Page 26 of All Tied Down

“Shit.” All humor is sucked from the room, my body slumping forward a little as I meet his gaze. Theo may run my life, but in this moment, he’s my friend too, and the look on his face says he knows how much this is hurting me.

“Or if you want something equally exciting, I can ask if you’ve told your parents.”

Groaning, I look around the kitchen for a distraction, anything, that might get me out of either conversation.

“There’s no way to avoid telling them?”

“No. Garrett⁠—”

“I know.” Sighing, I run a hand through my hair and let my eyelids flutter closed. My parents are incredible people who understood my need for music, and they didn’t want to be part of the spotlight. They distanced themselves from me, and on the rare occasions I was asked about them, I gave noncommittal answers and looked for a subject change.

The worst part is that they’d understand my need for a fake wife to balance Darren’s drama.

But they’d still be hurt it was another fabrication of my life—something they had no need to be a part of.

“I can call my mother and you can practice on her first. How’s that?”

I snort out a laugh and look at him. He’s smiling and so am I because his mother is overbearing and loud and so full of love she wants to smother every person she meets with affection. She’s also a phenomenal cook, something she definitely passed on to Theo. I gained at least five pounds the first month Theo started working for me.

“Do you think she’ll make me some lemon bars?”

“Only if you call and ask.”

“Sold.”

“You’d rather call my mother than your parents or deal with the band?”

“Yes.”

“Suit yourself…” He trails off like he doesn’t know she’s going to make me half a bakery’s worth of treats.

Don’t mind if I do.

“What are these?” Emerson manages, moaning around a bite of a lemon bar, the tangy, decadent dessert that practically melts in your mouth.

I can feel my cock stir which is ridiculous because she wore me the fuck out not twenty minutes ago. I watch with rapt attention as Emerson, seated on my counter in nothing but a pair of panties and a Descending North shirt, licks a crumb from her still red lips.

“Lemon Bars. Theo’s mom made them.” Pausing, I smirk. “She also dropped off some meals she had lying around. But really they’re my favorites and she spoils me.”

“How does Theo feel about you trying to abscond with his mother?”

“He’s all for it—gives him thirty seconds where she’s not asking him for grandkids.”

“Is he seeing anyone?”

“No, she just likes to guilt him and tell him she’s not getting any younger. I think last week she told him she’d settle for him getting parakeets she can spoil.”

“Parakeets?”

“It’s ongoing. She’s pitched grand-dogs, cats, ferrets, llamas—which was hilarious because Theo would die before having to deal with something that has as much attitude as him.”

Emerson snickers and takes another bite, uncrossing her long slender legs and teasing me with the view. “She sounds fun.”

“She is,” I mumble, my palm sliding up her shin as I lean forward in my stool and plant a kiss on the inside of her knee, inhaling the light vanilla scent of her bodywash as she rakes her fingers through my hair.

“What else did you do today? Besides me…”

Lips curving up against her skin, I rub my cheek back and forth over her inner thigh, making her giggle from the roughness of my stubble. “I think you’re definitely the highlight.”