Page 20 of The Emma Special

“Dramatic today, are we? Hold still.” Emma shifted Maggie to the side and pressed her face to his chest while drawing in a deep breath.

Every muscle in his body tightened at Emma’s nearness. He squashed the urge to wrap his arms around her.

“You’re fine. Whatever elixir of cologne you bathe in covers most of it.”

James gulped back his attraction and focused on her words. “Most of it! See, I told you⁠—”

“Anna! Where are you? The phone’s been ringing for the past two minutes.” Tony called from the boardroom.

“Coming!” A few feet down the hallway Emma spun back toward James so fast her hair flowed around her and covered Maggie’s face, who giggled. “James,” she whispered. “I have a favor to ask you.” Her gaze shot down the hallway and back to him. “Get back to your office. I’ll come see you.”

“And fresh coffee!” Tony shouted.

The guy had zero tact or manners. The old lawyer was a good example of how a little bit of money could dress up a pig.

Emma floated down the hallway toward the break room, whispering to Maggie on her hip.

Only half satisfied that he wasn’t carrying the smell of regurgitated bodily fluids, James went back to analyzing the brief that had been the bane of his existence for the last three days.

He’d barely read two paragraphs when Emma rapped her knuckles on his open door. “Hi, boss.”

James sat back and gestured to a chair across from his desk. “I’m not your boss.”

“You kinda are. I work for all of the attorneys.”

Whatever it was she wanted, it had to be a big ask. He’d grown used to her skipping into situations, dropping news, and flying away like the pixie she’d been when they met. Emma didn’t tiptoe around anything.

“What can I do for you?” He leaned forward to link his hands on the desk.

“Wow, you look so serious over there.” She fidgeted with her fingers as she swayed from side to side. “Back before I got this job, I was scheduled to appear at a little girl’s party. This afternoon.”

“So you need to leave early?” James asked.

“Yes. Actually.” She lifted her wrist to check her watch. “I need to leave in about five minutes. It’s a half-hour walk.”

“Walk? You can’t drive?”

“I could drive if I had something to drive.”

Emma was good at using jokes as a way to make light of tough situations. It was difficult to tell when she was serious and when she was kidding. “What’s wrong with your car?”

“I would have to own a car for something to be wrong with it.”

Her words didn’t have a playful air to them. How was she getting to work and back each day without a car?

James closed his laptop and grabbed his keys from the desk drawer. “I’ll give you a ride.”

Emma’s eyes lit up like the sun in the middle of a clear, blue sky. “Really? I can go? Are you sure?”

Rounding the desk, he shoved his keys and phone into his pocket. “You made a commitment. I’d say it’s best to honor it. Plus, some little girl would be terribly disappointed if the princess didn’t pop in for a visit at her birthday party. I can’t have that on my conscience.”

Emma’s arms spread wider than her smile as she barreled into his chest. “Thank you!”

Her tight embrace lasted only a second before she pulled away and darted out of his office.

He followed her to the lobby where she gathered her purse and a backpack onto her shoulder. “Ready.”

They stepped outside, and James unlocked the doors to his BMW. “Your chariot awaits, princess.”