Once the waitress had taken her order, Dustin leaned across the table. “So Emerson, what is it you do?”
Yet again she had to lean too close to be heard without shouting. “I’m a voice actor.”
“Yeah? Like, what? Cartoons? Video games?”
“Sometimes. But mostly I do audiobooks.”
He blinked. “So you read for a living.”
She performed entire casts of characters, giving unique voices to each, such that listeners had a well-rounded experience and felt immersed in the story. But sure. They could just reduce her life’s work down to reading. He clearly wasn’t an audiobook listener. A lot of people didn’t understand, and she was not in the proper mood to educate him, particularly as she suspected he wouldn’t last the month once Paisley had her fill.
“I suppose.”
Did he even know that Paisley wrote romance? If he didn’t, how serious could this relationship be?
One drink. She’d have one drink and visit for a bit, then the social niceties would be discharged and she could go back home to the quiet. As the next pair of singers took the stage for an extremely drunk rendition of “Beer Run,” she knew that would be sooner rather than later. She was absolutely not in the mood for this. But she did her best to engage in conversation during the lulls between singers, listening to Dustin talk about his job as assistant baseball coach for one of the area universities. That explained the nice ass. Nearly a dozen more tone-deaf performers took the stage, each progressively worse than the last. Emerson wondered if blood was leaking from her ears. Where the hell was her drink?
Paisley studied her face. “You are not in a fun-loving-Emerson frame of mind.”
She definitely was not. But that wasn’t Paisley’s fault, and it wasn’t fair of her to spoil the night. Reeling in her lousy mood, she offered an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry. I’m disappointed that Blaine’s work schedule ruined what was supposed to be a romantic date night. Again. I know he’s trying to make partner, but I’m feeling a bit neglected lately.” The past few months, he’d been so dialed into work. At first, she’d been fine with it. It had given her time to really dig in and expand her own portfolio, making her name known in the industry. But she missed coming out like this with him. Being third wheel was not what she’d had in mind for tonight.
“That sucks. But it’s all the more reason to come out with girlfriends!”
Emerson slid a look over to Dustin, who was scrolling on his phone.
Paisley leaned closer. “Okay, fair point. But we haven’t gotten together in forever. I feel like I never see you anymore since you started dating Blaine.”
The waitress finally came back with her drink, and Emerson pounced on it in the name of buying herself time to find an answer. She had let her friendship slide in the past year since Blaine had come into her life. To some extent that was to be expected with a new relationship, but she could absolutely make more of an effort.
Before she could say as much, she spotted another familiar face across the room and froze.
Surely it wasn’t him.
But even as she watched, Blaine laughed and loosed that megawatt grin she’d seen him whip out at countless meet-and-greet mixers for work. What the hell was he doing at a karaoke bar on Lower Broadway? This wasn’t the kind of networking his firm engaged in. His arm was around the shoulders of another woman. The same one in cling-wrap jeans who’d been butchering Tammy Wynette when Emerson came in.
Paisley followed her gaze. “Is that…Oh shit.”
Blaine hauled the blonde to her toes and planted a smoldering kiss on her mouth.
Emerson was out of her seat and walking over before she could think better of it. She had to be sure. She dodged around tables, circling the room until she came up behind him. He still had his mouth fused to the blonde when she tapped on his shoulder.
His head came up, and the utter shock on his face was all the answer she needed. “Emerson?”
“You had to work?” How many times had he used that excuse and been doing this?
Blaine released the blonde, opening his mouth to make some kind of an explanation, but Emerson just lifted a trembling hand. “Don’t bother. We’re done.”
She needed to get the hell out of here before the reaction set in because, right now, she wasn’t sure if she’d fall apart or utterly lose her shit, and she wasn’t keen on having an audience for either. Eye on the door, she turned.
“Emerson, wait.” Blaine caught her by the arm and jerked her around.
She led with the drink still in her hand, flinging it in his face. “Let me go, you cheating bastard!”
He released her, howling as the alcohol dripped into his eyes. “What the hell!”
Taking advantage of his momentary blindness, she hustled back to the table to grab her purse. Dustin was throwing down some bills, and Paisley was gathering her own things.
“Don’t bother. I’m sorry. I’m going home.”
“But Emerson—”
“Seriously. Y’all stay and enjoy your date. Don’t let me ruin your night, too.” Not waiting for an answer, she pushed through the throng, dimly registering a few “You go girl”s from some of the women on her way to the door.
Outside, she stopped just underneath the awning, sucking in huge breaths of air.
Blaine was cheating on her. And if he was doing it now, he’d probably done it before. She’d made it so damned easy on him, with her homebody tendencies, so often focused on her work, on the books she loved. Content in her little house outside the city proper, away from all the lights, the traffic, the noise. The pressure of all of it pressed in on her as she trudged through the rain back to where
