Page 55 of Beautiful Crazy

He chuckles against me and the sound rumbles softly through his chest. “You’re a beautiful crazy though. Don’t sweat it.”

“And thank you for the snacks.”

“You’re welcome.” Relinquishing our hug, he pushes me back to arm’s length. “So, what can I help you with? Let me help solve a problem for you.”

“Oh, I’ve got a good one for you, are you ready?”

“Wait.” Emmett grins and pushes up the already rolled sleeves of his dress shirt, exposing his forearms, and inside I melt. I get that a lot of girls go for a guy with huge biceps and abs for days, but me? I’m highly attracted to a forearm and Emmett just happens to have two. The muscle definition, the way his veins move, and maybe it’s how that look flows all the way down to his strong and protective hands…hands I would love to have on my body, it’s all a turn-on for me.

“Okay, Hit me. I’m ready.”

“Okay, so Nancy Rexing called this morning. She’s the woman who hired me to help with this singles night event being held here in town this weekend, only one of the activity directors had to bow out because of emergency surgery.”

“Yikes. Okay.”

“Yeah, so now we’re short one activity for a bunch of single adults and she asked me…” I gesture to myself, dumbfounded. “To help her come up with an alternative.”

“So, what did you tell her?”

“I told her to give me a couple hours and I would come up with something, because no way in hell was I going to tell her no, but Emmett,” I whine. “This isn’t my wheelhouse. I don’t know the first thing about making a bunch of single men and women happy. If I knew that secret, I wouldn’t still be single. I’m just good at documenting it or advertising it for social media. What am I supposed to tell her?”

Emmett stares at me for a moment, his eyes moving down and back up my entire body, his hand moving over his stubbled jaw. I see the gears moving inside his brain and wonder what he could possibly be thinking when a smirky grin slides across his mouth. He’s looking at me as if he’s picturing me in some sort of provocative pose.

Oh geesh.

“Do I even want to know what you’re thinking about right now?” I roll my eyes playfully.

“How about a game of Twister?”

“What?”

“You know…” He lifts his hand. “Right hand on blue, left foot on yellow.” He wiggles his foot.

“You want to play Twister? Now?”

He laughs, shaking his head. “No Em. For singles night. Just get a bunch of Twister boards and divide those singles into teams. Let them have at it. And for even more fun, if you have the space, call that party store in town and see if it’s possible to rent a few inflatable Twister boards. I know they exist because I get email advertisements from them.”

“You do?”

“Yeah. I’ve gotten them since college when I helped your brother and the guys throw that spring keg party his senior year, remember?”

I nod. “I remember.” Visions of Emmett and his inappropriate displays of affection toward his then girlfriend surf through my mind. She was a gorgeous blonde and I was hella-jealous of her. I dreamed about being the girl Emmett was always draped around.

The girl Emmett always had his hands on.

I used to sigh over the way he would come up behind his girlfriend and wrap an arm around the front of her, his hand splaying across her torso. I always found it to be protective if not a little possessive.

I wanted Emmett to protect me. Possess me.

“What are you thinking about right this second?” Emmett’s voice is much closer than it was minutes ago. He’s right in front of me, leaning into my ear, his hands in his pockets. His proximity catches me off guard when I finally let go of memories and step back into reality.

“Huh? Nothing.”

The oven beeps.

Yes!

Saved by the bell!

---