Page 32 of Engulfing Emma

Emma

Brett rubs his stomach as we leave the firehouse. “You’re going to make me fat, Emma.”

No way could he ever get fat. He’s pure muscle. I can’t tear my eyes away from him. I notice the tattoo on his left arm again. I really want to see how high up it goes. I have the strangest urge to reach out and trace it with my finger.

I try not to smile when I see him adjusting himself. God, that’s sexy.

My attention is drawn to a girl running down the street with her father, and suddenly, I remember who I am, where I came from, and what Brett is.

When I turn back to him, he’s eyeing me strangely. “What just happened?” he asks. “You seemed happy and then you were sad.” He notices the girl and her father. “Are you still missing your daughter?”

“It’s not that. She got back two days ago.”

“I’ll bet you’re glad she’s home. I’m not sure I could go two weeks without seeing Leo.”

I want to ask him about his ex, but I don’t.

“How’d the talk go?” he asks. “You told Evelyn what happened, right?”

I’m mildly impressed that he remembers her name. We start slowly toward the school and I’m grateful he’s trying to distract me with conversation.

“I told her. I think it was harder on me than her, however. She’s a kid. Don’t all kids think they and their parents are invincible?”

He looks at me sadly. “Not when the kids are us.”

“It’s strange. Evelyn knows what happened to my father but since he was never a part of her life, it has no real effect on her.”

“That’s a good thing,” he says. “Not that she never met him, but that she didn’t have to experience losing him.”

“I couldn’t agree with you more. But don’t you worry about Leo? About putting him through that?”

“Not really,” he says.

“But what you do is so dangerous.”

“Emma, what you and I are doing right now is dangerous. We’re walking the streets of Brooklyn. We could step off the curb and get hit by a bus. We could—”

“Get abducted by a gunman?”

He shrugs. “It happens.”

I slow my steps. “You’re making me want to run back to my house and never leave.”

He puts a hand on my elbow and nudges me forward. My eyes close at his touch. His large hand wraps around my arm, and I decide I like the feel of it. I like it way too much.

I wiggle free. “I’m fine. I was kidding. Kind of.”

“Where is Evelyn now? She didn’t want to come with you?”

“She goes to a day camp in the summer. All her friends go, too. It’s good for her, and it keeps her busy and active and off her phone for the better part of the day.”

“What keepsyoubusy and active in the summer?”

I try to think of something that makes my life sound more interesting than it is. But nothing can sugarcoat the boring existence I lead. “I teach an online English class for high school students. I hang out with other teachers. We work out and sometimes go to dinner. I play softball in a league for teachers. And I do some volunteer work.”

He looks amused. “Volunteer? That’s commendable.”

“It’s kind of a given when your mom runs the charity.”

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