Page 61 of Her Loving Hero

She snapped a towel in the air and crisply folded it into a small square. He walked into her room and pulled out a hand towel one from the basket to help with the task.

“Wanna talk about it?” he asked.

“Not particularly.”

She saw him try not to smile, it wasn’t working too well for him.

“What? What are you thinking?” She demanded.

“That particular level of frustration and upset could only be brought about by one person.”

Emily sank down to the edge of the bed, clutching a towel to her chest. “I forgot that you’ve met her before.”

“Yes, I have. What did your mother say?”

“I think there must be a production of Gone With The Wind that she’s auditioning for in Oman, because she was giving me her best Scarlett O’Hara impression. The woman could do Faye Dunaway for overacting.” She buried her face into the towel.

Wyatt tugged the towel out of her hands and tilted her chin upwards. “That still doesn’t tell me what she said.”

“She literally said, I could never leave your father in his hour of need. What the hell is she talking about? It makes it sound like Dad’s Winston Churchill and this is the London Blitz. Wyatt, this is a normal American protocol during a heightened potential terrorist threat. Kristi is fifteen and Mom needs come to California with her. But no, not Lilliana, she has to be able to tell the bridge club about her supposed heroism, fuck the fact that her youngest daughter might be scared.”

Wyatt crouched down in front of her. “Emily, I hate it when you swear.”

That got her attention. “I’m not allowed to swear?”

There was something else to get angry about?

“No, that’s not it, I just know you’re really hurting when you swear. But I have a question, how will Kristi take it when your mom doesn’t come?”

Emily shoved the towel aside. “There’ll be extra cash thrown at the situation, and I think my sister is at the shallow age where she can be bought.” Emily reached out and grabbed Wyatt’s shoulders. “But it will hurt. She’ll always remember this. All of us girls know that Dad doesn’t really need us, and now Kristi will see that Mom’s being self-absorbed and putting her vain interests above her and will be something she’ll always remember. I just don’t want Kristi hurt that much.”

“Emily-” Wyatt started.

“On the good side, less people to cram into a studio apartment,” she said flippantly.

He grinned crookedly, but his eyes were warm with compassion. “We’ll figure something out,” he promised.

“Actually, we won’t have to. Like always, Dad will throw money at this problem, so it will be fine. Because it’s for their welfare, I’ll suck it up and find someplace big enough for the three of us temporarily.”

“That will be really costly, and it will take at least a week” he warned.

“Dad’s got the cash. He never went into this line of work because of true altruism and love of country, it was the contacts. He’s made some good investments over the years.”

Wyatt’s hand curled around the back of her neck, his fingers gently massaging the muscles there as he stared deeply into her eyes. “You hated that didn’t you,” he asked quietly.

“Being an American Ambassador is important. I believe in our diplomatic corps. I’ve met some of the most amazing, selfless people while I’ve lived overseas. But I’ve watched how Dad has manipulated things to his advantage. So yeah, I hate it.”

She saw the question in Wyatt’s face.

“No, I don’t think he’s ever crossed the line. He’s walked up to it and brushed his toe against it, but he’s never crossed it. Everything’s been legal.”

“How are you so sure?” His thumb was playing havoc on her nerve endings. She pushed into his hand, arching into his caress.

“I knew he did business with Prince Khalid bin Al Halabi, I heard them talk together a few times when Dad came to Saudi to visit. After my attack and being sent home, I finally started wondering if everything was above board. I looked into things. Dad was happy to give me information about his business dealings, he was hoping I would finally take some money from him. Of course, I didn’t. I told you why.”

Wyatt’s other hand came up and they framed her face. “I respect the hell out of you Lady.”

Emily reached up and speared her fingers through his short dark hair. “You’ve been respecting me an awful lot these last three days. Do you think it’s time for you to be a little less respectful?”