Emmerson's Heart (29 page)

And there she was in her fitt
ed blue jeans, her knee-high black boots, and her black tee shirt, shivering. But the smile and the laugh in her was more than mesmerizing. Getting the parents away, namely my dad, had been what she needed. Especially my dad. That man wouldn’t let her do a damn thing. When Greg had come up to give her a card, my dad’s anger was pouring through the party and he was right there. Right over her shoulder making sure that Greg had stayed fifteen feet away from her. Not one of the other guys had been that lucky.

Sitting back and watching, I had felt bad for Emmer. That poor girl. She was nineteen years old and he acted if she were still fourteen. Crissakes, she wasn’t even allowed to go to the fire because there were guys down there, three that were brothers. When she had gone down by Rob and Marc,
Dad went storming after her like a mad man; hauling her back up to the house where the adults were hanging out and bragging about their kids.

After seeing her in tears, on her bed face down at her own graduation party, it had nearly sent me to my knees. This was her graduation, her party, and she wasn’t
having any fun what so ever. Breaking down, I had managed to get the parents off her back and promised that I would keep a close eye on her. Why not? It wasn’t like her four brothers weren’t going to be there. No way in hell would any of us let anything happen to her.

Sitting back on the lawn chair, I looked at her. Her tee shirt tucked into the waist of those jeans that molded to her firm, round ass
, making it look the best that it had ever looked before. Reaching up, she raked her fingers though her long golden locks, bringing them all together and her ponytail holder wrapped around them, securing them.

Her head tipped back as the laugh came from her, her eyes sparkling in the glow of the fire. Shaking her head, she refused the flannel that one of Rob’s friend’s had offered her. Shivering a little, she just moved a little closer to the fire for warmth. The little girl that I had given a life to was now grown up into the most beautiful woman that I had ever seen. For a girl that had come to the ranch at fourteen
, mastering an untamable horse as she had was purely amazing. She had said that it was because she was bored, which was her excuse about everything. No, she wasn’t bored, she was just something very special and we were just blessed to have her come to our family.

Getting up, I tossed my empty beer bottle into the trash can by the coolers and sucked in a deep breath. Making sure that no one underage had drank wasn’t as big of a chore as I thought it would have been, but seeing as Emmer wasn’t drinking, no one else really bothered to. That alone had shown how much respect those people had for her.

“Paul?” Sticking her hands deep into her pockets, Emmy slid up next to me as her large, sweet aqua eyes filled into me. Damn, what I wouldn’t do for that best friend of mine. Someday, a guy would be along to grab hold of her and he would be a damn fool to let her go. She was just perfect. She was more than I had ever dreamed of a woman ever being capable of being. “Thank you for getting the parents to back off a little. I appreciate it.”

“Anything for you, Emmer.” Even though I was seeing Becky now, Emmy still had my full attention. Anything that had involved Emmy, I was right there. Maybe I should have asked Becky to come over tonight, but this wasn’t about Becky and
me. This was about Emmy. This was my best friend’s party and I didn’t want to be anywhere else. Nowhere else.

“Do you think that Jackson’s still sore about Ben showing up at graduation?” Wiggling her tight little body close to mine, she cuddled into my chest as I wrapped my arm around her
and felt the crisp breeze starting to chill her soft skin.

“You know that he is, but he will laugh about it later. He always does.” Nodding, I took in a deep breath
and let the scent of her fresh shampoo and horse wash through my veins. How that smell could ever be more intoxicating was beyond me. Any other woman that smelled of horse was actually an instant turn off, but Emmy, it was the only way that a beautiful woman like her should smell. Once again, perfect. Absolutely perfect. “I know that those guys all offered you their shirts, but you should take mine.”

“Please. I am freezing a little, but I don’t want to go inside yet. Jackson will make me stay there and I am having too much fun.” Pulling her arms close to her, she enhanced those nice breasts of hers as she waited.

My heart rapped hard in my chest as I couldn’t get my sweatshirt off fast enough. Like I said, I would do anything for her. When I had handed it over, she smiled with those dancing eyes of hers and put it on. Reaching around behind her, I tugged it down and let my hand graze her nice backside. Heat filled so deep inside of me, all I could think about was just how firm she was and how nice she had built her body up. Simply wonderful; better than any woman that I had ever seen before. Even Becky. Becky was nothing compared to Emmy. Nothing at all.

“So, what are you going to do now seeing as you are all grown up and graduated?” Biting my lip, my eyes drifted down to her chest for a brief second before the dark gray head popped over her shoulder. Of course, not even two steps away was that damn horse of hers. But, he was faithful to her and she was to him also.

Reaching up and not even thinking about it, she wrapped her arm around his thick neck and patted him as if it were as natural as breathing. “I don’t know. I just want to stay here and work with you some more. I think that we could get a few more horses and train and Jackson would be happy with that.”

“You would rather stay here and work this place?”

“Why wouldn’t I, Paul?” Playfully, she slapped my arm, sending liquid heat to rush through my blood stream. Fires burned in my stomach like nothing that I had ever felt before. “Gosh, you’re here. Where else would I ever want to be?”

“There is a whole world out there, Em. Take the chance and go out. You can do anything that you want to do. You’re smart as hell and so ungodly beautiful that it’s not even funny. Why stay here and waste away your life?”

“Because, this is home. This is where I feel like I am something. As crazy as Jackson is, I can’t think of what it would be like anywhere away from him. Will, well, I need someone to fight with. And Rob, he teaches me what kind of guys to stay away from even though he doesn’t know it.”

“Just because you go away doesn’t mean that you can’t come back. You can always come back.”

Pulling her hands into the long sleeves of the large sweatshirt, she cuddled into it as she rested her head against Ben’s mane. “How can I even go on without my best friend? I need to be with him and he makes me feel special even when I feel like I am nothing.”

“Ben will always be here
, too, and I am sure that you can teach him how to use a phone.”

Her eyes drifted up to mine
, bringing my heart beat to a fast level, a dangerous level. “I mean you, Paul. Ben already knows how to use the phone so I would never have to worry about that. When I feel down about myself, you just make me feel like I am special. Maybe it’s because I still think about what you did for me that night and I will never forget it. I will never forget what you had given me on the night that I just really wanted to die. I figured that no one would even care, but you did. You came after me, you found me and if I can’t just go outside and see you, I am afraid that I might lose that.”

“Em, you will never lose me.” Wrapping my arm around her, I pulled her tight to me
; earning a loud snort from Ben. His ears perked up as he nudged his nose between us. “When you look in the mirror, I want you to see what an amazing and beautiful woman that you are, because you really are, Emmy. You are special and don’t ever forget that.”

“Do you want me to think about leaving?”

“No. I don’t ever want you to leave. I am nothing without you.” When she had looked up, I knew that she was waiting for a laugh or a chuckle, but there was no way in hell that I was going to. Not when I was serious. Sometimes, I did think about what it would be like if she had left and the thought scared the hell out of me. Before she had come to the ranch, I was just there, just going through the motions. Now, it was like I had a reason to wake up in the morning, a reason to be there, and a reason to actually be happy for a change.

“Paul, I love you. You are my best friend and don’t ever change. Don’t ever change who you are for nobody. You are just perfect the way that you are.” Reaching up on her tippy toes, she pressed her lips against my cheek, her breasts brushing against my arm and I was hurting. I was hurting something fierce in an area that shouldn’t be at all. But, damn it, it just felt good
; felt like actually being a man for a change. How could I not get these reactions to her? She was everything that I wanted in a woman. Everything.

“You better never leave me, Emmy. Never.” Embracing her, I held her a little lower, a little tighter, and a little longer
while letting the feeling of her being pressed up against me fill me to the core. God, she felt so damn good, so damn right. And that shampoo, that lingering sweetness in her hair, the soft and sweet nape of her neck. God, this was torture. This was pure torture having her right here and not being able to do anything more than just hug her.

“I can’t, Paul. I never want to.” She sucked in a deep breath and I was afraid for a minute that she was actually going to pull away, to break this connection. Hell, I needed it. This was what I wanted from now on. This, her, Emmy. But, she hadn’t. The longer and the more that I just held her pressed up against me, the more that she had embraced me back. Maybe she had known what I was actually feeling for her. Maybe she had felt the same way. This was not a brother-sister hug. This was far more than that. Hell, I hadn’t looked at her like my little sister….Well, I don’t think that I ever actually had. She was just the girl that I had saved that live
d with us. That sibling relationship was with Rob and Will, but as for me, I should have seen her as that as well, but I didn’t. I really didn’t at all. “Paul?”

“Yes?” Oh crap. No. I had overstepped it. I had thought all wrong. Pulling away like I just meant to hug her a while for being so proud of her graduating, I let out a little curse
while feeling her arms actually tightening on me. She wasn’t wanting to pull back. She wasn’t feeling awkward over this hug. Her hand moved up to the back of my head as she bought me to her shoulder. God, how I wouldn’t give everything that I had to just keep her to myself.

“Do you think that when the party ends, we could hang out and just talk? Maybe we can watch some movies?”

“Anything for you, Emmer.” Tucking my head into her shoulder, I found that little sweet spot of her neck and brushed my lips to it so soft and tenderly. It was better than I had ever imagined it could be. If any other man’s lips had savaged this sweet spot of hers, I would just die. This was the spot that I wanted for myself, all to myself. It was so wrong of me to even think that, but I couldn’t help it. Everything was on fire inside of me, the craving of her hit so hard that I could barely breathe without her. Emmy was exactly what I had wanted. And after the party broke up, I was going straight to my place, calling Becky, and telling her that it wasn’t going to ever happen. There was no way in hell that I would ever give up the chance to have my Emmerson. Not when it had felt this right and this complete.

Managing to let her go, I kept my arm around her and walked her down to the fire again. Keeping her close to me, I smiled and grinned happily inside
yet wanting to just tell those damn guys that she was mine. All mine. Marc’s eyes had shot over to me as he lifted his beer to his lips. That little scowl had sent something deep inside of me, but I didn’t care. This was my Emmy. Mine. My best friend.

About midnight, Emmy was done with the party and ready to just go inside and curl under the blankets. Just like any other time, I had walked her up to the house
to make sure that she had gone inside to get her pajamas. She would make it down to my place just fine with Ben not even two steps behind her. I wanted to get the living room ready and I had to call Becky before Emmy had gotten back anyway. This would give me the perfect chance to break things off.

Once I had gotten inside, I grabbed the large, heavy red fleece blanket that Emmy had loved so much off my bed and dropped it on the couch. It had been a while since I was able to sit down and actually just watch movies with her. And usually, through the movies, we would talk, just talk about anything and everything. It was something that I was actually missing.

When the screen door opened, my heart sank hard. I wanted to give Becky a call first and not with Emmy there, but I would just send a text anyway. It wasn’t like we had been actually dating very long anyway. Sure, we had gone out for a while, but not dating. This was Emmy, the woman that I had been dreaming every night about lately.

“What in the hell do you think that you are doing?” My dad’s sharp voice shot through the little house
, tightening every muscle in my chest. Hell, I figured that he was in bed already. And I wasn’t doing anything wrong. Emmy wanted to just hang out like we used to and I wanted to also. It had been such a long time and a little part of me felt like that was beginning to fade.

“Just hanging out with Emmy for a bit and watching a movie.”

“Like hell you are!” Slamming the door as hard as he could, it had bounced back open. “She will not be down here alone with you at all!”