Page 24 of Objection to Love
But Em already knew what April’s advice would be. It would be the same as Garrett’s. Because, apparently,everyonein her life thought she worked too much. Except maybe her parents. Maybe she should callthem.
She immediately squashed that thought. Em had stopped calling on them for advice long ago. They were either too busy to answer at the moment she called, or gave advice that somehow made Em feel worse. She could easily see her mom saying, “If your office doesn’t appreciate you, just come work for us. We value hard work at our firm. I guess the public sphere of law doesn’t.”
A loud knock sounded at the door, and Em silently thanked the pizza man for distracting her. Pizza was capable of fixing anything. She swiped a few bills from her purse as she headed for the hall.
But when she pulled open the door, it was Garrett’s grinning face that greeted her.
“You’re not pizza.”
He laughed. “That’s the best compliment I’ve gotten all day.”
Em rolled her eyes to cover the fact that she was unexplainably happy to see him. “Not my intention.”
“Are you sure? I mean… maybe you meant to say I look good enough to eat.”
“Did you need something?” Why did she just say that? After all, a half hour before,she’dbeen looking forhim.
“Well, I couldn’t help my curiosity.” He leaned against the doorframe. “Imagine my surprise when I pulled in just now, and your car was already sitting out front.” His smile grew wider, and crinkles popped up around his eyes.
Em nodded. “Yes.” Ah. Look at her. Finally managing something blandly pleasant.
“It made me think maybe you’ve rethought our deal.”
She met his expectant gaze. “Challenge. It was more of a challenge.”
“I was happy to offer you a reward. We could make it a bet, even.”
Em couldn’t help glancing down at his lips as he said that. Horrible timing on the part of her subconscious. She yanked her eyes back up, but too late. His smile had turned teasing.
“Any reward.” He emphasizedany.
Em was torn between turning him down flat and accepting. She was leaning toward the latter for reasons she didn’t want to examine. It couldn’t have anything to do with the tingles that offer had just sent down her spine.
The actual pizza man pulled up in front of her curb, and Em latched onto something that wouldn’t require her to accept or reject his offer. She turned to Garrett and asked, “Want some pizza?”
Garrett seemed surprised at her invitation. Or maybe just at the sudden change of topic.
Em wished she could take back the words. She shouldn’t have invited him in. That was like inviting your unrelenting Grandma to comment on your life choices. Or, you know, inviting the guy you’re more than a little attracted to into your house when you really just wanted to squash the attraction like a bug.
But he could always say no. Hopefully he’d say no.
“Sure,” he said, sticking his hands into his pockets. He was wearing jeans today, and a button-up shirt rolled up to expose his forearms.
“You sure?”
He nodded. “I never say no to pizza.”
Em offered him a brittle smile.
The pizza guy walked up behind Garrett, who stepped out of the way for the teenager. Em handed the boy his tip, thanked him, then turned on her heel and stalked to the kitchen.
She heard Garrett following her, closing the door behind them. How had this man swindled his way into her house two days in a row?
Sure, he’d been patching her up yesterday… and she’d invited him in today. But still. It made Em feel on edge. She set the pizza on the counter and turned to grab some plates and glasses from the cupboard.
“I should have pegged you for a vegetarian pizza kind of girl.” Garrett had opened the pizza box and sat down at the bar.
“Do you dislike veggies?” Em was starting to hope he did.
