“Are you okay?” he asked quietly.
“Yeah. For sure.”
She was trembling, though. He clearly felt it because he slowly turned her until she was pressed more fully against him. Both his arms were around her now, holding tight. Emmy couldn’t stop herself from pressing against his strong, solid form as she fought to stop the tremors rippling through her.
“Shh,” he murmured. “It’s okay. Your body went into fight, flight, or freeze mode and you’ve got some extra stress hormones running around inside you. It’ll pass.”
She let the comforting warmth of his voice wrap around her and soothe her ragged nerves. “I don’t know why I reacted like that,” she told his chest. “I don’t even know where he came from. He was just…there, and he wouldn’t take no for an answer. It was so stupid, but I was starting to get really itchy about the whole thing, like if he didn’t leave me alone…” Her voice trailed off as another shudder ran through her. Apparently she’d been more affected by the situation than she’d realized. Will’s only response was to run his fingers over her hair. It felt so good to be held like that.
Too good.
Emmy made herself step away. “Anyway, it doesn’t matter. You showed up to pretend to be my boyfriend just in time.” She smiled up at him. “Thanks.”
Will had to fight the quick punch of lust that her simple, unguarded smile incited. All he’d done was walk up and stand by her, but she made him feel like a hero. She looked so sweet with her hair mussed—presumably from running her fingers through it as she pored over novels—and he had the impression that sweet was rare to see from her. He had to remind himself that they were only in a pretend relationship, and they were in no position to turn the fake into the real.
But he wasn’t going to forget the way she’d felt in his arms anytime soon.
“You’re welcome,” he said, forcing himself to act casual. “Find anything?”
“Bupkis. But there are more books. Way more. Give me a minute to make notes and then we can get out of here.”
Will helped her put books away since she felt bad leaving so many of them on the return shelf at once. Then they went out to his car. Once she was buckled in, she reached out and touched his arm.
“Thanks,” she said quietly. “For real. I don’t know how you appeared right on time, but I’m glad you had my back.”
“No problem. I got a little worried when you didn’t check in.” He turned to look behind him as he backed out of the space. Then he shifted into drive and paused to raise his eyebrows at her. “And get this—I left Bright with my friend Jared at the bar. I think it was supposed to be a scene from the book, something between me and Bright. But I messed it up when I invited Jared along. They didn’t even notice me leaving. Too busy flirting with each other.”
“You’re kidding. Bright was flirting with another guy while you were sitting right there?”
“Yeah. And the funny thing is, they kind of clicked. They had this whole banter thing going, and she smiled at him in this slow, sexy way. He nearly swallowed his tongue.”
Emmy blinked at him. “That is so weird.”
“Yeah. I don’t know what it means or if it’s going to mess with… I don’t know… the fabric of the universe.” He ran a hand through his hair and tried not to think about taking a drink of something stronger than beer when they got home. “You want to go back to the library tomorrow?”
“Yep. I’ve gotta try something.” She studied him for a moment. “You okay?”
He looked over at her, saw the earnest and concerned expression on her face. It warmed something inside him. Every minute with this woman made it harder and harder to remember why he shouldn’t—couldn’t—fall for her.
“As okay as I can be,” he told her. “Don’t worry about me.”
“Can’t help it. We’re in a worrying situation. Oh! Speaking of… I googled myself today. And my sister. And the sex psychic. Nothing.”
“Man. That sucks.”
“Yeah, I don’t exist. It’s weird.” Emmy wrinkled her nose in consternation. “But I was thinking maybe I should find my way to Minneapolis. I know the internet didn’t turn up anything, but maybe the sex psychic is there anyway. Maybe I have to physically go to her, like a quest or something.”
“Minneapolis, huh? I guess I can check flights when we get back.”
“Well… no. I don’t have ID, so no airplane for me. We’d have to take the bus.”
“We?”
A hint of a blush crept into Emmy’s cheeks. “Or I. Me. If you don’t want to go. I’m not saying I want to leave tomorrow, but maybe we could discuss it once your notice is up?”
Will shrugged. “Sure. Why not?”
He doubted the answer to their problems lay in Minnesota, but he did have some interest in exploring the country. His thoughts about flying to Ireland earlier held true for other parts of the U.S. as well. Did Minneapolis exist? It might be worth figuring it out, though he didn’t know what that knowledge would change; whether it existed or not, he was still in a fantasy world. His hands tightened briefly on the steering wheel. He felt the strain, saw his knuckles go white, and then the relief from relaxing his muscles. It was important to remember he was alive. Or at least he was some version of alive.
