on his phone. “But there’s no guarantee they’ll respond favorably,” she added. “I’ve been fighting with the owner of one of the sites I found on Tuesday. The link is still up, even though he told me he’d take it down.”
“Let me write him a message.”
She laughed. “No. That’s okay. I’m not sure threatening him would improve anything. Besides, I don’t want you to get yourself in trouble.”
“So nothing new has gone up? Ethan hasn’t posted anything else?”
“Not yet.” She frowned. “His silence is a little ominous, isn’t it? I haven’t heard from Tommy, either, even though I’ve texted him several times. What a coward. I’m afraid Ethan has convinced him to back away from this.”
“Isn’t it too late? Your lawyer already talked to him, didn’t he?”
“Just once. Over the phone. He’d like to speak to him again, only now Tommy won’t respond.”
“Hopefully he’s just busy. It is the holidays.”
“I doubt that’s it. He doesn’t want to cross Ethan. Tommy feels too much loyalty, even though Ethan would sell him out in a heartbeat if their roles were reversed.”
She closed her laptop. “It’s getting late. I’d better go.” She started to get up, but he caught her wrist.
“Don’t leave.”
When she looked at him in surprise, his lips curved into a devilish grin. “Stay the rest of the night.”
“And risk having your mother catch us in bed? No way.”
“She wouldn’t just walk in—she’d knock. So we’d have some warning.”
“And what would I do if she did come down? Hide under the bed like we’re still in high school? After what I’ve been through, I’m definitely not down for that.”
He scowled at her answer but didn’t argue. “My mother warned me away from you the night she saw us together in the kitchen,” he said, sobering and changing tone.
“I thought she saw us and wondered if she might say something.”
“Not much gets past her.”
“Did it upset her?”
“Upset her? No. Why would it upset her?”
“I don’t know. She was kind enough to take me in, and now I’m sleeping with her son. Isn’t that sort of...predatory?”
“Predatory?” he barked while cracking up.
“Don’t laugh at me.”
“I’m a big boy, Emery. I know what I want. She was worried about you, not me.”
Bless Aiyana. She’d been so kind, which was partly why Emery felt guilty. She didn’t want to take advantage of that kindness. “So what’d you say when she warned you away?”
“That I wasn’t going to hurt you. That you understand this is only temporary.” He searched her face. “That’s true, isn’t it? Because I care about you, Emery. I would never want to hurt you.”
“Yes, I understand that this isn’t...serious.” What she didn’t get was why it felt so vital to be with him—and why it was hard to leave his bed for hers even now, when she was tired and just wanted to sleep.
“Then you’ll be okay when it ends? You aren’t getting in over your head?”
“You’re pretty damn irresistible, but I’ll manage,” she snapped as she got up.
“Emery.”
She grabbed her clothes off the floor. “What?”
“I was being sincere, not arrogant. If sleeping together is going to cause you some sort of pain, we should stop.”
She hated that such a sharp edge had entered her voice—and for no apparent reason. She believed he was being sincere. What was wrong with her?
He’d hit too close to home, she realized. She was getting in over her head—and yet she was reluctant to give him up while they were both in Silver Springs. It had to end too soon as it was. “Sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean anything by it.”
“You’re okay?”
After how she’d behaved, she couldn’t blame him for being uncertain. But what could she say? No, this is more different for me than I ever imagined it would be? I think I’m falling in love with you?
That was the last thing he’d want to hear. “I’m fine,” she insisted, but once she was dressed, she hesitated at the door. “Actually...”
He narrowed his eyes, his handsome face showing concern.
“Maybe this is getting to be a little too much for me,” she admitted. “It’s been...pretty hot and heavy, and...after recent events... I don’t know, maybe we should stop.”
He frowned. “Is that what you feel would be best for you?”
How could she know for sure? She didn’t have any way of foretelling the future, but she did know that she was relying too heavily on him. They texted each other all day, while she was at work, and spent the nights together. Even when they weren’t in