CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Emma congratulated herself on having had the foresight to take Monday off at the brewery. Originally, it had been in anticipation of a spectacular champagne and happiness hangover. But after a few hours of sleep, she’d woken hangover-free and excited. She was going to have sex with Nikolai Vulkov, and after that kiss last night—the one that had left her hot, breathless, and weak in the knees—she would need the day to prepare.
But first, she popped by McCafferty’s Farm Supply on the square. She had planned to pick up what was supposed to be just a few items of clothing for Reva and Caleb and somehow ended up with an entire wardrobe for them both.
She’d dropped them off at Jax and Joey’s and found Caleb snuggled on the couch with Waffles and a blanket.
“Hi!”
“Hey, Caleb. How’s it going?”
“Jax and Joey said I didn’t hafta go to school today since I was up so late last night. I had Marshmallow Munchies for breakfast, and they were the best ever!”
“That sounds like a really good day,” Emma agreed. “Is Jax or Joey here?” God, she hoped one of them was.
“Jax is in his office writin’ stuff. He made me grilled cheese for lunch!”
“Cool. Well, I’m going to go say hi to him. But first, I saw this and I thought you might like it.”
She pulled the stuffed pony out of one of the shopping bags and handed it over to him.
“For me?” he asked, incredulous. And her heart broke just a little bit for him.
“I thought you’d like it since you’re staying here with all the horses.”
“Wow! Thanks! What’s his name?” Caleb asked.
“You get to name him. He’s yours.”
“Hmm. Joe? No. Horsey? No.” His little face was serious as he examined the pony from ears to tail, trying on names for size. She left him to it and wandered around the staircase to Jax’s office.
He and Joey had added an addition to the cozy cabin that nearly doubled the square footage. The second floor now boasted four spacious bedrooms, while downstairs, Jax got a study for himself and Joey got a sunroom.
Emma knocked on the doorframe and watched Jax drag himself out of the story he was telling.
“Oh, hey,” he yawned, stretching his arms overhead. “Trouble at the brewery?”
“When have I ever brought you a problem I couldn’t handle?” Emma demanded, dumping the bags by the door.
“Good point. Are you clothing an army?” he asked, nodding at the bags.
“I noticed Reva and Caleb didn’t have a ton of clothes when they were packing last night, so I thought I’d pick up a few essentials.”
“And a few essentials turned into the entire second floor of McCafferty’s?” Jax laughed.
“Pretty much.”
“Between you and Niko, these kids are going to be swimming in iPads and diamonds,” Jax predicted.
The delight she got out of just hearing Niko’s name was ridiculous.
“So Niko made his cereal delivery?” she asked innocently.
“He texts me at three this morning and asks if it’s okay to leave a few ‘groceries’ in the kitchen for the kids. So I let him in, and he’s got four bags of frozen pizza and cereal and chips and mac and cheese. Comfort food, he called it.”
Emma felt her heart warm.
“What’s with the face?” Jax demanded.
“What? What face?”
“I tell you Niko dumps eighty-two thousand calories in our kitchen, and you get all soft and dewy.”
“Shut up. I did not.”
Jax leaned across the desk. “Those crazy Beautification Committee bastards got to you two, didn’t they? When’s the wedding?”
“The Beautification Committee has nothing to do with me being friends with Niko. In fact, I have it on good authority that they have no interest in pairing me off with him.”
“Yeah, you keep telling yourself that. Also, they don’t call going all doe-eyed at the mention of some guy’s name ‘friends.’”
“You’re ridiculous!”
“He’s a good guy,” Jax said, shifting gears into serious. “You could do a lot worse.”
“He’s not staying in Blue Moon, and I am,” Emma reminded him.
“Emma, Emma, Emma,” he sighed. “Never underestimate the power and pull of this insane town.”
Caleb ran into the room, hugging the stuffed horse around the neck. “Emma! I picked a name!”
“You did! That’s great! What is it?”
He held out the horse for his introduction. “This is Cloppy.” His face fell momentarily, and the little boy looked worried. “Are you really sure I can keep him?”
Emma’s eyes met Jax’s, saw her own sadness mirrored in his, before answering. “Of course. I got him just for you.”
Satisfied, Caleb smiled and then threw his arms around her legs. “Thanks! Hi, Jax!” he waved before scampering out the door. “Come on, Cloppy!”
“Everything that kid says is like a hammer fist to my heart,” Jax said, rubbing a hand absently over his chest. “How could anyone just walk away from him?”
“You never know why people make the decisions they do.”
“Does this stir up a lot of stuff for you about your own mom?” Jax asked.
Emma raised an eyebrow at him, and Jax looked chagrined. “Sorry. Nosey writer habit.”
“Things are simmering. But that was a long time ago for all of us, and we had my dad. And it looks like Reva and Caleb have you and Joey.”
“For better or worse, it looks like,” Jax joked.
The timer on his phone went off.
“What’s that for?”
“It’s my ‘check on Caleb’ to make sure he’s alive and not ingesting forty pounds of chocolate alarm.”
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After Jax’s, Emma convinced Eva to put down her work, and the two headed off to the Snip Shack for some pampering. She was due for a trim and let Claudette, the stylist, work her magic on her curly tresses. Next came facials and the pedis they’d both missed out on due to Fitz’s untimely arrival.
As their feet soaked in the tubs of warm, scented water and the mud on their faces hardened, Emma broached the subject. “So listen, Eva. You know how I said you could stay with me as long as you wanted?”
Eva glanced up over her reading glasses and took a sip of her diet soda. “I’m getting the feeling you’re about to give me bad news.”
“I need you to stay somewhere else tonight.”
“Why? Are you getting the place fumigated?”
“Niko’s coming over for dinner and… dessert.”
Eva straightened, nearly launching the magazine she was reading into the foot water. “Are you serious? Oh, my God! This is the most incredible news! What are you going to wear? What are you going to cook? How are you going to do your hair?”
“So you’re not mad that I’m kicking you out?”
“Ems, I’d go sleep in the forest in the middle of winter if I thought it meant you were happily getting laid by that gorgeous, smoldering piece of hotness.”
“He’s not just eye candy,” Emma said, disapprovingly. “He’s pretty great on the inside, too.”
“That’s quite the change from ‘I know his type. He’s just another womanizing bad boy.’” Eva said, mimicking Emma’s previous stance on Nikolai Vulkov. “Not that I’m complaining that you changed your mind,” she corrected quickly.
“Could have fooled me.”
“I just mean that after you meet him, anyone can see that Niko’s not your standard wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am guy. Sure, he’s super intense, but there’s this genuine interest in there like even if he doesn’t want to sleep with you, he’d still like to know you as a person. Even though he totally wants to sleep with you.”
Emma stared blandly at her sister. “What goes on in your head?”
Eva grinned. “Trust me, Ems, you don’t want to know. Let’s get back to what you’re going to wear.”
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By six forty-five, Emma was dressed in a simple yet sexy dress in a fresh, springy green. Its sweetheart neckline was cut low enough to be very interesting while the slim-fitting skirt stopped an appropriate three inches above her knees. Her hair, expertly styled by Claudette, hung in glossy ringlets that begged for a man’s hands. She’d gone for a little bit of drama with smoky eyes and a sexy gloss on her lips.
The meal she’d kept relatively simple with stuffed mushrooms for the appetizer followed by Florentine style cuts of porterhouse and a light prosciutto and pine nut salad. Dessert, if they got that far into the courses, was a decadent tiramisu that she’d picked up from her father’s restaurant.
A bottle of cabernet was breathing on the table, and there was a box of condoms tucked into her nightstand.
They would enjoy wine and appetizers in the kitchen before moving to the table for the meal. Conversation between them had never been a problem before, so Emma wasn’t anticipating any awkward moments there.
She was ready. At least, she should be, given all her preparations. Her legs were shaved, and her sheets were fresh. The brewery staff was under strict instructions to only bother Jax or Carter with any emergencies tonight. Eva was ensconced in their father’s house with Mr. Snuffles while Franklin and Phoebe jetted off on their surprise Bahamas honeymoon, a gift from their kids.
Everything was perfect.
She pressed a hand to her belly where a squadron of butterflies dive-bombed into each other. Was she crazy? Was she literally insane for thinking that she could enjoy a couple of nights of “no strings attached” sex with Niko before they both went on with their separate lives?
Emma plopped down on the couch and closed her eyes, determined to calm her racing heart with one of Gia’s breathing exercises. It was just sex, she reminded herself. Divine, possibly mind-altering sex, if that kiss last night was any indication. But still. Sex was sex. There was nothing to be nervous about. A careful seduction that would lead to a mutually satisfying evening with a man she enjoyed spending time with. She should be glad Niko mattered to her. It should make intimacy with him easier. In the past, she’d often found it difficult to completely open up to men, always holding a few pieces of herself back. It was safer that way.
But Nikolai wasn’t one to settle for part of anything. Though they had no future together, she imagined his demands on her in the present would be total.
Stop thinking, she ordered herself. Focusing on alternate nostril breathing, Emma forced herself to think only of her breath.
The knock at her door jolted her from her tenuous Zen.
She leapt up, rapping her shin on the coffee table, and limped to the door. One last breath, and she opened the door.
Nikolai looked beyond gorgeous in charcoal trousers and a slate blue oxford shirt that he wore open at the neck. His glossy cognac loafers matched his belt. He held a rapturous bouquet of spring flowers in shades of red and pink. He wasn’t smiling. He was watching her with an intensity that had her stomach doing cartwheels. It was the single most tempting picture Emma had ever seen in her life.
“Hi,” she said breathlessly.
“Hi back.” There it was, that slow, sexy smile that melted both inhibitions and underwear. “Can I come in?” he asked.
Emma jumped back from the doorway. “Of course, come in.” Get it together, girl, she growled to herself. “Would you like some wine?” Her voice was coming out a full octave higher than usual as she hurried into the kitchen at a half-jog.
“You’re not scared, are you, Emma?” Niko asked with a wolfish smile.
She fumbled the wine glass and laughed nervously. “Of course not. What’s there to be nervous about?” Losing a piece of your soul to sex so good everything else for the rest of your life will pale in comparison. Falling for an unkeepable guy and suffering the devastation of loss. Her brain helpfully filled in the answers.
His hand closed over hers on the stem of the glass.
“Let’s just get this out of the way so we can both stop thinking about it.”