Best of Three (Counting on Love) (29 page)

Michael was gazing down at her. The sunset behind her lit his face and for a moment Emma felt her eyes tear up. He looked like a guy in love.

He also looked a lot like his father.

Her stomach tightened and she had to take a deep breath. She wanted to see that look on Nate’s face when he looked at her.

And that was the stupidest thing ever.

“You’re out already?” A tall guy approached Shannon and Michael and offered two plastic cups of something. “Drink up, drink up. We made lots.”

“No thanks, man,” Michael said. “Gotta take care of my girl.”

Emma liked that kid. At least one of them was being responsible. Nate needed to give the guy more credit.

“Come on,” Emma whispered to Dena. They moved closer, staying behind cars, but keeping Shannon in sight.

“This is so good.” Shannon giggled. “I think I’m getting loopy.”

Michael leaned in and kissed her. “You are. Good thing I’m here to keep an eye on you.”

“I love when your eyes are on me.”

Emma sighed. They were sweet. But Shannon was getting drunk and there was a huge-ass fire four feet away from them and she doubted there was a fire extinguisher anywhere in the vicinity. They were surrounded by other teenagers who were also drinking, several miles from the city—which meant driving home under the influence for those not camping for the night—and only a few yards from a drop off to the river. Emma didn’t know how high they were, but from the sounds of the water below, it wasn’t an easy jump. All someone had to do was tip back a couple of drinks and stagger too close to the edge and there could easily be a broken bone. Or a broken neck.

“Target practice time!” one of the boys called from over near some of the pick-ups.

Emma straightened. Oh, no way.

She was pleased to see that Michael also pulled back slightly from Shannon and gave attention to the new development.

“What’s going on?” he called out.

“You’re going to
shoot
stuff?” someone yelled.

“They’re airsoft guns. Plastic. They sting but they won’t hurt anybody,” the first guy said. “We’re just gonna shoot bottles and cans.”

Uh-huh. No. Drunk teenagers with guns? Of any kind? No way.

Emma grabbed Dena’s arm. “You have a choice to make here,” she hissed, making her decision quickly and easily. “You can go over there and make your daughter come home or let her get charged as a minor in possession, because I’m calling the cops in two minutes.”

She didn’t miss the irony of party girl Emma Dixon calling in a tip to the cops about an underage bash.

It might be an overreaction. She might be taking this Nate-isn’t-always-wrong thing too far. But one thing she could say for Nate and his crazy-overprotective tendencies—when he went overboard he committed to it and went all the way.

Dena looked from Shannon to Emma and back again. “Why can’t you go over there and make her come home?”

She could. Absolutely. She’d only feel slightly ridiculous, in fact.

But Emma had to at least give Dena the chance to be the one to show Shannon that she had someone who would do anything for her. If anyone was going to be over the top in protecting Shannon, it should be Dena.

“Because
you’re
her mother, Dena.”

Emma cared about Dena. They had some fun memories and Dena had been there for Emma through the worst time of her life after her dad died. As a teenager and college student having an older friend with a couch she could crash on, a car she could borrow, and some real-world experience had been cool and Emma had also loved being around as Shannon grew up.

It was only over the past few years that Emma had started to feel like she was growing up and maturing—in spite of what her older sister and brother thought—and leaving Dena behind. Emma found herself relating to her older siblings more and more often as Dena frustrated and disappointed her.

She was hoping to help Dena grow up too. But if she kept mothering Dena’s daughter for her, that was never going to happen. And Dena and Shannon’s relationship would suffer. Emma knew that. Shannon needed to respect her mom and that was a lot to ask a lot of the time.

“I can’t do that to her,” Dena finally said with a shake of her head.

Emma huffed out a frustrated breath. She understood. She’d felt the same way the other night when Nate had insisted on following the kids. But Emma wasn’t Shannon’s parent.

“Come on then.” They headed back for Emma’s car. Once they were shut inside, Emma made the call to the police reporting a party with a fire, underage drinking and possible guns.

That combination worked nicely to get several squad cars there within fifteen minutes.

In the commotion that followed, Emma and Dena were able to drive away unseen. But Emma headed directly for the police station. They were going to have to pick Shannon and Michael up.

And she was definitely making Dena pay Shannon’s fine.

They were still sitting in the station an hour later when Emma’s phone rang. It was Nate.

Crap.

She took a deep breath and answered. “Hi, Nate.”

“Michael called me from the police station,” he said without preamble.

“He did?” She was genuinely surprised. Michael knew she and Dena were there. They planned on taking him home as soon as all the paperwork was complete. She’d figured he’d keep it from Nate at least until his father got home. If not forever. “Are you freaking out?”

“No.”

That also surprised her.

“He said that they’re not fining him because he was sober and has no previous offenses on his record.”

She already knew that. “That’s great. Shannon has to come up with five hundred bucks because she was drinking, but she has no priors either.”

“Hopefully that will make her think twice next time.”

Hopefully. Nate sounded calm. She frowned. “You sound fine.”

“I am fine. Shane said you were already there.”

“Oh. Yes. We came down to pick Shannon up.”

“He said you were there when they got there.”

“Um, right.”

“Emma.”

His voice was low and firm and had the usual effect of causing tingles to dance up and down her spine.

“I can’t do the phone sex thing right now,” she told him quietly, sneaking a look at Dena, who was busy texting on her phone.

He chuckled. Actually
chuckled
. His kid was in jail and he was chuckling.

“Did you know about the party?” he asked.

She cleared her throat and shifted on the bench. But what was she going to say? “Yes, I knew about it.”

“And did you know about them getting busted?”

“Yeah.”

“Were you there staking out the party?” he asked. He sounded amused.

She felt her mouth curl. “Only for a little bit.”

“Thank you.”

His words were completely unexpected. “You’re thanking me for calling the cops on your kid?”

There was a long pause on Nate’s end. Then he said, “
You
called the cops?”

Oops. “Uh…yeah. But they were all being stupid. I mean they had a bonfire and someone could have fallen off the edge of the cliff—”

“They were on the edge of a
cliff
?” Nate demanded.

She definitely wasn’t going to tell him about the guns—airsoft or not. “It wasn’t a
cliff
,” she amended. “A tall…bank. There was a short drop to the river—”

“They were drinking at the
river
?”

She was going to shut up now.

There was another long pause while Nate, presumably, took some deep, calming breaths because when he spoke again he said, “Yes, thank you. Thank you very much for calling the cops.”

He sounded sincere. And cooler.

“Maybe I should have pulled Shannon and Michael out before the cops got there,” she said.

“No,” Nate answered. “This was a good lesson. Even though he’s not in trouble—at least not with the cops—I’m glad Michael saw this side of things.”

“Okay. Good.”

“It was the right thing to do, Emma,” Nate said.

That made her smile grow and she felt warm in her chest. Which was ridiculous. She was letting him boss her around
and
she was reveling in his praise? Pathetic.

“I was hoping that you’d let him crash on your couch tonight,” Nate said.

“Michael? Of course.”

“I can’t let him stay over at Shannon’s—that would send the wrong message,” he went on. “But he doesn’t want to be alone at home.”

She smiled at that. “Isn’t it nice when they still act like kids from time to time?”

“It really is.”

She could hear the smile in his voice too.

“Besides,” he added. “It’ll be a good excuse for me to see you when I come pick him up in the morning.”

She closed her eyes. Nate Sullivan had evoked so many emotions in her in the time she’d known him that she felt like she had a kaleidoscope inside when he was around. This sweeter side was as affecting as the hot side.

“You don’t need an excuse to come over,” she said softly.

There was another pause, then he said, “I’m making note of that. Just so you know.”

“Good.” She bit her lip on saying anything further. Like
I miss you
or
hurry home
.

“I’ll be home tomorrow then,” he finally said.

“You know where to find me.”

“I definitely do.”

As she disconnected, the only way to describe how she was feeling was warm and fuzzy. But she kept it to herself, because if she said it out loud to anyone who knew her, they would assume she’d had a personality transplant.

Chapter Ten

Emma heard the knock on the front door at five a.m. Blurry-eyed she shuffled down the dark hall. What the hell? If Shannon had snuck out and come over to be with Michael or something, Emma was going to yell. She’d only yelled at Shannon once ever, and it was because Shannon had reached for a hot pot of water on the stove and it had scared Emma to death. And that had been fourteen years ago.

She wouldn’t have heard the knock if she’d been in her bed. But Michael would have from the couch. Little did Shannon know, Emma had insisted Michael take the bed. He was too tall to fit on the couch comfortably. She, on the other hand, curled nicely into the cushions and had been sleeping peacefully.

Emma unlocked the three locks on her door. There had been one when they’d moved in, but when Shane, the cop, had seen it, he’d promptly installed two more. When she finally yanked the door open, she was fully expecting to see the eighteen-year-old girl she loved like a sister.

Instead she saw the man she was very afraid she was beginning to love. And nothing at all like a sister. Or a brother.

“Nate?”

Before her hand could touch the handle on the screen door, he had it pulled open and was up against her, pushing her back with his body, one hand at the back of her head, fingers tunneled into her hair, his eyes locked on hers. When they’d cleared the door, he pushed it shut, quietly in spite of the intensity she felt in him.

“When you said tomorrow I didn’t think you meant in a few hours,” she told him, softly, letting him move her, letting him press her up against the wall in the hallway.

Nate didn’t reply. Instead, he covered her mouth with his and kissed her deep and hot and wet, making her moan. He ran his hand up under the leg of her short shorts, his fingers finding the bare skin of her butt and making her gasp. Then he pulled the front of her tank top up, exposing her breasts and dipped his knees to take her nipple in his mouth making her moan his name louder and grip the back of his head.

Her nipples were so sensitive and he seemed to know exactly how to make the hot sparks of need race straight through to her core.

He sucked as he stroked his fingers over her butt, moving closer to where she needed him most.

“You have to be quiet,” he told her, lifting his head only slightly. “Can’t wake everyone else.”

“Kitchen,” she panted. “Please.” Her bedroom was the farthest from the living room, with Olivia’s room, a bathroom and a closet between it and the kitchen.

He straightened, then scooped her up with both hands under her ass. She wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck, kissing him deeply as he strode down the hallway to the kitchen.

He stepped through the swinging door and deposited her on the edge of the kitchen table. “Take ’em off,” he said gruffly, undoing his belt and unzipping.

As she wiggled out of her shorts, she watched him sheath himself with a condom. She itched to touch him, but ached more to have him inside of her. She dropped her shorts to the floor and Nate stepped between her knees, stroking one finger up and down through the wet heat between her legs.

“Yes, Nate. God.”

He didn’t need any more encouragement than that. He cupped her butt and moved her forward as he arched his hips, sliding home.

It didn’t matter how many orgasms he’d coaxed from her, her body welcomed him as if she’d never known anything like the sensations he evoked. She took him deep, pressing every inch of her she could against him. She wrapped her legs around his waist again and her arms around his neck as he started to move.