Page 33 of The Love Rematch
“So, you want to be a filmmaker?”
He sent her a teasing glance. “What gave you that idea?”
She grinned and fireworks went off inside his chest. Making her happy was like a drug. He could easily become addicted if he wasn’t careful.
And he wasn’t.
“What about you?” he asked. “Any big dreams?”
“Oh, I don’t know…”
“That’s a yes.”
She bit her lip again.
Fuck.
He shifted his weight in a lame attempt to hide how much that little maneuver was affecting him. She didn’t seem to notice, though, as she tilted her head to the side.
“You promise you won’t tell?”
“Who am I going to tell?”
“Nate.”
He stopped himself from asking how she knew Nate was his best friend, because he liked that she knew. He liked it more than he should have. “I promise I won’t tell anyone, even Nate.”
“Okay, then I’ll tell you.” She leaned so close he could feel the heat of her skin. A bit of her hair fell and tickled his neck. If he’d thought the lip biting was hot, this moment was taking place in a fucking volcano. “I want to move to New York to study fashion and become a jewelry designer.”
“Really?”
He turned to look at her. She was so close, his whole world was Emily. There was something cautious in her gaze, something unsure, and he wanted to erase it. She gave a small, almost embarrassed nod. He put his hand on her leg before he even realized what he was doing. She inhaled sharply but didn't move away.
“You’re going to do it,” he murmured.
She swallowed. “You think so?”
“Yeah. I do.”
Trumpets blared as the band started to play the school fight song. He snatched his hand back as if caught. Emily turned toward the field.
“I think they’re about to honor your dad.”
Jake grunted and returned to the camera, trying to hide the way his jaw clenched. But she noticed. He could feel her gaze on him, could feel her studying him. She didn’t ask the questions he knew were swirling in her head, and for the first time, he wondered how much her dad had learned from the other cops or if they were still covering for their old chief, their old quarterback. She had to have asked him about it after dropping off the flowers—something casual likeHey, Dad, what happened to the old police chief anyway?And maybe he’d told her about the car crash, and that was it. Or maybe he’d told her everything. And maybe that was why she was there with him, instead of down in the stands with her sister.
And he hated that.
He didn’t want her pity.
But he didn’t want her to leave either.
“I think Ian just noticed my sister and her gaggle of merry men,” Emily said, changing the subject, for which he was truly grateful. She laughed and nudged her chin to where the quarterback stood on the sideline, glaring into the stands.
Jake didn’t quite laugh, but he felt lighter, which was something.
Emily must’ve sensed it, because she kept talking as if to distract Jake from the ceremony taking place at center field.
“I once thought about designing a jewelry line around football,” she commented. “There’d be the have-as-many-affairs-as-you-want engagement ring, the caught-in-the-tabloids-please-forgive-me pearls, the keep-’em-quiet diamond studs. Oh, and of course, a gorgeous platinum heart locket for the one woman who actually loves him—his mother.”
