What The Heart Knows (11 page)

“Well,”
he said, shifting his feet a bit. “I guess this as good a time
as any to tell you...” he started.

“Tell
us what?” Meggie asked, turning and giving him her full
attention, pancakes be damned.

“I
have to head out for a bit,” he said, replaying the phone call
from his brother a few hours ago. The man never slept. Who made
business calls at five a.m.? But apparently there was some kind of
issue with an acquisition. The owner was a particularly annoying
breed of pain in the ass and Elliott didn't have the patience to deal
with him. Also, he was due to have a baby in a few weeks. There was
no way he was leaving his wife alone to go travel, no matter how much
money the deal was worth. So of course James was called away to deal
with it. Just when things were starting to get interesting in Stars
Landing.

“Okay,”
Meggie said, smiling. “we'll see you in a few hours.”

“No,”
James said, shaking his head. “I mean... I have to head out of
town for a few days. Weeks, maybe.”

“Oh,”
Meggie said, looking crestfallen. “I hope everything is
alright,” she covered, sounding concerned.

“Everything
is fine. My brother just needs me to deal with a business thing. I'll
be back before you know it.”

Emily
tried to ignore the stab of disappointment she felt at his
announcement. She would absolutely not miss him. No way in hell.

“When
are you leaving?” she asked, looking up at him, pretending she
wasn't trying to memorize how good he looked in the morning light.

“Pretty
much immediately,” he said, shrugging. “I'll pay up the
room for the next month so the inn wont lose the money. We can get
back on schedule once I get back. Talk about designs and all that.”

He
sounded sad, she realized with a start. He actually sounded upset
about leaving. “Okay,” she said, standing up. “I'll
come and help you with your bags,” she announced and moved
toward the door before she could think better of it.

James
walked around the room, grabbing leftover items and stuffing them
into the closest bags. Emily walked around stripping the bed,
grabbing the bathroom towels, and throwing everything into a big pile
on the floor.

James
sent her an odd look and she shrugged. “Force of habit,”
she said. “I used to be a maid here.”

James
ran a hand across the back of his neck, looking sheepish. “I
don't think I ever changed sheets before in my life.”

“Not
even as a kid?”

“No...
my mom kinda spoiled me. And when she died, Elliott took care of that
kinda thing.”

She
couldn't imagine sophisticated Elliott doing something as menial as
washing sheets. But there must have been a time when they couldn't
afford the luxury of a housekeeper. A fact that made James and
Elliott Michaels seem a lot more human to her. “College?”
James sent her a raised brow look that had her scrunching her face up
in disgust. “Ew.”

“I
mean my roommate's girlfriend would occasionally change them. I guess
she got grossed out after a while. And I generally live in hotels
now.”

“Seriously?”
Emily asked, looking uncomprehending. “Why don't you have a
place?”

James
shrugged. “I'm on the road a lot. It kinda seemed silly to buy
a place I would barely stay in once every two months.”

Emily
looked down at her feet for a second. “Don't you want a place
to go back to occasionally that's full of your stuff though?”

James
took a deep breath, finally looking at her. “Yeah,” he
admitted, surprising himself. He did want that. For perhaps the first
time in his life. He had always enjoyed being on the go. Getting to
see new states and towns. Getting to stay in fancy hotels or cozy
inns. Being able to fly off at a moment's notice to some tropical
island. But it suddenly seemed lacking. Empty. What did he have to
show for his life but some memories? Endless hotel room receipts?

Emily
was biting into her lip, her eyes big and glassy. He stepped closer,
reaching out and putting a hand to her cheek. “Don't be sad for
me, darlin',” he said, rubbing her soft skin. “I just
need to find my place. Then maybe I can put down some roots finally.”
He looked down at her for a second, tired, achy, hungover... and she
was still the most gorgeous woman he had laid eyes on. “Fuck
it,” he mumbled, lowering his lips to hers in a kiss he felt
creep its way into his soul.

Emily's
arms went up and around his neck, pulling him down toward her and
pushing into his body. His lips were hungry on hers. Passionate. Full
of some untold longing that made her feel almost teary-eyed. She felt
the slow, sinking feeling spread from the contact, moving up and
down, leaving her feeling suspended. Like she was floating. Or
drowning. Completely immersed in it. And him.

James'
arms went around her hips, holding her tightly against him. They were
clinging to each other, like if they let go, they would both sink,
like they needed to hold on for dear life.

Emily
whimpered into his mouth, his tongue slipping between her lips to
find hers. Begging for things they both wanted but were afraid to
admit. Afraid that it would mean more than it ever had before. Afraid
that there would be no going back.

His
lips broke from hers, moving across her cheek and down her neck.
Emily's hands reached up and fisted in his hair, holding him against
the dip where her collarbone met her neck, letting her head fall back
and give him more access.

The
desire was a pulsating, palpable thing, making her skin feel like it
was vibrating.

Why
was she fighting it? She wanted him. God, how she wanted him. More
than she could remember wanting anyone. “Take me to the bed,”
she groaned as his teeth sank into her neck.

James
bit harder, his arms around her hips pulling upward, picking her up
off her feet and walking toward the bed. He twisted their bodies
until his back was at the mattress and threw them backward, Emily
landing on his chest with a strangled laugh.

Emily
braced her arms on the sides of his head, leaning down and taking his
lips in hers again. His hands trailed upward, slipping under the
material of her sweater and stroking the skin up and down her back,
making her arch into his searching hands like a cat. His fingers
pushed into the sore muscles of her shoulders, making her moan,
pulling her lips from his and resting her forehead against his.

“You
like that?” he asked, his voice husky with desire.

“Mmmhmm,”
she murmured, eyes closed, her brows rested on his.

“So
if I stop...” he said, his tone teasing.

“Remember
that castration threat?” she asked and he laughed.

His
fingers went about their massage. Emily shifted, slipping lower and
resting her head in the crook of his neck. She took a deep breath,
inhaling his unusual clean, leather smell, having a vague flash of
telling him he smelled like a new car the night before.

She
just wanted to stay like that forever. Silent. Not fighting. Or even
talking. Just enjoying the feel of each other. His heartbeat was slow
and steady against her chest, his breath warm on her hair. There was
desire underneath it all, her thighs were pressed tightly together to
ease the need and his cock was pressing into her belly. But the
comfort overpowered those drives. The feeling that it was right. That
it was what she had been waiting for. A safe place to land. Hands
that knew what she needed without words. The slow, sensual
exploration.

Out
in the hall a door slammed closed, making Emily spring up and look
down at James. Like they had been caught necking in the backseat of a
steamy car. Like the people out in the hall knew exactly what was
going on.

“Don't,”
James said, his fingers sinking into her skin, begging her to stay.
“Emily...”

But
it was too late, she was moving off of him, running a hand through
her wild red hair and moving toward the window. She stared out for a
second as he sat up in bed, before grabbing the bottom and hauling it
open. Before he could call to her, she was putting her legs through
the opening and escaping onto the wrap around porch.

Outside,
Emily sucked in a deep breath, her body feeling shaky. She looked out
on the town, people milling around easily, completely oblivious to
the raging torrent of emotions she was going through. A huge part of
her wanted to go back in the room, lock the door, and finish what
they started. Fuck the people who might know what happened. What did
they matter when it felt so good?

But
the other part forced her to stand there, gripping the railing,
trying to remember all the reasons it was a bad idea.

Besides,
he was leaving. Which would only make the whole situation easier. A
little space and she would get back to her usual self. He wouldn't
have such an effect on her the next time she saw him. She watched as
he walked down the path with his bags and got in his car, stifling a
little surge of sadness. He didn't even bother to look up at her.

Ten

She
had been mostly right. Things fell back into the old swing of things.
The staff seemed a bit more at ease. She caught them shirking
responsibilities and gossiping and found herself going back to her
hectic antsy busyness.

And
she absolutely did not jump whenever she saw a silver car drive into
town. She didn't feel a weird jumping in her chest when she caught
sight of a man around a corner. She didn't find herself having wild,
vivid sex dreams about him at night. Nope that didn't happen at all.

She
also was definitely not counting how long he had been gone.

Three
weeks and two days.

So
much for going away for a few days. True, maybe he had said weeks
too. But he seemed to imply it would only be days.

Thanksgiving
would be in several days and the inn was booked to capacity from
Stars Landing family members coming into town to visit relatives.
Everyone would be busy. Thanksgiving meant a full dining room for
lunch and dinner. It meant the staff would go down to bare necessity
so the other members got to spend time with their families. Meggie
would be in the kitchen since she didn't have family in town and
wasn't close with those she did have. Devon would be there trying to
avoid awkward dinners with his rich and opinionated family. Alec
would pitch in cleaning dishes and running food because his family
was all situated an ocean away.

And,
of course, Emily would be there... throwing her hands into
everything. Because the last thing in the world she would ever do
would be to seek out her family for a holiday. Marion was the only
person she ever spent holidays with. She was gone. So Emily was on
her own. Which was fine. She would much rather work so those who
loved and wanted to spend time with their relatives got the chance
to.

James
probably wouldn't come back until after Thanksgiving passed. He would
probably be spending the time with Elliott and Hannah since Hannah
didn't want to travel so late in her pregnancy so they wouldn't be
coming into Stars Landing to see her parents like they usually did.

Even
if he did come back after, he would leave again for the Christmas
break.

Emily
shook her head, going back to snipping the ends off of the green
beans. “You seem different lately,” Meggie said, putting
down the heads of lettuce she had been inspecting.

“Different
how?” Emily asked, not looking up.

“I
don't know. More distracted. Day dreamy I guess.”

Emily
sent her a small smile. “Don't be silly. I'm too busy for day
dreaming.”

“Usually,
yeah,” Meggie said, lifting a blonde brow. “One cant help
but wonder if maybe you're spending a lot of time thinking about... a
particular person.”

“Yeah,”
Emily agreed, throwing the last of the green beans into the bowl. “I
have.” At Meggie's excited look, she smirked. “I have
been thinking about how much George the plumber overcharged us this
last visit.”

Meggie
waved a batch of romaine at her. “Deny it all you want. I know
what is really going on.”

Emily
rolled her eyes, walking into the hall and toward reception. She
looked up, about to tell Devon he could call it a day, that she would
take over the front desk, when she saw him.

James.
Looking carelessly put together in pair of green corduroy pants and a
gold and green plaid sweater.