Billionaire Husband Test (Billionaire Online Dating Service) (11 page)

Emma’s gut clenched. Working alongside the quiet, yet efficient, Jared all day long, she’d let the strain of her muscles push the stress of her life to the side. Now, thanks to Brand’s reminder, the worries all came rushing back like a tsunami on the beach, undermining her confidence. “I’ll call and cancel.”

“You can’t. He will have left his house by now. You know, cell phone reception is spotty between towns. “

“Damn. I still have to unload the truck.”

“Here, take the four-wheeler.” Brand climbed off the ATV, opened the door to the truck. “Jared and I can unload the truck. You need a shower, you smell.”

“Love you too, brother.” With Brand waiting and twenty minutes to repair the damage of a day’s work in the field, Emma didn’t have time to waste. She hopped on the back of the four-wheeler.

“And do something nice with your hair,” Brand called out. “Don’t worry about the gates. We’ll close them.”

Emma raced ahead of the truck, blowing through the gates Brand had left open on his ride out to get her. When she reached the ranch house, she skidded to a stop in the gravel and jumped off.

Ace, Colton and Dillon leaped off the porch.

“Holy hell, Emma, you’re a wreck.” Ace gripped her elbow and hurried her toward the house.

Dillon hooked her other arm and between the two of them, they practically carried her up the steps to the porch.

“Put me down. I’ve been working all day, which is more than I can say for you all.”

“We’ve been working. But you’re the one with the date. You better get moving, or you’ll be in your altogether when he gets here.”

Colton grabbed for the screen door and held it open, waggling his eyebrows. “Unless that was the plan all along. Maybe move this relationship along a little faster that way.”

Emma punched his arm as she crossed the threshold, glaring. “Enough. You’re my brothers, for crissakes. You’re supposed to pummel his ass for even thinking of me naked.”

“Grow up, little sis.” Dillon shook his head. “We’re all adults here.” He marched her down the hallway and shoved her through her bathroom door. “Get in there and scrub the horse manure off at the very least. Sheesh.”

Ace and Colton stood in her doorway, laughing.

With all the anger she could muster in her tired body, Emma slammed shut the door between them. “Brothers! Who needs enemies when you have family to railroad your life?” Despite her ire, she flipped on the shower and stripped her dirty cloths, stirring up a mist of Texas dust floating in the air.

When she stepped into the shower, the cool water washed the rest of the dust down her body in muddy rivulets, pooling at her feet. No wonder they’d been upset. She could plant a garden in the amount of dirt she’d acquired on her skin during the long, hot day.

With a heaping dollop of herbal shampoo, she scrubbed the sweat and dirt from her hair and face. Then with a washcloth, she attacked her body, leaving it glowing pink and clean and a dark ring of dirt clinging to the tub.

With a sigh, she shut off the water and stepped out of the shower, wrapping her hair turban-style in a clean, dry towel and another twisted around her body. Careful not to step into the dust around her discarded clothing, Emma made quick work of brushing the tangles from her hair, hitting it with a blow dryer until it lay in soft waves around her shoulders. A quick wand of mascara on her lashes and she was done. The sun had done the job of making her cheeks pink and her skin glowed.

Pounding on her bedroom door made her jump.

“He’s driving up. Are you about ready?”

“Hell no,” she yelled. “But I will be.”

Emma raced through her bedroom to her closet and flung open the door, her gaze skimming across the array of blouses and jeans and landing on a pale yellow sundress she’d purchased a month ago and never worn. She hadn’t felt like dressing up or going out for so long, she didn’t know why she’d bought it in the first place. But the garment had been hanging in the window of a little store on Main Street in Temptation. When she’d walked by, the dress caught her attention and she’d bought it without thinking too hard.

With no time to spare, she grabbed it off the hanger, dropped her towel, clipped on a bra, slipped the dress over her head and her feet into lacy panties and then a pair of simple sandals.

“There. Not too dressy and not too fancy. It’ll have to do for our last date.” The wind blew out of her sails as she stepped out of her bedroom. Tonight would be the last time she saw Cooper.

“Coop, how’s it going?” Ace’s voice carried down the hallway from the front porch.

Emma sucked in a deep breath and hurried to the door.

When she stepped out into the bright sunshine, she blinked twice before she could focus on Cooper.

He wore dark slacks, a crisply pressed white, long-sleeved shirt and a red tie. In his hands, he carried a loose bunch of daisies. And his smile made Emma’s knees wobble.

His eyes widened and his gaze traveled from the tip of her head to her sandals. “Wow. You look incredible.”

The butterflies in her stomach rose in a flutter. “You’re not bad, for a desk jockey.”

He executed a half-bow.

“You look a lot better than you did fifteen minutes ago.” Ace pressed a kiss to Emma’s forehead. “The girl can clean up.”

“Are those for me?” she asked, indicating the flowers.

“Well, if not for you, I’m not taking them.” Brand laughed. “Seriously, sis. You weren’t born yesterday.”

Emma’s lips twitched. “Shut up, Brand.”

Cooper handed her the daisies. “I went to pick up roses, but when I saw these, they reminded me of you.”

Emma took the flowers and held them close, struggling to breathe past the lump in her throat.

Marcus had always given her red roses. Now that he was gone, they reminded her more of death than of love.

“I hope you don’t mind the daisies.”

“They’re perfect.” She stared down at the flowers, fighting to keep tears from falling. “I’ll just put these in water.” Before he could stop her, Emma spun and hurried back into the house, headed for the kitchen where she stopped in front of the sink, clutching the flowers like a lifeline. Footsteps behind her let her know she wasn’t alone.

“You okay?” Dillon reached up beside her and retrieved a Mason jar, filled it with water and set it on the counter.

“Yeah, sure. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I don’t know. Your face looked like it does when you’re about to cry.” Dillon took the flowers from her hands and arranged them in the water-filled jar. “You don’t have to go out with him if you don’t want to.”

Emma swiped at an errant tear sliding down her cheek. “No. It’s okay. I just thought the daisies were sweet.”

Dillon gripped her arms and forced her to face him. “You still miss Marcus that much?”

She leaned into her brother’s chest, shaking her head. “That’s just it. I don’t.”

He set her away and frowned down. “I don’t get it. If you’re not missing Marcus, what’s the problem?”

“Marcus was so much a part of my life, even after he died, not having him to cling to scares the crap out of me.”

Dillon scraped the next tear from her cheek. “You’ll be okay.”

“How do you know?”

“Because you’re one of us. Jacobs don’t crack under pressure. We rise like cream to the top.” He grinned. “Now, smile and get out there. Cooper’s a good guy. But if he’s not the one for you, that’s okay too. Just do us a favor, will ya?”

Emma sniffed and forced a smile. “What’s that?”

“Don’t crawl back into your shell. You’re too pretty to be hiding.” He kissed her forehead, spun her around and smacked her butt. “Now go get ‘em.”

Emma walked slowly through the house, her steps lightening as she went. Her brothers were right. She needed to get on with her life. Marcus would have wanted her to.

But damn, the idea was scary.

Cooper leaned against a post on the porch, a lock of his dark hair hanging over his forehead. He laughed at something Colton was saying, the sparkle in his eye still evident as Emma stepped out.

Her breath caught and held as she wavered on the doorstep.

“Ready?” He held out his hand.

Emma stared at it a moment, sucked in a deep breath and took it. “I’m ready.”

“Y’all have a great time.” Ace clapped Cooper on the back, then squeezed the man’s shoulder. “But not too good a time. I’d hate to ride shotgun to your wedding.”

Heat blossomed in Emma’s cheeks. “Ace.”

Her oldest brother held up his hands. “Just sayin’.”

“Don’t listen to him,” Brand said. “He’s all stuffy and full of himself, thinkin’ he has to play daddy and polish his guns. Just have fun and don’t do anything I wouldn’t.” Brand winked and chucked her beneath her chin.

Ace glared. “Which doesn’t leave out anything.”

“Exactly.” Brand caught Emma’s hand with one of his own, while fishing in his pocket with the other. He pulled out a dark foil packet and slapped it into her palm. “Just be careful.”

“Brand!” Her face hot to the tips of her ears, Emma ducked her head. “I can’t believe you did that.” She curled her hand around the packet and shoved it into her sundress pocket. “Let’s go.” With her other hand still in Cooper’s, she led the way down the steps and half-dragged the man to his truck.

He held the door open, a smile tugging at his lips.

Emma’s lips pressed together. “Don’t say a thing.”

Cooper’s eyes widened. “I wouldn’t dare.”

Cooper didn’t mention Brand’s gift, but he couldn’t have wiped the grin off his face if he’d had a gun pressed to his temple. He backed out, swung around and headed down the long drive and through the arched gate of the Rockin’ J Ranch. “I thought we’d head into Dallas for dinner.”

Emma leaned back against the seat, her eyes closed. “Couldn’t we just catch a movie in Temptation? I’m afraid I worked too hard today and wouldn’t be much company on the long drive to and from Dallas.” She stared across the seat at Cooper, the sun glinting off her hair, casting a halo around her face.

Cooper swallowed hard. She was so beautiful and she didn’t seem to know that simple fact. Such a change from the women who chased after him once they knew he was loaded. “I’m game for a movie. Wanna catch dinner first?”

“Are you hungry now, or could you wait until after the movie?”

“I can wait. I ate a late lunch.”

“Good, I just want to relax.”

Cooper pulled up to the only theater in Temptation and sat behind the wheel staring up at the posters. “Looks like we have two choices. An action flick or a romance. What’s your poison?” He glanced sideways at Emma.

Emma opened her eyes and rolled her head toward him. “Action.”

The thought of sitting in a darkened movie theater with Emma snuggled up against him made Cooper’s pulse quicken. He leaped from the truck and rounded to her side.

Emma perched on the edge of the seat, her long tapered legs reaching for the running board.

“Allow me.” Cooper clasped her around her narrow waist and swung her to the ground and into his arms where he held her for a long moment, inhaling the essence of Emma.

She rested her hands on his chest. “I thought we were going to a movie.”

“Umm. Right.” He took her hand and led her to the ticket window, where he bought two tickets to a spy thriller.

Once inside, they settled back as the movie started.

From the opening scene, Cooper knew the movie was a really bad idea and the feeling got worse with each passing minute.

A highly trained squad of soldiers moved through a mountain village searching for insurgents.

Beside Cooper, Emma tensed.

In the movie, a grenade landed in the middle of the shelled-out building the soldiers were searching and rolled to a stop in front of their leader.

“Run!” the leader shouted.

In the next moment, the man threw himself over the grenade.

Emma’s hand reached out and grasped Cooper’s arm, her fingers digging into Cooper’s sleeve.

He took her hand and leaned close. “Let’s go.”

Emma let him lead her out of the theater. She hadn’t uttered a word and when they exited the building into the balmy night air, she drew in a long steady breath and let it out.

“Are you okay?” Cooper asked.

She nodded. “Yes.” As soon as the word left her lip, her head shook back and forth. “No.”

“I’m sorry. Had I known, I wouldn’t have taken you to that movie.” Cooper turned her to face him.

Her head dipped. “It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not.” Cooper studied her pale face, then grabbed her hand. “Come on, let’s walk.”

 If this truly was their last date, the last night together before their fake split, he’d completely blown it by taking her to see the carnage that only reminded Emma of how her fiancé had died. The damage done, he could only hope to cheer her up before taking her home and saying a final goodbye. “Where would you like to go?”

She walked several paces before responding. “Are you familiar with Temptation?”

“Not really.” He turned to study her face in the glow of the streetlights.

She blinked then smiled, the effort stiff, but admirable. “Let me give you the fifty-cent tour.”

They strolled along Main Street, Emma pointing out the stores and naming every owner, clerk and family member, painting a picture with her words of the quaint little town.

The more she talked, the steadier her voice became.

As they neared the end of the street and town, she stopped. “That’s it. Now you know all there is to know about Temptation.”

“You must love it here.”

She shrugged. “I never wanted to live anywhere else.”

Cooper tipped his head. “Wouldn’t you have moved from post to post…” he caught his last words before they escaped, but it was too late.

“If Marcus had lived?” Emma nodded. “Yes, I would have moved from place to place, but my heart would have belonged to this little corner of Texas. We would have returned here after he retired.”

“You still miss him.” His words weren’t a question, but more of a statement. He was beginning to realize just how much Emma had loved the soldier. “He was a very lucky man.”

Emma snorted. “He’s dead.”

“Yeah, but he died knowing you loved him.”