Page 41 of Runaway Bride's Guide to Love

Emmett nods. “Exactly.”

I still to this day don’t know how Charlie puts up with him. “What about after the baby was born? That big party they had where Simon Simba’d my niece?”

He shakes his head. “I’m still mad I missed that one. That one, though, was random. I just happened to be out of town and couldn’t make it.”

“Wow,” I say. “The fact that we had multiple chances to meet,yet it took a random day at a random bar after the most unpredictable thing of my life.”

“Funny how life works.”

“It really is.”

We share small smiles before falling into a comfortable silence as I turn the movie back on. We’re not even in another five minutes when I get a calendar alert on my phone.

“Shit,” I mutter, clearing away the notification.

“Everything okay?”

“Depends on your definition of okay,” I say with a sigh. “Part of Simon’s honeymoon present was dinners he made reservations for at my favorite restaurants. I’m assuming they’re also paid for, knowing my brother. I told him not to cancel, feeling confident at the time that I’d be able to solo honeymoon much better than I am. The first is tomorrow night.”

“So don’t go,” Emmett says, like it’s just that easy. “You can do whatever your heart desires.”

I bite my bottom lip, for some reason nervous to say this out loud. “That’s where the conflict comes in. I want to go. It’s my favorite restaurant in Destin. When I was young and our family would come here, we always went. It was our big night out. We’d get dressed up, my dad would order sparkling grape juice for the kids as he and my mom shared a bottle of wine. It has this amazing seafood—I swear they’ve got the best clams I’ve ever had in my life—and the ambiance is so romantic. I remember seeing couples around us and they were always so in love. In my little girl fantasies, I imagined one day going there with my boyfriend or husband. Which I know is silly. And it’s also why I can’t go. I can’t let that little girl down, you know?”

I look away from Emmett, because the last thing I want him seeing are the tears pooling in my eyes. Which is why I don’t see him place his hand on my leg.

But I feel it. I feel it in every cell of my body.

“Hey,” he says gently. When I turn to him I see a smile that isquickly becoming a source of comfort for me. “You want to go to that dinner?”

I nod.

“Then we’re going.”

I have to blink a few times. “Excuse me?”

He shrugs like it isn’t a big deal, when it’s in fact the biggest of deals. Bigger than what he did for me the day of the wedding. Bigger than anything else he can do for me while he stays in Destin.

“I said we’re going to dinner tomorrow. Unless you’d rather go by yours?—”

“No! Oh my gosh, thank you!” I launch myself at him, hugging him as tight as my not-very-muscular arms can manage. My cheek connects with his, letting me feel every itch and scratch of his beard. Except I’m too excited to process that the itch feels way better than I thought. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

When I pull away, I can’t help but notice that Emmett clears his throat like he has a frog in it.

Could he—? No. That’s absurd. Me hugging Emmett didn’t make him need to compose himself. Even though I needed more than a few seconds.

Because the more I spend time with him, the more I realize I’m a fan of the beard. And his tanned body. And his smile.

I’m a fan of him. A big,bigfan.

“I have to work tomorrow, so I won’t see you during the day,” he says, breaking the semi-awkward silence. “What time is the reservation?”

“Seven-thirty. Come by around seven?”

“It’s a date.”

Date.

I know it’s just a phrase. I know it doesn’t mean anything, and he didn’t mean it that way. And I know that because Emmett has already turned the movie back on and is paying no mind to me.

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