as hell. When she finally came out on the porch to face him, it took her a few seconds to recognize him because he’d cut off his long braids. He looked like Shemar Moore now, or at least as close to Shemar Moore as she was gonna get. His long lean body was still as sexy as she recalled, and his voice was still as captivating. And he was right here with her on Hilton Head. For once, Emily wished that she had less intellect and more sex appeal, but there was nothing she could do about it now. When Todd returned to the back porch, she held the kitchen door open for him as he carried in a large bag and small duffel.
“I hate to keep repeating myself, but I can easily stay at a hotel,” Todd reminded her.
“And I hate to keep telling you that you’re perfectly welcome to stay here. Unless you find my company repulsive or something,” she replied. “Ayanna obviously just forgot when I would be here. Even if she’d remembered that I was going to be here, you’d still be welcome. This place is way too big for one person. Come on upstairs and pick out a room so we can get your things put away,” she said nonchalantly, as though having a super-fine man drop in on her was an everyday occurrence. Which it wasn’t, not by a long shot.
She didn’t wait for him to answer; she just started walking to the back stairs that were next to the kitchen. Sucking in air so she wouldn’t appear out of breath, which she was due to the faint masculine scent that drifted from Todd, she walked down the hall to the bedroom next to hers.
“You can have your pick of rooms. Daddy wanted this place to hold all of us, plus guests.”
The room held a king-size bed, a dresser and armoire, a wide padded window seat and a big comfortable-looking chair. Her mother had decorated it in soothing shades of green, and it looked as posh as a fancy hotel but much homier due to the oak floors and walls. Todd looked around with a satisfied smile. “This is great, Emily. I can’t believe your father built this place himself.”
“Well, I helped a little. I thought about going into architecture at one time, but science was my real calling.” She felt her cheeks grow hot as the shyness that usually overtook her when she was talking to a good-looking man arose. “Okay, I’ll let you get settled. I have to get the shampoo out of my hair,” she said as she felt the ends, which were getting crispy from the dried suds.
Todd grinned as he saw her fingering her long ringlets. “This time I promise not to spy.”
A hot flush raced over her, but this time it didn’t reach her face. Rather, it lingered in the most intimate part of her body, and for some reason the feeling wasn’t terribly uncomfortable. It was kind of exciting, which made her back out of the room with a quickness. “It wouldn’t do you any good, buddy, because I’m locking the door.”
Todd’s laughter followed her down the hall as she hurried to finish her shower properly.
The day ended much better than it had begun, especially the part with the police raid. After Todd got his things put away, he took a shower in the bathroom that was located safely down the hall from the one Emily was using. He tried valiantly not to think about what she was doing in the other bathroom, but it was impossible. Now that he knew what she looked like under the loose, often baggy clothes that she usually wore, his whole perspective of her had changed. He’d always thought of her as ubersmart, funny and cute as hell, but now he knew the real deal. Emily was a true banger with brains, and it was a dangerous combination. To punish himself for the lustful turn his thoughts were taking, he turned the water to full-on cold, but it didn’t help a bit. The erection he’d gotten from thinking about Emily doubled in size in pure defiance.
“Thanks a lot, friend,” he mumbled as he turned the water off. “That’s just what I need. I’ve already spied on the woman, and now I’m entertaining thoughts of lust. You need to calm down before you make me do something I’ll regret later.” Although he couldn’t imagine regretting anything he did with Emily. She was so different from the airheaded sexpots he usually wound up with. Anything that transpired between him and Emily would be pure pleasure. He had just finished toweling himself dry when his cell phone rang. He groaned when he saw the number on his caller ID, because it belonged to a woman he had no desire to speak with ever again. He ignored the phone and finished his grooming so he could see what Emily was doing. Whatever it was, it was bound to be as interesting as she was.
Emily took a last look in the mirror before going down to the kitchen. She’d gotten all the shampoo out and put on the leave-in conditioner her sister had forced on her the last time they were together. Makeup and other girly things weren’t high on Emily’s list of priorities, but she finally agreed with Ayanna on conditioner and a few other basics like clear lip gloss. Her wardrobe was still more functional than feminine, though. She had a vast array of T-shirts and knit tops that she wore with denim for leisure and khakis for work, but that was about it. Even now she was wearing shorts and a tank top with a pair of flip-flops. She looked clean and plain. If she had on some cute earrings or something it might help upgrade her image, but she didn’t bring any with her.
“What you see is what you get,” she said with a slight frown. She tossed her long, heavy hair over her shoulder and went down to the kitchen to see if there was anything she could make for dinner. The refrigerator door was wide open and she was inspecting the contents when Todd’s voice startled her. Two tomatoes hit the floor as he asked if there was anything he could to do to help.
“You can quit sneaking up on me! I’m going to put a bell on you,” she said with a frown. “Learn to make some noise when you come into a room.”
“I didn’t mean to scare you, again,” he said with the dazzling smile that made her weak in the knees. “How about I take you out to dinner to make up for it?”
“Well, I was going to make something, but if you want to eat out, we can.”
“Wait a minute, you’re offering home cooked food? Maybe I should think this over. How good of a cook are you?” He leaned against the counter and continued to show her his dazzling white perfect teeth in his devilish smile.
It was her turn to smile as she answered him. “I cook by the decimal system,” she replied.
“I’m not familiar with that,” he admitted.
“I can make ten of most things. Ten kinds of cake, ten kinds of sandwiches, ten kinds of salad, you get my drift. I cook basics, like chicken. But I know ten ways to fix it.”
“That’s, um, different.”
Emily shrugged. “Everybody should know how to feed themselves. Ten seemed to be a good number to master. Anything less is boring and anything more is superfluous. So I can fix eggs ten ways. Same with potatoes, tomatoes and just about anything else.”
Todd laughed. “Practical and creative, a woman after my own heart. And as much as I’d like to sample some of your decimal kitchen stylings, I’d be less than a gentleman if I didn’t take you out. You do like seafood, don’t you?”
Emily made a little face. “I love it, but I’m not really dressed to go out. And I can’t go change, because I didn’t bring anything fancy with me. I don’t actually own anything fancy, except the dress I wore in Ayanna’s wedding,” she said with a hint of defiance.
“So? You look fine to me, and I wasn’t thinking about anything fancy. I kinda pictured a dive bar with good food and ice-cold beer. Is there anything like that around here?”
Emily grinned. “If that’s what you want, I have just the place for you. Let’s go.”
“This is just what
