Page 67 of RomeAntically Challenged
He looked down and laughed. “That’s about as efficient as a bandage on a broken bone.” He took a pain pill from his pocket and swallowed it dry. “If this concussion doesn’t kill me, then my kid will.”
“She’s a great kid, Emmitt.”
“It sounds like you have abutcoming.”
“No buts. You guys have raised a smart and loving daughter.” Her palms cupped his cheeks, her thumbs gently massaging his temples. “Maybe let her explore how smart she is.”
“That’s the same as saying but.”
She laughed, soft and husky. “When I was Paisley’s age and my mom would forbid me to do something, it made me want to do it more. Not that I ever did—I was too much of a Goody Two-shoes, like Gray.”
Wanting to get his hands on her for a moment, he ran his fingers through her hair, around to the back of her neck until the short, silky strands slid from his grasp and fell forward. “Trust me when I say, you are nothing like Gray.”
“Why do you say that?” Her breath was unsteady as she spoke.
“I’ve never wanted to kiss Gray.” Damn, her lips were right there, parted and ready. His part—oh, it was more than ready. “I’ve never wanted to kiss anyone this badly.”
“Sounds like a but coming.”
“I promised you that when this happened, you’d have to make the first move.” Stupidest promise he’d ever made. “And I don’t want to be some line that you want to push. I have enough of that in my life. When we kiss, I want it to be real.”
“I wanted to take risks and be bold tonight, but being a bad girl is exhausting.” The smile she gave him damn near severed his heart. It was full of resignation and disappointment, not at him but at herself.
“Bad girls are a dime a dozen. I like the cautious, caring, sweet Annie.”
She rolled her eyes. “You forgot boring, pragmatic, and opinionated.”
“Ah, Goldilocks.” He clasped her hands in both of his and brought them to his lips. “You took a job in Rome. You were ready to fly to the other side of the world, but when you discovered it was Rhode Island, you still took the job. You didn’t know anyone here, had never even been to this town, but you took a chance.” He held her hands captive. “Do you regret it?”
“No,” she breathed.
“You take risks, Anh. You take calculated ones. But maybe if you put aside some of the caution when the right opportunity comes your way, you’ll find you have fun. You might be disappointed, or maybe you’ll find what you’ve been looking for.” He kissed the tips of each and every finger. “Isn’t that worth the risk?”
Chapter 17
“At least you didn’t get a tattoo,” Lynn said, grabbing an armful of warm blankets.
Annie had been assigned to the infusion center today, working alongside Lynn to ensure that their patients were as comfortable as possible while undergoing various types of treatments.
“I also didn’t get kissed. The whole point of the dress, the heels, the night was to take risks and get a kiss.” Annie topped off mugs of hot cocoa with whipped cream.
“No, the point of last night was to dip your toes, not have...” Lynn looked over her shoulder at Penny, a six-year-old sporting a pixie dress and daisy-chain crown, and lowered her voice. “S. E. X. But you dipped, I saw.”
“Not even my little piggy toe, and you know it. I wasn’t expecting to have S.E.X. But a kiss would have been nice.” She’d settle for a warm embrace from someone other than her mom at this point.
“The person you wanted to kiss would have left you with nothing but sweaty sheets and an ‘It’s Complicated’ addendum to your roommate contract.”
“Honestly, I don’t know which would be a more awkward morning after. Seeing him in the kitchen this morning in nothing but pajama bottoms after he rejected my kiss”—Annie looked up from dusting each mug with rainbow sprinkles—“or seeing him in my bed in nothing at all.”
Lynn eyed her over an armful of blankets. “He didn’t reject you. He said he didn’t want a casual fling. Then you ran into the house and barricaded yourself in the bedroom.”
“He’s the king of casual—what was I supposed to do? Kiss the guy whose Patronus is an alley cat during mating season?”
“Who knows, maybe he isn’t the alley cat everyone claims,” Lynn said, and Annie had to admit that, after last night, she’d been wondering the same thing. “Harry Potter thought he was a doe, when it turns out he could change his Patronus at will. Maybe Emmitt wants to change his to a penguin.”
“Or maybe it’s just a bad case of unattainable lover syndrome.” Stacking the mugs on a tray, she balanced it on one hand, leaving her other free to grab a couple of pillows. “And once it’s requited, he’ll be miraculously cured and I’ll be sleeping a wall away from him and his glow-in-the-dark boxers, wondering what I did wrong. I’ve ridden that train too many times to believe I’m really last-stop material.”
Annie turned around and nearly dropped the tray when she saw Nurse Tran in the doorway. “Behavioral Medicine is on the third floor. Now, if this therapy session is over, we have patients waiting.”
