“No, it’s you.” She glanced around the table as if it had dawned on her how the kids might misconstrue her words. “I’m just joking,” she said, but it was too late.
“Is Officer Em your girlfriend?” the dark-haired little girl asked.
His mom, who’d been helping at another table, looked up with a smile. As if sensing he was about to say no, she sent a pointed glance in Allison’s direction.
Josh nodded slowly. “Yes, she is.”
His answer resulted in Em bowing her head with a groan and a barrage of questions about when they were getting married shouted by half the class while the other half sang about him and Officer Em sitting in a tree k-i-s-s-i-n-g.
They were cut off by Allison moving to the front of the classroom and clapping. “All right, boys and girls. Let’s thank Officer Emma for spending the morning with us.”
When Em stood up, the kids at her table begged her to stay. “I’d love to but I really have to go. Thanks for having me, and thanks again for my gratitude rocks.” She held up her hands. “I just need to wash up.”
Allison directed her to the tiny sink at the back of the classroom. While Em washed her hands, Josh admired the paintings being thrust his way as he walked over to his mom, handing her his lunch bag.
“What’s this?” she said, frowning at the bag.
“The lunch you asked me to bring you.”
“Oh right.” She peeked inside. “Salad and an apple, how nice.”
He took back the bag. “I’ll eat this, and you can eat the lunch you have hiding in your cubby.”
She wrinkled her nose. “You know me too well. But I wanted you to see Em with the kids. Wasn’t it just the cutest? They loved her, and she was so good with them.”
He glanced over his shoulder. Several of the kids had followed Em to the sink like she was the Pied Piper, and they were foisting their paintings on her as she dried her hands. She gingerly accepted them, promising to put the paintings on her fridge at home.
“Yeah, she is pretty cute,” he said, as Em gave him a wide-eyed look when the kids started hugging her. Then he realized what he’d said. “Don’t get any ideas, Mom. You know the deal.”
She ignored him, walking to Em instead and giving her a hug. “It was so sweet of you to drop in today. You have to do it more often. The kids loved having you, and so did I.”
“Yeah, it was… fun,” Em said, looking down at her sweater that was now dotted with red, yellow, and orange paint from the artwork she’d pressed to her chest when his mom hugged her.
“It’ll wash out,” his mom assured Em, patting her arm. “Don’t forget our family dinner on Sunday.”
“Family dinner?” Em asked, looking from his mom to Josh.
“Josh, did you not tell Em?” His mother waved her hand. “I knew I should’ve sent the invite directly to you, Em. Anyway, yes, dinner’s at five, but you come early. We can have some girl time.”
Em narrowed her eyes at Josh before she smiled at his mom. “Okay. Sure. Sounds good.”
She’d never say no to his mom, but Josh had a feeling he was going to hear about this. Placing a hand at the small of Em’s back, he nudged her forward, and they waved goodbye to the kids.
“A little warning would’ve been nice,” Em said as they walked into the hallway.
“Sorry. She sent me the invite just before I went out on a call last night, and I forgot about it.”
“Not about that, although yeah, I would’ve appreciated knowing we were expected for dinner at your parents’.”
“Oh, you meant about me telling the kids we were dating.”
“No, that wasn’t what I was talking about either, but yeah, what were you thinking?”
“I was thinking about the reason why this works for me as much as it does for you.”
“I’m having second thoughts about that now,” she said, turning down the hall toward the office. “Your mom might’ve been happy I was there, but Allison wasn’t. You could’ve told me she was one of the women you dated and dumped.”
“I didn’t dump her. I just didn’t ask her out again, which, by the way, was the reason I said you were my girlfriend and why our fake-dating works for me as much as it does for you. But how was I supposed to know you were going to show up here today?”
“Sorry, you’re right.” She smiled her thanks at the secretary who buzzed them out. “You should probably send me a list of the women you’ve dated so I’ll be prepared for the bitchy looks and cold shoulders.”
“Okay, I guess I can do that.”
She looked at him. “Exactly how long will this list be?”
“Long,” he admitted sheepishly.
She shook her head and headed for her car.
“Hey, Em,” he called after her. “Don’t forget to bring Gus to practice this afternoon.”
“Why? Aren’t you picking him up?”
He rubbed the back of his head. “I kind of told the guys my girlfriend would be showing up at practice today, and I expected them to be on their best behavior.”
Josh nearly swallowed his tongue when Em walked onto the field later that afternoon. There was nothing remotely sexy about her outfit. She wore a gray It’s Football Y’all sweatshirt with a pair of denim shorts and white sneakers. The problem was her legs—long, tanned, and toned. He knew Em worked out and was in great shape, but he could’ve done without visual confirmation. And her hair, shiny and loose, swinging across her shoulders like she was in a shampoo commercial, didn’t help either.
She didn’t look like Em, his best friend’s kid sister, the girl he’d known since grade school. She looked like… someone he’d like to date. He’d had the same reaction Saturday night at Highland Brew, and he wasn’t sure what to do about the inappropriate tightening in his gut as she closed the distance between them.
Run, was the first thought that popped into his head, but instead he said, “Why did you get all glammed up? It’s just a football practice.”
She looked down at herself. “What are you talking about? I’m wearing shorts and a sweatshirt.”
She raised her narrowed gaze. Her lashes were darker, thicker, longer, making her eyes stand out more than usual. He was as tongue-tied as he’d been the day he’d first noticed there was nothing ordinary about Emma Scott and her eyes. He’d been nineteen, and she’d been seventeen. He’d shut down the feelings as fast as they’d appeared, unwilling to damage his long-standing friendship with Cal.
Josh crouched to hug Gus and then took his time working the football jersey over the dog’s paws in an effort to get his head straight. It’s just Em, he told himself as he stood up. He tugged on a long strand of her auburn hair, wondering if it had always been this silky.
“You have your hair down, and you’re wearing makeup, Freckles.” He teased her like he always did. Only this time it felt different. He was using her nickname to remind himself of the girl she used to be. Ironically, calling attention to the cinnamon sprinkles scattered across the bridge of her nose and the top of her high cheekbones had the opposite effect. There was nothing cute about her freckles today. They looked come-to-me sexy.