Page 21 of The Finder

Chapter 14

She sighed and stepped back from him. She untied the belt on her coat and let it fall open. Then she slowly pulled her shirt up almost to her bra. Garrett bent down in front of her. A curse exploded from his mouth when he saw her stomach. Emma cringed; she hadn’t looked at it yet because she knew that would just make the pain seem worse. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt his fingers on her stomach. Instinct made her muscles jump, and she made a small sound of pain. Garrett looked up at her. She could see the anger in his eyes. He gently pulled her shirt back down and stood up. He stepped close to her. “I’m so sorry that I inevitably caused that.”

Emma shook her head. “It’s not your fault.”

“You’re not going back there tonight,” he said.

Emma looked up at him in surprise. “I have to,” she said.

He shook his head. “No, Emma.”

“No, you don’t understand. I have to. I’m watching a little girl tonight so her mom can work. She’s deaf. I have to be there so her mom can get to her job. I can’t bail on her,” Emma said.

Garrett was already shaking his head no. Emma could see he was dead set against it. “You can’t tell me what to do. I have to go back there. Besides, I don’t have anywhere else to go anyway. If I don’t go there, I'll be out on the street.”

An awful sound exploded from his mouth and Emma looked up at him. His eyes were swirling with emotion. They momentarily didn’t seem as dark as they usually were. “Promise me you won’t do that,” he said in a desperate voice.

Emma laughed at him. “I’m not trying to sleep on the street. That's why I keep saying I have to stay where I am. You’re the one who keeps trying to get me to not go back.”

Garrett closed his eyes for a moment. Emma noticed he often did that when he was stressed or upset about something. When he opened his eyes, she noticed his eyes were their normal color again. “You have to get back to work. We’ll talk about this after your shift is done.”

“Okay,” Emma nodded. She needed to be agreeable so she could get back to work. “But I have to be back at Hope House by two fifteen to watch Olivia.”

Garrett nodded, though he didn’t look happy about it. “We’ll figure something out. Come on. Helen’s going to think we kidnapped you.”

Emma smiled and started walking next to him. “Garrett,” she said. He turned to look down at her. “Thank you for lunch. That was one of the best meals I’ve ever had, and that chocolate cake was to die for!”

“You’re welcome,” he said.

“What was my part of the bill?” she asked.

“Emma,” he growled at her.

“What? It wasn’t like it was a date or anything. I just want to take care of my meal,” she said.

Garrett looked at her with an intense look. “I took care of it. You don’t owe me anything,” he said.

“Well, thank you then for lunch,” Emma said.

Garrett didn’t say anything as they walked down the street. She didn't notice until they were almost back to the shop that Max was behind them. She hadn’t heard or even seen him. Liam stood outside the shop, looking at his phone. When they approached, he glanced up. Emma was startled to see anger on his face. He was never angry. “What is it?” Garrett asked. He must have seen the look on Liam’s face as well. Liam handed the phone to Garrett without a word. Garrett swore when he saw it. Emma had no idea what was on the phone, but whatever it was, it obviously wasn’t good. Garrett handed the phone to Max. He let out an angry sound when he saw it too.

“Go inside the shop, Emma,” Garrett said without looking at her. His eyes were on the street.

“Oh, okay. Well thanks for lunch,” she said awkwardly. When not one of them even looked at her, she turned and slipped inside the coffee shop. Helen was serving a customer. Emma quickly grabbed an apron from the back and came out front again. “I’m so sorry I’m late. The guys took me to lunch,” Emma said.

Helen waved her concerns aside. “It’s fine, Emma. It's not every day you get to go out with three incredibly good-looking men, am I right?” she asked with a gleam in her eye.

Emma blushed. “Well, yeah, but it’s not like that.”

“Sure, it’s not,” Helen said. Emma just smiled and got back to work. She knew it wasn’t really like that, no matter what Helen thought.

Liam came into the shop a little while later and ordered a coffee. Then he sat at a table near the front of the store. Emma got back to work. The afternoon picked up a little bit. When it was for her to clock out, she was surprised to see Liam still sitting there. He was doing something on his phone. “Liam, I didn’t know you were still here. What are you doing?”

He smiled at her, but it wasn’t as light-hearted as it usually was. “I just can’t get enough of you, darling,” he drawled out. Emma shook her head and rolled her eyes. He was full of it. When she walked towards the door, Liam stopped her.

“What are you doing?” he asked. Emma turned to him in surprise. He was on his feet now. “I’m done for the day.”

“Oh,” he said. “I lost track of time.” Liam walked out ahead of her. When they got outside, Emma immediately noticed the two men standing near a Land Rover. Emma knew instantly they were with Liam. That was confirmed when he went over and started talking to them. Emma wondered what it was about the men in this town. They were all built huge and handsome. These guys were no different. Of course, none of them had anything on Garrett. He topped them all.

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