“No! I let you have your say, now it’s my turn. So just sit there and listen.” Anger probably wasn’t the right way to go. Heaving out a breath, she stalked away from him andbegan pacing the short distance in a quick, agitated rhythm. When she felt like she had her thoughts under control, she stopped and looked at him again. “You arereal, Will Barrett.”
“No, Emmy.”
“Yes, Will!” Tears were trying to make their way out again, but she’d cried enough. She blinked them back, wanting to be sure he heard her out and understood what she was trying to say. “I still have no idea how I got here, or where here is. I don’t know how much of this place, aside from you and me, is real. It might all be an illusion. I’m sorry that it hurts you, the uncertainty I mean. I’m sorry that Bright put all that shit in your head about your cousin. Trudy may or may not have been created just so you’d have an interesting backstory, but your emotions about her are as real and as true as anything else in my world or yours.Youare real, Will. I know you are. We aren’t going through a script, you and me. I wasn’t even supposed to be here. None of the thoughts or feelings you’re having right now were created by an unseen author. The decision to be some kind of martyr for me can only have come from you, not a book character. Your feelings about your position in this world, about your past, about me… they’re yours. And they make me sure you’re real.” She reached out, put her hands on his shoulders and squeezed. “I’msureof it.”
“I think therefore I am?” he asked, unable to hold back a smile.
“Yeah. You’re joking around, but yeah, Will. You’re thinking right now. You’re making plans and working things out that were never supposed to exist for Will Barrettthe character. Will Barrett thepersonis the one trying to do the right thing here. And I appreciate that.” She smiled sadly at him. “I’m not going to let you make your noble sacrifice, but I appreciate it. It’s the thought that counts, right?”
“Alright then. Ithinkyou need to consider my position a little more before vetoing it.”
Emmy shook her head, shifted so she could lean down and gently press a kiss to his lips. “I’m not leaving without you, Will,” she whispered, her face still close to his. “If I’m given that choice, if I’m not just ripped out of your world as abruptly as I was ripped out of mine, I’ll choose to stay rather than abandon you. You’re not going to be able to convince me to do anything else.”
“Emmy,” he said softly. Emotion stole his voice for a moment. He swallowed, then spoke again. “I don’t want you to leave everything you love behind for me.”
“Do you think I could live with myself not knowing if I’d ended your existence? No, listen,” she insisted when he started to speak. “I meant it when I said you’re real. I believe it with everything I am. I won’t risk ending you. I can’t.”
“Your sister. Your parents. Your best friend.”
He was right, and she knew it. She thought of her sister, her parents, Sarah. Her life. Her job. Her reality. She couldn’t stay in the book forever, but she didn’t need forever. All they had to do was find a way out.
Taking a breath, Emmy rubbed her hands over his shoulders, down his arms, in a brief caress. “I’m not saying I’ll stop looking for a way out. I know I need to get back to my life and my family. Just… don’t give up yet. I believe there’s a way for us to get out together. We’llthink of something. I’m willing to dedicate every waking moment to brainstorming a solution, because God knows I want to go home, but I want you with me. Ineedyou with me.”
He still looked doubtful. There were shadows in his eyes. She wished she knew the right words to convince him that everything was going to be alright, but she didn’t have those words.
Sighing, she smiled sadly. “Will?”
“Yeah?”
“Toile wa doko desuka.”
He furrowed his brow. “Is that more Japanese? What does it mean?”
“It means ‘Where’s the bathroom?’ I forgot how to say, ‘I won’t give up until I find a way for both of us to get out of this cursed book,’ so you’ll have to take what you can get.”
Will expelled his breath on a surprised laugh and shook his head. “You are something else.” He reached up to cup her cheek in his hand, ran his thumb over her skin. “You meant it, huh? You believe I’m real?”
“Absolutely,” she whispered. “No doubt in my mind.”
“Okay. Then this is real, too.”
He gave her a gentle tug, pulling her toward him, and took her mouth in a kiss that went straight to her heart. She couldn’t pull back from this, not now. He needed her in this moment, needed her to be unguarded and open to him, so she ran her fingers through his hair and held on. His lips lingered, not demanding more than she was ready to give, just giving her a taste of what she could have if she gave herself over to her feelings for him. Then, with one light nip at her lower lip, he pulled back.
Will took a second to catch his breath. He wanted more from her, but this was the wrong time. Maybe the kiss had been a test at first, just seeing what she would do, if she would put her money where her mouth was. But he’d lost that initial motivation in a wave of need for her. The problem was, his conscience wouldn’t let him go further.
“I’m emotionally stirred up right now,” he said, hoping Emmy would understand he wasn’t rejecting her. He let out a half laugh and said, “Physically, too, obviously. But I think we should wait to… if you want to…”
“Will.” She waited until he met her gaze. “I want to have sex with you. But I appreciate that you want to level out before we do that.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” A teasing look came into her eye that he couldn’t explain until she added, “You are going to be really good at sex.”
“Wow… uh… thank you?”
She laughed. “You’re the male lead in a romance novel, Will. You have sexual superpowers.”
“I thought you said I was real and human.”
