I don't own these characters. They are the sole property of Stephenie Meyer. I only borrow them. No humans are permanently harmed through my actions, though I do confess to harassing, annoying, torturing, and exasperating them – just because it's fun. I make no money from my little stories, sad day. I only play in the sandbox, I didn't build it.

Chapter 13: Feint

"What?" she asked.

"You heard me," Emmett said confidently. Then he withdrew slightly. "I told you I'd wait. And I did. I told you that I'd still love you every single day while you were gone. And I did. I also promised you that when the time came, I was going to do whatever it took to make you mine again. I keep my promises, baby. And I'm keeping that one."

"What if I don't want to be yours?" she asked stubbornly, her chin jerking up in a gesture he knew quite well.

"You do, that's the hell of it," Emmett answered. He brushed the hair back from her face. "For the life of me, I can't figure out what's got you running scared. But I will. And when I do, I'm going to call bullshit, because there isn't anything in this world that should keep us apart."

"Awfully sure of yourself, aren't you, James?" Rose snapped.

Emmett shrugged. "I'm sure of us, yeah. And I'm not going to apologize for that, Rosie." He smiled slow and hot and she felt a whimper trying to work itself free of her throat. "We were made for each other, we just happened to find each other earlier than most couples do. Doesn't make it any less real, you know."

"We were kids when we met," Rose whispered. "How can you be so sure of what we are to each other?"

His smile grew wider and he cupped her jaw in his big hand. "A lot of people would say we're still kids. But it's just a number, babe. All of that shit comes down to math, and I don't know about you, but I hate math." Rose wanted to laugh but she didn't. She was too busy trying to remember how to breathe. He put his lips by her ear again. "I prefer biology, Rose, plain and simple." She wanted to push him away but she didn't. Then he placed a chaste, tender kiss on the top of her head and stepped away. "We'll be officially dating before you've lived here two months," he promised with a rakish grin.

"When pigs fly," she snapped and stomped away. But she was smiling.

~TAOP~

Devon called Emmett's cell phone as soon as she had a moment alone. "What the hell did you say to her?"

Emmett laughed his big, booming laugh. "Did I get her riled up?" he asked hopefully.

"Geez, she's been pacing around here muttering under her breath ever since we got back," Devon said.

"That's my girl," Emmett said proudly. "I might have just told her something along the lines of the game being on."

Devon snickered. "And so it is," she agreed. "Just how hard are you going to push, Emmett James? I won't have my best friend in the whole wide world being pushed...too much anyway. Though she does need a little kick in the ass."

"I have the home field advantage now and I plan to exploit it shamelessly. I'll push when she needs it and back off when she needs that too," Emmett replied. "God, Devon, you think I don't know my Rosie by now? Women will forever be a mystery, but I know my Rose as well as any man can know a woman."

"This is why I stick to my own gender," Devon informed him. "I already understand the inner workings of the female mind."

"Care to share?" Emmett asked with a snort.

"Sorry, I'd get thrown out of the girl club, and since I like pussy, that would be a tragedy indeed."

"Shit, Devon, you should have been a guy," Emmett said. "Between your mouth and your mind, there's nothing missing but a dick and some balls."

"I know, right?" Then she sighed. "But if I was a guy, I wouldn't have these beautiful boobies to play with all day."

"I knew it!" Emmett hissed. "I knew girls did that shit."

Devon laughed. "God, you're just really too easy," she mocked. "I'll keep you posted."

"You do that," Emmett replied. "Oh, and Devon?"

"Yeah, babe?"

"You'll be seeing a lot of me, so get used to it," Emmett promised.

Devon sighed dramatically. "The things I do for my friends..."

~TAOP~

When Rosalie and Devon arrived at the office for their first day of work, they both found flowers waiting for them. A vase with Rose's name contained Delphiniums in a variety of colors. The card attached said, "Look up the meaning of these flowers. I'm ready, Rose, and I think you are too. I hope your first day is all you hoped it would be." Love, Emmett.

The vase with Devon's name contained freesias. Her card read, "Yeah, I can Google shit too. Be impressed, be very impressed. These flowers mean spirited, and if there was anyone I'd think of as spirited, it's you, Devon. Thank you, for everything. I know you'll be great at what you do." Emmet James.

Devon read her card with pursed lips and then turned to Rose, who still seemed a little stunned. "Hmmm...I think someone is pulling out the big guns."

Rose smiled faintly and grabbed her flowers. "Yeah, it kind of looks like that doesn't it?"

"I don't know, girl, Emmett just might make me switch teams," Devon remarked.

"Hands off, bitch," Rose muttered but the smile never faltered.

Later that day, Devon sent Emmett a text. One for team Emmett.

~TAOP~

By the time Emmett got home from his first day as a police officer, he was starting to wonder if he had lost his ever-loving mind. His partner, a guy in his late thirties named Peterson was a good enough guy. But even good guys really didn't have any patience with rookies. Rookies were the bane of their existence, the fly in their ointments, and a general pain in their asses. Peterson had made sure to inform Emmett of these facts early on in their new shift. Tomorrow would be an orientation day, Peterson had told him gleefully. Emmett would not be seeing Peterson tomorrow. Peterson told him that he'd be celebrating that fact. Emmett knew better than to take it personally.

As he tiredly picked up Dani and collapsed onto the couch, Emmett realized that he still had to find an apartment. Yeah, a place of his own would be good. He loved Dani, but God, the girl was exhausting. Besides, he thought with a tired grin, he had some major courting to do and he'd need his own space to do that.

He didn't even realize he had fallen asleep until Dani was patting him on the leg and asking him if cops were allowed to eat spaghetti and meatballs with their uniforms on. Then the text signal on his phone went off and he smiled as he read it.

Thank you for the flowers. They were actually kind of perfect. Love, Rose.

~TAOP~

Over the next month, Emmett found an apartment just a mile away from the place Rose and Devon had rented. He swore it was a coincidence, but no one believed him. It might have been the huge grin on his face that gave him away. His brothers and Pops helped him move, though Pops was more of a supervisor than anything else. Not that Emmett had much to move. He had to go shopping for some furniture and his Mom and Pops told him that they wanted to buy him a couch and a television as a house warming gift. Emmett took them up on their offer.

He got used to working with his new partner, Matthew Peterson. He learned that behind Peterson's gruff exterior was a gruff interior...and a hell of a mentor. Once Emmett and Peterson got to know each other a little better, the older man unthawed a bit. Turned out Peterson was an Army brat too. His dad was retired and living the good life in Phoenix. "Why anyone would want to bake under that sun all fucking year is beyond me," Peterson groused. Peterson's father had raised him pretty much on his own after his mom left when Matthew was twelve years old. So, Emmett and Peterson had a little bit in common. They had both lost a parent, though in very different ways.

Mom invited Peterson over to the house for a cookout, a fact which both mortified and pleased Emmett. He had pretty much choked on his own tongue when he extended the invitation, but Peterson had seemed to be pleased...and surprised. He and Pops had hit it off right away. Then Pops told him how they'd met and Emmett knew he'd never hear the end of shit from Peterson about the whole rock throwing incident. Emmett was of the opinion that Pops should let it go in the interest of "All's well that ends well" and all that. Pops didn't seem to share that view.

Emmett gave Rose a month to get settled into her new job and place. He texted her and called her, but didn't see her. It was about to kill him, but he knew it was the right thing to do. He'd give her a month to get her bearings and then all bets were off. He was a man on a mission and he didn't take defeat lightly. He and Pops talked about Rose a lot. Emmett valued Pops' opinion, since he seemed to be doing a decent job of keeping Mom happy. It was hard to remember the time when he'd viewed Pops with suspicion and, to be honest, dislike. Now, if he couldn't have his own father around, he was really grateful that he had Pops.

Then, when Emmett thought he had given Rose just enough breathing room, and thrown her off balance just enough by doing what was not expected, he showed up at her apartment. He'd given Devon a heads up, just so he knew Rose would be there. Rose opened the door and smiled at him for just an instant before she began scowling. "What are you doing here?" The words were meant to sound angry, but instead she sounded breathless. He liked the way things were going so far, so he grinned at her.

"Just in the neighborhood," he commented as he sort of nudged his way in the door. He waved at Devon over Rose's shoulder. "Hey, Dev."

"Hey, Em," Devon replied as she grabbed her keys. She had already told Rose that she had some errands to run and was going to see a movie. And Rose had already confirmed that she was staying home, so it didn't look at all suspicious when Devon waved at the two of them and walked out the door, leaving Emmett and Rosalie alone.

Emmett wanted to laugh, knowing from the look on Rosie's face that she wasn't quite sure what to do with him now. He had a few ideas but they would have to wait. "So...nice place," he said, looking around.

Rose's expression grew pleased. "Yeah, we like it."

"I rented a place just a few blocks down," he told her.

Rose scowled. "So you said."

"Nice pool, reasonable rent," Emmett said with a shrug. "Besides, the neighbors like having a cop in the complex."

"I'm sure they do." Suspicion was heavy in Rosalie's voice.

"My neighbor is a single mom," Emmett went on. "She gets worried, said she'll sleep better knowing I'm next door. She baked me some brownies my second day there."

The frown on Rose's face deepened. "Brownies?" Everyone knew that Emmett's sweet tooth was rivaled only by Jake's.

"She's got a really cute little girl," Emmett continued, knowing exactly what he was doing. "She's about this high," he said, putting his hand just above his knee. "She calls me Memmett." He snorted and shook his head. "Almost as cute as Dani."

"Really," Rosalie muttered. "How fascinating."

"Haven't seen you in a while," Emmett said as he moved toward the couch and settled himself on it without asking.

"Make yourself at home," Rosalie snarked.

"Thanks," he answered with a smile and a voice as sweet as honey. "I will." He patted the couch. "This is nice."

"Did you come here to discuss furniture?" Rose snapped.

He allowed a surprised look to come over his face and he gave her a curious glance. "No, I mean, I just dropped by to see how things were going."

"Well you've seen," Rose said.

"Got any beer?" he asked after a moment of awkward silence.

She rolled her eyes but went into the kitchen and returned with a beer. "Here."

"Sit down, Rose, you must be beat," Emmett said, patting the couch again. "Tell me about your job."

That got her smiling and she sat down after fetching a beer for herself. She spent the next hour talking about her job and some of the people she'd met there. Emmett told her about Peterson and how Pops had mortified him by sharing the rock throwing story. He told her how Dani had told Peterson he'd better be nice to Emmett or she'd "kick his tail." That had gotten her a stern look from her mother and stifled laughter from her father. Emmett had just wanted to crawl under a rock and hide.

They finished their beers and Emmett turned on the television. They sort of watched whatever was on and he got up to get them another beer and volunteered to put together some snacks. Rose laughed and said she couldn't leave her poor defenseless kitchen to his devices. Together, they made some nachos and sub sandwiches and heated up some frozen fried cheese sticks. Rose declared herself pleasantly surprised that he knew a few more things about feeding himself. He reminded her that he was a police officer now and had to have all sorts of useful skills.

Then they sat on the couch and gobbled up everything they'd made, though Emmett was a bit faster on the draw than Rose. Still, she kept up. When the food was gone and Emmett had cleaned up the mess, they settled back to watch more television. Rose scooted closer but Emmett kept his hands to himself. Rose put her hand on his thigh and he patted hers but otherwise made no move. She finally leaned against him and he put his arm around her and held her...much like he would have held Dani.

Then around eleven, he gently removed his arm, got up, stretched, and declared it was late and time for him to go home. Rose walked him to the door with a perplexed look on her face. He moved in close, then dipped his head and pressed a very brotherly kiss to her forehead. Rose gave a little huff of irritation as he opened the door and walked out.

"Don't forget to lock your door, Rose," he said solemnly just before she slammed it in his face.

He didn't dare smile because he had a feeling she was staring at him through the peep hole in the door. Instead, he saved his grin for the walk down the stairs. Rose was aroused and confused and pissed.

He had her just where he wanted her.