Fever Dream (Emerald Lake, #1)(31)

He’s still sporting a massive bulge in his jeans with zero shame. Something he catches me looking at.

He quirks a knowing brow.

Fucking hell. I need to dig myself out of this hole.

“I just mean you’re good at it. The flirting. Objectively speaking. And it sounds like you need the money. So just… be yourself.”

“Myself?” His voice is gravelly but perfectly even. He gives nothing away.

“Yes. The smirky, smoldering, hot bad-boy thing you do. Do that.”

A slow smile spreads across his face. “Did you just call me hot?”

For a beat, I can empathize with the women on the show looking so flustered while meeting him last night. His smell, his height. There’s something heady about standing so close to him. Especially right now, just the two of us, alone in his kitchen.

“Yeah. Like…” I roll a hand to the side as I search for a way to cover for calling my beloved brother’s most hated rival hot to his face. “Generically hot. Conventionally attractive.”

Liar, my inner voice mocks me, but I bat away the taunt, not giving myself any room to elaborate.

Emmett barks out an amused laugh, and it catches me off guard.

It’s because he knows you’re full of shit.

I walk away from him and force myself to move at a casual pace rather than sprinting for the door like my instincts are screaming at me to do. “Right, well, thanks for… all this?” I glance back and wave my hand over my ass, not missing the way his eyes devour me as he follows the motion. “I owe you one.”

I turn to face him at the door, but he doesn’t respond. Instead, he tilts his head suggestively. He’s teasing, but the unspoken offer is still there. I don’t have to leave if I don’t want to, if I stepped back inside he’d… god, he’d probably be an incredible way to end my drought.

I run my tongue along the back of my teeth. Silently berating myself for thinking with my pussy for even a second. Then I step out into the scorching sun.

I refuse to be another girl who falls for his antics.

Instead, I bite back.

“See you on set. But you should wait until that little issue has subsided.” I tip my chin toward his crotch and hit him with a chiding look.

The door has almost shut behind me when he calls back, “For the record, I’d get a boner for any woman bent over in front of me. That’s just instinct.”

But I only throw my head back and laugh at that.

Because we both know he’s full of shit.

He doesn’t call me Theo’s Hot Little Sister for nothing.





CHAPTER 15


Emmett


I’D GET A boner for any woman bent over in front of me.

It’s been over twenty-four hours since I had Julia Silva bent over in my kitchen and I’m still repeating those words to myself as I drive my quad to the back quarter to check on the yearlings—my favorite herd.

Old Bailey, their guardian horse, whinnies when she sees me pull up and trots in my direction, leading the entire herd toward the gate.

Eager for the distraction of something wholesome, I give my old chestnut mare a hearty scratch behind the ears while pressing my forehead against her wide, white blaze.

“How’s my girl?” I murmur, watching the thick lashes over her eyes flutter down as she sighs. She’s got gray on her face now, but she still reminds me of happy times. Long days out on the trail, swimming in the lake, and my parents. They bought her for me on my seventh birthday.

I don’t want to do the math on how old that makes her. I don’t have the emotional bandwidth to be sad about her being geriatric right now.

I pull some carrots from my back pocket and check her over, whispering sweet nothings as I go. She’s in great shape—sound and happy—and that’s good enough for me right now.

Moving on to the rest of the chores, I fill the water trough for this pasture and inspect their round bales. I do a quick scan of them all for any injuries, and before long my brain circles back to Julia.

I stew over her.

It’s a funk I can’t shake as I continue to make my way to each pasture on the property.

My call time to be in hair and makeup is 1 p.m. today, and at least that is something that hasn’t lost its humor for me. Getting professionally done up to look like a farmer is fucking hysterical.

The road curves, and the old building comes into view. I stop for a beat to admire the setup. It’s impossible not to appreciate how much better it looks with a little TLC.

“Looks good, right?” Parker’s voice startles me as she approaches from behind. “I was thinking that when the show is over, we could use the bunkhouse to generate extra income. Retreats or something like that. Office people love to dish out a load of cash to play homestead for a few days in the name of team building.”

I nod at that. “Solid idea. Julia did a good job.”

No, a great job. And telling her she could have been any woman was a real dick thing to say. But it’s also the kind of thing I fall back on when I’m just a little too vulnerable or when things get just a little too real.

“What are you doing lurking around, Parks?” I ask my sister, again feeling the uneasiness that comes with blending my family with this farce.

“Stretching my legs and giving my eyes a break from the spreadsheets. Figured I’d wander down this way and check on my brother.”