What The Heart Knows (17 page)

With
a deep breath, he opened the door and rushed in before he could think
better of it.

He
found himself in a large square room, a kitchen to the far left with
a dining table with eight chairs. Directly forward was a a hallway
with doors on each side. Staff quarters, he guessed.

To
the right of the room was a large sitting area with huge plush plaid
couches, a fireplace and a massive TV set. And there sitting on one
of those couches, was Emily.

“You're
not supposed to be here,” Aria said to his side.

He
turned to her, a charming smile on his face. “I wasn't aware
Emily worked here.”

Aria
lifted one of her flawless black brows, crossing her arms over her
chest, looking every bit like she intended to kick him out of her
common room no matter what his argument was. “Look, hold up,”
he said, reaching in his pocket for his phone and quickly punching in
a number and dialing. He switched it to speaker when he heard the
other end pick up. “Dev, it's James,” he said, watching
Aria's eyes widen. “tell the lovely Aria here that I am allowed
in the staff common room for a minute to fetch Emily.”

There
was a second of silence before Devon made a quiet laughing sound.
“Aria... baby, honey, sugar, darling,” he said and James
watched as Aria's face twisted into a mask of horror. “James
Michaels can go anywhere he wants to go in that lodge. Especially if
he is going to
fetch
Emily.
In fact, I would like you to send me the security footage of that
happening.”

Aria
glared at the phone, then glared at James and dropped her hands.
“Fine,” she said, walking away.

“Something
going on there?” James asked, putting the phone up to his ear.

“Something
going on with you and Em?” Dev countered and James smiled.

“None
of my business. Got it,” he said. “Thanks, Dev. Maude
says we should be able to head back by morning. I trust you're
holding down the fort.”

“Oh,
you know me. I'm whipping these guys into shape. Meggie said to thank
you for doing the dishes. I think she is half in love with you for
it.”

James
laughed. “Tell her it was nothing. See you guys tomorrow.”

“See
ya.”

James
slipped his phone into his pocket, watching as Emily picked at a
large coffee cake muffin. She seemed peaceful sitting there, socked
feet up on the cushion, looking out the window that overlooked the
steep drop into the lake. It was strange to see her so still. He
almost didn't want to disturb her.

But
they needed to talk. And she needed to stop avoiding him.

He
walked over slowly, sitting down by her feet, enjoying the shock on
her face as she realized
who
it was. “I looked for you for hours,” he said, not
looking at her. “And then the strangest thing happened. I saw
Aria with a plate full of sweet things. So I followed her...”

“You
followed her?” Emily asked over a mouthful of food. What the
hell? Who followed people around into restricted areas?

“Yup.
And then I had to call Devon to have him give me access.”

“Seriously?”
Emily asked, dangerously close to laughing. Who went through all of
that when they could have just paged her at the front desk? She
wouldn't have answered the page. But that wasn't the point.

“Mmmhmm.
I think Dev and Aria have something going on,” he said, sending
her a conspiratory look.

“No
way,” Emily said, shaking her head.

“Yeah
way. He called her 'baby, honey, sugar, darling' and she looked
mortified. Cant blame him. She's gorgeous.”

“Yeah
she is,” Emily said, stretching her feet out over his legs.
“I'd do her,” she said, laughing.

James
closed his eyes, holding a finger up at her. “One minute. I
need to picture that.” His hands went to her feet, slowly
massaging the arches.

Emily
rolled her neck, settling back against the pillows behind her.
“Typical man,” she mumbled, resisting the urge to just
melt into the couch. Was there anything that felt as good as a foot
massage you didn't even have to ask for?

They
fell into a companionable silence, James pressing his fingers into
her tired feet, Emily trying to pretend it wasn't a huge turn-on.

“Maude
said the roads should be clear by morning,” he said after a
while, watching the fire crackle in the fireplace.

“Good,”
Emily said, nodding. It would be good to get things back to normal.
Back on track. Things were too confusing there. With all the
firelight and the snow. Being romantically stranded in a lodge.
Forced to share a room. It was all just too much.

The
world outside was getting dark. She wondered how late it was. Seven?
Eight? She felt completely drained. From the sex, yeah. But mostly
from the uncertainty, the worry about what was happening. About what
might happen. She just wanted to curl up on her little couch and go
to sleep, straight through to morning when they could go back to
their normal lives.

“Don't
sleep here,” James said, watching her rest her head against the
cushion and close her eyes. “There's a perfectly nice bed
upstairs. Plenty big enough. You don't even have to touch me if you
don't want to.”

Lord,
how she wanted to.

Emily
took a deep breath, pulling her feet off his lap and setting them
down on the floor. “Fine,” she said, grabbing her plate
of goodies and standing.

James
tried not to celebrate prematurely. It was a victory, yes. But a
small one. He followed behind her as they walked through the great
room and up the stairs, letting her take the literal lead so maybe
mentally she would believe she had the metaphorical one.

She
opened the door, putting the food down on the desk and looking at the
bed with an expression of dread.

“Any
particular side?” James asked, reaching for the remote to the
TV.

“Don't
suppose I could get the whole thing?” she asked, smiling.

“Not
a chance,” James shook his head. “I don't care how pretty
you are, I'm not sleeping on the floor.”

Emily
shook her head, trying not to focus on the fact that he called her
pretty. “The left,” she said, moving to lay down on her
side. James got in the bed on the right side, carelessly flicking
through the channels. Ignoring her. Like she wasn't even there. How
was that even possible? She was so hyper aware of each move he made,
how his body was only about three inches from hers. That if she
shifted
even
the slightest in her sleep, she would probably end up on top of him.

Maybe
that was because he just needed to get her out of his system. Maybe
that was all it was for him. A good lay and he could go back to
acting like there was never anything there.

A
part of her wished she were able to do that. The other part, a larger
part, felt nothing but sadness at the idea.

Emily
looked over at the TV when he finally stopped clicking through
channels. Her eyebrows drew together, glancing at him. “Dragnet?
Really?”

“Who
doesn't love Joe Friday and all his stoic manliness?” James
asked, putting a hand to his heart.

“You're
such a weirdo,” Emily said, rolling her eyes.

“Yeah,
but I'm so good looking that it all evens out,” he said,
leaning down and pulling the comforter up over their bodies.

Emily
pulled the comforter up to her chin, turning slightly onto her side,
toward him or she wouldn't be able to see the TV.

“This
is a good episode,” James said, pointing at the TV. “There's
this kid that is all hopped up on LSD and has painted himself blue.
What do they call him, you ask? Why, Blue Boy of course.”

“Shh,”
Emily said curling up. “don't ruin it.”

James
looked down at her, smiling at the top of her head. Underneath all
the hard ass, boss lady facade, she was adorable. She would hate that
descriptor, but it was true. She was soft and sweet and damn if he
didn't want to just reach down and pull her into his arms. But that
was out of the question. He needed to let her happen upon the same
realization that he did: that it was much better to surrender to it
than fight it.

They
watched two episodes of Dragnet which switched to reruns of Adam-12
and she felt her eyes getting heavy. She turned completely onto her
side facing him, pulling her legs up into her chest and letting
herself slowly drift off to sleep.

She
woke up early in the morning laying the across the bed. And,
therefore, across him. The side of her face was pressed into the soft
material of his sweatshirt right in the center of his stomach. Her
feet were dangling off the other end of the bed. She blinked to clear
her eyes, looking up to find James already awake looking down at her.

“Hey,”
she said sleepily, not looking away. There was something in that
moment that felt soft and sweet and welcoming and she knew that if
she broke the contact, it would all fall away.

“Hey
you,” he said, reaching down and stroking her cheek.

Emily
took a breath, leaning into his hand. They could just pretend it was
still the night before. That it was all part of the same stupid
mistake. That it didn't count.

She
rose up slowly, moving her body onto his chest, rising up on her
arms, looking down at him wrapped inside the curtain of her deep red
hair. His hands moved to her hips, more of a caress than a hug, but
she felt herself sink into it. Into him. Into the strange floating
unreality of that moment.

She
lowered her face to his, her lips brushing him with an uncertain
hesitance. But even at the slight contact, she felt the desire spread
through her belly and outward. Every inch of her skin felt sensitive,
alert, even though her brain felt like it was stuck in some kind of
dream.

She
drew a breath, making a choice, and throwing every bit of confused,
frustrated longing into the kiss. Like it was the beginning. Like it
was the end.

Because
that's exactly what it was. She would never get the chance to feel
this again. So she was going to jump in and let herself drown in it.

James
laid back and let her explore, her lips gentle but passionate against
his, seeking things he couldn't even begin to understand, let alone
offer her. But there was something there that hadn't been before. A
soft hum of something deeper, something that made him feel warm and
comforted. His hands moved up and down her back, first over and then
under her shirt as her lips stayed on his.

Emily
pushed herself up, straddling his waist, slowly pulling her shirt up
and over her head. James' hands moved to her hips for a long moment
before sliding up the skin of her belly to cup her breasts, rubbing
his thumbs over the raised points. Emily took a deep breath, tilting
her head up to the ceiling and easing into the sensations.

She
slipped her hips lower on his pelvis, finding his hardness and
letting it press against her heat. Intimate yet chaste. She took a
deep breath, slowly sliding her body up and down his, feeling her
need growing.

James'
breath hissed out of his mouth, looking up at her body, feeling her
pressing against him. He never wanted that moment to end. The
closeness. The lack of thought. The simple feeling.

Emily
moved upward, placing her hands on top of his on her breasts and
pulling them down to the waistband of her pants. His hands slipped
slightly under the material, pulling them down. Emily lifted one leg
at a time, getting free of the material. She lifted up higher so he
could remove his pants, leaning across toward the nightstand for her
purse, opening the inside zipper and pulling out a condom. James took
it from her as she leaned forward to take his lips in hers again.
Soft. Full of promises of what was to come.

James'
hands moved to her back, sliding slowly down, cupping her ass, then
moving back up. Emily moved back up, reaching between them, and
guiding him toward her entrance. She pushed down excruciatingly
slowly, feeling every inch of him stretch and fill her.

The
hands on her hips were gripping hard. He ground his teeth together to
keep his calm as he felt her hot pussy grab at his cock, pulling him
in deeper as slowly as possible. She closed her eyes as her body
pressed down on his, sighing.