For this, I had only myself to blame.
When I didn't look away from Chase, Emory turned to see what had caught my attention. When she spotted Chase Blastoviak standing a few paces away, her mouth fell open, and she dropped her bag of nuts. The bag hit the top step and opened on impact, sending nuts rolling down the remaining steps and onto the pavement below.
Emory didn't even notice.
All she noticed was the annoyingly hot guy within pouncing distance. Abandoning her duffle bag, she stood and scurried down the steps. She sidled next to him and practically purred, "So who are you?"
I gave a snort of disbelief. She knew darn well who he was. Cripes, everyone did. But I'd seen her play this game before. In fact, this was the exact same thing she'd said to Bryce the first time she'd met him in person.
I knew, because I'd been there, standing only a few feet away in the sporting goods store. Bryce had been a junior at Western Michigan University, and his parents lived in a town only forty minutes from Bayside. He'd come home for Spring break, supposedly to see me.
In the end, he'd seen way more of Emory, naked and otherwise, considering that they'd taken off for Florida only two days later.
Now, from the roof of my car, I waited to see if Chase would react to Emory the same way.
He didn't.
In fact, he didn't even look in her direction. But the reason for this was nothing to celebrate. Apparently, he was too engrossed in watching me molest my own vehicle.
I watched with renewed irritation as Emory sidled closer to him and tried the same line again, this time with a lot more innuendo. "So who are you?"
He spared her only half a glance before saying, "I heard you the first time."
She blinked. "Oh. So…why didn't you answer?"
He turned away. "Because you're full of it."
"Excuse me?"
"You know damn well who I am."
In spite of everything, I almost snickered. Hah! Take that, Emory.
But in true Emory fashion, she refused to give up. With a flirty laugh, she said, "Oh, so that's how it is?"
Chase shrugged. "Pretty much."
By now, I realized I had a choice. I could either get off my car or keep working at the sunroof. Call me stubborn, but I hated the idea of giving up.
I called out to Chase, "Hey, you don't have a hammer, do you?"
Emory turned to look at me. "Oh, get real," she said. "Why would I have a hammer?"
Yes, because everything was about her.
I said, "I wasn't talking to you. I was talking to him."I mean, he was the hammer guy, right?
Chase replied, "Hell, I got a million hammers."
Obviously, he was missing the point. I tried again. "I mean, do you have one on you?" Yes, I realized he wasn't walking around with a hammer in his pocket. But the point remained the same. I needed a hammer. His company made hammers, just a few blocks away, in fact.
If by some miracle, he agreed to fetch me one, it would solve two of my biggest problems.
Problem number one – I hated the idea of him watching me make a fool of myself.
Problem number two – I still needed to get into my car.
If Chase left to get me a hammer, I could still work at the sunroof – without him watching from the sidelines. If I were lucky, I might even get the thing open before he returned.
And if I weren't lucky? Well, in that case, the hammer would come in extra-handy, wouldn't it?
And just maybe, if he left, he'd take Emory with him, which would leave me in blissful solitude. I cherished this idea for only a split second before I realized something totally awful.
I didn't like that idea at all.
Why, I wasn't even sure.
He was annoying. She was annoying. If they both left, they could annoy each other to their hearts' content.
It would have been a lovely plan, if only I weren't annoyed, too. And now, I was annoyed that I was annoyed, which only served to annoy me further.
And speaking of annoying, Emory turned to Chase and said, "I know! I'll come with you."
Great.
Now she says it?
After I've already rejected the idea?
Chase told her, "Forget it."
Emory frowned. "But why?"
"Because you're nuts."
At his reply, I felt a silly grin spread across my face. Oh sure, I still looked like an idiot straddling my roof, but at that moment, I swear, it was almost worth it, if only to see Emory's reaction.
Her frown deepened, and she took a quick look around, as if searching for a hidden camera. She saw none. But she did see her fallen nuts on the pavement. At the sight of them, she gave an audible sigh of relief before turning back to Chase. "Oh, don't worry about them," she laughed. "The birds can have the rest."
It was vintage Emory.
In her world, no guy would ever call her crazy. But they would worry about her fallen snacks.
I muttered, "Don't forget the squirrels."
She turned to glare at me. "What?"
Damn it. I hadn't meant to say that so loud. But now that I had, I couldn’t seem to let it drop. I gave her my snottiest smile. "The squirrels. Don't they get any nuts?"
Her mouth tightened. "It doesn't matter who gets them. They'll be gone before we get back."
We.
Meaning her and Chase.
How nice for her. If history repeated, she'd return in nine days with a sunburn and hickies.
When she looked back to Chase, I blurted out, "Well, I'm not gonna eat them." I wasn't even sure why I said it. I just knew that I didn't like the way she was looking at him, as if she'd just love to taste his nuts, if you know what I mean.
Emory sighed. "I never said you would." Once again, she turned back to Chase.
He told her, "Hey, don't look at me. I'm not gonna eat 'em."
Emory paused for
