“I’m not a hallucination,” he said, trying for calm and rational.
She arched an eyebrow. “So you’re a book character, huh?”
“No, I’m going to go with option three.”
When he didn’t expound, Emmy gestured for him to continue. He shrugged. “I don’t know what it is, but it’s definitely more logical than me being a book character.”
She nodded. “Right. I can hope for that. And, for what it’s worth… I’m sorry. However I ended up here, I didn’t mean to, and I’m sorry I scared you. As soon as I figure out how, I’ll get out of your hair.”
“I could drive you home.”
“To Minnesota?”
“No, not to Minnesota.” This was a truly surreal conversation. What was he supposed to say to her? If she was having a mental break, there was no point in trying to be rational. Weirdly enough, other than telling him a truly wild story about him being in a book, she wasn’t acting like she’d dissociated. Her gaze was clear and direct. Her speech wasn’t slurred. She responded to him and to the situation in an appropriate way, or as appropriate as was possible given the circumstances. There were no physical tics, no nervous gestures. He didn’t see any indication of self-harm in the form of scars, cuts, missing hair, chewed lips. “Are yousureyou live in Minnesota?” he tried.
“Yes, of course. I…” Emmy paused, realizing that she was not going to be able to reach into her pocket, grab her wallet, and show him her driver’s license. She didn’t make a habit of putting her wallet in her pajama pants. “I’m… in my pajamas.”
“Yes, you are.”
She looked down at herself. “I’m not wearing a bra.”
“No comment.”
“Fantastic.”
“No comment again.”
“I wasn’t talking about my tits.”
To her surprise, he smiled. The sheer sex appeal in the expression—Lord, he had a dimple in his left cheek—actually made her mouth go dry.
“How can you look at me like that andnotbelieve you’re a character in a romance novel?”
“It was aromancenovel?” His disgust was evident, the sexy smile wiped clean as if it had never been.
“Look, you don’t even believe me, so why are you acting offended?”
“You didn’t mention it was a romance novel when you first brought it up.”
“I… thought you might be offended.”
“Ha!”
“Okay, shut up for a second!” Emmy closed her eyes, thought hard. She was in a strange place with no money, no ID, and no way to prove what was real. Unless… maybe she could pull a Lucy and tell him something about himself? Except that would do nothing to help her discern what was real. If he was her hallucination,hewasn’t the one who needed convincing. She needed to think of a way to convinceherself. Even if she could confirm it was a hallucination, at least that would give her a heading, a place to start. Closing her eyes, she visualized what little of the world she knew so far. What was something she would definitely recognize as a figment of her own imagination? Will didn’t work for thisexperiment. He looked only vaguely like the cover model on the book, and her imagination had conjured up some kind of faceless apparition with fantastic muscle tone. Mentally, she cycled through what she’d read.
It struck her in the very next second.
She opened her eyes, looked up at him. “Go get your keys.”
His expression instantly became wary. “Why?”
“Because I need to see Gordon.”
Will felt like all the air had been sucked out of the room. Heat flooded his face as embarrassment washed through him, but that quickly cooled to an icy dread. There was something wrong here. Was she playing a prank? Even that explanation wouldn’t make sense. He’d never spoken the name of his damn flashlight out loud in front of another person before. He’d barely spoken it out loud at all, even when he was alone.
“How do you—” He had to stop to clear his throat as his voice had gone hoarse. “How do you know that name?”
His tone recaptured Emmy’s attention, and her expression softened into something apologetic. “I’m sorry. I know this is… weird.” She wrinkled her nose at that. Will could guess what she was thinking. Weird? What a stupid, inadequate word. The word that could describe this situation hadn’t been invented yet. “Can I just see him? It?” she asked.
