Page 147 of Sin With Me

Chapter10

Eric

By two o’clockwe were headed to Ogden. Emma kept reading something on her tablet as we drove, once in a while breaking her concentration when my truck hit a deeper pothole.

“Not the smooth asphalt you’re usedto.”

“Yeah, I’m afraid a few more of these and I’llpuke.”

I laughed. This girl was all business and proper one moment, and then country within hours of arriving. The boots she wore surprised me. Maybe they were part of a past Halloween costume get-up she’d packed.

“Where’d you get those?” I asked.

“It’s for the strip club. I wear them sometimes on the stage.”

I hit my foot on the brakes, jolting us both forward and looked over to the side. Emma simply fluttered her lashes before bursting out in laughter.

“You’re kidding?”

“Of course I’m kidding. Come on, Cowboy. Do you honestly think I’d been there more thanonce?”

“There are otherbars…”

“Eric, snap out of it. I promise I’m kidding. Grace got these for me last fall, and I’ve never had a good place to wear themto.”

I breathed out with relief. The thought of Emma dancing in nothing else but the boots, and all those men admiring her body, had not only infuriated me, but also sent all the blood rushing south. No one had ever kept me on my toes as much as she did. What would she say next? That she’d danced as part of a showgirls act in Las Vegas? This time the image was a bit more appealing because at least the showgirls had some attire to cover themselves. I’d been to Vegas once, with a buddy of mine I hoped to see today. It had been a long time since we’d talked, and we had some catching up todo.

I eased my foot and started rolling forward again. “Why don’t you tell me the kinds of dares Grace conned you into, and the bets you’velost?”

“First of all, no one has ever conned me into a dare. Grace just knows what I need to feel alive. Why do you need toknow?”

I thought about how I could make her feel so alive. I’d rejuvenate her body with my mouth and hands. It’d be like an adventure I’d never get tiredof.

“I just don’t like surprises.”

“That’s only because you haven’t had the right kinds of surprises, Cowboy.”

“I’m afraid to ask you what the right kind of surprisesare.”

Emma leaned her head against the back of the seat and closed her eyes. A soft smile surfaced on her face as she said, “Ones that you cannot wait for. They tickle you in your stomach when you get a hunch, because you sense a change in the air of excitement and anticipation.” Her head jolted up and she looked at me, her eyes wide now as if she were experiencing Disneyland for the very first time. “I get that feeling when I’m onto something with a case. It’s the surprise you’re never expecting, like unwrapping a Christmas gift and finding someone bought you two puppies instead ofone.”

She smiled as if she were reliving a memory. That smile on her face could have melted Mr. Freeze’s stone-cold heart. Yet there was a fraction of sadness in those small corners of her beautiful eyes as well, and I wonderedwhy.

“Is Grace taking care of your dog?” I asked.

“How do you know I have adog?”

“I saw him running around the back, and Jack told me it’s yours.”

“No, Dino will stay at my parent’s while I’m away. What else did Jack tellyou?”

I recalled my chat with Emma’s nephew as I’d given him a piggy back ride. Thankfully Emma wasn’t aware that her brothers had invited me over to their family’s home a full hour earlier to discreetly interrogate me about the dangers of my case and feel me out. After all, they already knew I’d be spending a lot of time with Emma, as that was the point of me taking her away from the city, like we agreed. Although I must say that the nature of their personal questions and subtle threats had me wondering whether they wanted me to keep my hands to myself as well. That was something I definitely couldn’t promise. Yet my fifteen-minute conversation with Jack, who seemed to take a liking to my cowboy hat, gave me more information about Emma than anyone couldhave.

“Jack said not only do you need a man who can give it to you, but also one who can take care of you and love you the way his daddy loves his mommy. ‘Unconsciously’ was the word he used, though I’m pretty sure he meant to say ‘unconditionally.’ You know, his vocabulary is quite extensive for a littlekid.”

She laughed. “You need to remember that Jack is only four and still believes in Santa and the Easter Bunny, so his words don’t meanmuch.”

“Are you telling me you don’t believe in Santa?”

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