Page 83 of Ramsey & Emerson

Now, to describe my childhood friends, Sally had been a very malnourished redhead, though astoundingly optimistic. She’d also been fierce and loyal, and she still had those qualities as an adult. Henry had been very shy with big brown eyes, though also very smart. He had kept us out of trouble lots of times, and he’d just grown up to be a very intelligent man. As for Scott, he’d been sort of our leader back then, and he’d always been very protective of all of us, and he still was. He also had silvery-blonde hair and black eyes, which gave him a very magical look about him. I could remember lots of girls throwing themselves at him when we’d been younger.

Answering the phone, I said, “Hey, Sal.”

Instead of greeting me, she got right to the point. “I’m not sure if Henry and Scott are still going, but I’ll be there Friday, and I’m just wondering how fancy I need to dress.”

Now, because we’d grown up poor, our definition of fancy was a lot different than other people’s definition of the word. To us, a nice dress with heels was considered fancy. Honestly, if someone were to drape a diamond necklace around Sally’s neck, she’d probably hyperventilate on the spot.

“It’s casual-formal,” I told her. “Suits and dresses, no tuxedoes or ballgowns.”

“Okay...I can do that,” she replied seriously.

“You know, you don’t have to go-”

“What?” she gasped. “Of course, I have to go. Those kids were me once upon a time, Emerson. While I can’t go to all of the events that you do, I still like to go to the ones that I can.”

“Fair enough,” I conceded. “Do you have a date?”

“No,” she answered, though she didn’t sound troubled by the thought at all. “If all else fails, I can beg Scott to escort me.”

In a perfect world, Sally’s marriage would have lasted, as well as Scott’s. However, while Henry was still very happily married, Sally and Scott were divorced, and while she had no problem dating, her trust issues weren’t as severe as Scott’s. Now, while Scott wasn’t a woman-hater by any means, he’d given happiness a try, and he wasn’t up to doing it again.

“Well, if anyone can get Scott to go to a charity event when he doesn’t want to, it’s you,” I joked.

“Too bad he doesn’t make my vagina sing,” she sighed seriously. “We’d be so perfect for each other if only I didn’t think of him as a brother.”

I started laughing, and for the next fifteen minutes, we talked about Sally’s dry spell.

Chapter 7

Ramsey~

Because I was obsessed with my wife, I had access to her daily calendar, and she had access to mine. So, armed with knowing every move that she made throughout her day, I had decided to surprise her for lunch, though I doubted that she’d view it as much of a surprise. Most days, Emerson’s dedication to her job made her too busy for me, but I missed her, so she was just going to have to make my visit work.

Now, the Port Lucia CPS offices were exactly as you would imagine them to be. They were located in a four-story building with crowded cubicles, crap vending machines, and overworked employees. Luckily for Emerson, she’d been working for them long enough to have her own office, but it wasn’t much of an office by decent square footage standards. Still, it was better than working in the bullpen, and while Emerson wasn’t a supervisor, she had earned her office by taking on the cases that no one else wanted to take on.

At any rate, my face was familiar enough that no one stopped me as I made my way into the building and towards the third floor. The top floor was occupied by all CPS management, housing the director, a couple of managers, and about six supervisors in total. Because of my obsession with my wife, I knew all about the working conditions at CPS, and I paid attention to every detail whenever she told me about her day at work. Hence, that is how I knew who was in charge around here.

I was also allowed to walk freely through the hallways because RMM had sponsored a lot of appreciation events for the employees of Port Lucia’s CPS. We’d given away paid vacations, homes, cars, utility certificates, etc. for the stressed-out employees, and so most of these people were happy as hell and grateful whenever they ran into me, Deke, or Liam.

However, once I stepped out of the elevator and onto Emerson’s floor, what I hadn’t expected to see upon entering my wife’s office was a man huddled up next to her, a little too close for my liking. In fact, I had serious issues whenever it came toanyonethat wasn’t family getting too close to my wife.

“Am I interrupting?’

Both heads shot my way, no longer looking at whatever they’d been looking at on the man’s phone. Like any wild animal, I kept my eyes on the man that looked to be about six-foot-one, had dark red hair, and intelligent hazel eyes. He also looked like he took the time to keep in shape, but confident men didn’t intimidate me. In fact, no one did. You had to care what other people thought of you in order for them to be able to intimidate you, and that just wasn’t me.

“Ramsey, what are you doing here?” Emerson asked happily as she made her way towards me.

When she reached me, I wrapped one arm around her waist, hauled her close, then kissed the side of her head, finally giving her my attention. “I thought I’d surprise you for lunch.”

Emerson’s entire face lit up. “Really?”

I nodded. “I missed you.”

“I always miss you,” she replied, and I had to smirk. While it might be true, I knew that she was only saying it to calm me down.

Turning from her, I looked at the guy ruining our moment. “I’m Ramsey Reed, Emerson’s husband.”

“Oh, crap,” she rushed out as she stepped out of my arms. “Adrian, I’d like you to meet my husband, Ramsey Reed.” Looking back up at me, Emerson added, “Ramsey, I’d like you to meet one of CPS’s newest supervisor’s, Adrian Cossacks.”

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