“At this point, I can’t say.”
“I hope it’s soon. I’d really like to see you. I’ll even come there, if you’ll give me an address.”
She shifted her hold on the phone. “Maybe if you admitted that you were the one who recorded us and then put that video up on the internet, we could make up, Ethan, put this all behind us. But the fact that you’re trying to blame it on Tommy, when Tommy would have no motivation to do it, makes me realize that you’re a liar on top of everything else.”
“I’m not lying!” he cried.
“Tell me the truth, and maybe I’ll be able to forgive you.” Dallas had suggested she let Ethan do the talking, but Ethan wasn’t saying anything that would help her. He was using this call to try to rewrite history. And soon it would be too late to press him; he’d know she wasn’t going to forgive him—she was going to sue him. “You did it, didn’t you? You wanted to hurt me, so you posted that video.”
She was hoping he’d say something like, “You hurt me first!” But he didn’t. He fell silent.
“Ethan?”
“What?” His voice was now morose.
“Why did you make that video? Had you recorded us before?”
“You’re such a bitch,” he snapped, instantly vicious, and hung up.
Emery threw her phone on the bed and covered her face. “Damn it!”
Dallas tugged her hands away. “Don’t let him mess you up again. You did the best you could,” he said, and pulled her into his arms.
Contrary to what it probably seemed to Dallas, she wasn’t all that emotional. Not normally. But her helplessness in this situation created so much frustration it surfaced in the way of tears. “I hate him,” she whispered, trying to choke them back.
“He’s obsessed with you. You heard him, right? He’s driven past your house a hundred times. Consider yourself lucky to be rid of him, and that it only took a leaked sex video.”
“Only?” She could feel the solidness of Dallas’s body, the strength in his shoulders, and as much as she didn’t want to admit it, she felt better now that she was in his arms.
“He could’ve done a lot worse.” He smoothed the hair back from her face, like one might do with a child. “He’s so removed from reality that I wouldn’t put it past him to turn into some kind of stalker. Maybe you got out when the getting was good.”
She’d never thought of it that way. “You think he might be dangerous?”
“I’d hate to accuse him of that, because I don’t really know. But he’s definitely missing a sensitivity gene.”
“He only cares about himself.” She tilted her head back to be able to see Dallas’s face. “Wading through my drama can’t be any fun for you. I’m sorry that I’m in your mother’s house and that my situation is such a downer right now. I’m not normally like this.”
“I don’t mind.”
The moment she started to notice how long his eyelashes were, she told herself to move away from him. He smelled and felt too good for her to be able to think clearly.
But she didn’t withdraw. Her feet seemed to be stuck to the floor, and her heart was pounding again—only this time it wasn’t in anger. She was beginning to feel something much more pleasant, and the unexpected reprieve made her reluctant to change anything.
Suddenly curious to know what it would be like to kiss a man like Dallas, she studied his lips. They were nice lips; well-shaped and soft-looking. He was so different from Ethan or anyone else she’d dated—much more rugged but also... What? She couldn’t decide. It felt strange to dub him as guarded when he’d been so nice. But he was holding back, reserving a part of himself that he didn’t allow others to see or know.
What was he like when he wasn’t holding back?
The change she felt in his body let her know he’d felt the change in hers, and that broke the spell. They both stepped back at the same time, and she quickly wiped the tears that were left over from that call with Ethan. “I’d...uh...better go to bed. I’ll try to figure out a way to reach Tommy in the morning. He might be able to tell me something that will help.”
“Is he on social media?” he asked.
“I don’t know. I’ve never looked for him. Until I decided to move forward with the suit, I didn’t have any reason to contact him. I knew Ethan was full of shit coming up with that bogus story. But now... I may have to prove it.”
“Instagram or Facebook might be an easy way to reach him.”
“I’ll check. Thank you for...for coaching me through this,” she said. “I appreciate your friendship.”
His mouth quirked as though he knew she was labeling their relationship as a way to get them back on stable ground. “I appreciate your friendship, too,” he said. “And don’t worry, I know I’m not the kind of guy you need,” he added with a wink.
Emery was breathless by the time she reached her room. She’d only scaled two flights of stairs, but she felt as though she’d run a mile.
What had just happened? There’d been that business with Ethan, which was upsetting. Then Dallas had tried to comfort her, and it had worked far better than either of them had expected. Not only had the anger and frustration, her constant companions of late, drifted away, she’d felt a flicker of desire.
She almost couldn’t believe it. Here she was in the depths of despair and yet she’d wanted to kiss Dallas? Right on the heels of having Ethan shout profanities at her and hang up?
Humans really were resilient, she thought as she dropped onto the bed. She’d figured her sex drive was gone for good, or at least for a while. That video was enough to make her want to remain celibate for the rest of her life. But Dallas had just
