Page 19 of Blitzing Emily

“Long time no talk. How are you doing?”

“Fine,” Emily said.

“I had to call and congratulate you on your engagement. This is wonderful news.” The coffee instantly turned into burning acid in her stomach. She was trembling. “I hope you and your fiancé will be very happy.”

Brandon’s brows knit together as Emily rubbed her face with a shaking hand.

“Thank you,” she managed to get out. “How is Heather?”

“She’s great. We’re both very happy for you. We look forward to meeting—Brandon, isn’t it? A pro football player. That’s interesting.” His voice was mild, but she felt the chill beneath it. Of course, he found it amazing that anyone would want Emily. He’d made that clear before.

“Yes. Yes, it is. James, I have to go—”

“I hope you’ll be able to let go of the bitterness and we can finally become friends, Emily. After all, it’s the adult thing to do. This was one of those things. Are you going to continue punishing both of us for it?”

Emily gripped the coffee mug so hard it should have shattered. Sure. She couldn’t wait to be friends with a guy who slept with her former best friend and voice teacher. When he wasn’t doing that, he’d spread rumors about Emily’s being “difficult” during productions throughout the entire industry. He put a serious dent in her career as a result.Friends?If she never saw James again, it would be too soon.

Brandon’s face turned into a thundercloud as he watched her shake like a leaf. Her stomach was churning, and she needed to get off the phone before she threw up.

“Let’s talk about that later, James. Bye.” She hung up, tossed the phone down on the table, and hurried to the staircase leading to her room. She had to get dressed for rehearsals today, but even more, she needed to get somewhere she could be alone.

“What happened, sugar?” Brandon called out to her. “Who was that?”

Emily stopped at the top of the stairs, took a deep breath, and told herself to buck up. James was the only person who could get under her skin like this, and it was time it stopped. She couldn’t believe she was still allowing him free rent in her head. She was so vulnerable with him, and it was such a mistake. She couldn’t believe she was stupid enough to think he ever loved her at all. She couldn’t believe she spent one minute of her life caring what he thought.

She wasted her last tear on him. She bit her lower lip, hard. All she needed was a couple of minutes to compose herself.

Brandon’s heavy footsteps moved up the staircase. He waited till she turned to face him and said, “Who was that on the phone?”

“Nobody.” The headache was now worse than ever. She needed to take a breath. More than that, she needed to cry, but she wasn’t doing that around anyone else.

“Maybe you should tell me the truth.”

“I’d prefer not to.”

“Let me guess. Your ex-boyfriend.” Brandon’s eyes bored into hers. “Wanted to chat, huh?” He braced one hand against the wall over Emily’s head. “News travels fast.”

His lips formed a bloodless line. She remembered a negotiation tactic she had heard many times before: The first to speak, loses. She swallowed hard. She stood up straight, threw her shoulders back, and tilted her chin a bit. He continued to watch her silently. She felt her chin quiver. She blinked rapidly in any attempt to hold back the tears blurring her vision.

“He really did a number on you.” Brandon’s voice was soft, and he brushed another tear away with his thumb. She closed her eyes for a moment. “He’s not worth your tears.”

She swallowed hard. “Thank you.”

“Well, sugar, I know I’m hungry. Let’s get another cup of coffee.”

Emily was doing everything in her power to pull herself together. He gave her a nod. He took her arm and led her down the stairs again.

BRANDON COULDN’T FIGUREout what had happened. Her indignation over the news of a nonexistent engagement being announced on national TV was pretty comical. Directly after that, though, the seemingly confident, self-possessed Emily crumpled like a wet paper towel over a five-minute phone call from a guy that had to be one of the more stupid people walking the planet, in his opinion.

She could be a handful. He wasn’t used to the women in his life arguing with him about anything. The more time he spent with her, though, the more intrigued he was. Obviously, she was beautiful. She had the kind of understated, bone-deep beauty that guys in his profession were quick to pass over in favor of women who paid good money for perfect faces and bodies. Emily wasn’t NFL cheerleader or Playmate of the Month material, but he’d have to be blindanddense to not enjoy the view. His mama didn’t raise stupid children, either. He’d wanted to meet someone like Emily for a while now. Even suffering the aftereffects of a concussion, she was smart, funny, and interesting. He appreciated the fact she didn’t collapse into helplessness and let him take care of everything. Plus, an idea had taken root that would help them both, and it was time to discuss it.

“Let’s sit down for a few minutes,” he interrupted, and he tugged her over to the living room couch. He instinctively grabbed for the remote, and then dropped it on the couch cushion. “I take it you didn’t want to talk to him.”

“No. No, I didn’t.” Emily shook her head, and flinched. Evidently, the headache was still there. “Now I’ll have to go back to all these people I work with and tell them I’m not engaged, that it’s not true, and I—I—”

She turned her face away, but she wasn’t fast enough. He saw more tears splash off the hands she clenched together in her lap. He knew women who manipulated him and everyone else with their tears, but Emily wasn’t one of them. She was trying so hard to be brave. All he wanted to do was comfort her, but he knew she wouldn’t accept it at that moment.

He took both her shoulders in his hands and gently turned her toward him. “Don’t cry. It’s all right. We’ll think of something.”

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