Page 63 of Out to Find Freedom

At least when she was with Julian and Mattie, they could go to her if they heard her.

Now she was all alone.

What was it about Emerson Spence that brought out my instinct to want to protect her more than anyone else? To want her more than any other woman?

She’d made a rare connection within me and it wouldn’t be removed.

Couldn’t.

I thought it’d end when the case did.

It hadn’t.

She was still on my mind.

And from her texts to me, I was on hers too. I just didn’t know if it was in more than a friendship way. Yeah, Julian had said she cared, but in what way?

Christ, was I just an old man pining over a younger woman when all she wanted was a friend in me?

Could I give that to her when I wanted more?

Fucked if I knew.

My head was a goddamn mess when it came to her.

Maybe if I got to know her more, I’d figure out she wasn’t for me after all. Nodding to myself, I got up, went to the counter, paid my bill, and walked out.

It was time to figure out how I really felt about Emmie.

Time to get to know her… only it wouldn’t be in person. It’d have to be over the phone, because I was sure as fuck physically attracted to her. But would her personality work for me as well?

Emerson

I sat on the couch watchingLuciferon Netflix and eating cheese and bacon balls when my phone vibrated. I was expecting Julian and Mattie over shortly, since Julian offered to make some pasta dish for dinner later, so I thought it would be either one of them.

It wasn’t.

My breath shot out in a whoosh as my eyes widened. Slowly, in case it was my eyes playing tricks on me, I picked up my phone from the couch beside me and looked closely.

It still read the same.

I had stored his number a long time ago, so to see his name on my screen for the first time in so long was a complete shock. One that had my body in a tizzy.

If I opened it, would I like what I saw? If he was brushing me off, at least I knew where we stood, and I’d deal with it over a tub of Ben and Jerry’s. Maybe it would be more than one.

Though, waiting wasn’t doing my heart any good.

I pressed in the code to unlock my phone, and then I went right into messages. I needed to get it out of the way as soon as possible. If it was bad, and Julian and Mattie arrived to see me crying, I wasn’t sure they wouldn’t pay Ryan a visit.

Ryan: Meatlovers is good, but I prefer barbeque chicken, Emmie.He was answering my texts from a couple of nights ago. He was acting normal. Like we’d been texting each other all the time. Then again, I had done the same, but I was reaching out to him to see if he wanted to engage back.

He had.

He messaged me back.

He wanted to talk.

To get to know one another.

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