Page 47 of Save the Date

But instead of doing any of those things, Frank merely shouted, “Whoops,” and he and Connie erupted into laughter. Emma breathed a sigh of relief. They were going to be fine.

“For homework, why don’t you both try to have at least one phone-free hour a day. And then we’ll check in to see how it went next week,” Emma said as she stood up to signal the end of their session.

“Fine, but I get to pick the hour,” Frank insisted as Connie helped him up from the sofa.

“As long as it’s one of the hours you’re both normally awake, that works for me,” Emma replied.

“She’s on to you,” Connie teased as they shuffled toward the exit. Emma opened the door and let out a slight gasp when she saw Will sitting in her waiting room.

“See you next week,” Emma said in what she hoped was a normal voice. She waited until the Torreses were safely outside before turning to the annoyingly charismatic man sitting in front of her.

“Sorry, but I’m not accepting new clients at this time.”

“That’s too bad,” Will replied as he stood up and walked himself into her office. “You have great Yelp reviews.”

It was true. She hovered around a 4.5, which was higher than most.

“What are you doing here?” Emma asked, leaning against the doorframe. She watched as Will moved around the room, inspecting the details of her professional environment. Luckily, in the tradition of most therapists, they were rather sparse. Family photos revealed too much, and any artwork had to be nonoffensive and bordering on dull so as not to ignite too much of a reaction from her clients.

“I was in the neighborhood for a meeting and wanted toshare some good news. We’ve officially been greenlit for a full season of the podcast.”

“Wait, we weren’t greenlit before?”

Will shrugged as he sat down on the couch, flung his bag on the ground and spread his arms out. “It was basically a technicality. My bosses needed to hear a test episode to get a better sense of the show before committing to paying for it. I knew they’d go for it, which is why I didn’t want to worry you.”

“So instead you had me tell my friends and family that I was making a podcast before I was officially making a podcast?”

Will grinned. “Hey, if my tactics work out in the end I’m not allowed to be in trouble.”

“I never agreed to those terms.”

“Would you agree to them now?” He raised his eyebrows at her in what her heart could only interpret as a flirtatious manner. Emma let out a groan of frustration, both at his question and herself.

Only fourteen hours ago, Will had been the furthest thing from her mind as she’d melted into Matt. But now that they were in the same room again, she couldn’t deny that Will still had a pull over her. She knew she had to ask him to leave even if she wanted him to stay.

“No deal. But thanks for the enticing offer.” Emma moved back toward the door, hoping he’d get the hint. “And thank you for delivering the good news in person. It was quite a thrill to learn something I thought I already knew.”

“Wait, before you kick me out…” Will leaned down and opened his bag, pulling out his laptop. “I thought we could record a bit. Get a feel for your workspace.”

“Can’t I just describe my office to you next time?”

“Not the same thing. I want to capture the ambient noise of this specific room. It will give the show more character.”

Emma had no idea what he was talking about—her office didn’t sound like anything other than the occasional struggleof an overextended air-conditioning unit. But Will was looking at her with puppy dog eyes and…

No!She had to stand strong against his charm. This was her place of work, where she was a professional with boundaries. Even if his arms looked delightfully freckled in his formfitting T-shirt.

“Sorry, but now’s not a good time. My sessions are over for the day and my colleague is about to arrive.”

As if on cue, Imani threw open the front door that led into the waiting room and shouted, “I hate all of my clients.”

“I knew it,” Will declared, unseen from inside the office, catching Imani off guard. “I knew you had to hate at least some of them.”

“Oh, fu— I didn’t realize you were still in session…” Imani stammered, checking her watch as Emma watched with amusement through the doorway. It was the most thrown Emma had ever seen her and Emma couldn’t resist having a little fun.

“We were just wrapping up.”

“Of course, yes. Let me just go wait in the car.” Imani started to backtrack until Will revealed himself in the doorframe and grinned. Imani stopped and considered his face, which was instantly familiar from all the times Emma had shown her his Hinge profile.

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