Page 89 of The Emma Special

James caught her gaze. “I like playing games with you. Did I hurt you when I picked you up?”

She shook her head.

“Then I said something stupid again, didn’t I? What was it?”

“No…” She closed her eyes for a moment. “It’s just… babies are forever, and marriage should be too.”

James tucked a pillow under his head and guided his arm around her, pulling her against him. “We are not jumping into a deal with a stranger. I have something you need. I want to give it to you. We’re pausing to think about this from all the angles.”

“But it’s not a fair deal. I’m not worth⁠—”

“You’re my friend. That’s worth everything. Besides, people used to get married with less than this to go on.”

“This isn’t the eighteen hundreds.”

“I know.” James sighed. “Do you like me? As a person, as a friend?”

Emma looked into his eyes and saw the hesitation in his question. “You know I do.” She leaned into the touch of his hand against her head, grounding her to the safety of his protection. “This just feels like so much, so fast. I hate that they immediately assume I’m pregnant—like we’ve messed up and the only way to fix it is a quick marriage? What if people think I’m using you? Trading my body for what I can get from you?” Emma closed her eyes. “James, I would never use you like that. But it’s either fake marriage equals insurance fraud, or we’re exchanging vows before God and signing up for life.”

“I’m not trading anything for your body, and you’re not using me.”

Emma pushed his hand away and sat up. “I’m not ready to do the birds and bees thing with you.”

His eyes widened.

“It’s nothing personal. But if you’re assuming you can pay for my knee and have someone to warm your bed, that’s not me. My mom might have been okay with that, but I’m not. I want—” She fisted her hands, struggling for the right words. “I want more? I want a friend for life. Not…”

“Not what?” he whispered.

“Not what my mom has.”

James blew out a breath and flopped onto his back. Looking at the ceiling, he rested his hands on his stomach. “Maybe it feels like we’re starting this upside down. I’m not asking for anything.” He rolled his head to catch her gaze. “I can imagine being happily married to my best friend. Even if that’s all we’ll be for a while.”

A best friend? Her? Is that how he saw her? She trusted him and enjoyed his company, but he didn’t yet rank over Katie, Allison, and Summer.

She’d never gone looking for a man’s attention. Sure, she’d had plenty of boyfriends through high school, but nobody serious. The Kiss and Tell diaries were full of names of the boys she’d dumped, never interested in them beyond the first couple weeks.

And there was always Aaron—the one who’d thought she was beneath him because she didn’t have the home life he and his friends had.

She pulled a pillow onto her lap and played with the corner tassel. “I have this whirlwind of anxiety spinning around that I’m about to sign the most important document of my life without reading the fine print.”

“Don’t worry.” His voice was soft. “I know the legal ins and outs of it. I want to provide for you. Please let me. You need that surgery right now, and I’m going to make sure you get it. Even if the town wants to talk about a baby—it doesn’t matter.”

Emma looked up to find James smiling with such sweetness. “So we’re really doing this?”

James lifted her hand that was resting on the pillow and weaved their fingers together. “I can’t wait for you to be my fake floozy wife.”

Chapter 25

Emma Is Voted Most Likely To Elope

The pink and white roses weighed more than she’d expected. The air conditioner rattled and hummed, but a bead of sweat slid down her temple. Emma leaned heavily on James’s arm as they stood before the judge.

She blinked and drew in a sharp breath. The show must go on. It was too late to change the script. This was good. This was appropriate. James was her friend.

Smile at Sharon. Nod at Mr. Moore. Her gaze bounced over toward Garrett. Who invited him?

She looked over her shoulder to find Katie, Allison, and Summer huddled together, their faces glowing. Emma should be glowing too. Was she still smiling? Yes.