Page 130 of The Billionaire Boss and the Barista

“You’re right. That was fun,” she acknowledged. “But you’ve got to ease up a little. On a totally unrelated note, when are you going back to work?”

He grinned at her. “I was thinking of something else when I asked about your health. Do you feel up to a trip?”

“Where to?”

“Verdant Falls.”

Her lips parted. That was not the answer she had been expecting.

“Or rather just outside it—your mom lives in the next town over, right?”

Bemused, she nodded.

“And your little sister’s birthday is coming up?”

Her face softened. “Yes. Stella’s going to be five. I, uh, was going to wait till they came here to have a big blowout celebration.”

“I know.” Emma had been making plans for sightseeing over Thanksgiving break, including trips to the zoo and Sea World.

“We can still do that. But we can also go this weekend for her actual birthday.”

Emma leaned back in her chair, chewing on her lower lip.

Garrett leaned forward, covering her hand with his. He understood her reticence only too well. “I know home is not your favorite place. You’re far more vulnerable there. It’s close enough to our hometown that anyone we see could be someone from your past and not knowing who they were to you must be deeply unnerving. But I’m going to be with you the whole time. Friend or foe,I’llknow them and will be more than happy to run interference.”

He watched the play of emotions on her face. Emma was so expressive. He could never take her to Vegas. She would be a terrible poker player.

“Not that we have to go into Verdant Falls at all,” he continued. “I’ve been looking at Air BnB’s. I found a few nice cabins a short drive from your mom’s house. If we buy groceries and don’t eat out, no one from Verdant Falls will know we’re visiting.”

She raised her brows. “Not even your aunt?”

That was a very good point. If Phil ever got wind that he’d been in town and didn’t come by, she would skin him alive. “I might go see her for a quick visit. But she won’t say anything to anyone if I ask her not to.”

Judging from her expression, Emma wasn’t convinced.

Garrett leaned over, reaching out to cover her hand with his. “But we don’t have to sneak around either. If you do feel like going out, you’ll do it with me at your side. Even if someone had an axe to grind with you—and that’s a big if—they would never dare approach my wife.”

Emma released her lower lip with a pop. “I guess that’s true.”

“But?” He knew there was one.

“If we want to spend time with Stella, we should stay at my mom’s. She moved right after I got out of the hospital, but I do have a room at the house. It’ll be a little cramped and your feet might hang off the edge of the bed, but we would manage.”

Emma leaned forward, a sparkle in her eye. “If we were still fake married and maintaining separate bedrooms, it would be different. But the whole point of the visit is to introduce you to my family as my husband…”

“And spoil your baby sister with presents,” he interjected.

Guilt flittered across her face. “Andbreak the news to my mom that this marriage is real…”

Garrett’s heart dropped to his feet. “She still doesn’t know?”

Emma hesitated. “Well, my mom has been stressed out about something lately. I’m pretty sure she’s been fighting with her current boyfriend—whoever he is. She hasn’t mentioned anyone by name, but she talks a lot about men being pieces of crap. It didn’t seem like the best time to tell her that our marriage is about more than healthinsurance now.”

He suppressed a groan. “If that’s the case, do you think it’s wise to be in her house, shacking up under her roof?”

“Shacking up is what people whoaren’tmarried do,” she corrected. “And it might be a little awkward at first. But now that I’m thinking about it, it’s better to face this head-on. The sooner my mom sees us together, the sooner she’ll know that we’re the real deal. Plus, it will give me more time with Stella. I miss smushing her little face with kisses.”

Garrett masked his disappointment, refusing to let her see it. There went his plans for lovemaking in front of a fire…

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