There was no yelling. No slapping. Instead, she wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled my head toward her. She parted my lips with her tongue and invaded my mouth. It took me a second to get over the surprise before I started kissing her back.
Our tongues wrestled in our mouths. This was no sweet show of gratitude. This was distilled passion, which I was more than happy to return.
Her hands trailed down my sides, and suddenly her eyes widened, and she pulled away, her cheeks reddening enough to match her reddened and swollen lips.
I reached up and pulled her against me, not for another kiss, but a hug, something I figured she needed way more than a kiss.
When I pulled away, I grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze. Even if I enjoyed the kiss, I wasn’t about to read too much into it. Emily had been rubbed emotionally raw the last few days worrying about her daughter. My kind gesture had likely caught her by surprise. There was nothing more to it. Probably.
“If you want, I can spend the rest of the day here,” I said.
“What about work?”
“I’ve got everything important done already.”
“Okay, then. I’d like it if you stayed.” For the first time in days, Emily didn’t look totally exhausted. “Thank you so much for caring enough to come and for caring enough to stay.”
I couldn’t find any words, so I smiled instead. I only hoped she couldn’t tell how my heart was thumping.
She kept ahold of my hand as she opened the door.
* * *
Over the rest of the day, Juniper went through two Disney movies and several naps. She was sleeping again by the time I looked out the window at the now darkened Nashville skyline.
Emily had dozed off herself, her mouth open. The whole thing was cute, but I did appreciate that it also reflected the stress and suffering she’d dealt during Juniper’s time in the hospital.
I folded my hands behind my back as I stared at the moon in the distance. Things had been changing so quickly. I thought last week that I’d finally started a relationship with Emily, only to find she wanted that to stay in Tokyo. Then, a minor illness had turned into a potentially life-threatening one, and Emily was kissing me again.
Emily stirred in her seat, her eyes fluttering open. “Oh, I’m sorry.” She yawned.
“It’s okay. You need the rest. Will you be okay if I leave?” I shrugged. “Nowhere for me to sleep.”
“Oh, go home and get some rest yourself. You’ve already done far too much.”
I wanted to tell there was no such thing as far too much when it came to Juniper and her. Instead, I just forced a cheesy grin on my face.
“Glad to be of service.” I leaned over and gave her a chaste kiss on the cheek. “If you need anything else, call and let me know.” I nodded at the laptop. “You can keep it for now. I’ll pick it up some other time.”
Emily offered me a soft smile. “Thank you, Logan. Thank you.”
I turned and headed out of the room, closing the door quietly behind me.
Walking down the hall, I thought back to the earlier kiss. Did it mean something, or was it only what I’d thought before, an overreaction to kindness in a dark time?
I couldn’t tell her the truth. I’d fallen for Emily. I loved her.
It wasn’t the time to tell her, not when her daughter was still in the hospital, and I had no idea what she felt about me. The time had to be right.
As I moved toward the elevator, I began to wonder if the time would ever be right.
Chapter Twenty-nine
EMILY
“I didn’t think you’d be so mad, Lionel,” I said over the phone. “You just got back from Mexico last night. If anything, I thought you’d be happy.” I resisted the urge to snicker, but I couldn’t resist one more little addition. “I was trying to be less selfish, that being my main problem and all.”
Of course, Lionel was bound and