Page 70 of The Love Rematch
“Ethan.” There’s a rough edge to the cowboy’s voice she’s never heard before. “He caught you with his elbow, but he had to know you were right there. He must have sensed you right behind him.”
Emily goes still as the scene replays in slow motion. Ethan jumping to his feet to go after Frank. Cooper holding him back. Emily stepping forward to calm him down. She reached out her hand. She touched his shoulder. She made contact. Then a sudden blur. Pain exploding behind her eyes. A cry spilling through her lips. She held a hand to her cheek and stumbled back, her gaze dropping to the floor while the room righted itself. By the time the world came back into focus, Jake was there with his fist raised.
I touched Ethan’s shoulder.
I touched him.
He knew.
“You don’t think it was an accident?” Emily asks, her voice small.
Cooper’s expression turns dark. “It was a risk any good man knows better than to take.”
She squeezes his hand. A furrow forms in her brow as her thoughts swirl. Fury and hurt curl in her gut, but mostly what she feels is concern—and not for herself. She’ll deal with Ethan later, when he’s not moaning on the floor. Because every time she hears him, all she hears is thecrackof Jake’s fist connecting with his face, and all she sees is the horror in Jake’s eyes as he stared disbelieving at his own hand as if it couldn’t possibly be connected to his body. He never spoke about his dad with her, but she knew. From her father, from town gossip, from school friends. She knew and maybe it had been a disservice to pretend she didn’t.
Maybe it still is.
“Okay, people, listen up.” Nina’s voice fills the room. “I think we all need a break. Unless anyone objects, we’re going to put this puzzle ceremony on hold for a little bit. Guys, Rajit will take you back to your rooms until further notice. Emily, I’m going to have Rita escort you back to yours. Production needs to regroup, and then we’ll bring you all back to finish this thing up. Sound good?”
A general consensus emerges. Nina makes eye contact with Emily to confirm her approval. Little does the producer know this is the exact opening she needs. Emily nods, trying her best not to seem too eager as the assigned PA makes her way over. While Rita leads her out, Ethan finally sits up and aggressively demands to talk to Trish. A shiver works its way down Emily’s spine at the vitriol in his tone. Clearly, he’s not the man she thought he was. But as she leaves the cameras behind, she can’t find the energy to care. Every step down the hall leads her closer to the man she actually wants to see.
There’s only one problem.
Rita isn’t just a guide. She’s a babysitter, too.
The second her hotel room door closes, Emily presses her eye to the peephole.
Come on. Come on.
The PA doesn’t leave. In fact, Rita leans back against the opposite wall and slides down in a slow-motion collapse against the floor to settle into what appears to be a long-term stakeout.
Shit.
Emily flips around and drops her head against the door.
What am I going to do now?
She reaches her hand to the left and touches the wall. Jake is right next door. He’s five feet away. She knows because the walls are paper thin and she’s spent the past three nights pretending not to hear him pace across the floor, muttering to himself. But when she presses her ear to the surface now, there’s nothing but silence.
You’re in there.
I know you’re in there.
Emily knocks on the wall.
She’s deranged, she knows, officially toeing the line between crazy ex-girlfriend and plain old crazy, but she needs a sign that he’s okay. Because yes, he broke her heart when he walked out on her seven years ago. And yes, she’s never gotten over it. And yes, she will probably love him for the rest of her life. But—
Wait.
What was the point she was trying to make?
Jake. Jake and his emotionless gaze. Jake punishing himself for crimes that were never his. Despite their history, or maybe because of it, she can’t let him drown in those memories, not when the only reason he did what he did was to protect her.
She knocks again.
Still nothing.
“Jake,” she forcefully whispers, practically making out with the wall.
