Page 85 of Beautiful Harmony

The jealousy inside of Lucas was now so large it had its own zip code. “What happened yesterday?”

“Emma came by my place,” James said.

The urge to punch James, a perfectly nice guy, nearly overwhelmed Lucas.

“She was at your house,” he said.

“To teach him how to Dutch braid,” Emma said quickly. “He knows how to French braid Eva’s hair, but she likes the Dutch braid.”

“She does,” James said with a laugh. “I braided her hair this morning.”

“How did it turn out?”

“Actually, not bad. Here, I took a picture.” James pulled out his phone.

He stepped closer to Emma and showed her the phone screen, their shoulders and hips touching.

Lucas’s urge to shove his way between them, to holler “Mine!” and carry Emma out of his office, was definitely a bad fucking idea.

“It looks great,” Emma said.

“I messed up this part,” James said.

“You did a fantastic job for your first time. Did Eva love it?” Emma asked.

“She did.”

“Then that’s what matters.” Emma smiled at James.

He blushed and cleared his throat. “Well, thank you again, and, uh, now that you know where we live, if you want to stop by sometime, feel free. I know Eva would, uh, love to see you again. She likes you a lot.”

Lucas would have taken a shameful comfort in James being so terrible at flirting if he wasn’t currently trying not to have a stroke. Did Emma like James? Was she thinking of dating him?

“I like Eva too. I’ll check my schedule,” Emma said.

“Sure,” James said as his cheeks went a darker red. He cleared his throat again and shoved his hands into his pockets. “So, I’m finished for the day and was thinking of stopping at Grind My Beans for a coffee. Would you -”

“Emma and I have plans,” Lucas said loudly. “We’re just leaving to do those plans now.”

Christ, he sounded like a little kid claiming his favourite toy.

“Oh, okay,” James said. His face still red, he nodded to them both. “Have a good night.”

He left, and Lucas shut the door quickly. It wasn’t like he thought James would swoop back in, grab Emma, and carry her off or anything, but why give him the chance, right?

“You okay?” Emma asked.

“Why didn’t you tell me about your date with James yesterday?” he said.

“It wasn’t a date.”

“He thinks it was a date.”

“No, he doesn’t,” Emma said.

“He wants you to come back to his house again, Emma!”

“I didn’t say I would,” she said calmly. “Lucas, chill out.”

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