“Ordinarily I’d say I couldn’t say no to a poke bowl,” Emory drawls with an impish smile as she walks around her desk toward me. “But these days, I don’t think I can say no to you.”
And to my surprise—and fucking delight—she moves right into me and tips her head back, lips slightly parted.
Door to her office wide open, she’s invited me to kiss her, and I’m not going to pass up that opportunity.
Bag of food in one hand, my other goes around her waist and I pull her into me hard. I love the tiny gasp out of her mouth, eyes flared slightly before my mouth crashes down on hers.
Both of Emory’s arms go around my neck, and she returns the kiss like there’s no tomorrow.
I suppose it would have gone on and on, shortening the amount of time I’d have with her to eat, but we jolt apart when a voice sounds at the door—Dominik Carlson’s voice to be exact. “You should either get a room or at least close the office door if you’re going to kiss like that.”
Emory’s face flushes beet red but I don’t have an ounce of shame. That was a fucking awesome kiss.
I can tell Dominik is totally teasing by the grin on his face, but Emory doesn’t know him the way I do. She starts stammering first apologies he had to witness such an unprofessional display of behavior, and next, that she got involved with a player.
“Relax,” Dominik says raising a hand to quiet her. “You’ve done nothing wrong, and I was just teasing. Totally didn’t know you two were seeing each other, but I wouldn’t mind seeing this guy settle down. He’s ready for it.”
Okay, that makes me flush a little. Dominik not only having called me out as a player, but that he thinks I have the potential to commit to someone, which means he might know me better than I know myself. I’d been suspecting as much, but to hear him so confidently say I’m ready actually carries weight.
Before either of us can reply, Dominik disappears out the door.
I bring my gaze to Emory’s, who stares at me like a deer caught in the headlights for a moment, before she lets out a huge snort followed by a deep belly laugh. “That scared the shit out of me.”
“You’re cute,” I reply and loop my arm around her neck to pull her in. This time, I only kiss her forehead before releasing her. “Let’s eat as I don’t have much time.”
After she clears some space, we get settled in on opposite sides of her desk. I pull out the poke bowls but before we dig in, I tell her, “I talked to Tacker this morning and he talked to Nora. She’d be glad to talk to you to give you some general advice on how to handle Shane’s re-entry into your lives.”
“You mean Felicity’s life,” she corrects me, using her chopsticks to stir all the ingredients in her bowl.
“If he’s in Felicity’s life, he’s in your life too,” I point out, and I’m impressed with how sage my advice sounds despite me not having an ounce of experience in these types of family matters, or even in personal, romantic relationships.
She nods in understanding. “I hear you. And thank you… I’ll call Nora after we finish eating because I talked to my lawyer today and her advice is imminently needed.”
I’m not sure if it’s my business what her lawyer said. I feel like it possibly is since Emory brought me into the knowledge of her past, and she brought it up just now, but I don’t want to assume things.
Yet I can’t help but ask. “Good news or bad news?”
Emory shrugs, dips her chopsticks expertly into the mishmash of rice, salmon, and veggies, and pulls up a large bite. I suck at chopsticks and use the plastic fork provided. “I guess it depends on perspective,” she says thoughtfully. “Basically, my lawyer said I can fight Shane on visitation. It will be a long, costly battle, and ultimately, the courts are going to give him some type of rights if he’s sober. Probably supervised like we had before.”
I don’t say anything, just take a thoughtful bite and wonder what I’d do in her place.
She takes a sip of water from a bottle on her desk. “My lawyer’s advice is to not fight him since the end result is most likely not winnable and would only delay the inevitable—meaning he’d get some rights. On the flip side, if I dragged it out, given his track record, chances are he’d relapse before the case was even decided.”
We’re silent for a few bites, and I can tell she’s pondering everything she just told me, which means she’s not made a decision.
“What do you think I should do?” she finally asks.
I shrug, pushing my bowl away because eating while talking about something this serious seems incongruous. “There’s no right answer, Emory. Only the one you think is best for you and Felicity.”
The smile she bestows upon me says it was exactly the right thing to say.
She jabs her chopsticks down into her bowl but doesn’t pull up. Rather just jabs, and jabs, and jabs as she forms her words. When her eyes come to me, she says, “You told me last night that I should give Felicity the opportunity to see her dad, and that really stuck with me. Because it’s not about Shane’s rights or what’s fair to him. It’s what’s best for Felicity, and I think you’re right… she has to be given the chance. I can’t decide for her whether or not she should have a relationship with her dad.”
Now that is actually the right answer, I realize. Nothing matters except what’s best for Felicity.
Fuck she’s an awesome mom, and I know a thing or two about great moms since I have one.
“I think your daughter is very lucky to have you,” I say, my gaze dropping back down to my bowl as I pull it toward me.
“Jett,” Emory says softly, and it’s the gentleness of her tone that has my head snapping up to look at her. “Thank you for saying that. Being a parent is all about second-guessing yourself.”
She’s being very serious, and I’m greatly touched that I touched her. But it also freaks me out just a bit, because it’s a lot of responsibility to have that power over someone.
I play it off, giving a nonchalant wave of my hand. “Hey… I’m just trying to butter you up to get back in your pants soon.”
Emory laughs and her eyes turn mischievous. “We could lock my office door and go at it real quick?”
And now I’m overly interested in where this conversation is going. “Really?” I ask, a mixture of shock and hopefulness.
Emory rolls her eyes at me. “No, not really. Dominik might have given his blessing on our inter-organizational relationship, but we are not having sex in my office.”
I press my lips into a smug smirk. “Maybe not now, but one day I’ll have you on that desk.”
“In your dreams,” she chortles.
We go back to eating. I’m clearly not getting a little office sex before the game, but it’s all good. I let her bounce ideas off me on how the visitation would work. Emory has all the power right now, so it’s whatever she wants.
“I’ll talk to Felicity tonight,” she says, pushing her bowl away even though she’s only eaten about half of it. “I’m sorry… I’m not going to be able to meet you tonight after the game,” she says with an apologetic wince.