Magic Kiss (Hope Falls Book 11) (16 page)

No more trips down Lust Lane. She was going to ignore her mental GPS that kept directing her there. She was taking the wheel back and steering herself right into Platonic Place.

Her assuring smile was met by a sexy bad-boy grin that had her doing a U-turn and heading in the wrong direction.

Yep. She was in trouble.

‡

“T
hanks for dropping me off.” Emma felt like a teenager again as she started to climb out of Logan’s truck.

He’d insisted on taking her and picking her up from the book club meeting even though she had a perfectly reliable rental car.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to walk you in? Introduce you to everyone?” Logan offered. Again.

His eyes were hidden behind aviator glasses, but she could hear the concern in his tone. Between last night and today, he’d probably asked her if she
really
wanted to go to this thing and told her that she didn’t have to at least a dozen times. No matter how much she’d tried to convince him that it was fine, that she really did want to go, he still was not convinced.

It was the oddest feeling to have someone—especially someone as intense as Logan—be so completely in tune with you. It was like she was putting out an airwave he had the receiver to. It didn’t matter what she said. He looked into her eyes and watched her responses more than he heard them. She wasn’t sure if he’d been implanted with emotional x-ray vision in his undercover work, but if he had, it would explain how he saw everything she was trying to hide.

“I’m fine. Really.” As much as she enjoyed his attention, she was kind of at a loss for what to do with it. “You guys have fun. Love you, bud,” she said to Drew, who was playing a game on his phone.

“Love you,” he responded without looking up.

If this was what ten years old was like, she had no idea how she was going to make it through his teenage years.

“Call me if you need anything,” Logan instructed for the third time since they’d left his house.

She stood tall and saluted him, trying to lighten the mood so he could play ball and not worry about her. “Yes, sir.”

Even from behind his mirrored glasses, she could see the corners of his eyes crinkle as a wide grin spread across his face.

“Funny,” he said. “Real funny.”

Letting out a little laugh—which had more to do with nerves than it did with laughing at her own joke—she said, “Go. Have fun,” before shutting the door.

Turning towards the house, she took a fortifying breath. Okay. She could do this. She thought she remembered Logan telling her that the hostess’ name was Lily, and Amanda was supposed to be there. She definitely wanted to meet her and thank her. Also, she was excited to meet Shelby and Jane.

The hum of the engine was loud as she walked up the short path of the cute cottage-style house. Looking over her shoulder, she saw that Logan was waiting for her to get to the door before he left.

“All the good ones do that.”

When she heard a female voice that sounded familiar, she turned towards it. None other than
Karina Black
was standing in the doorway. Emma wouldn’t have thought she would get star struck, but thank goodness she wasn’t a betting woman, because she would’ve lost that bet.

“Hi. I’m Karina.” The pop star stepped out and extended her hand.

“I know,” Emma breathed before realizing she was being ridiculous. “I mean, hi. I’m Emma.”

Either Karina didn’t notice her blunder or she was very used to people behaving strangely when they met her. She gracefully handled the situation. Waving at Logan, she said under her breath, “He’s not going to leave until he sees that you’re in the house.”

“Oh!” That snapped her out of her star-struck stupor. Upon walking through the doorway, she turned back and lifted her hand. Drew had climbed to the front seat. And sure enough, as soon as Logan saw that she’d safely made it inside, he waved and left.

It was odd how right, how natural, it felt to see her son and Logan drive away together. Yes, he was Drew’s godfather. But it wasn’t like he’d been around that much. Not that she blamed him. She was pretty sure she’d scared him away the one time he had visited.

“Man, he’s got it bad.” Karina shook her head as the truck drove down the road.

Not wanting her to get the wrong idea, Emma corrected her. “Oh, no. We’re not… He’s just… He’s Drew’s godfather.”

A knowing grin pulled at Karina’s mouth, but to her credit, all she said was, “Got it.”

Then her entire demeanor changed. Instead of looking like one of the coolest, most graceful and together people Emma had ever met, she morphed into something else completely. Bringing her hands together, she lifted them towards her mouth before she whispered conspiratorially, “Okay, all the girls are in the back, but before we go out there, I
have
to know. Is Tina going to end up with Kade or Sean?”

Shock. That was what Emma felt to be standing in a stranger’s home with Karina Black as she talked about characters she’d made up. She was having a difficult time wrapping her head around it. Part of her brain knew she needed to speak, but the other part kept thinking,
This is Karina Black!

“Are you asking about Sean and Kade!?” An attractive blonde walked in, shaking her head in faux disappointment. “Karina, you promised.”

“Promises, shmomises. It’s been two years, and I need to know.”

“Hi. I’m Amanda. You must be Chelsea… I mean Emma. Sorry.”

“Hi. It’s so nice to meet you. Both.” Emma waved her hand between them. “Drew hasn’t stopped talking about you. Thank you
both
so much for all you’ve done for him. I can’t remember the last time he’s been this happy.”

“Are you kidding me? I should be thanking you. He’s such a great kid and a really hard worker. He’s been amazing. You’ve done a really great job.” Amanda’s response was infused with so much sincerity.

That was one compliment Emma actually enjoyed getting. Being a mom was far and above her greatest accomplishment.

“Thanks. He makes it pretty easy.”

Karina grinned and crossed her arms. “I don’t know how you ever tell that kid no. When he wasn’t sure if you wanted to stay or not yesterday, he had the biggest brown puppy-dog eyes and he wasn’t even asking for anything.”

Emma laughed. “I’m not immune. Believe me.”

There was a loud roar of laughter from the back of the house, and the butterflies that had been hanging out with Emma all day came fluttering back. Karina and Amanda seemed nice, but it sounded like there was quite a crowd back there.

“Okay, before we go back there, you should be prepared for two things,” Amanda said in a serious tone that sent the butterflies flittering up a storm.

“Okay.”

“First: technically, we are a
book club
, but the only book we’ve actually
all
read is
When It’s Real
.”

“Yeah,” Karina chimed in, “this is really more of a wine and gossip club.”

“Right,” Amanda agreed.

The jitters started to subside. Both Amanda and Karina had a way of putting her right at ease. In the span of a few sentences exchanged, Emma felt like she’d known them for years.

“Second: there’s a lot of us. We thought about wearing name tags—”

Karina’s hand shot up. “But I nixed that, because come on. How janky is that?”

“You nixed it because everyone knows who you are. Anyway, like I wa—”

“Uhhh, not true.” Karina’s hand shot up again. “Ryan didn’t know who I was.”

“Who’s Ryan?” Emma asked, because she couldn’t fathom that there could be a soul on the planet who didn’t know who Karina Black was.

“Ryan’s my fiancé,” Karina said dreamily.

Emma knew that Karina Black was engaged to Ryan Perkins, but there was no way she could be talking about
him
. So she asked for clarification, “Ryan
Perkins
didn’t know who you were?”

Karina slowly shook her head. “Nope. Not a clue.”

“Not after they met and not after spending an entire day moving her stuff into her house,” Amanda interjected.

“Ryan Perkins didn’t know who you were?” Emma felt like a broken record, but it was too difficult to process.

“Nope.” Karina popped her lips when she made the P sound. “Not. A. Clue.”

“Wow. I’d love to hear that story sometime. I’ve interviewed a ton of couples for research, but your story sounds
truly
unique.”

“Oh, it is,” Karina confirmed. “Amanda and Justin’s is pretty good too.”

At the mention of Amanda’s husband, she covered her hands over her heart and swooned, “It is.”

That. Right there. That was the exact feeling Emma attempted to capture in the books she wrote.

“I’d love to hear it, too.”

“Okay!” Amanda smiled eagerly.

“If real-life love stories are what you’re looking for”—Karina whistled—“then you hit the mother lode with this group. Every hen in this house has found the rooster of her dreams.”

“That’s true.” Amanda clapped excitedly before linking her arm around Emma’s elbow and starting towards the back of the house.

“Well, I don’t want to intrude—”

“Please.” Karina fell into step beside them. “If there’s one thing they like to cluck about, it’s love.”

As they walked out the back door, Emma was struck by two things. One, the covered back patio was gorgeous. Strung globe lights gave the space a warm glow. In the center of the space, there were a variety of couches and comfortable chairs with bright accent pillows in coral and teal. One corner boasted a small, wooden bar, and the other had a large table that looked like it sat up to twelve.

The second thing that struck her was how young and attractive everyone was. All the women were talking animatedly in small groups and hadn’t noticed that she, Karina, and Amanda had joined them.

Amanda cleared her throat and announced, “Ladies, can I have your attention?”

All heads turned their way, and for a split second, Emma thought about making a break for it. She might’ve given in to her flight instinct if not for Amanda’s firm hold of her arm.

Amanda continued. “This is Emma, a.k.a. Chelsea Paige.”

There was a loud swell of applause and cheers and Emma felt her face heat with embarrassment. The positive wave of energy in the room was overwhelming.

“Hi.” Emma waved and smiled, trying to push down the self-consciousness that was bubbling up like water in a pot over a high flame.

Amanda gestured to the couch, where Lauren, who she recognized from the reality show
Home Sweet Vacation Home
, was sitting. The redhead next to her looked familiar, but she didn’t know from where.

“This is Sam and Lauren. Lauren is a realtor and the host of
Home Sweet Vacation Home
with her husband, Ben. Sam is a retired Olympic gold medalist who runs the ski program for Mountain Ridge with her husband, Luke, who is also an Olympic gold medalist.”

Oh,
that
was where she knew her from. Emma had seen her compete.

“Hi.” Emma waved.

“Then, over here, is Nikki and her sister, Amy.” Amanda motioned to a stunning blonde and a pretty brunette.

Emma could see the resemblance since it had been mentioned, but she didn’t think she would’ve picked up on it on her own.

“Nikki just got her PhD in psychology and runs a nonprofit with her husband, Mike Gowan. He used to be a congressman. And Amy and her husband, Matt, are both teachers at the high school and the proud parents of twin baby girls.

“The two lovelies beside them are their sisters-in-law. Lily is an amazing choreographer who is married to Nikki and Amy’s oldest brother, Eric. He is also the chief of police. And Tessa is a photographer who is married to the youngest of the Maguire clan, Jake. They eloped, much to the chagrin of Jake’s mom—”

“And sisters!” Nikki injected.

The girls all laughed.

Then Amanda continued. “They also just adopted a beautiful baby boy named Conner and, as you can see, have another one on the way.”

“Congratulations!” Emma enthused.

Turning slightly to the left, Amanda motioned to two women, both beautiful brunettes. One was clutching a copy of
When It’s Real
to her chest.

“This is Shelby. She’s Amy’s husband Matt’s little sister, and she’s married to Logan’s brother, Levi.”

“Hi!” Emma beamed. She and Shelby didn’t know one another any more than she knew the other women, but she and Levi had always gotten along, so she was really excited to meet his new bride, who Logan had said was amazing. “I’m so happy for you and Levi. He’s a great guy.”

“Thanks! I’m a huge fan,” Shelby voiced excitedly.

“And finally, we have Jane. She worked with Nikki’s husband, Mike, for over a decade on his campaigns when he was in politics, and now, she helps run the nonprofit. She just got engaged to Logan’s cousin, Adam.”

“Hi. Congrats to you, too. I’ve never gotten the chance to meet Adam, but I’ve heard nothing but good things about him.”

At the mention of Adam, Jane’s face transformed just as Amanda’s had at the mention of Justin’s name. “Yeah, he’s pretty great.”

“All right. Intros are over. Let’s have some wine!” Karina clapped.