Page 40 of Owning Emma

Jerk. I grabbed my coffee from next to his hip. “You know what, I’m retracting my last statement. Definitely a few rocks short of a full box.”

“You can’t retract that, you already gave me your half-ass compliment.” He crossed his arms in front of him, almost looking like a sulky child.

“It’s too late, the retraction is already in progress.” I smirked. I didn’t know what it was about this muscled-up, alpha male that made me want to poke at him, get under his skin, but I enjoyed it.

“Emma, I’m about to show you just how dumb I can really be if you don’t take it back.”

It was the fight over the sprinkles all over again, a different time and different place but the same thing none-the-less. He wanted something, and I refused to give it. Not because I couldn’t, but because I found it amusing when he didn’t have all the control.

“You don’t have to show me, I’m standing right in front of you.” I had to fight the laugh that threatened to escape.

Before I could blink, my body was flying through the air as he lifted me and dropped my butt onto the island, then caged me in with his arms. “Looks like you’re trapped here until you take it back.”

“What are you, five?” I asked, hardly able to decipher my words through the jumble in my mind, the jumble caused by his proximity. Had his eyes always crinkled at the corners? Had he always smelled this good?

Both his eyebrows raised. “I think I’m way too knowledgeable to be compared to a five-year-old, don’t you think?”

“You know, I keep hearing how you’re the go-to guy around here, the one who runs it all. But, the only thing I’ve seen you do is sulk about and give orders. I wouldn’t begin to know just how knowledgeable you are.”

He laughed, the first real laugh I think I’d ever heard pass his lips. “Would you say we’ve come to a level of friendship?”

“That depends, if you’re asking if I don’t hate you as much as I initially did, then yes. I think you are not the worst. If you’re asking if you can control the cupcake sprinkles, then no, we aren’t at that level of friendship.”

He leaned into me and my breath caught as he whispered, “Since we are friends, I think you should know, everything I excel at, far exceeds anything a child could do.”

Jesus. I felt that whisper and the promise it held travel through my whole body. My voice was raspy when I finally could speak. “What is it with men and false promises?”

He stepped forward, planting his body between my thighs. “I’ve never made a false promise.”

He was close, his lips a breath away, that the temptation was irresistible. My hand found his cheek, my thumb leisurely stroking his skin. “That in itself, seems false.”

He didn’t pull away from my touch, if anything, I could have sworn he leaned into it. His eyes flickered to my lips before meeting my gaze. “Why do you make things so damn hard?”

His statement was confusing, and I wanted to ponder what the hell he meant, but suddenly, his lips were crashing into mine, his body heat searing against my skin as he caged me in. I froze, in complete shock for a moment before I was leaning into him, squeezing my thighs around his hip as I kissed him back.

He moaned into my mouth as one of his hands found my back. He pulled me into his body as he leaned me further back. Our tongues dueled, our teeth clashed and as much as I had never thought or desired this to happen, it was too good to stop. He was too good to stop.

Distantly, I heard a throat clear, but it wasn’t until Roman’s body jumped away from mine that I was aware of Shaw standing in the doorway, watching us with his arms crossed. His head was tilted to the side thoughtfully, but he otherwise didn’t seem phased. “Are we going, or what?”

I jumped down on shaky legs and grabbed his bag plus our coffees and headed to the doorway. He took his stuff from me and handed me the keys. “I’ll meet you out there, okay? Give me a second.”

I agreed, not able to look him in the eye after he caught me practically dry-humping his friend. I was embarrassed, if I was honest. Maybe a little torn as well. If I let myself admit, I couldn’t deny my attraction to them both. Each for their unique qualities.

Roman was a jerk, mostly. But it’s what I got to see when no one was around that made my stomach knot. He cooked, he was curious, and he found amusement in the simple things. But mostly, he cared. He cared for everyone around him so hard, but they were blind to it. All of them but Shaw. Shaw, who was his total weakness, even if he didn’t realize it.

And Shaw, well . . . I didn’t know it the first day when he threw me over his shoulders and carried me as if I was nothing more than a feather, but that brute strength mixed with soft demeanor made my heart skip. He’s witty and charming. Everyone but Roman often overlooked his intelligence, and he used his quiet disposition to stand away from the crowd instead of diving into it.

My thoughts bounced between them both as Shaw joined me in the truck. Without saying a word, he tossed his bag on the floorboard behind the seat and put his coffee in the mug hold. His arm fell to the back of my headrest as he started the engine then looked through the back window to back up.

We were on the road, traveling the dark curves in complete silence. The silence ate at me, making me feel guilty for perusing one when all the logic I tried to fight convinced me that they were a package deal. That you couldn’t get just one of these boys without integrating yourself so deeply with the other.

The tension was growing thicker by the second, and I wasn’t sure who was creating more of it . . . Shaw or me. Finally, when I felt like I couldn’t breathe, I turned my body toward him. “Are you mad?”

He made a sound in his throat. “What? Mad? Over what?”

If he was going to pretend like the kitchen incident didn’t happen, then I should, too, but I didn’t know what else to say, so I blurted out, “Over the kitchen. Roman.”

He didn’t even spare me a glance as he casually tossed out, “Nope.”

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