“You should talk to her.”
She sighed and he knew there was more. “At the Fourth of July party, she told me she wants to give me the house as a wedding present.”
“Isn’t that what you want?”
“No,” she snapped, pulling her hand away. “I want her to sell it to me. I told you that.”
“Okay.” He took a second to think about what to say next. In his experience, talking to a woman in this kind of mood was like sitting on a keg of gunpowder to smoke a cigarette. It was only a matter of time before your ass got burned. “Did you tell her that?”
“Of course I did. But she said it doesn’t make any sense to put another mortgage on the house when it’s been free and clear so long. And she doesn’t need the money.”
He was going to ask her what the problem was, then, because getting a house free wouldn’t bother most people. But he already knew. If at any time over the last two years Cat had offered to give her the house, she probably would have taken it. But the fact it was being offered as a gift for a nonexistent wedding was going to keep Emma up at night.
“Can you tie it into the business somehow? You have your equipment and your office and shit there. Maybe tell her the bank thinks you should build credit by having a loan for a business location or something?” He didn’t know jack about such things.
She shook her head. “Maybe if I was buying a nursery or something, but that’s pretty shaky.”
That left him fresh out of ideas. “You’ve got a couple more weeks. Maybe you can talk her into selling it.”
“And how am I supposed to convince her that going two hundred thousand dollars or so into debt makes more sense than accepting the house that’s been more or less mine now for two years anyway as a gift?”
“I…don’t know.” He saw the waitress approaching with two plates. “But here come our burgers. That’ll help.”
“Jasper burgers are good, but even they can’t help me out of this.”
He grinned. “No, but they’ll make you feel better about being in it.”
Jasper burgers were better than sex, Emma thought as the first bite made her taste buds stand up and happy dance. She had the same thought every time she ate at Jasper’s, but the last few times she hadn’t had sex recently enough to call it a fair comparison.
Technically, nothing was better than sex with Sean, but the burger had the edge right now because it wasn’t complicated. It tasted amazing and it didn’t screw up her life beyond her having to make a half-ass promise to herself to eat more salads to make up for it.
Sex with Sean was screwing up her life. As promised, the orgasms were very real and very numerous, but there should have been fine print. By accepting the orgasms, she’d also agreed to accept a level of intense intimacy she didn’t think either of them had expected.
With mind-blowing sex came the tender touches. The way he’d capture her gaze with his and she couldn’t look away. And he was a talker, always murmuring to her about how good she felt and how he never wanted to stop. And there was the life-screwing-up part—she never wanted him to stop, either.
“You’re thinking about my magic penis again, aren’t you?”
She almost choked on a fry. “No, I am not. And stop saying that.”
“You started it.” He leaned across the table. “And yes, you were. I see that flush at the hollow of your throat and the way you’re looking at me. You’re all hot and bothered, right here in the bar. I was right about you.”
“I am not an exhibitionist,” she hissed.
“Oh, shit.” She followed his gaze and saw that Kevin and Beth had just walked in and Kevin had spotted them. “Just be cool.”
“Be cool?” She laughed. “We’re having lunch, not planning a bank robbery.”
“I just mean…forget it.”
“You don’t want your cousins to know we’re having sex,” she said flatly.
“It complicates things.”
He had that right. She was saved from further comment, however, by Kevin and Beth approaching the table. Kevin had Lily in his arms, but she clearly wanted down and they looked like a walking wrestling match.
“Hey, guys,” Beth said, giving Emma a warm smile. “Couldn’t resist the siren call of the Jasper burgers? I ate so many of those while I was pregnant, Kevin said Lily’s first word would be moo. Thankfully, he was wrong.”
“It was da-da,” Kevin informed them in an exaggerated stage whisper that made Beth roll her eyes. “I was going to call you later. Me and Joe and Evan and Terry are going four-wheeling Saturday. You guys want in?”
“Hell yeah,” Sean said, but then he seemed to remember Emma was sitting across the table. “Maybe. If I can.”