In some ways, Emerson seemed to operate more like a guy. No mushy feelings from her, or crying at minor misunderstandings. It was refreshing, but he worried about her too. She should be ranting at him for having used her last night, and then having hurt her feelings this morning.

Last night, she'd been a pa.s.sionate little thing unafraid to let loose, to make noise, to give everything. The opposite of the robot he'd once thought she was. Even now, he remembered her moans. They'd played in his head over and over all night. And now he was getting hard again. He shifted to adjust himself then went to turn the radio on.

"We should probably figure a few practical things out," Emerson said. She shut her laptop and stuffed it in her bag. "What exactly is your plan for Cleveland? I'm not gonna just leave you on the side of the road and drive away."

"That's nice but you have a convention to go to. Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."

She was quiet a moment. Was he fine? He didn't have a plan, other than show up on her door and demand answers. After that, he'd probably call a cab to drive him to the nearest hotel then wait until Emerson came back for him. Lame, but he didn't have much of a choice. Renting a car and driving home by himself would suck. And he wasn't about to ditch closure with Hope and follow Emerson around like a sad puppy. He wouldn't mind following her around just because he liked her, but she had work to do and he'd be in the way.

"At least let me drive you to a motel and make sure you're checked in." She shifted then mumbled, "If you're gonna be such an idiot about it."

He gave her a sidelong glance at the idiot remark. How could Emerson understand the deep connection he shared with Hope? She'd already admitted to lacking experience in relationships. From an outsider's perspective it probably seemed crazy that he could fall for someone he'd never met. Sometimes it even baffled him. But it was there anyway. n.o.body made him smile like Hope did. She was in his thoughts almost constantly. Any time something funny happened, she was the first person he told. They'd shared moments of excitement, joy, laughter, and even sadness. They'd talked about their childhoods, loneliness, making it in the real world after graduation. They'd both started new jobs together, moved into first apartments, survived broken relationships with family members or friends. They'd been through a lot in the last year, and they supported each other through it all. Losing Heidi felt like losing a limb.

What would he do without her?

Sadness crept in, making his throat close up. He was a mess. He had to get himself under control before he saw her that afternoon.

Lost in thought, his mind went on autopilot as he drove. He'd been following behind a construction dump truck for a while on the lonely stretch of highway. A piece of debris flew out, catching him off guard. He swerved out of its way but went too far to the right and sc.r.a.ped the guard rail.

Emerson screamed.

He slammed on the brakes and threw his arm across her chest as they both flew forward in their seats. The car ground to a halt and smoke rose up from the hood.

"s.h.i.t." He banged his hands on the steering wheel. Stranded in the middle of who knows where. He looked Emerson over. "You okay?"

Eyes wide, body stiff, she nodded. "Yeah." She exhaled a deep breath. "You?"

"Yeah."

They sat in silence a moment then Levi opened the door. "Let's see the damage."

Surrounded by cornfields and flat gra.s.sy land didn't bode well for getting help. Even the highway was nearly empty. Two cars had pa.s.sed since they'd stopped. At least it was warm outside. The sun beating down on them was a nice contrast to the April breeze.

He looked over the car with an a.s.sessing eye, nodding and scowling.

"What do you think?" Em asked. "It looks pretty bad."

"I have no idea. I don't know s.h.i.t about cars."

She rolled her eyes. "Great. Aren't all guys supposed to know stuff about cars?"

"Aren't all girls supposed to know stuff about make-up?" He arched a brow.

They glared at each other until she looked away. "Point taken."

It was a small victory but he'd take it. "So what do we do now?"

Emerson put her hand up to shield the sun from her eyes then turned in a circle, scanning the area around them. "Do you remember the last town we pa.s.sed through?"

"Uhh. Fayville?"

"f.u.c.k. I was worried you'd say that." With a deep sigh, she shook her head. "I know what to do. I'm gonna hate myself for it, but I know what to do."

Emerson and Levi sat elbow to elbow in back of the station wagon while a toddler on her right bopped her in the face repeatedly with a stuffed bunny. Emerson stared out the front window, brooding. Waves of humiliation and anger poured off of her, affecting no one in the car but her. The bunny smacked her in the face again.

"So how do you know our Emmy?" her dad asked from the driver's seat.

He was wearing a t-shirt that read Podiatrists are always one step ahead. Levi had already nudged her and said he could see where she got her funny shirt fixation from.

Her mom was sitting in the pa.s.senger seat, looking as prim as always. She'd probably dressed up just for this event, because who would bother to wear pearls and a blazer while watching the neighbor's two year old?

"Emmy was nice enough to volunteer to drive me to my girlfriend's house on her way to a hacker convention," Levi answered, grinning at Em. "She's so selfless that way. Right, Emmy?"

"Never call me that."

He ignored her glare and kept smiling.

Maura turned around in her seat to frown at them. "Then you're not her boyfriend?"

"No," Emerson snapped.

"Why didn't you tell us you were driving through, pumpkin?" her dad said, grinning at them through the rearview mirror. "I would've bought a good steak and fired up the grill."

"I don't even like steak."

His smile disappeared in an instant. "Emerson True, we are a G.o.d-fearing American family. We eat steak."

A bunny whacked into the side of her head. With a growl, she s.n.a.t.c.hed it from the kid's hand. His lip puckered out and his eyes widened into big, sad saucers.

s.h.i.t. He was gonna cry. There was nothing worse than a squalling baby in a car. They still had another half an hour to go.

"Here." She shoved the bunny at him. "Take it back. Just don't cry."

The boy grabbed the bunny and went back to bopping it around. She let out a sigh of relief.

"You have such a way with kids, pumpkin," Levi whispered.

"Shut up." This was a f.u.c.king nightmare.

The rest of the thirty minute drive was spent dodging her mother's nosy questions and listening to her father, in Dr. Dale Your Friendly Podiatrist mode, grill Levi about his foot arches. No wonder she didn't visit often.

Her childhood home looked just the same as it had growing up. Old-fashioned wallpaper, covered in pastel flowers decorated the walls. Lacy curtains hung on windows, tacky figurines sat on shelves next to cheap china her mother thought gave her status. The smell of potpourri choked her and brought back a flood of memories some pleasant, some not. She'd grown up feeling left out, but never abused. She had that much to be grateful for.

Levi followed her through the narrow hallway. She pointed out the bathroom then opened the door to her bedroom.

In contrast to the girliness of the rest of the house, her old bedroom was stark and cold. Why they'd kept it that way was a mystery to Em. Did they expect her to move back one day? The walls were painted a dark gray, but the sun gleaming through the window brightened them. Usually she kept the shades closed so it didn't create a glare on the computer. It made a cave-like effect that she liked. A work cave suited her just fine.

She went to close the shade but stopped when she realized they were gone. Ugh. Her mother must've taken them down. Paige used to call Em a vampire because she'd go around the house shutting curtains all the time.

Levi chuckled. "I'm not surprised your room would look like this." He fiddled with something on her dresser. "I didn't expect the cherub figurines though. Some kind of fetish for you?"

"What?" She spun to face him. "Oh my G.o.d!" At least a dozen porcelain cherubs playing instruments stood on her dresser, like some kind of chubby angelic choir. She opened her top drawer and pushed them all inside. "They're so f.u.c.king creepy."

"Maybe she thinks they'll save your blackened, tattooed soul."

"Nothing can save that." She smirked.

"Oh I doubt that." He stepped in close enough to smell. Memories took hold of her mind his teasing kisses, gentle fingers gliding over her skin, teeth nipping at her sensitive parts. She bit back a moan.

"You could settle down with a good Catholic boy," he said. "Surround yourself with porcelain cherubs. Get knocked up and have a billion kids."

She scowled at him, though she felt more like melting into the floor. Why did he effect her this way? He was still off-limits. Maybe not because he was taken, but because she didn't want to be someone's rebound. Once was enough. She didn't regret last night but they definitely shouldn't do it again. They'd only get hurt in the long run. And she had the most to lose. Levi would grieve then heal and move on. He'd find a shiny new girlfriend easily and forget Emerson ever existed. But she'd be the one left reeling. To him, she just happened to be available on a long road trip and had the right parts.

But to her...well, she was falling for him.

She forced herself to take a step back. "Come on," she said, her voice hoa.r.s.e. "Let's go talk to my parents and figure out a plan."

Disappointment flickered across his face then he cleared it and nodded brusquely. "Right. A plan."

In the living room, her dad paced the floor with the phone to his ear. Her mom had the toddler at the table and, as she fed him yogurt, she sang little songs to encourage him to eat. They were songs Emerson recognized. A smile touched her lips. For all her complaining, she couldn't deny she'd been loved, at least as a child.

"The car is in the shop," her dad said, placing the phone on his belt next to his pager. Who knew podiatrists were important enough to need pagers? "He said it'll be ready to drive tomorrow after three."

"c.r.a.p!" It took a lot not to swear but swearing always made her mother gasp dramatically. "Registration is at nine."

Dale nodded. "I know. That's why you'll take my car. When yours is ready, I'll bring Levi to pick it up with your mother's car."

Her brows shot up. "You're gonna let me take your car for the weekend?"

"Of course. This computer conference seems important." He put up a finger and looked down at her. "But you have to promise to eat with us first. You'll get in late but you can leave tonight."

She stood frozen in shock, unsure of what to say. Her dad had never seemed supportive of her career path, yet here he was offering his car so she could get to her conference. Maybe he was more supportive than she gave him credit for.

"Or you could wait until tomorrow, after you've slept," Levi suggested, giving her a sidelong glance. He looked hopeful.

"That's right. You can stay in your room. Levi can take the pull-out in the bas.e.m.e.nt."

He smiled. "That sounds great, Mr. True. Thank you so much."

"It's no trouble. And call me Dale. I'm just happy to help my pumpkin get to her work event."

With a nudge, Levi snapped her to life. "Um. Thanks, Dad. That sounds good."

"Okay." He shoved his hands in his pockets and grinned. "You like steak, Levi?"

Oh G.o.d. She rolled her eyes.

"I'm a G.o.d-fearing American man, Mr. True. Of course I like steak."

"Excellent. I'll run to the store." He turned then froze and added, as a second thought, "You want anything, pumpkin?"

A time machine. A new road trip buddy who didn't smell so good. A live cherub to fly her to Chicago.

She sighed. "Steak is fine."

Chapter 16.

Emerson was hibernating in her old bedroom with her computer and Levi was bored out of his mind. Dale had offered to take him to the grocery store to help pick out the perfect cut of beef. He'd turned it down under the pretense of being sick of the car, which was partially true. But really, he'd wanted to have fun with Em.

Sitting on the couch, watching cartoons with a toddler wasn't what he had in mind. The little boy turned and smiled at him as he clapped to the songs. Levi had to laugh. He messed up the words but he kept beat pretty well. There was promise there.

He got down on the floor next to the little boy then drummed his hands on the coffee table. "Look. You can make music too."

The boy toddled over and copied him. Levi started with a simple beat. Left right right. Left right right.

The kid followed along, lagging slightly behind with his chubby hands. He grinned and a bit of drool dribbled out of his mouth.

Gross. Yet cute in a way.

Smiling, Levi found himself singing along to the simple melody. Until he spotted movement out of the corner of his eye.

He turned. Whoops. Emerson was standing in the hallway, peering in and smirking. He stood up and brushed his hands on his jeans.

"Sorry," he said. "I couldn't help myself."

She chuckled. "Super Levi. Molding young minds everywhere he goes."

The little boy yelled for his attention then drummed his own beat on the table. Levi clapped for him. "Good job, little guy." He looked at Emerson. "Future Keith Moon right there."

"Who?"

"Yup."

She gave him a puzzled look.

"Are you done working?" Please say yes. He felt like an eager puppy that needed attention. He supposed he could go back to Mick Drooler over there and hang out, but Emerson was better company. Sometimes.

"No way." She shrugged. "We're stranded here a while and there's nothing to do so I might as well work."