Page 87 of Breaking Emily's Rules
I breathed a sigh of relief and went to start dinner.
* * *
Stone
Stone hammeredthelast nail into the hardwood floor repair and stood back. Another room he could call complete. The For Sale sign had gone up, and a few buyers had come by. Not a whole hell of a lot of interest, though. Or offers. The Realtor had suggested some improvements to attract more buyers. Curbside appeal. Light and bright. Stone was trying like hell to sell a house he wasn’t sure he wanted to let go.
But he had to. Sarah had come by to offer her own litany of suggestions. If it was up to her, apparently, the entire house would be gutted and they’d start over from scratch. While there was something to be said for that and starting over, time was running out. He’d been accepted back into the air force sooner than he could have hoped. His orders would come through any day, and he’d either have to accept or have a week to leave the air force. This time permanently.
Dad would understand. He’d always been proud of Stone’s service. The air force had been his life since he’d been eighteen. So why did the whole idea of going back now feel like such a betrayal? He thought he’d fixed everything, and there was nothing left to do in this town.
As nighttime fell, he showered and climbed in his truck for a little drive-by recon. He drove by the Silver Saddle and didn’t see Emily’s truck.
Might be a good time to check out her new place. Convenient that she’d left her new address with Cassie.
He drove around the neighborhood, in full-on investigative mode. While all of Fortune was decidedly smack dab in the middle of Suburbia, USA, there were some less than desirable pockets of areas, too. As he pulled up to Emily’s place, he was relieved to see her duplex was not in one of them.
The place was painted blue, with little pink and red flowers lining an outside window box. There was a small shared lawn in front, and through the window he saw movement inside the house. For a moment, he sat in the truck and watched. Waited for the logic to hit him. The moment when he’d turn around and go back home. He was supposed to be the one who excelled at detachment. Distance. If he’d caught anyone else in this position, he might use the wordstalkerand haul him out of the vehicle by the scruff of his neck. Tell him to stay the hell away from her.
What the hell was he doing? Sitting here, not working too well with the whole detachment thing. It occurred to him, for the first time since he’d landed here, he might be lonely. He wasn’t one given to a lot of introspection, but facts were facts. He hadn’t smiled since Dad’s death. Until Emily. He’d gotten himself emotionally attached, dammit, and that might be a big problem because he was pretty certain she felt the same way.
Which made them both a couple of fools.
The front door opened and Emily followed her little dog outside. “Hurry up, Pookie. It’s grass. You don’t have to inspect it.” Then she noticed him, sitting in his truck.Busted. She smiled, which didn’t help the situation.
He got out of the truck, grabbing some paperwork. “I brought by some stuff you’ll have to fill out for your pilot’s license.”
“Oh.” Her smile fell. “Since you’re here, do you want to come in?”
“Yeah.” Sure he wanted to come in. Maybe what he needed was one more time to get her out of his system. Move on. Maybe it was what they both needed.
Emily picked up her dog and took the papers from Stone. She walked back inside, and he followed.
Stone was nearly assaulted by all the color. The room was a far cry from the countrified yellow rooster loft she’d lived in before. This fit her a lot better.
She turned to him. “What do you think?”
“You sure you have all the colors in here? I think you might have missed one or two.”
Her smile was the brightest he’d seen it yet. “I decorated it all on my own. I never thought I would have this much color. But it feels good. Right.”
This time there was no bed in the middle of the room beckoning, but that didn’t mean he was thinking about it any less. “It’s a safe neighborhood. I checked.”
Her eyebrow quirked up. “Okay. Thanks for checking.”
She flitted around the room, closing windows and drapes. Trying to keep busy, like she didn’t know what to do with him. Again, it had become difficult not to smile. They’d already been so intimate he knew that her eyes darkened when she came, and still she was shy around him.
“Do you want something to drink? Eat?”
She finally walked close enough by him that he was able to grab her wrist and spin her into his arms. “Yeah. You. I want you.”
He wanted his hands on her, everywhere, teasing and coaxing her to let go. To give in to him, to stop thinking and planning. To let go.
Her arms wrapped around his neck and pulled him closer still, and he felt her smile against his lips before he kissed her. Again and again. “But my kitchen table isn’t sturdy enough.”
She led him toward her bedroom between long and deep kisses, twisting and turning, both of them in such a hurry they nearly knocked her dog into next week.
“Oops. Sorry, Pookie,” she said.
