A few minutes later, she was standing next to Taylor flinging the flower necklaces into the crowd having more fun that she thought she would. “Okay, so this might be a little fun,” she said, grinning up at him. “You even look like you’re having fun.”
“Told you it wasn’t so bad,” he said, a pleased look on his face. “And now you can’t make fun of me anymore, you look just as silly as I do.”
CHAPTER 9
***TAYLOR***
Taylor watched Emily laughing as the float turned the last corner at the end of the parade and wondered what had possessed him to drag her onto the float. Then she turned and looked up at him. His heart skipped a beat, and it was no longer a mystery. There was something about her that he couldn’t resist, a pull that seemed to only be growing stronger. It scared him to death, but he seemed powerless to stop it.
This time it wasn’t something Emily said or did that got to him, it was Malcolm planning his seduction that sent him over the edge, awakening a burning jealousy inside him that took control. Until now he would have said that he wasn’t capable of jealousy, and that might have been true until Emily walked into his life and turned it upside down with her gorgeous eyes and saucy attitude.
It was a relief when the float finally pulled into the parking lot at the end of the parade; he needed to get away from Emily before he did something stupid and revealed what he was feeling. Once it was out in the open, therewould be no going back; it could be awkward for both of them if his feelings were one-sided, and from where he was standing, that was the case. No woman who was attracted to him would treat him the way Emily did, at least not in his experience, and he wasn’t going to humiliate himself by exposing his feelings.
“That was fun,” Emily said, breaking into his thoughts. “I’ve never ridden on a float before, even the grass skirt didn’t seem so bad, but I think I’ll give it back now.”
“Keep it as a souvenir,” he said, jumping down from the float. “Do you need some help getting down?”
“No, I’ll be fine,” she said, jumping down to the ground. “I’m pretty tough in case you missed it.”
“I haven’t missed much,” he said, unable to stop his eyes from roaming over her body.
A blush spread across Emily’s cheeks, but before she could say anything, Valerie came rushing up. “That was great, thanks so much for letting us ride along with you,” she said. “Your friends are so nice, they invited us to have lunch with you all.”
He looked over at Hattie, who was headed their way. “Oh, sure, that’s a good idea,” he said, but he wondered how he was going to get through another hour with Emily. “I’m sure there’s more than enough food; Hattie always brings enough for an army.”
“I don’t know if I can stay for lunch,” Emily said. “I have some studying to do.”
“No way, you’re not going home and studying,” Valerie said, shaking her head. “You’re going to stay right here with us and have some fun for a change. We’re going to have lunch with the boys, then we’re going to hit the fair, look at the booths, and play some games.”
“You can’t go home now, we’re just getting started,” Peggysaid. “And don’t forget about the dance tonight, that’s going to be a blast.”
“I wasn’t planning on going,” she said. “Dances aren’t really my thing.”
“You can’t stay home, everyone is going,” Kim said, then looked over at him. “Tell her, Taylor, everyone goes to the dance.”
“Oh, I wasn’t planning on going either,” he said. “Dances aren’t my thing either.”
“What’s this?” Hattie said, joining them. “Did I just hear you say you’re not going to the dance?”
“I wasn’t planning on it,” he said. “I have some studying to do.”
“Nonsense, you can’t miss this dance, these things only come around once in your lifetime,” Hattie said, shaking her head and looking over at Emily. “I have a perfect solution, you two should go together.”
“No way,” they both said at the same time, then looked at each other.
Taylor recovered first. “I’m sure Emily doesn’t want to go,” he said. “You heard her, she has to study.”
“You can both study tomorrow, tonight is for fun,” Hattie said, waving her hand in the air. “You’re going and that’s all there is to it, no more arguing.”
“Oh, this is going to be so much fun,” Valerie said, giving a stunned Emily a hug. “I can lend you a dress if you don’t have one. You should come over to my place to get ready.”
“I didn’t…I’m not…” Emily stammered, then looked over at Hattie and saw the determination on her face. “I have a dress.”
“Well, then, if that’s settled, let’s get going. I’m sure you’re all starving,” Hattie said, starting across the parking lot. “It will just take me a second to set out the food, and then we can eat.”
Valerie, Kim, and Peggy followed along behind her, leaving the two of them standing there alone, an uncomfortable silence between them. “I’m sorry about that, we don’t have to go to the dance,” he said. “Hattie means well, but sometimes she gets carried away.”
“She’s going to be upset if we don’t go,” Emily said, still watching the older woman. “I wouldn’t want that.”
