My head's in the clouds, and my mind is spinning.
What the hell am I doing? I hate that I've agreed to take on a case that I may not be able to help with at all.
What if her mother really did leave her? What if she's… worse than missing? What if she's gone forever?
A memory of the day I found out my own parents were gone forever surfaces before I can stop it. I still remember staring at my Mary Jane's, the plain black ones my nana bought me to meet the private school dress code, the hem of the blue and white plaid uniform skirt hitting way below my knees, since it was a borrowed one from the uniform closet three sizes too big.
I remember the way my backpack was still open, random papers peeking out of the edges. How my nana tried to hold my hand, but then gave it up and covered her own face with her hands and wept.
They didn't tell me how my parents died. Not then. It wasn't until years later I found out the truth. But I won't think of that now. I try not to think about it at all. But somehow seeing the little girl with those large eyes magnified behind her glasses, hearing her plaintive plea for help… for one moment, I'm that little girl again.
Ugh, I'm her.
And now I have a chance to make things right, to set the universe back on its axis in some way.
I've got a list of notes on my notepad, but my mind's spinning. Though Dany's super bright and witty, she's still only a child, with limited experience and a limited worldview. She can't give me the information I need.
I'll have to go digging, but I've got a good start.
There's a line out the door when we get back to Yogasm, so I hop behind the smoothie counter, bag up cookies, and ring customers out. I have Dany greet people at the door where I can see her, while my mind turns over every detail Dany's given me, which is precious little.
Her mom went off on a Saturday morning to meet a friend—something, she tells me, that was not out of the ordinary—and never came home. Dany tells me how she made herself a sandwich and watched TV, waiting on the couch for her mom, and it wasn't until the following week her teacher found out her mom was gone.
I hate this for her. I'll do everything I can to make it better, even if that means going toe-to-toe with Emmett himself. What does he have to do with any of this? I've got questions, and something tells me he's got answers.
I'm next to Kathlyn, pouring smoothies into these adorable pink plastic cups with lids we got a deal on and watching the customers come in one after the other, but my mind's elsewhere.
"Um, excuse me," the woman in front of me says, holding her smoothie cup out in front of her with a wrinkled nose and pursed lips. "I ordered the açaí one, not… whatever this is."
"You gave her the Ménage-a-trois-berry," Kathlyn whispers. "She ordered Açai Standing There."
"Oh, sorry about that," I say, reaching for the smoothie cup so I can get her another, but the crazy lady sticks her straw in it and sips it. "This one's fine," she says, rolling her eyes. "But I'm not paying for it since you screwed up my order." She turns and starts to leave, but Dany stops her at the door.
"Wait. You can't just take it," she says, folding her arms across her chest.
Oh, dear.
"You really can't!" Kathlyn says, her eyes flashing. Bitch's got the longest fuse of anyone I know, but when she blows…
"Why not?" the woman snaps. "You gave me the wrong one. It isn't the one I want, and the customer's always right."
"Because," a cool, deep voice says, "that would be stealing." I look up to see Emmett strolling in, sleeves rolled up like he's all casual, just taking a walk, but the snap of his dark eyes gives him the look of a lethal predator.
He blocks her exit. The woman scowls, grabs a five-dollar bill out of her bag, and shoves it at Dany. "Fine," she hisses. "Here."
Swan steps aside and gestures for her to exit. "After you."
Excuse me, but we don't need Mr. Guy-Next-Door to swoop in and save us.
Still, that was kinda hot. I have a feeling when he brushes his teeth, it's hot. Does he do it shirtless?
Focus, Regina. Focus.
Dany runs to the counter and gives Kathlyn the money, then runs back to her place by the door as greeter.
"Um, thank you?" I say to him as he approaches the counter. Finally, the line of customers has gone down. It's closing time, and it's time for us to pack things up and go home.
He shrugs, then takes out his wallet. "How much do I owe you for babysitting?"
What?
"You don't owe me anything," I say, shoving the cash register drawer closed and tallying up today's sales as Ruby walks out of the yoga studio, and for some reason Kathlyn is groaning. Ruby pauses, her blonde hair wrapped up in a towel, and stares. She takes one look at me then Emmett and mouths you got this, girl. Gives me a thumbs up, then heads back the way she came. Prince yips, and Ruby quickly scoops him up and kisses his fluffball head as the door shuts.
I love my friends.
"Thank you for your help," I say to him, "but we don't need your interference."
He shrugs. "I merely reminded her of common courtesy."
I look to Kathlyn, who's staring at her phone and looking like she's about to cry.
"Ugh, I fu —" She looks at Dany. "Messed up the DoorDash thing," she says. "I was supposed to approve delivery, but somehow signed us up as vendor delivery, but newsflash, we don't have a delivery person." She grabs a cardboard drink holder and plops two of the last smoothies we made inside. "So guess who's been making smoothie deliveries all day long?"
"Oh, no, babe."
"Oooh," Emmett says, nodding.
"Oh what?" I ask, looking from him to her.
"Nothing," he says, shaking his head, then he takes out a few crisp bills and pushes them across the counter at me. "Here."
I shove the money back. "Nope, don't want it. She's a client under my care, and I had questions for her." We were too busy to actually get to any of those questions, but that's a moot point.
He shoves the money over again, his eyes growing dark.
"Take the damn money." Ooh, proud, eh?
"No."
Kathlyn reaches over, snags the bills, fans them out, then tucks them into her bra and shrugs. No flies on her. "Fine, then, I'll take it. Thank you very much, Mr. Swan. Now if you two will excuse me, I'm off to make my final delivery of the day."
She swipes an address on her phone, sighs, and leaves.
Which leaves me, Emmett, and Daniella alone in the front part of the shop.
The smell of incense wafts from the studio in the back, which means Ruby's doing her thing again. It's nearly cloying. Is that sage? I wonder if she thinks the place is haunted.
Emmett looks from me to Dany, then back again.
"Not sure what to do with me now, huh?" Dany asks, and is it my imagination, or is there a triumphant glint in her little eyes?
"Of course I know what to do with you," Emmett says, though I have a decided feeling the man's bluffing.
I lean across the counter. I don't know what possesses me to provoke him, but I never really could leave well enough alone.
"Oh yeah?" I whisper. "What are you going to do with her?"
He takes a step in my direction as Prince comes bounding out of the back, and Dany squeals, kneeling in front of him and letting him lap her little face.
"Honestly," Emmett says in this casual way that makes my nipples furl, "I have a much better idea of what I'm going to do with you."
He's hitting on me.
He is so hitting on me.
"Oh?" I reach for a leftover slice of peach and plop it in my mouth. I chew, trying to pretend the way juice drips down my chin was absolutely, totally intentional. I slurp the juice off and swipe my hand across my mouth and inwardly cringe. So very ladylike.
I don't miss the way his eyes catch every movement. The way his Adam's apple bobs when he swallows, or the way his eyes grow heated, watching me slurp up the juice.
I may be a virgin, but I'm not brainless.
The man is turned on, and my virginal thighs clench in excitement.
"I'm going to take you back to my place," he begins, leaning across the counter so I get a whiff of his uber-masculine cologne. I sniff harder, and hopefully discreetly. "And I'm…"
We're interrupted by a squeal and a giggle as the door to the shop swings open, a woman with a dog on a leash walks by, and to my utter horror, Prince takes off out the door. Dany screams and chases after him.
"Dany, no!" I yell and vault myself right over the counter. I fall clumsily, but Emmett's already out the door before me.
"Prince!" I yell. "Dany!"
Dany's chasing Prince down the street toward the intersection and my heartbeat races. No, no, no! She isn't slowing, and I don't even know if she knows how to cross a damn street, and if Prince runs into the street—
It all happens in a matter of seconds. Prince leaps into the road, just as Emmett catches up with Dany and grabs her by the back of the shirt, just as she lunges for Prince, and the three of them fall into a tumbling heap headfirst right in the middle of the road.
"Stop!" Emmett thunders.
I scream as cars honk, tires screech, and everything comes to a stuttering, terrifying halt. Apparently, even the cars obey his command, though I think he was yelling at Prince.
Seconds later, a furious Swan faces me, Dany under one arm and Prince under the other. I'm breathing heavily and feel like I'm about to cry.
"You're coming back with me," he snaps, like this is all my fault.
"Oh, thank God," I say, kissing Prince's fluffy little head. I reach for Dany and give her a quick embrace. I don't really think about the fact that she's tucked under Emmett's arm until I turn away and find us nose-to-nose. If I stretched a bit, my cheek would hit stubble.
Yum.
I blink, momentarily stunned, as what he just said dawns on me.
"Wait, what? Why would I come back with you?"
"Because clearly you can't be left to your own devices."
My jaw drops. "Are you for real?"
He shakes his head and curses under his breath. "You need a leash," he grates.
I blink. A leash? Is the guy, like, a fetishist?
I could maybe get into that, though.
No, wait. My jaw drops open. "Excuse me?"
He puts Dany down on the sidewalk and leans in, his scent all raw and sexy as he purrs in my ear, "For your dog, Regina. Though now that you mention it—"
"Do not finish that sentence. Do not even think of finishing that sentence."
His lips twitch as my mind instantly conjures up an image of him wielding a riding crop, and is that porn music playing in the background? It's a yummy image. I shake my head, vowing to never reread Fifty Shades ever again.
"Please, Regina," Dany says, brushing herself off. "Come back with us? I want to tell you more about my mother."
"Come back where?" I ask.
He frowns and takes out his phone. "My place. Not far, Beacon Hill. Help us get settled, and I'll pay you the nanny rate."
I want to tell him where he can shove his money, but… ohmigod I've always wanted to visit Beacon Hill. Squeee! It's where the Kennedys and movie stars have always lived in Boston.
He scowls at his phone and places a call.
"I can't tonight," I say, taking Prince from him. Our fingers brush, and I ignore the way my skin heats.
The man is an ass.
He's a stuck-up jerkface who wants everything his way or the highway, and I have a distinct feeling that if I keep allowing him to corner me into babysitting, I'm going to be more Dany's nanny than her detective, and as much as my heart aches to help this girl, I can't let myself get roped into that.
Dany looks at me with such a baleful expression, I almost cave, but I stand firm.
"Come by tomorrow," I tell her. "And I'll tell you what I found, okay?" I feel badly, though, so I offer a bit of an olive branch. "But I'll give you my number in case of emergency."
Why, Regina. WHY.
He taps my phone number into his phone, then mine buzzes.
A text from an unknown number.
Hey.
"That's you?"
Another text.
Yup.
He pockets his phone and frowns without even saying thank you.
"Dany." He reaches his hand out to her. She sighs and shrugs off his hand, but walks with him.
Prince whines a little.
"I know, baby," I whisper to him. But do I? I don't know why I feel as sad as Prince watching the two of them walk away.