Page 38 of The Emma Special

“You’d swear that on a Bible?”

Emma twitched her lips to the side and made a show of thinking before she answered slowly. “Yes…”

James let his bag drop to the floor. He sighed like she really was stepping on his last nerve. “Emma.”

“The whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God, your office is safe and nothing is hiding behind the door or under the desk and especially not hidden in the ornamental vase on the middle left shelf. Oops, is that the phone ringing?”

“Show me your hands.” He stepped closer.

“Can’t.”

“Show me your hands.” Then his long arms snaked around her and in one blink she was spun in a full circle and her hands were in his.

His skin was surprisingly warm against hers. Her perpetually cold hands enjoyed the heat, and she didn’t pull away. A big part of her knew that she should. Propriety and all of that. One didn’t stand in the hallway with hands perfectly nestled within a man’s grasp thinking of how wonderful it made her feel when he was a boss and not a boyfriend.

Boyfriend? Why was she thinking that word? She had never put James in that sphere and needed to knock him out of it.

“You have nothing in your hands.” His voice sounded as confused as her tangled thoughts.

“Told you.” Emma spun to leave and a sharp pain shot through her knee at the twist.

His supportive grasp was the only thing that kept her from hitting the ground. “You okay?”

“Yeah, sorry. I’m fine.” She pulled away and braced one hand against the wall, bearing all of her weight on the other leg. Good gravy, her knee was on fire. She smiled and forced out a chuckle. “Well, see ya later. Glad you’re back and had a successful morning. You have a few messages. I’m going to get back to my desk now.”

James just stood there staring at her. “Okay.”

“Okay.” She smiled and leaned a shoulder casually against the wall with arms crossed. That throbbing would probably last the rest of the afternoon. A couple ibuprofen would get her through the day. Ironic that she’d been fine climbing on things she had no business climbing on to hide little pranks all over his office, and it was a simple turn to walk away that did her in.

Maybe she shouldn’t have walked away.

“Emma.” The humor left his voice. “You’re smiling like one of those fifth-grade school pictures at your mom’s house.”

“I was pretty happy in fifth grade. What’s your point?”

“I think your leg hurts, and you’re pretending it doesn’t.”

Uh oh. He was seeing too much. “You’re really sweet, James. Go lawyer somebody else.”

He rolled his eyes. “This isn’t about me. You haven’t put weight on your leg since I grabbed you, which I feel terrible about now. I noticed you limping on the same leg last week. You don’t have to explain anything you don’t want to, but you don’t have to pretend to be okay when you’re hurting.”

“Really, I’m fi⁠—”

“Wait here.” James rushed into his office and came back pushing his chair. “Sit.”

Emma laughed, “I’m not an invalid. Just give me a minute⁠—”

“Sit.” He rolled the chair behind her and nudged her behind the knees. “Siiiit.”

When she relaxed and sat back in the chair he didn’t waste any time pushing her down the hallway and around her desk.

“James, I’m not going to steal your snazzy chair. Yours is much nicer than mine⁠—”

The ringing phone interrupted her.

Before she could lean forward and answer it, he already had the receiver to his ear. “Anderson and Associates, how may I direct your call?”

If her leg wasn’t hurting so much, she would have kicked him.