Page 73 of Snowed In with Four Firemen
She bites her lip, and for a second, I think she’s going to say no. But then, to my absolute shock, she gives me a small, tentative smile. “Okay,” she says softly. “I’d like that.”
My heart skips, a slow grin spreading across my face. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.” She nods, and the shy look on her face makes something warm unfurl in my chest. “Okay.”
“I should go,” I say, my voice soft. “See you in a bit?”
“Yeah,” she murmurs, her gaze following me as I step toward the door and open it. I lean against it, turning to her.
I can’t help it—I lean in and press a quick, soft kiss to her lips, my pulse thrumming. “Great. I’ll come get you before it starts, then.”
She smiles, and for a moment, everything feels perfect.
But then she freezes, and steps back. I follow her gaze to see the woman from earlier—Chloe I think?—walking past us.
She stops dead, her eyes widening in surprise as she takes in the scene: me half in the doorway, Emily standing behind me, her hair mussed, her cheeks still flushed. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what’s going on.
“Oh,” Chloe breathes, her gaze flicking between the two of us, a look of shock—and something else—flitting across her face. “Am I…interrupting something?”
“Uh, no,” Emily says quickly, stepping back and smoothing her hair down, her expression shuttering. “We were just?—”
“Really? Because it looks like…”
“Nothing,” Emily cuts in, her voice a little too sharp, her eyes darting away. “It’s nothing.”
I turn, frowning at her. Nothing?
“Right,” Chloe says, drawing the word out, her gaze lingering on me for a moment before flicking back to Emily. “Well. I’ll just…leave you two to yournothing, then.”
A smugness in her tone makes me want to throttle her, but before I can respond, she tosses her hair over her shoulder and saunters down the hall, a self-satisfied smirk on her lips.
I turn back to Emily, watching as she fidgets, her gaze fixed on the floor. Something inside me twists.
“Emily,” I murmur, stepping closer. “You okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” she says quickly, her voice tight. But she’s avoiding my gaze, and I can see the way her shoulders are hunched, the way she’s chewing on her bottom lip nervously. “I just…I don’t know. It’s…”
“It’s Chloe, isn’t it?” I sigh, shoving my hands in my pockets. “You’re worried about what she thinks?”
“No, it’s not—” She cuts off, looking frustrated. “I just don’t want to…complicate things.”
“Complicate things?” I echo, my frown deepening. “Em, I don’t care what she thinks. And you shouldn’t either.”
“It’s not about that,” she mutters, crossing her arms defensively. “It’s about…I don’t know. Everything.”
“I’m not going to push you,” I say. “But I’m not going to pretend this is nothing, either.”
She blinks, her lips parting in surprise. “Tanner, I?—”
“Just think about it, okay?” I murmur, reaching out to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. “I’ll see you at the rehearsal dinner.”
I know she needs time to figure out what she wants—whether it’s me, or someone else, or…
Hell. Who knows.
But one thing’s for sure: I’m not giving up that easily.
CHAPTER 21
