Take Me Down (The Knight Brothers 2)

He leaned down and pressed his mouth hard against hers, not deepening the kiss, just connecting their lips one last time. “Close your eyes,” he whispered against her mouth.

She did.

Then she felt the loss of his touch. His warmth. His presence. She heard the sound of the door closing softly behind him and only then did she fall to the floor and let the real hysterical tears fall.

* * *

Emily didn’t know how much time had passed when her father came to her side and helped her to her feet. It could have been five minutes or an hour. She had no idea, she just knew the sobs racking her body were real and endless and her throat felt raw.

Her dad sat with her on the sofa and let her cry it out until she was ready to pull herself together. “Thanks, Dad. I’m so lucky to have you.” She hugged him tight, his familiar scent giving her a sense of peace despite her pain.

“Honey, I’m fifty-eight going on fifty-nine. I’m not ancient. You have to stop seeing me the way your mother was when she was sick and dying, and start viewing me the way I really am. Now let’s focus on you. You love that man and you let him go?”

She pulled herself back and met his gaze. “His job and family are in New York.”

“Did you consider going with him?”

She blinked in surprise. “My life is here. You’re here. I have a business to put into motion … and he didn’t ask me.” Her heart pounded in her chest. “But he knows how much I love it here. This town, you, Harper, you’re all part of who I am. I couldn’t leave and go back to a city.” She shook her head. “He knows me too well to ask.”

Her father frowned. “You young people–”

“Now you sound old.” She let out a laugh.

“I just mean that you young people don’t realize how important love is until sometimes it’s too late. I saw how you two looked at each other…”

“It’s done, Dad. Let’s not talk about it anymore, okay? I’ll take a day or two and then I’ll pull myself together. We have wallpaper to pick, carpet to choose, and a whole kitchen to design. Not to mention Harper and I are meeting with an architect on Monday.” But despite listing all she had to look forward to, the pain in the center of her chest remained.

Chapter Ten

A week after Parker’s departure, Emily was still miserable, but Harper, to her credit, ignored Emily’s moods, which made it easier to push forward. She immersed herself in work and she had plenty of it to keep her busy.

After a particularly trying day of arguing with places on how long the furniture she wanted for the rooms for the inn would take, she turned in to bed early. She and Harper were on hold until the architect finished the plans and they were approved. Then there would be the construction phase, so for now it was business as usual at Harper’s Coffee Shop soon to be Harper and Em’s Bake and Brew.

She was just about to fall asleep when the sound of the doorbell ringing startled her. She pulled on her sweats and shirt and headed downstairs. She was much more careful now about opening the door, even keeping it locked during the day, and she glanced through the peephole.

True to his word, Parker had hired a bodyguard firm and there was a day and night shift keeping an eye on Emily. She’d never really thought she would need it. Except as she looked out now, she saw the man who’d introduced himself as Dave, or night-shift guy, as she mentally called him, stood holding on to Rex by the collar as he rang the doorbell again.

Her stomach flipped as she opened the door. “Umm, hi?” she said at the same time Rex began to yell.

“Emily, tell this goon I’m your husband and to let me in!”

“Ma’am?” Dave, with his shaved head, broad shoulders, and big body, asked. “Is he your husband? He looks like the photograph we were given of the man to look out for. And I caught him sneaking around the house as if casing it. And when I met up with him by his car, I smelled gasoline. I think there are cans in the trunk.”

Emily blinked. “No, he’s not my husband, he’s my soon-to-be ex-husband.” And he was dressed all in black. Camouflage at night.

“Dammit, Emily, there’s no distinction. I love you. When are you going to come to your senses and come home with me?”

She folded her arms across her chest. A glance at the empty staircase told her her dad was still upstairs. Thank God for Ambien. “Are there gas cans in the trunk? Is that what he smells?” she asked Rex.