Page 89 of Baby, Be Mine

I should have gone to the restaurant with everyone else, but walking around and seeing just what we’d managed to put together in such a short, chaotic time was far too much of a lure.

A door opened behind me, and I turned to find Emmaline standing just outside the bathroom. Her wild, golden hair was mostly contained in one of those clip things she was never without, but the rest framed her face.

She’d done something with her eyes that made the blue glow in the late afternoon sun. She’d changed into a flowing dress that flirted with the tops of her knees and showed off her endless legs that made my mouth water.

She tucked her bag under the bar then walked toward me, the click of her heels echoing in the empty room.

“We did it.”

My lips curved. “Mostly you.”

She stopped in front of me and lifted her fingers to my forehead. “That little dent says otherwise.”

I tried to duck away from her touch. It was getting harder for me to ignore the pull toward her. Ever since I’d gotten her in my arms in the storage room, I couldn’t get her scent or the memory of her skin out of my head.

And not just Emma.

Holding her close to me with the baby between us had felt right. As if she’d belonged right there with me.

Things I shouldn’t be feeling about anyone I worked with, let alone someone who’d just had a seismic life event.

“Mason, did I do something?”

“No.” I averted my gaze.

“You’ve been avoiding me since…Thursday.”

Since I’d almost kissed her. The memory sizzled between us. She frowned at me. “I’m sorry if it got weird between us. It doesn’t need to be. A little fear and some residual baby delivery intensity made for a sprinkle of lust, that’s all.”

God, my chest was tight.

I fished my hands at my sides. “A sprinkle?”

“Yeah. Relationships that start under intense circumstances, they never last…”

My gaze shot to hers and I tipped my head. “Did you just quote—”

“Speed? Why, yes, I did.”

“I’m pretty sure that movie is older than you.”

She laid her hand on my chest. “Yes, but hot Keanu has no limits.”

“Emma.”

“I mean, am I wrong? And that’s peak hot Sandy too.”

I swallowed. “I do love Sandy.”

She slipped her hand away and walked around me. She had to be able to hear my heartbeat. Maybe even she’d felt it under her hand.

“So, don’t worry about it. I can get over it if you can.” She tossed a look over her shoulder, the wry curve of her mouth making my jeans far too tight.

“I have rules.”

Slowly, Emma walked across the boat to fuss with the stacked dishes and napkins that had shifted with the ever-present motion of the water. “I may have heard about that.”

I followed her to the starboard side. “From whom?”

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