Emma knew he was trying to bait her to get things back on normal ground, but she refused to rise to the occasion. He deserved to sweat it out for a bit longer. “Oh yes, after getting all ‘decked’ out for work this morning, I felt much better.”
Obviously confused, Brant studied her for a moment before handing her a file. “Could you please fax this for me and then finish the presentation for Gray by this afternoon?”
“Of course, Brant, I’ll get right on it.” She smiled as she walked back to her desk. The rest of the morning was busy and she didn’t have another chance to heckle him until later on.
“Emma, you inverted the last two numbers on this report; could you please correct it?”
As he was walking away from her desk, Emma snickered to herself. “Whoops, that wasn’t nice at all. In fact, it was very naughty of me, wasn’t it?”
Brant stopped and turned back to her. “Did you do it on purpose or something?”
Shaking her head, Emma said, “No, of course not. Just give me a second and I will fix it for you.” He didn’t say anything else as he walked back into his office. She gave herself a mental pat on the back for managing to insert the words naughty and nice into the conversation. But the boughs of holly were going to be more difficult. Why couldn’t it be December now instead of July?
When she stuck her head in his office before lunch, he was on a call and just waved her away. She gave him another bright smile and walked out the door whistling. She had a mission during her lunch hour, and she had never been more grateful that Myrtle Beach had a year-round Christmas store. She wanted to hug the kind saleslady when she showed her the rack of Santa hats in the back of the store.
She grabbed a quick burger to eat in the car on her way back to the office. Her cell phone rang and seeing her mother’s name on the caller ID made her bite off a curse. The woman always seemed to know when she had five extra minutes, and Kat Davis hated for anyone to have idle time. Emma debated letting it go to voice mail but decided it was better to get it over with in the privacy of her own car. Clicking the answer button, she said sarcastically, “Yes, Mommy.”
Her mother chuckled. “I assume you’re on your lunch hour?”
“Mmm, yes, but would it bother you if I weren’t?”
“Probably not, dear, but I thought I would check. So anyway, I was in Belk’s this morning looking for a new swimsuit because your father says I should get a bikini. I found a fabulous one with a metal ring in the middle of the top, which calls a lot of attention to the girls. The bottoms have those drawstrings on the side like you wear. It looks amazing!”
“Um, okay. I’m happy for you, Mom.”
As if she hadn’t said anything, her mother continued on, almost in the same breath. “So, that isn’t why I called. While I was at the mall, I ran into Cindy Hogan. You remember David, who went to school with you, don’t you? I know he didn’t have much going on upstairs, but the boy was hot and still is. I saw him last year at a barbecue. Cindy said he’s going to the reunion next month and doesn’t have a girlfriend. I think I can get you in with him. It doesn’t matter if he is dumb as a box of rocks as long as he looks good on your arm, right?”
Emma laid her phone down in the passenger seat while she beat her head against the steering wheel. When would she learn to use her voice mail more and answer her phone less? Taking a deep breath, she picked the phone back up, saying, “Good grief, Mom, I don’t want you getting me ‘in’ with anyone. I can find my own date and, for the record, David bats for the other team. He isn’t between girlfriends; he has never had a date who didn’t have a penis!”
But if Emma had thought she would shock her mom into silence, she should have known better. “Em, I know that. I think he swings both ways, though. Even if you can’t talk him into bed, he would probably still escort you.”
“Mom, I don’t need a date!” Emma could blame the next words out of her mouth only on her mother’s continued insistence on fixing her up with David Hogan. “I already have a date!” Of course it turned out that would be the one thing her mother chose to hear since the start of the phone call.
“You have a date? Who is it?”
“It’s no one you know, Mom. Just a guy I’ve been out with a few times.”
“Honey, that’s great. I don’t know why you haven’t mentioned him, but I shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth, right? I’ll have your room all ready. You know your father and I aren’t prudes, so he can share your room. Never let it be said that I cock-blocked my daughter. I’ll give Cindy a call and let her know we won’t be needing David after all.”
“God, Mom, women your age shouldn’t talk like that!”
Her mother laughed. “I admit I’ve picked up a few things from my new book club.”
“Geez, what kind of book club is it, porn?”