Page 43 of The Finder

“No snitching,” she said.

“Hey,” he complained.

Emma smiled at him. Garrett came into the kitchen and pushed Liam out of the way with a grunt. He stopped in front of Emma. “You doing okay?” he asked quietly.

Emma nodded and stepped around him to take the guacamole she had made to the table. She didn’t really feel like talking about it. “Are you staying for dinner, Garrett?” Madison asked as she set the table. Emma looked at Garrett to see what his answer would be.

He hesitated for a moment. His eyes caught hers, and Emma quickly looked away. “I’m staying,” he said a moment later. The guys helped bring everything to the table, and everybody sat down. It was a little crowded, but they made it work.

Emma ended up being squashed between Liam and Garrett. Everybody started passing dishes around. It got quiet as everybody started eating. Emma couldn’t believe how fast they plowed through the food. These guys sure knew how to put it away. Emma heard her ringtone and stood up to go answer it. She had left it in the kitchen. She saw Kevin’s name and debated about whether to answer it or not. She finally decided to, knowing it could be about the events of the day.

“Hey, Kevin,” she said.

“Emma, I just wanted to call and check on you. How are you doing?” he asked.

“I’m okay,” Emma said quietly as she began walking towards the stairs so she could go to her room.

“I know that was a lot today. You’re probably not used to being in that kind of situation. If you need anyone to talk to, I just want you to know I’m here. You can call anytime,” he said.

Emma walked into her room and moved to close the door behind her. She was startled when a hand caught the door, and the door opened again. Garrett stepped inside and closed the door behind him. Emma just stared at him. She had no idea what he was doing in here. He put his hand out, but she didn’t know what that meant.

“Emma?” she heard Kevin ask again.

“Oh, sorry. What did you say?” she asked lamely, still staring at the huge man in her room.

“I just said I really enjoyed the other night,beforewe got interrupted. I was wondering when it would work for us to go out again, especially since we didn’t really get to finish the last date,” he said.

“Oh, um,” Emma swallowed.

In two strides, Garrett was in front of her. He put his hand out and Emma looked at him in confusion. “Give me the phone,” he said in a low voice.

Emma was so startled that she just gave him the phone. With his eyes on hers, Garrett put the phone up to his ear. “I guess I wasn’t clear enough the other night,” he said, his voice cold. Emma took a step back. “Emma’s not going out with you for dinner again. She’s not interested. You need to back off and stop calling her,” he ground out. “And stop going to the coffee shop to see her. She’s off-limits.” Garrett pulled the phone away from his ear and hung up. He held the phone out to Emma, but she didn’t take it. She just stared at him.

“What in the world, Garrett?” she finally found her voice. He crossed his arms again and stared at her, but Emma wasn’t going to be intimidated by this powerful man. She stared right back at him. She had no idea why he was angry with her. She hadn’t done anything. “Why would you say all that to Kevin?”

“Did you want to go on a date with him?” he asked.

“That doesn’t matter. It was my choice,” she said.

“You can’t go out on a date with him, because you’re going out on a date with me,” he said, ignoring what she said.

Emma stared at him, open-mouthed. “No, I’m not,” she said, utterly confused.

“Yes, you are,” he shot right back.

“You never asked me,” she said, still confused.

“Yes, I did,” he responded.

“When?” Emma asked in desperation. She would have remembered if Garrett asked her on a date!

“Just a moment ago,” he said, acting as if she was crazy.

“That wasn’t asking, Garrett; that was demanding,” she said.

Garrett huffed at her. “Fine. Will you go on a date with me?” he asked.

“No,” Emma said.

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