It felt like with each moment that passed in Emie’s company, the more I cared for her. And though I was on one hell of a slippery slope, there was no going back for me. I was falling for her hard. There was no point in lying to myself.
“You know…we don’t have to stay here, all cooped up with the cold and snowy weather. We can go wherever you’d like. Head someplace warm, where you can lay out in the sun.” Maybe getting away from here would help her feel less trapped, and it’d show her that we were good together, and things weren’t so dire.
“You’re sweet, Locke. But my problems will still be the same whether I’m here or on a beach. And if we stay here…” She nipped at my neck, making my cock go hard, even though I’d just had her an hour ago. “At this point, I just want to make the most of our time together.”
I groaned, my cock straining against the fabric of my jeans as I slipped my fingers into her hair and pulled her to me for a fierce kiss, my tongue sweeping over hers as I hauled her up off her feet, her legs wrapping around my waist. Yet before I could take things any further, my cell started to ring, and from the ringtone, I knew it was Dane.
“Babe…I should get this. It’s my brother.” I let her slip down to her feet, hoping that whatever Dane had to say would be worth the interruption. “Hey…I’ve been meaning to call.”
“Locke…I wasn’t able to find her in the police or FBI databases, which doesn’t mean a whole lot other than she doesn’t have a police record. But…I’ll hack into the DMV…”
“Actually, Em’s memory has more or less come back. I was going to tell you that you can stop looking.” Not that I knew anything more about her life now than I did when she first turned up at my door. I’d love it if she’d open up to me, though I supposed that, for now, I was just happy enough to have her in my arms.
“That’s great that she’s gotten her memory back. And…she’s told you who she is?”
There was a hesitation in his voice that I didn’t quite understand. “We’re working on it. Why?”
“I’m not sure. Let me look into things a bit more. Just…stay safe. Okay? And don’t go doing anything stupid.”
The way I already felt for Emie, I wasn’t sure I’d fully escaped doing anything stupid, but I couldn’t help it. Still…Dane, as serious as he was, wasn’t usually the sort of guy who worried needlessly. “I wouldn’t dream of it. Talk to you later.”
Emie caught her bottom lip between her teeth, looking on edge. “What did he say?”
“Not a whole lot.” I leaned back against the sofa and pulled her to me, nestling her between my legs, her body pressing against my hard length. “But…we need to talk, Em.”
She shook her head no, distracting herself by playing with the buttons on my flannel shirt as it hung open over my T-shirt. “What do you want me to say, Locke? I’ve made it clear that I don’t want to discuss my past.”
I let out a frustrated sigh, tired of being patient. “I know that. But for fuck’s sake, there’s got to be more that you can tell me. Hell…I don’t even know your full name.”
“And this is why I wanted you to let me go back to Seattle.” Her eyes welled up with tears as she tried to shrug out of my grasp. Not that I was letting her go. “I can’t do this, Locke.”
“I’m not going to let you just run away from me, Emie.” Ignoring her struggles, I held her tightly to me, and before long she gave up fighting me and settled against my chest with a sob, wrenching my heart out of my chest. “Hush, love…”
I wanted to tell her that we didn’t need to discuss any of it, but it was becoming clear that whatever she was keeping from me was big. And I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do with that.
I didn’t have a fucking clue as to what the issue was. Or who she was, even.
I hated to do it, but the moment I could, I’d have to send Dane a text to let him know that I’d need him to keep looking into who Emie was. I might not ever tell her I had the information, but for my own sanity—and so that I could finally stop bugging her about it—I needed to know what she was keeping from me. Especially when I might not be able to keep her safe otherwise.
Yet the truth was, I just wanted to understand her better.
Kissing the top of her head, I ran my hands up and down her back, relieved when she relaxed a little, the tension in her body finally easing. But my relief was short-lived.
She pulled away from me, shaking her head and swiping at her tears. “Please, Locke…just let me go. Trust me when I tell you, it’s for the best. You don’t want anything to do with me.”
I let out a heavy sigh, wishing things could be less complicated. “I shouldn’t have pushed you for more information, Em. But you’re wrong to think that walking away from me is, in any way, shape, or form for the best. I’d be nothing but miserable if you walked out the door—and I have a feeling you’d be just as fucking miserable.”
“I’m used to being miserable. But this…” She waved her hand between the two of us. “This is what I’m not used to. I can’t deal with the emotions you stir up in me, and my life is a big enough mess that I shouldn’t be letting anyone get close to me, let alone getting in this deep.”
“That’s exactly why you need to let me in, Em. Whatever you’re going through, you shouldn’t have to go through it alone. But I can’t help you if you keep pushing me away.”
“This isn’t something you can help me with.” She couldn’t even look me in the eyes as she spoke, and it was fucking killing me. “And though I appreciate your concern, I need you to either let it go so we can have this one week together, or I need you to take me back to Seattle.”
I couldn’t fucking lose her. “And what happens after our week together is over? Am I supposed to just let you walk away? Because I can’t fucking do that, Em. I just can’t.”
I knotted my fingers through her hair, forcing her to look at me, refusing to let her ignore what was between us, especially when I knew she felt the same way that I did. And so I kissed her with everything that I felt, showing her my heart and baring my soul with the hope it’d be enough to help her overcome her fears.
But she pushed me away, pulling out of my arms and distancing herself as she shook her head no. “This will never work, Locke.”
“I refuse to believe that.” I’d never wanted anything—anyone—more than I wanted Emie, and there was no way in hell I was going to give up on what we had. But if I had any hope of her not walking away, then I needed to let this go. “The truth is that your past doesn’t matter to me. All I care about is moving forward, and I just want to make the most of our time together. I won’t bother you anymore. You have my word.”
I’d prove to her that, no matter what she was hiding from her past, we still had a future together. Because in the end, that was all that mattered.