“I’d like to make you squirm right now too, babe,” I whispered.
“Later,” Emily said. She stood up.
“After dinner,” I said as I stood up.
“Dinner?”
“You and me. Jackson and Callie.”
“Okay. I’d love that.”
What? No fighting? No arguing? No hating Jackson?
“Jackson is excited,” I said.
“Why’s that?”
I opened my mouth but collected myself.
No bringing up that other person’s name.
“Jackson gets excited by the clouds moving in the sky,” I said. “He’s a weirdo.”
“Can’t wait for tonight,” Emily said.
I moved closer to her and slid my right hand to the small of her back. “You have no idea what you mean to me, babe.”
She put her hands to my chest. “You make me flustered, Liam. But I love you. Now let me get back to work.”
I stole another kiss and watched Emily get back to work.
She took a few deep breaths but her cheeks remained bright red.
Tonight was going to be unforgettable.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Emily
I went too far with the makeup.
Way too far.
As I stared at myself in the mirror, I heard circus music playing around me.
I groaned.
Makeup was not my thing. I didn’t banish it from my life, but I also didn’t do…
This.
I touched my cheeks.
My coverup was a blanket on my face.
I looked down at the sink and there were sprinkles of the coverup all over the sink and the faucet.
That’s when I realized I was nervous.
Nervous to go out with Liam.
It seemed kind of dumb though.
Liam and I had been spending almost every day together. And every night too. We told each other our feelings. We said we loved each other.
I had met Jackson before. I knew how he was.
It wasn’t even that.
It wasn’t about Jackson and Callie.
It was about Liam and I.
This whole thing.
I thought about what I was doing with my life.
Running a struggling bakery. Singing on stage (which didn’t pay, but oh well).
Somehow I connected the dots between all that and the makeup on my face.
I put up a finger and stepped away from the sink.
I swiped my phone off the edge of the sink, left the bathroom and made a run for the apartment door.
No, I wasn’t taking off to another state to change my name, dye my hair, and forget about my life.
I needed advice.
After a short run, I stood outside Miss Crabapple’s door and knocked.
She answered it with a smile on her face.
“Emily,” she said.
“I look like a clown.”
“No, you don’t.”
“I don’t wear makeup. Help.”
“You want me to do your makeup for you?” Miss Crabapple offered.
“Yes, please.”
“Wait right here,” she said.
Miss Crabapple disappeared and returned with a wet paper towel.
“This is all you need,” she said.
“Meaning?”
“Emily. You’re beautiful the way you are. I assume you’re trying something new because of Liam.”
I nodded. “Yeah.”
“I see the way that man looks at you. You don’t need makeup. You just need to be you. Be yourself.”
“Not look like a clown?” I asked.
“You do not look like a clown at all. But I can tell you’re flustered. What’s the big occasion tonight?”
“I don’t know. There isn’t one. We’re just going out. I just…”
“Ah,” Miss Crabapple said. “You’re happy. You deserve to be happy. Go be it.”
I clutched the wet paper towel. “Thank you.”
“I guess this means he’s declared his love for you?” Miss Crabapple asked.
“Yes.”
“So I better tame myself around him.”
“You could,” I said.
She smiled. “Have a good time tonight, Emily.”
I looked at the wet paper towel and shook my head.
I hurried back down to my apartment so I could clean myself up and just be me. Just be Emily. Just be Em.
I shivered thinking about Liam calling me Em.
I opened the door to my floor and took three steps before stopping.
Somebody was at my apartment.
Sitting on the floor.
Their back against my door.
I took a few more steps and stopped again.
I gasped.
Miranda looked at me, her eyes filled with tears.
“I need a drink, Emily,” she said in a low voice. “Right now, please.”
Her voice cracked and I ran to the cabinet to get wine.
I opened the bottle and casually kept looking at Miranda.
She was in my apartment, at my counter.
She had been here before. Plenty of times.
This shouldn’t have been anything out of the ordinary… other than the fact that I was in love with the guy she had once said she was going to marry.
But they’re done. They broke up. The engagement ended. This isn’t…
It was.
There was no hiding from it.
This was bad. Maybe.
I poured the glass of wine and Miranda chugged it.
She put the glass down and nodded for more.
I poured her more.
“H-how are… I mean…” I cleared my throat. “What are you doing here?”
“I had to come back to see it for myself,” she said.
“See what?”
“See that it was real. It’s all over. I don’t even know how this happened, Emily.”
I licked my lips. “I heard about the engagement ring. I should have called or something. I didn’t know… I mean with us… things really haven’t been much of a friendship, you know?”
Miranda nodded. “I know, Emily. That’s my fault. It’s that damn building. And it’s Liam. It’s been so hard for me. All I’ve tried to do is fight back and stand my ground.”
She drank the second glass of wine.
My heart twisted.
Now she comes to apologize?
“Look,” Miranda said as she slid the empty glass toward me for more wine. “Forget about everything, Emily. The building. The charges. I can’t live like this anymore. The truth is, my only option is to just get rid of it all. But if I do that, then your business could get shut down.”
“I don’t want to talk about this,” I said. “I hate talking about this. I hate that you bought that building and convinced me to stay there. I knew it was a bad deal but I wanted to help you.”
“Wow. I’ve never heard you talk like that.”
“I’m not talking about it again,” I said. “You’re here because…”
Miranda stood up and took a deep breath. Just like that, she had full composure.
She took her glass of wine and paced for a few seconds.
“Everything was there for me,” she said. “The city. The job offers. It was too good to be true. Yet I had something in me… I needed an answer. I needed to know-”