Page 77 of Runaway Bride's Guide to Love

Things I didn’t realizeuntil yesterday—Emmett and I never exchanged phone numbers in Florida.

I don’t know how that happened. I guess we never needed to? We were just always…there. We showed up at times we agreed on. He’d pop over if he wanted to ask me something. I’d knock on his door if I didn’t want to be alone. Looking back, it was pretty nice. But yesterday, when I needed a way to tell him that, “Surprise! We’re going to be coworkers!”, it was very inconvenient.

Normally if I had this problem, I’d pin on my white girl FBI badge and go digging down the rabbit holes of the internet to find some way to get in touch with him. However, that required programs I had access to at the law firm, especially since Emmett is nowhere to be found on social media. My only choice would’ve been to ask Simon for his phone number, which wasn’t an option. I could just hear my question now…

Hey Simon! Can I get Emmett’s phone number because I need to let him know that we’re going to be working together. Why does he need to know? Funny you should ask. And totally not a big deal or anything. We just had sex one or fifty-six times and I’ve dreamed about him every night since I’ve returned from Florida. Now, I don’tknow if he’s been thinking about me like that, which he probably isn’t, but I just wanted to give him a heads up so he isn’t caught off guard.

Yeah…that wasn’t going to happen.

Which brings us back to right now.

Emmett staring at me like he’s seeing a ghost.

Me staring at Emmett and remembering how his beard feels against my thighs.

Simon looking back and forth at us, completely clueless.

“How exciting is this!” Simon yells as he claps his hands together. “I already feel like we have a Three Musketeers vibe going.”

He starts to go on about what our group nickname should be, but thankfully a phone call takes him away. He excuses himself into his office, shutting the door behind him.

“What the fuck, Stella?” Emmett whisper yells. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m sorry,” I say, trying to keep my voice down. Simon might be in his office, but those have glass walls, and I also haven’t tested how sound travels in here. “It happened so fast, and I didn’t have a way to get a hold of you. Also, why didn’t we exchange numbers in Florida?”

“Because we didn’t need to.” He rubs his hand down his face, taking a second to gather himself. I set my box of personal belongings on my future desk at the front of the office space, not wanting to say anything else until Emmett gets his bearings. I had a day to prep for this. He didn’t. “You quit the firm?”

“That’s one way of putting it…”

He raises an eyebrow. “How else can you put it?”

I glance over at Simon, who seems to be still in the thick of his call, but I also know I’m strapped for time. “I quit after I told the entire office, while standing on a desk, that Duncan stole from me, liked to be spanked, and had a tiny dick. That, on top of the whispers and glares and rumors that had been going around me, led me to the decision that it was best if I didn’twork there. That and I was going to get fired for the whole “pencil dick” comment in front of the senior partners.”

Emmett chuckles, and the small smile that pops up immediately eases my nerves. “That’s pretty good, Tiger.”

Fuck…that nickname…I wasn’t expecting that. Is he still going to call me that? How am I supposed to “get over Florida” if I’m constantly reminded? Add that to the list of things I’m going to learn to either forget, or not think about, when it comes to Emmett.

“Yeah, I’m sure it’ll go down in Carter, Banks, and Fairchild history as one of the more entertaining days in the office.”

“So let me guess,” Emmett says as he sits in the chair that will eventually be mine. “Simon swooped in to save the day by offering you a job. And because he’s always one for a big reveal, decided to not tell me and make it a surprise?”

“Pretty much. He was also crying about how much work it was when you were gone. Me coming on board felt like the right move.” I lean against my desk, which puts me inches away from Emmett. His cologne engulfs me in the best way. God, I’ve missed his smell.

No, Stella. Don’t. Stop. Stop it right now!

Between the nickname and the smells and the beard and the body…I’m in so much trouble. Which is horrible, because Emmett is technically my boss. I’m here to make their lives easier. That’s a boss in my book. Granted, I’ve only had one boss in my life. And they weren’t six-foot-four with sexy scruff that you feel hours after it touches you. They didn’t have eyes that could see every part of you. And they definitely didn’t ruin you for all other men in the sex department.

This is going to be the absolute worst.

I pull myself quickly together to finish catching Emmett up. “I went to my parents, knowing that I was likely going to need a lawyer. Between the suit he filed, the one I plan on counter filing, and maybe now one for my outburst, I figured a good thing to do was go talk to Dad.

Anyway, that talk turned into a family meeting with Simon, Charlie, my parents, and all my sisters involved. They even FaceTime’d Quinn in Arizona. Before I knew it, Ainsley was adding me to the lease on the apartment, my dad was dusting off his laptop to file motions, and Simon was offering me a job with Magnolia Properties. I’m sorry, Emmett. I really wanted to tell you, I?—”

He shakes his head and gently touches my leg. I know he’s not meaning it in an intimate way, but don’t tell that to my body. “I know you did. And I’m sorry for snapping. I was just caught off guard. And I’m sorry you had to quit. I know you loved your job.”

“I did, but it’s what I had to do. I was delusional, thinking that I could go back there and just take a couple of days of ridicule and stares before everything went back to normal.”

“I don’t know if you were delusional,” he says. “Let’s go with wildly optimistic.”

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