“Mom,” Emma groaned, “it’s a reunion, not the prom. We’ll probably leave early so we can have dinner first.”
“Honey, I need to capture you and this hunk beside you on film. I have the picture I took of you two last night with my phone, but I need a better one for Facebook.”
Emma felt Brant’s body shaking as he laughed. She couldn’t believe Mr. Conservative wasn’t freaking out at the thought of having his image plastered all over Facebook.
“You’re no help,” she grumbled to him. Then turning back to her mother, she added, “If we don’t see you before we leave, I’m sure we will when we get home. Now you’d better hurry so Sandra isn’t late to her appointment.”
Her mother gave her a hug and a kiss on the forehead and then surprised her by repeating the gesture on Brant. “Enjoy the beach today. Your father is working for a while, but Robyn said she would stop by sometime.”
Emma untangled herself from Brant’s lap when her mother left. “I don’t know about you, but that was the equivalent of a cold shower.” Taking his hand, she pulled him up behind her. “Let’s go change and grab a paddleboard.”
She smiled when she heard Brant ask warily, “Paddleboard?”
Chapter Ten
Brant’s breath caught in his throat as Emma made her way down the stairs. She was wearing a white, above-the-knee dress that made her legs look a mile long. The dress hugged her figure and showed off her tanned skin to perfection. Her brown hair cascaded down her back in a jumble of loose curls. He wanted to bury his hands in the soft mass and devour her. He wanted to take her somewhere and just lose himself in her until he could no longer remember all of the reasons that getting involved with her was wrong.
But he had been down this road before and he knew where it led.
Emma was even more of a risk than Alexia. Standing before her in his black suit, he had never felt more unworthy of someone. She was beautiful, sexy, a free spirit . . . and he didn’t have the first clue as to what to do with her. If he wasn’t enough for his first love, there was no way Emma would ever be seriously interested in him. She would be back to hating him as soon as their play-cation was over. The person he had been pretending to be while they were here wasn’t who he really was. In reality, he was the tightass that she had so often accused him of being. The surprising thing about this trip was how much he had enjoyed acting like someone who didn’t take everything so seriously. He hadn’t even bothered to check his company e-mail this morning, which was a first for him.
He knew their time was coming to a close soon and he wanted to enjoy every moment of being the man that she seemed to want. He took her hand when she reached the last step and pulled her against him. “You’re stunning.” When he picked up a box from the table beside him, she gave him a questioning look. “I know you said this wasn’t the prom, but I decided to cover my bases.” In truth, he had called a local florist earlier and bribed the owner to make a late Saturday delivery.
Emma smiled when he opened the box to show a delicate orchid corsage. “Oh, Brant, it’s beautiful.” She reached up and pressed her lips against his softly. “I love it.”
His hands shook slightly as he pinned the flower against the shoulder of her dress. This was unfamiliar territory for him and he was afraid he was going to stick the pin through her delicate skin. God, he could barely remember a time when his life was carefree enough to just be in the moment. Even with Alexia, he had always held a part of himself back. He had loved her but was very aware that bad things could happen to people you loved. In his experience, there was less pain if you kept your heart better insulated. After all, something bad was bound to happen sooner or later. He had thought that Alexia was fine with that until she walked away.