Page 19 of The Love Chase

“Hi, Emma.” The excitement in Bridget’s voice was a bit much, even for me. I was sure Emma saw right through her. “I’m Bridget Masters, Liam’s manager.” She held out a hand, and Emma just stared at it like it was a rabid animal about to bite her. “I’ve heard so much about you.”

Liar. I’ve never mentioned Emma to you. Not once.

Bridget wasn’t fazed as she lowered her hand back to her lap. “Would you like to join us?”

Emma’s eyes widened, and I felt the need to come to her rescue.

“She’s clearly on her way out,” I said through gritted teeth, wishing Bridget would get the hint to leave her alone.

“Nonsense,” Bridget replied. “Emma can eat her food here before it’s cold.” She turned frigid blue eyes on Emma. “Right?”

“You don’t have to,” I said to Emma. Her eyes pierced into mine for a second before she straightened her shoulders.

“I have a few minutes, I guess.” She plopped down into the chair next to me and started digging out her food. If I didn’t know better, I would’ve guessed she was going out of her way to be extra noisy with the paper bag so that Bridget wouldn’t be able to speak.

That’s my girl.

Err, not my girl. My best friend. It was just like her to do something like that. That was all.

Get out of your head, Liam. This is Emma. Just Emma.

Except Just Emma was now somehow both different and the same, and the differences were enough to have me leaning closer, as if I needed to be ready at a moment’s notice to protect her from a physical assault.

Bridget’s words could often feel like one.

Emma took a bite of her four-cheese grilled cheese—one of her favorites.

My manager studied her with eager eyes, as if my best friend were the largest diamond in the world, and she was going to steal it.

“So, Emma, what do you do for work?” Bridget asked.

Was this what it would take to finally get Emma to tell me what she’d been up to? My manager snooping around?

Emma fiddled with her hands in her lap. Enough for me to know that some part of what she was about to say was a lie.

“I, uh, work in weather. Forecasting, chasing tornadoes, you know, exciting stuff.”

Bridget’s eyes went wide in horror, and she gasped. “Chasing tornadoes? Why on earth would you ever do such a thing?”

Emma huffed a laugh. “I don’t know. It gets boring around here, I guess.”

Lie. That wasn’t why she did it at all. She was intentionally giving Bridget very little to go off. That’s my girl.

Gah! Stop it, Liam! She’s not yours!

Bridget cleared her throat. “Well, that’s very…special.”

Emma met my gaze then, and I swore there was amusement flickering in her eyes.

Bridget folded her hands together on the table, looking first at me and then at Emma. I swear I could see the gears turning in her mind, churning over something that I was sure I would hate.

“I have a proposal for the two of you.” She smirked then as if something about the words were funny.

I sighed. I knew when my manager was hard-core scheming.

Emma’s mouth froze midchew, glancing first at her, then at me.

“Whatever it is, leave Emma out of it,” I said, fisting my hands beneath the table. “She has nothing to do with any of this.”