Page 92 of RomeAntically Challenged
“It’s actually my paternal grandmother’s recipe and it’s won a ton of awards,” Annie teased.
“I’m counting on it.”
When the doors slid closed, Annie shoved the card in her pocket, only to find it already filled. She pulled out the paper, and her heart leaped when she realized it was a folded-up sticky note. She unfolded it and read.
Annie let out a laugh that started in her chest and radiated through her entire body. It was loud and unapologetic and came from a place of sheer happiness. And when she caught a glimpse of her reflection in the polished elevator doors, the joyful glow and big bright smile was one hundred percent real.
Chapter 23
“Do you feel like it had enough of, you know, theFuck offvibe I was going for?” Annie asked, reading back over her e-mail.
“Read it one more time,” Emmitt said, not even bothering to hide his smile.
“You just like to watch me swear.”
“I like to watch you do a lot of things. But this doesn’t even make my top ten list,” he said, and a zing of heat shot through her, heading for the equator.
It could also be because his hands had been making lazy circles on her legs for the past twenty minutes while she crafted an e-mail to Clark.
They were sitting on opposite ends of the couch and he had her feet in his lap, rubbing his hands up and down her legs. With each stroke her flesh broke out in little bumps. What started as him trying to soothe her stress away had quickly turned into foreplay. And they both knew it.
“You have a list?” she teased.
“I have a list so long even Santa couldn’t compete.” He cupped both of her feet and tugged her closer, then ran his hands up and under the bottom of her skirt. “I can recite it to you.”
“You’ve memorized it?”
“All of the important things I keep right here.” He tapped his head with a finger.
“I’m surprised—most men would have pointed somewhere else.”
“A few weeks ago I would have been one of those men,” he said, and his tone was so sincere and convincing she wanted to believe him. But since the other night on the recliner, he hadn’t asked once about the bed. Which left her confused.
“Okay, I’m going to send this before I chicken out.” Her finger hovered over the Return key, and she let out a breath. “What if he calls my bluff and asks to speak to my lawyer?”
In the e-mail, Annie had clearly laid out that Clark had until Monday to deposit the money into her account. If he failed to comply, her lawyer would reach out to him. Only Annie didn’t have a lawyer.
“Then you give my friend Judy his contact info, and she will reach out on your behalf.”
“Emmitt, the whole point is that I’m broke, which is why I need the money. I can’t afford to pay a lawyer to scare off my ex,” she explained.
“Judy is a friend of mine who owes me a favor,” he said, and Annie pulled her feet up under her.
“You’re sending me to one of yourfriends? What kind of favor does she owe you?”
Emmitt grabbed her feet and pulled them back into his lap. “Judy was my mother’s best friend, and when she and her husband renewed their vows on their fortieth, she asked me to photograph it for them.”
Annie’s cheeks heated. “That’s sweet. But why would she help me for free?”
“Because I asked her to,” he said. “I told her a very special friend of mine might need a lawyer to scare the crap out of a prick.”
“You did not say that?”
“The part about the special friend I did.” His fingers moved up the inside of her legs, then rubbed them down the outside.
“Your website says you don’t do any kind of portrait or wedding photography.”
“For Judy I do,” he said, and there was a boyish look to him whenever he spoke of anything having to do with his mom. “For special people in my life, I’d do almost anything.”
