Runaway Bride’s Guide to Love (Guide to Love #1)

29. Stella

29

stella

“How many of those skirts do you have?”

I giggle as I feel Emmett’s breath on my neck as I stand at the counter in our break room, waiting for my oatmeal to heat up.

I also feel his hardening cock against my ass, which makes me want to christen this room just like we did his office yesterday.

“A few.”

That’s the truth. I’ve always loved a good pencil skirt, so I have some options in my work clothes rotation. But after I saw the way Emmett looked at me the few times I wore them? I might have bought some more.

Okay, nine. I bought nine.

“You’re trying to drive me crazy, aren’t you?”

His growly voice next to my ear sends shivers through my body. It’s the same reaction I had this morning when I woke up with him pulling me next to him, his voice rough from sleep as he told me good morning while kissing down my neck.

It was sexy then and it’s sexy now. Honestly, it’s probably never not going to be sexy, and I’m just fine with that.

“I don’t know. Is it working?”

“You know it is.” Emmett turns me around, his hands holding onto the counter so he can pin me against it. “But I’m not complaining.”

Emmett leans down for a kiss, which I gladly give him. Yes, we’re in the office so we shouldn’t be doing this. Then again, I shouldn’t have sucked my boyfriend’s dick under his desk yesterday, so in retrospect, a kiss is harmless. Especially since Simon isn’t coming in until this afternoon.

My boyfriend. I can’t get over that word every time I think about it. Emmett Collins, the man who I never thought would have more than a cameo during the roughest part of my life, is now the star player.

I remember Andi telling me that there was no timeline on when you find your person. That it’s going to happen when it was meant to, not because you set it on the calendar. And she was right. She was so damn right.

Emmett picks me up and sits me on the counter, our lips never leaving each other as he pushes up my skirt so he can spread my legs apart. I pull him in closer by his button-down shirt, suddenly feeling just as daring as I did yesterday. Which was…I don’t know where that came from. I mean, I’ve always had a fantasy about it, that wasn’t a lie. But it had been buried so long because of The Small Dick Who Must Not Be Named that I almost forgot about it.

Until we were in an empty office and Emmett was looking damn good in a pair of khakis and a polo shirt. His hair was styled, and his beard was the perfect length that I like—just enough so I can feel the scratch. So yes, I did have a fantasy come true about having sex on an office desk, but fantasy or no, I would’ve let Emmett Collins do whatever he wanted to me yesterday, and I would have been a willing, and begging, participant.

Our kiss deepens, and I feel Emmett’s hand trace up my leg and inside my skirt. I feel the wetness starting to pool and lean into him, hoping that makes him get there quicker.

“You want me to fuck you again, don’t you?” Emmett’s low tone spikes my adrenaline.

“Yes.”

“Oh Tiger…” Emmett starts unbuttoning my blouse, which today is a pale pink to go with my black pencil skirt. “You’re going to be the death of me.”

I let out a low moan as Emmett inserts a few fingers into me, pushing my lace panties to the side so he can find where he wants to go. I close my eyes and throw my head back, loving the feel of him working me like only he can. I hear the microwave beep to signal my oatmeal is done just as Emmett’s mouth starts kissing the top part of my breast. I lean back, trying to give him as much access as I can when I hear the microwave beep again. I don’t care. Let it go off for hours. A fire could start right now, and it wouldn’t make me move from Emmett’s mouth cherishing my body as his hand starts to pull my breast free from my lace bra. Actually, I don’t think anything could stop me from letting Emmett do whatever he wants right now.

“What the fuck is going on!”

I was wrong. Simon catching us could definitely do that.

“Emmett? Stella? What in the actual fuck!”

Emmett and I both let out a gasp as we pull away and look over to Simon, who’s standing in the doorway, eyes wide and mouth agape. Emmett does his best to cover me, which I’m grateful for since I’m a quarter of the way naked, but it also means I can’t see Simon’s entire reaction.

“Simon,” Emmett begins. “It’s not…”

“If you’re about to say ‘it’s not what it looks like,’ save it. Because it looks like one of my best friends, who happens to be my business partner, is making out with my sister on a counter.”

“Okay. Yeah. It’s exactly that.”

“What the fuck!” Simon marches into the room as Emmett fully steps in front of me as I do my best to fix my clothing situation. I’m pretty sure I get a button wrong, but I don’t have time to go back and fix it.

I need to fix this .

“Simon, we can explain.”

“Oh, that’s the minimum you’re going to do,” he says. “What the…how the…I’m…”

“I know,” I say, popping off the counter and standing next to Emmett, quickly pushing my skirt down. “How about you head into one of the conference rooms. Take a breath. We’ll be in there in just a few minutes, and we’ll tell you everything.”

Simon’s eyes narrows as he looks from me, to Emmett, before looking back to me. Eventually he nods, turning and walking out without saying anything.

“Fuck,” Emmett says, running a hand through his hair.

“Right? He’s not saying anything. That’s downright terrifying.”

“He didn’t punch me. That’s a good thing?”

“It’s Simon. He doesn’t punch. He hires guys to punch. Shit, maybe we shouldn’t have left him alone?”

I don’t think he’s actually hiring people to punch Emmett. Then again, he just walked in on me basically having sex with his best friend, so who knows what’s in the realm of possibility.

“Okay,” Emmett says, rubbing his hands on both my arms to calm us down. “We’re ready for this. We wanted to tell him today. Maybe not like this, but it’s here, and we gotta rip off the Band-Aid.”

“Exactly. This was the plan.” Though as I say that, I get another idea. “Actually, let me go grab something. Stall him until I get back. Give me ten minutes.”

I don’t give Emmett a chance to answer as I go racing out the back door and around the building into the diner. The only thing that stops me is the counter, which I nearly fall over and slam my hands onto, getting Charlie’s attention.

“Stella? Are you okay?”

I furiously shake my head. “Simon just walked in on me and Emmett making out in the office and he’s pissed. I need food or pie or something to soften the blow we’re about to tell him that we’ve basically been sleeping together since Florida. ”

Charlie’s face goes from concerned, to shocked, to happy, to damn near giddy in the span of seconds. “Yes! It’s out in the open! Finally!”

“Yes. Fine. Tell everyone. But first can you help me with your man so I can tell him about mine?”

“Oh. Right. Yes.” Charlie starts furiously making Simon some sort of iced, sugary, who knows how many pumps of things, drink as she calls out to someone in the kitchen to cut her a slice of apple pie.

“Here,” she says, handing me a to go bag, as well as coffee for Emmett and a Diet Dr Pepper for me. “I’d come over to help you, but I know I won’t be able to keep my poker face in check during all of this. So Godspeed.”

“Thank you,” I say. “And when he tells you tonight…”

She nods so I don’t have to finish that thought. “I’ll play dumb. Your secret is safe with me.”

God, I’ve hit the jackpot with my future sister-in-law.

I wave to Charlie as I exit and walk back into the office. I decide to go through the back door again because I’m a chicken shit, and I’m startled when I see Emmett waiting for me.

“I thought you were going to stall Simon?”

He shakes his head, takes the drinks from me and kisses my forehead. “We’re a team now, Tiger. We go into battles together. Hand in hand.”

As he holds out his hand for mine, I look down at it, almost confused to what he’s doing. No, not confused. Just still a little shocked that this kind of man exists. Emmett has done many, many things to make it known he’s different from any other man I’ve been with. Even when he wasn’t trying to. Never in the years that I was with Duncan did I feel this kind of support. Or love. Or that I wasn’t alone. I never felt a part of a team.

Not until now.

With our fingers locked and a deep breath, we walk down the hallway into the conference room. Simon looks up from his phone and over to us, noticing our hands .

“Here,” I say. “I brought you a drink.”

Simon rips it from Emmett and takes a big swig.

“And pie,” I add. “I got you pie.”

“Apple?”

“Of course.”

He eyes the bag, but doesn’t make a move for it. “Thanks. But you’re not going to soften me up with a drink and pie.”

Damn. He caught on. Emmett stays back, holding my chair out for me, which I don’t know if it’s his manners or laying it on thick for Simon, but either way, it was a good move. “We have a lot to tell you. And I’m sure you have a lot of questions.”

“Damn right I do.” He turns his gaze to Emmett. “How long has this been going on?”

“Which part?” Emmett asks. “There are a few different stages to this.”

“Stages! Stages take time. You’ve…wait. Did this start in Florida? Did I pay for your sex vacation?”

“Technically…yes…” Emmett’s words trailing off before I chime in.

“But that’s not where we met.”

Simon turns to me. “Where did you meet?”

I look to Emmett, fondly remembering the day that changed everything. “When I ran.”

For the next twenty minutes, Emmett and I go back and forth as we tell Simon everything that he needs to know. How we met. The day, and night, I ran. Florida. How Florida didn’t start like this, but as time went on, we grew closer. How we meant to keep it in Florida. But when I came here to work, it threw everything into shambles. Emmett even admits to being MIA last week because of me.

We don’t, however, tell Simon about yesterday. That we’re going to take to the graves.

Simon’s silent when we finish the recap. I hold my breath as I wait for him to say something. Anything. For some reason, I expect him to grill Emmett, so I’m shocked when he turns to look at me.

“He was the clothes?” It takes me a second to remember that Simon’s referring to the day after the wedding. “When you showed up at Mom and Dad’s and were wearing a guy’s clothes, they were his?”

I nod. “Yeah. They were his. But I swear, at that point, I didn’t know you knew him. He was just the guy at the bar who took care of me.”

Simon looks over to Emmett. The anger in his eyes has tempered, which lets me breathe for the first time in a while. “I always wanted to thank the guy she was talking about. We didn’t know where she was. We knew she needed her space, but we were worried at the same time. So, thank you. Thank you for watching out for her.”

“You’re welcome,” Emmett says. “But you don’t need to thank me. I…there was no way I was leaving her that day. Turns out there was really just no leaving her. Ever.”

I feel a tear start to form as Emmett gives my hand a squeeze. The way he’s looking at me right now, and how I know I’m looking at him, it’s like Simon isn’t even in the room. But I know he is, which is why I refrain from kissing him.

“Wait,” Simon interrupts. “Is this…are you two like actually in love?”

Love? Are we? I don’t know if either of us know how to respond to that. I mean, we’ve never said those words to each other. I’ve thought it, but also it’s so soon. Like way too soon.

Love isn’t on a timer…

Except before I can say what I feel, even if it’s too soon to say thing, Emmett speaks up.

“I don’t want to speak for Stella, but I know I am.”

He is? The man who up until days ago was a never relationship guy? I mean, I love him too, but…wow. I wasn’t ready.

“I love you too,” I say, not able to keep the tears back anymore .

He brings my hand up to his mouth, placing a kiss on it that maybe means more than one on the lips could right now. “Stella Banks, for years I didn’t think I could do this. I was scared that I didn’t have the relationship gene in me. And I still don’t know what I’m doing, I just know I want to try and get it right. For you. For us. Because a life without you? I don’t even want to think about that.”

I’m about to lean over and kiss the hell out of this man, Simon be damned, but that’s until I hear an audible sob coming from the other side of the table.

“Simon? You okay big brother?”

Simon nods, wiping away his tears. “You guys are in love. My baby sister and one of my best friends are in love, and it’s all because of me!”

“Excuse me?” Emmett asks. Which I’m glad he does. Because…excuse me? “How is this because of you?”

“I’m your matchmaker!” Simon says enthusiastically. “Think about it. If I wouldn’t have hired Emmett last year, he never would’ve been in Florida. I told him to check on you. I didn’t realize he was going to take such a thorough interpretation of that order, but here we are. If it weren’t for me, this wouldn’t have happened.”

Leave it to my brother to somehow make this about him.

“What about me running from the wedding and seeing him at the bar?” I ask. “That was complete random happenstance.”

Simon waves me off. “Doesn’t matter. Same outcome would’ve happened. All that matters is you’re in love, Emmett’s going to one day be my brother-in-law, your firstborn child will be named either Simon or Simone, and it’s all because of me! Best matchmaker ever!”

“I—”

Emmett puts his hand on my forearm and shakes his head. “Let him have this. It’s the best outcome we could’ve hoped for.”

He’s right. I didn’t know what Simon would think. The man has become a romantic sap since Charlie came into his life, but I’m sure it’s also weird thinking about your best friend and your sister together. I didn’t think punches were going to be thrown, but I expected a good amount of curse words.

At the end of the day, I’ll take it.

“This is amazing,” Simon says as he pulls me into a vice grip hug. “Wait! Who else in the family knows?”

I take a step back into Emmett’s waiting arm. “Actually no one.”

“Yes!” He starts actually doing a victory dance in the conference room. “Oh they’re going to be so pissed I know before them.”

“Don’t go bragging,” I order. “Let me tell the sisters, please.”

“Fine,” he groans. “But after you do, I’m rubbing it in their faces that I knew first.”

“Deal.”

Simon all but skips out of the office, taking the slice of apple pie with him. We watch him walk out of the door and turn to the diner, I’m sure to tell Charlie what’s happening. Part of me wants to follow to watch Charlie act like everything he’s telling her is brand-new information, but the other part of me wants to stay right here and kiss the man who I love.

The man who loves me back.

The man who saved me.

The man I can’t imagine my life without.