Page 44 of The Finder

“Emma,” he warned as he took a step closer to her. Emma stepped back again. “Don’t push me,” he said in a low voice.

Emma continued backing slowly away from him, but he kept advancing. “Don’t come any closer,” she said, her voice not as strong as she wanted it to be. Emma hit the wall and had nowhere to go.

Garrett moved so close, their bodies were almost touching. “I wanted to give you time to adjust to this, buthe’snot letting that happen. So, understand this, no more dates with any other guys but me.” He put his hand under her hair and palmed the back of her neck. Then he bent towards her, putting his head against hers.

Emma didn’t breathe; she didn’t move a muscle. She couldn’t even if she wanted to. A moment later, the moment was over. Garrett stepped back, putting distance between the two of them. “I’ll be here tomorrow night at seven to pick you up. Be ready,” he said before turning and walking towards the door. He left her room, closing the door behind him.

Emma slid down the wall, her shaky legs no longer able to hold her. She stared at the spot Garrett had just vacated. She was in so much trouble.

Chapter 25

The next morning, Emma slept in because Helen had called and said the shop wouldn’t be open today. They were getting a new window installed and getting the shop professionally cleaned so they could hopefully open back up tomorrow. That left the whole day open for Emma. She ended up getting up around six; that’s as long as her body would allow her to sleep. She decided to make a big breakfast for everybody in the house. It was the least she could do as they were all catering to her right now.

She pulled all the ingredients out to make cinnamon rolls. Once the dough was rising by the oven, she searched through the fridge to see what else she could find. She gathered ingredients and piled them high on the counter. Soon she had an oversized pan ready to go with eggs, ham, cheese, and grilled onions ready to go in the oven for a large baked omelet. She thought about making one on the stovetop, but she knew how much food these guys could put away. Then she made two pounds of bacon, two packs of link sausages, and two skillets of fried potatoes. Hopefully that would be enough for these guys. She got a pot of coffee going as well.

Liam was the first one down. He sniffed the air and a big smile came over his face. “I knew staying here was the right decision last night.” He came into the kitchen and started picking at the food. Emma picked up a spatula, but he saw it and evaded her. He grabbed a cinnamon roll but spun away before she could hit him. He took a bite and closed his eyes. “These are so good.”

Levi came down a few minutes later, followed by Kyle. Kyle said good morning to her; Levi just kind of mumbled at her, causing Emma to grin. “Should we wait for Madison?” Emma asked.

Kyle grinned. “Not unless we want to wait until ten,” he said.

“I heard that,” a disheveled Madison said from the stairs. She walked down the stairs, stopping to glare at her husband. He grinned and stood up from the table.

“Hey, beautiful,” he said.

She crossed her arms, unrelenting in her glare. He just chuckled and pulled her into his arms, kissing her and talking quietly to her. Emma smiled and looked away. Once Madison had some coffee in her, she was much better. Emma took that as a sign they could get started.

The front door opened and Emma looked up in surprise. Garrett came in and closed the door behind him. The guys called out greetings to him. “You’re just in time,” Liam said. “Emma made breakfast, and it’s amazing.” He took another bite of cinnamon roll and groaned. “You need to marry me, woman,” he said. Garrett smacked the back of his head, and Liam started choking. Kyle laughed loudly.

Emma was still in the kitchen when Garrett came into the kitchen. She looked up and froze. He was dressed in a pair of jeans and a short-sleeved black t-shirt. His hair was still damp. She had never seen him in anything but a suit before, and while he rocked a suit, there was something about the outfit he was wearing that screamed all man to her. She knew he had muscles, but the shirt showcased them perfectly. She couldn’t get over all those muscles.

He came and stood behind her, not touching her but close. He bent down, towards her shoulder. “Smells amazing,” he said in a low voice. Emma didn’t move. His masculine scent and whatever cologne he wore wafted over her and she had to grab the counter to keep from swaying. She was sure he was talking about the food, right? Only when he moved away from her could she breathe again. She looked up and saw Madison smiling at her. She looked down and focused on filling a plate of food. She turned around and handed it to Garrett. “Thanks,” he said.

Emma filled the last plate and took it out to the table. Once she passed it off to Levi, she walked back into the kitchen. Garrett was still standing there. Emma began filling a plate for herself. When she was done, he took it from her and walked out to the table. She decided to grab him a cup of coffee since he had her plate. She poured a mug for him and carried it out to the table.

When she got to the table, Garrett pulled out her chair for her. She settled into her chair and leaned across Garrett to put his coffee in front of him. “Thanks,” he rumbled in her ear. Emma sat back and tried to act normal. She picked up her fork and tried eating. She took a few small bites, listening to the conversation around her. She laughed at Liam’s antics and eventually got lost in the conversation. She finally relaxed enough to be able to eat.

Once they finished, Emma and Madison worked on dishes. The guys all thanked her for the meal and left together, except for Wyatt. Garrett told him to stay. He wandered off somewhere in the house.

“What do they do for work?” Emma asked, curious once they had all cleared out.

“Garrett runs a brokerage firm in town. The guys all work for him,” Madison said.

“Huh,” Emma said. She hadn’t really pictured the guys in stuffy offices all week, but what did she know.

“Garrett owns most of the town. So, he spends a lot of his time checking up on businesses and seeing what he can do to make things better for the owner and for the town.”

"Hmm,” Emma said.Thatseemed more like something she could picture him doing.

“He also owns a lot of property, so he spends a lot of time making sure... things run smoothly,” Madison said after a pause.

Emma looked at her. That sounded kind of odd, but what did she know. The girls finished cleaning the kitchen and putting everything away. Emma was faced with time on her hands, something she didn’t get a lot of.

“So, what do you want to do for the day?” Madison asked.

“I don’t know. I just have to be ready to go out at seven tonight. The rest of the day, I’m free,” Emma said.

“You going out with Kevin again?” Madison asked, not acting too pleased.

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