Page 17 of Just This Once

I didn’t wait for Connor’s response before stomping toward the bar. The lanky bartender greeted me with a tip of his chin.

“Whiskey, neat.” I rested an elbow on the bar and turned back toward the crowd.

Emily was still by her father, laughing and enjoying the conversation as it flowed around her. Her features were animated as she gestured. The entire clutch of people hung on her every word. She was radiant and alluring, and it pissed me right the fuck off.

After the bartender slid my whiskey across the counter, I deposited a generous tip into his jar. I planned to have a few more and wouldn’t mind the preferential treatment a decent tip would earn me. The first sip of whiskey burned down my throat and warmed my gut.

I knew my stare was dark and intense, but I didn’t care. I wanted her to see me.

As if she could hear my thoughts, her pretty eyes shifted and locked with mine. Shock flickered over her delicate features, but in a moment it was gone.

Emily leaned in, whispering something to Mrs. Martin before excusing herself from the group with a small smile. I stayed planted where I was, letting her come to me. She ignored me as she stood at the bar and ordered a white wine. She thanked the bartender with a genuine smile, dropping her own generous tip into his jar, and turned to face the banquet room.

With a tight smile locked in place, she gently cleared her throat. “Um... hello.”

I scoffed and decided to fuck with her. “Is that— Is that a ghost?” I stood tall and let my gaze go unfocused as I looked over her head. “Speak, apparition.”

An exasperated grunt pushed through her lips. “Really? Quoting kids’ movies? Stop being ridiculous.”

Irked that she caught myMegamindreference so easily, I turned my back to her.

She cleared her throat more aggressively this time and gritted through her teeth, “I’m surprised to see you here.”

I shook my head, taking a generous sip of my whiskey before turning to face her. “Bet you’re not as surprised as I was.” I drained the remainder of my whiskey and signaled the bartender for another.

Emily’s eyebrows lifted. “I don’t know what you are so pissy about. You came into my classroom and didn’t even remember me.”

Remember her?I had obsessed over her for weeks, but I wasn’t about to give her the satisfaction of admitting that.

“Would you have rather I ignored the emergency medical needs of a sick child and struck up a conversation with you instead?”

A disgusted noise rattled from her pretty throat as she rolled her eyes. “Of course not, but I saw your face. You had no idea who I was.”

A disbelieving hum was my only response. I wanted to let it go, but I couldn’t.

“So when did you know?” Irritation simmered just below the surface. “When you stared into the tattoo shop and saw me for the first time? Or maybe at the general store? Did someone at the Grudge tell you about us Kings while I was getting our drinks? At what point did you knowexactlywho I was?”

Emily’s shoulders shifted toward me. A defiant glint shimmered in her eyes. “You sure remember an awful lot about that night for somebody who treated me like I was utterly forgettable.”

I shook my head. “You ghostedme, Prim,” I seethed.

“Prim?”

I bit back a smile and leaned in. “You act all prim and proper, but I got to see how much of me you could take before your eyes watered.”

Anger and desire flared across her features, sending pink flooding into her cheeks. My crudeness had probably crossedmore than a few lines, but I liked this riled-up version of her. It planted her squarely into enemy territory, extricating her from the tiny cracks in my chest she had previously tried to burrow into.

“I’m not sure what your last name has to do with it, but I swear that I didn’t know you were a firefighter.” Her voice wavered, but only slightly before she hardened it again. “But then I saw your uniform in the closet, and it wasn’t hard to put two and two together. My dad is yourboss.”

“I guess that explains your graceful exit.” At the time, her awkward high five had been hilarious and endearing. Now it just poked at a pressure point between my ribs.

Across the hall I spotted Connor chatting up the two women he had pointed out earlier. I finished my whiskey, enjoying the dull, hazy numbness filling my brain. “Well, this has been fun, Prim, but I gotta run.” With a smart-ass look on my face, I held up my hand for a high five. Emily’s nostrils flared, and I chuckled. “No? Cool.”

I strode away toward Connor but felt the chill of her pretty sea-glass eyes on my back.

EIGHT

EMILY

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