“And I’ve found persuading a woman to take off her shirt works better than tugging.”
“I’m surprised you have to persuade them.” The man’s smile could charm a snake out of its skin. “I assumed women flashed you, like at Mardi Gras.”
“Only in my dreams.” With a wry grin, he settled back in his seat. “But they’re very nice dreams.”
“I imagine so.”
“What do you dream about, Emma?”
“I... Um, a lot of things.”
“Like what?”
She fiddled with her seat belt. “Cats. Children. Family.”
“Nanny things?”
A lump the size of a Super Ball burned in Emma’s throat. She swallowed, kept her smile from wavering and looked AJ straight in the eyes. “Yes, nanny things.”
Cat lover things. Mommy things. Wife things. Things a man who had a family, albeit an estranged one, would never understand. Things she dreamed about. Things she wanted...desperately.
Charlie, AJ’s chauffeur for three years, cut five minutes off the drive from the minuscule airport to Haley’s Bay. AJ rubbed his thumb against his fingertips.
He liked being on time. He preferred arriving early. Charlie was doing his job, getting AJ to his destination as quickly as possible. But this once, he wouldn’t have minded being late.
Still, he didn’t lower the glass panel and tell Charlie to slow down. Not until AJ had a reason, one beyond his wanting to prolong the inevitable.
Music played from the speakers. Stock quotes ran across the bottom of a television screen. The bar called to him, but he needed to be stone-cold sober when he faced his family. AJ glanced at Emma, seated next to him, the cat carrier at her feet.
She stared out the window. Her serious expression—dare he say dour—took prim and proper to the next level. So different from how she’d been right before landing. Her sense of humor had disappeared. Her smile, too.
She might be upset over getting sick earlier. She might be nervous about her new job. Or she might be acting the way she always did. Whatever the reason, she was his employee, his responsibility. The least he could do was help her relax after a rough flight and coax a smile out of her. “Let’s take a detour. Check out a lighthouse or two.”
Her lips twisted. “You’re expected at your grandmother’s house.”
“I wouldn’t be a gracious host if I didn’t show you the sights.”
“You’re not my host,” she countered. “You’re my boss.”
Being her employer was easy to forget. Libby had hired Emma. “I don’t mind playing tour guide.”
Her nose crinkled. “You have a schedule—”
“Subject to change.”
“True, but as your personal assistant I’m supposed to keep you on schedule.”
“True, but you’re also supposed to do what I ask.”
“Even if doing so isn’t in your best interest? I mean, you haven’t been home in ten years. Your grandmother might be peeking out the window waiting for you to arrive.”
He pictured Grandma doing that. “I’ll concede the point.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
His gaze met Emma’s. She removed her glasses to blow on the right lens. Pretty blue eyes surrounded by long, thick lashes. He hadn’t noticed her eyelashes before. “Does your grandmother do the same when you visit?”
“My grandparents are dead.” Emma put on her glasses and stared out the window. “Looks like we’re here.”
A wooden sign on the side of the two-lane road welcomed visitors to Haley’s Bay. The sign was new. The churning in AJ’s stomach wasn’t.
After a decade, the town had likely changed. In that same time, his life had also changed. His family’s opinion of him might never change. That could take a century. Or longer.
The last time he was home his family had tried to shame him into staying in Haley’s Bay. That wouldn’t happen again, but something else might. He wanted to be prepared. “One of your responsibilities is running interference for me.”
“What do you mean?”
“If I find myself in a difficult situation, I may need you to get me out of it by texting or calling or physically interrupting me.”
She smiled at the sleeping cat before looking up at him. “Afraid you might run into old girlfriends who might want to rekindle the flame?”
“That isn’t likely to happen.” His high school sweetheart and ex-fiancée, Natalie, had dumped him and married one of his closest friends. AJ had been devastated, but recovered. A good lesson learned—immediate gratification was more important than loyalty to some people. “But there will be people around. My family, too.”
Emma eyed him warily. “Family?”
He nodded once. “Libby and I have a code word. If I text or say the word, she knows to take action.”
Emma removed her notepad from her bag. “What’s the code word?”
“Top secret.”
“If I don’t know what to listen for, I’m not going to be able to help you.”
He rubbed his chin. “We need our own word. Something obscure, but not too random.”
Emma tapped her pen against her notepad. “How about...lighthouse?”
AJ mulled over the suggestion. Ten letters would be a bear to text, but the word could be worked into a conversation without sounding like a non sequitur.
“That’ll work.” Satisfaction flowed through him. The word played perfectly into his plans. “To make sure we remember the code word, we’ll visit one now.”
“No need. I’ll remember.”
“A few hours spent sightseeing won’t make a difference.”
“What’s really going on?” She studied him. “You remind me of a kid trying to put off going to the doctor’s for a shot.”
His jaw tensed. “I’m not scared of needles.”
“You’re scared of something.”
Emma’s insight made him squirm. She had zero qualms pinpointing and commenting on
