“It was a metaphor,” he said.
“Careful what you say, because now if I see green shoes, I’m going to buy them for you.”
“You’d be hard pressed to find any in this town, so I’ll take my chances.”
She grinned, and he thought again about how nicely the tree lights played across her features. A quick check made it clear most people had gone home, leaving only a few stragglers out and about, along with a few couples. The couples were caught up in each other, but several of the stragglers were looking their way, as if he and Regina were a television show. The rumors will be flying tomorrow.
He gulped down what was left of the hot cocoa and then crumpled his cup and tossed it in the nearby recycling can, his plan to tell her good night.
“Wow. Nothing but net—or plastic, as it were,” Regina said, and the fact that she sounded so impressed made him feel like a superstar over such a menial thing. “I’d definitely miss.”
“Just takes some practice.” Emmett debated following through with his plan to tell her good night but found he didn’t want the night to end quite yet, onlookers or not. The townspeople were going to talk anyway, so he might as well have the benefit of
spending time with her. “Try it.”
As she bent to grab a discarded cup, her scarf came undone enough to loop around her knee. She battled it for a moment before he stepped in to help.
“Not sure you can throw with so many layers on,” he said.
“Honestly, my fingers turned numb long ago anyway. So now I have two excuses to blame if I miss.” She cocked her arm, and he stepped in front of her, blocking her throw.
“Wait. You’ve got to crumple it so the air doesn’t catch it.” He squished the cup into a tight ball and returned it to her.
“Were you a sports guy in high school?”
“In this town, everyone has to play every sport or you don’t have a team. What about you?”
“I was the girl who studied and lost sleep over SATs. Even after I graduated, there was college, where I’d have another test or project to worry about. Then I went right to work, where there were reports and performance reviews and slaving away to climb the ladder as fast as possible. Save last night, I don’t remember the last time I relaxed, and that wasn’t so much relaxed as …”
“Wasted.”
She gave his shoulder a light shove. “Gee, thanks. I was going to say slightly tipsy—sounds much better.”
“Stop stalling and shoot the cup,” he teased, gripping her hips and turning her to face the trash can.
She cocked her arm and then let it fly. Her throw went wide and short, landing feet away from the can. “Oh great. I’ve gotten worse.”
Emmett retrieved another cup and crumpled it. He wasn’t sure why this suddenly seemed important, but while she’d been joking before, her expression spoke to a sense of failure that had to do with more than her toss. “Not to do the cheesy-guy-showing-a-girl-how-to-shoot thing, but …” He stepped up behind her. “I’m going to teach you how to aim and follow through.”
“Usually follow through is my thing,” she said, her lips slightly pursed.
“Good. Then you’ll be a natural.” He gave her the cup and slid his hand down her arm. Even with all the layers, his pulse quickened. He guided her arm up and put it through the motions a few times. “We’re gonna let go this time. Ready?”
She glanced over her shoulder at him. For a moment, time froze. Determination set in to her jaw, and then she nodded. “Ready.”
“I did it!” It took a couple of times with Emmett’s help—and okay, they’d scooted a yard or so closer—but she’d finally managed to land a cup in the recycling bin. She spun in Emmett’s arms and peered up at him. His teeth weren’t showing, but that was definitely a smile.
Her heart skipped a few beats, and without notice, her body went haywire on her.
What was she doing this close to a guy? One she barely knew, the day after she was supposed to get married. She took a large step back. “I, uh, guess I’d better get back to the B&B.”
“I’ll walk you.”
“Can’t vouch for everyone out and about tonight?” she asked, attempting to infuse a teasing tone into her voice. She needed to steer things back to lighter territory. Safer territory.
Emmett’s eyes remained steady on hers. “I can. I’d still feel better if I walked you there myself.”
A torn sensation went through her, half celebration, half fear. But it was only a couple of blocks. Not like she could fall for a guy in that short a distance. She was relatively sure anyway, although these days everything she thought she knew kept coming unraveled.