedding…or until I leave town.”

She blinks, stunned. “Why should I do something so stupid?”

“Two reasons,” I say, taking a deep breath. “One, I’ve never seen my father as happy as he’s been since he started to believe we were dating. I want to keep that up for a bit longer. Two, if he thinks we’re together, he’ll stop trying to set me up with other women.”

Emma stares at me, her mouth slightly open. “You want me to keep pretending so your dad doesn’t play matchmaker?”

“Yes.” I cross my arms and meet her eyes. There’s a slight raise of eyebrow that shows she’s interested. “And because it makes him happy.”

She shakes her head. “I’m not falling for that soapy line. No way. This is too much.”

“Please, Emma,” I look directly into her eyes, my voice almost a whisper.

She blinks, opens her mouth, then closes it again. “No, I’m not doing that.” She immediately pushes me away and rolls off the bed.

“How much do you want? I’ll pay whatever you want.”

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