Overprotective Cowboy - Elana Johnson Page 0,28
carefree and casual, and she wondered if she’d experienced the same happiness that spilled from Ted at all in the past decade.
She pretended. She put on the happy face. She painted on her pretty makeup and her smile. But she wasn’t sure she was truly happy. Not the same way Ted seemed to be.
“Yeah, but it’s better here,” Ted said, smiling at her.
She unwrapped her ice cream bar and kept her eyes on it. “I was Robert Knight’s girlfriend a while back.”
“How far back?”
“Oh, let’s see,” she said as if she didn’t know exactly when she’d met him and they’d started dating. “Eleven or twelve years ago.”
Ted nodded. “Where’d you meet him?”
She swallowed, because she didn’t want to say that. “I’ve never talked to a lawyer. I feel like I need a lawyer.”
Ted shook his head and took another bite of his ice cream bar. “I’m not a lawyer anymore, Emma.”
“No?”
“No, ma’am. I got disbarred when I got convicted.” He glanced at her, and her heart positively hurt for him. A flash of pain crossed his face, but it didn’t stay long. “It was a good run, and I’m okay.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” He finished his ice cream bar. “That’s it? You were Robert Knight’s girlfriend?”
“Yes,” she said.
“How long?”
“Five or six months?” she said, making it sound like a question. It had actually been eight months, as they’d dated for almost the entire school year.
“Did you know he was in a crime family?”
“Not at first,” she said. “But yes, I eventually realized how he made his money.”
“And how was he doing that when you were with him?”
“It was my understanding that he was doing something fraudulent with real estate.”
“Really?” Ted looked at him. “It wasn’t drugs?”
“His brother ran that, I think,” Emma said, her mind spiraling into a dark corner that she didn’t let herself visit very often.
“Larry?”
“Yeah,” Emma said. “Larry. I only met him once, and he was…creepy.” She shuddered and took a bite of her ice cream.
“I’ll bet,” Ted said.
“What were you guys investigating them for?”
“Everything you can think of,” Ted said. “No one ever talked to you?”
“No, sir.”
“Oh, do not ‘sir’ me,” Ted said, chuckling. “I’m not your father.”
Emma giggled, the cold ice cream settling easily in her stomach. “How old are you?”
“Thirty-nine, ma’am.”
“I’m thirty-seven.”
“I wasn’t going to ask,” he said. “I have some manners.”
Emma nudged him with her shoulder. “You have plenty of manners.” She licked her stick clean and tucked it into the wrapper.
“Thank you, Emma.” Ted reached over and took her hand in his, real slow, as if giving her an opportunity to pull away. She didn’t, and her fingers settled easily between his as if their hands had been made to connect.
“I like it when you say my name like that,” she said, surprised at everything happening right now.
His phone rang, but he held her gaze for an extra moment before pulling it out with his free hand. He set it on the counter in front of him and said, “It’s my mom.” He tapped the call on and touched the speaker button. “Hey, Ma.”
“Teddy,” she said, and Emma’s fingers automatically tightened. Ted met her gaze, and fireworks popped through her bloodstream.
Teddy? she mouthed, her eyebrows going up.
He grinned and shook his head as his mother started talking about when she could come visit. His sister was going to drive, and his brother was going to come with his father another time. Emma deduced that Ted’s parents were divorced, and she was glad when she heard them say they’d be there on Saturday.
She’d be gone Saturday, and if he was preoccupied, she wouldn’t have to explain anything to him.
“All right, Ma,” he said. “See you then. Love you.” He tapped the phone button, and the call ended. He glanced at Emma.
Before he could say anything, she asked, “Can I call you Teddy?”
“Absolutely not,” he said, a mischievous glint in his eyes.
“No?” She giggled again, a thread a happiness pulling through her. True happiness. She’d almost forgotten what it felt like.
“No,” he said. “Two people on this planet call me Teddy, and I don’t want you to be one of them.”
“Who besides your mom?”
“Nate,” Ted said.
“You’re kidding.”
“We bonded in prison,” Ted said with a shrug. “He’s my brother now.”
Emma liked the idea of that, and she realized in that moment how many holes she had in her life. She didn’t have anyone like a Nate in her life. Even Ginger, though Emma pretended like they were close, she’d held at arm’s length. She knew Ginger really well,