Page 129 of Perfectly Matched: Harbor Falls Romance Collection

From the moment he put his hands on her and cave-manned his way through the house with her in his arms, and up until this very moment, Will hadn’t really engaged his pre-Doctorate degree brain or considered any serious consequences of his actions.

And he wasn’t considering any of that now.

While he had the chance, he was taking it. And as he leaned into Emma again, his chest flattening against hers, his lips capturing those red, slightly trembling and luscious lips of hers, he wasn’t thinking about anything but pleasure.

Pure, unadulterated, pleasure.

She tasted like cinnamon.

Like sugar.

Like…candy.

Oh, yes….

At first, he touched his lips to her sticky ones in a tentative and tender way, but before the kiss was through, he had inclined further, repositioning himself somewhat at her side, cradled her head in his hands, and deepened that kiss. His tongue swept inside—

Emma jerked away.

“Um. Wait,”

she mumbled.

Reaching up, she pulled a round, red candy out of her mouth and shrugged. “Sorry.”

“No problem.”

She had the candy between her fingers, and on a whim, he grasped her hand and sucked it right off her fingertips, taking it into his mouth. “Yum…”

he growled.

Caution to the wind. Yes, for once in his life.

Emma’s round-eyed gaze never left his.

“Wha— Will Craig, you are a little naughty.”

She tilted her head up, and Will didn’t need anything more to let him know that she was open to this subject of kissing. And maybe more. Plunging straight ahead, he took her lips again, mingling and suckling and taking what he wanted to be his.

Sweet, mother….

A moan curled up from deep in his throat and he passed it off to her through his open lips. Hers responded, and he raked the tip of his tongue over her smooth teeth. It was she, then, who echoed his moan right back and arched up to meet his tongue, thrust for thrust.

Hot. Friggin’. Damn.

With a gasp, she broke away. Her hands worked their way to his shoulders and she pushed a little. Will jerked back.

They stayed frozen there for a moment, eyes wide, peering into one another’s face.

“Oh my God,”

said Emma, clasping a hand over her mouth.

“Oh. My. God.”

“What?”

“I think this is….”

“What?”

“Not good.”

Will refused to panic.

“Emma? What are you saying?”

She pushed back a little more and sat up, leaning against the headboard.

“Bad idea, Will.”

“Bad idea?” Hell.

She lay both of her palms flat on his chest.

“Oh, Will. Oh, crap. We have to talk.”

“Emma, let me start, I…”

“Will, I’ll confess, I did hire Suzie for a matchmaking job.”

Suddenly she appeared very alert and coherent.

“…but I did not ask her to go after you, to hook me up with you, I mean… Oh, God! What you must think of me!”

She slid out from under him and stood next to the bed, wringing her hands and glancing about.

“What?”

He sat still, confused, looking up at her.

“Emma, sit down. That bump on your head may be causing you to be agitated. Come sit.”

He sure as hell hoped this was not about to be his worst nightmare come true.

“It can’t be you,”

she told him. She still stood there, her eyes wide.

“It can’t. It. Just. Can’t.”

“I…I…”

“I didn’t hire her to fix me up with you. You have to believe that. Will, I’ve never, ever once been interested in you. Not once! You must believe me. I did not plan this. I didn’t even know there was a party here tonight and now…now….”

She stared at him, almost wild-eyed now.

“And now, you had to go and kiss me, and while it was nice, and I really enjoyed it—you are a great kisser—I just…just…just don’t know….”

“Emma, please, calm down. Let’s just talk.”

She shook her head and then paused, staring at him and studying his face, as if she were rapidly thinking, playing all of this around in that silly head of hers.

“Now it’s all screwed up,”

she blurted.

“What you must think of me! I can never be in your presence again. Oh, shit. I am going to have to quit my job. I am so embarrassed! Oh, hell’s Christmas bells…”

And with that, she was gone.

Will sat in the quiet room for too many long ticks of the bedside alarm clock and contemplated his next move. Whirlwind Emma had just exploded into his life and sailed out on a whim and with no promise of return. Confused and a little empty inside, he pondered his next steps—both immediate and with this woman who was suddenly occupying his every thought.

He should leave too. He couldn’t sit here in Suzie and Brad’s bedroom for the remainder of the night. Exiting through the front door meant forced conversations with all the people out there, and probably facing Emma again. Exiting via the kitchen door meant he was a coward.

In the end, he said to hell with it and snuck out the back door.

He went home, where he should have stayed all along, and tried to push Emma out of his head.

****

Sunday came and went, quick as a whistle. Emma barely got out of bed. She slept late, stayed in her jammies all day, and read books. Mysteries. Not romance. Reading seemed to be the only activity she could engage in to keep her brain busy, and not get immediately embarrassed by her actions of the previous night.

On Monday morning, she faced the inevitable. She had to go to school, had to get the decorations up in the gym, and had to get the booths, tables and chairs arranged around the perimeter. She needed help, sure, and a lot of people had signed up—but she had to lead the charge and damn if she did not feel like leading anything.

Not one bit.

Embarrassed still, her biggest worry was coming face-to-face with Will. This whole Will mess was something she’d rather not think about at the moment. Not to mention the Suzie factor; soon as she had a chance, she needed to have a heart-to-heart with her too.

But today was not that day.

She had one strategy today—to stay out of the front part of the school where Will had parked himself in his office and hope to hell that if he came into the gym, Annie would snag him and keep him busy so she would not have to speak with him at all.

It was the best idea she could come up with, anyway, and Annie had reluctantly agreed. Otherwise, she was going to have to move to Alaska. Tomorrow.

For the first half of the day, all was well. She managed to use whatever volunteers were available to get the heavy work done right up front. All the tables were set up and several of them had their booths constructed on top of them. Decorations were in the hanging process, and for the first time this Christmas season, Emma felt as if she might just pull off another fantastic Winter Carnival.

Then after their lunch break—which she had taken alone in her locked classroom—all hell broke loose.

The commotion came from the big double entry doors to the gym. What kids were there scampered off first. The adults lifted their gazes a little more slowly as the word spread.

“Cupcakes,”

someone said.

“Cupcakes!”

Another proclaimed, louder now.

“Cupcakes! Cupcakes!”

Came the chant once more.

Within seconds, all her help had dissipated, converging on Harbor Falls’ own Suzie Hart Matthews—Miss Matchmaking Chef herself, the best damned cupcake baker—who was holding one humongous box of delectable cupcake confection. Her sister, Shelley, followed with another just like it, and her cousin, Sydney, brought up the rear with a third.

“Great.”

Emma stared her way.

“It will be hell getting these people back to work later,”

she said aloud, although there was no one near to hear. Sugar rush and a nap was what she could see in their futures.

She crossed the gym and sidled up to Suzie, who had placed her box on a table and lifted the lid. They both stood there for a few minutes, watching the kids and a few adults snatch up cupcakes.

Suzie crossed her arms over her chest and smiled.

“Nothing better than watching people get enjoyment from food.”

Emma mimicked her actions.

“Oh, I don’t know,”

she began.

“Perhaps watching people be embarrassed to death is a little satisfying too? Hmm?”

Suzie turned toward her, feigning shock.

“Excuse me?”

“You know what I’m talking about, Suzie.”

She narrowed her gaze.

“I’m sure I don’t.”

Smiling at the kids, she stepped forward and handed out some napkins, then looked back over her shoulder.

“Unless you’re talking about Saturday night?”

Emma stepped forward.

“Of course, I’m talking about Saturday night. You set me up. I was not prepared for what you had planned. And I definitely was not prepared for Will Craig!”

Turning, Suzie studied her.

“Will? I don’t know what you are talking about.”

“You fixed me up with him. Right?”

Suzie shook her head.

“No. He was a last-minute invite by Annie’s husband. I had hoped that you and the other women and I could get a little girl time in while the guys watched the basketball game in the den.”

Emma pulled in her lower lip. “Oh.”

Then I have made a complete fool of myself.

“You’re sure?”

“Absolutely. Well, sort of.”

“Sort of?”

“Well, once Curt suggested it to Annie, and then Annie suggested it to me, and because everyone else there were couples, and because Will would be a third wheel, it just seemed that perhaps it could be a natural thing. But I swear, it was not planned as a hook up. Not at all.”

Emma glared and re-crossed her arms.

“I don’t believe it.”

“Well, it’s true.”

Suzie paused, her eyes darting back and forth.

“Mostly. But now that you and Will have had a little time together, what do you think about…”

“No!”

“Now, Emma…”

Suzie’s voice droned on in the background, but Emma’s attention was suddenly diverted elsewhere. As her gaze lifted over Suzie’s shoulder, her eyes connected straight-away with the one set of eyes she did not want to see this day, not at all—Will’s. It was all she could do not to jerk away, break the stare, and go running blindly out of the building, mortified. As it was, she simply slipped her gaze sideways, lingered for a moment, and then quietly and efficiently turned the opposite direction, exited the gym, strolled down the hallway, and locked herself inside her classroom—in the far, way back corner of her classroom, sitting tucked between the wall and a very old and tall storage cabinet.

Then she cried the most confused tears she’d ever cried in her life.

****

Well he had avoided the inevitable long enough.

All weekend he had mulled over the situation, and after taking some time to ponder, he finally figured it all out. After he talked with Suzie and had cajoled Curt and Annie into confirming his suspicions, he knew at some point he was going to have to have a serious talk with Ms. Emma Jo Baker.

Today wasn’t the day on his list, but heck, why put it off? And seeing Emma go skittering off out of the gym after her glance met his, well, it seemed like the appropriate time.

He had to talk to her, set some things straight. Now. Otherwise, they were both going to be miserable.

Assuming she’d gone to her classroom, he moved down the hallway. Empty. His sneakers squelched on the newly mopped and waxed floor as he walked. Her classroom was about halfway down on the right. He arrived and jiggled the door handle. Locked.

He gave a quick glance inside. The room appeared empty. About to turn away, a slight movement across the room caught his eye. He angled his gaze toward the rear of the room. Yes.

There. A foot. Twitching and moving about. Behind the cabinet.

“What in the hell.”

Will reached into his pocket for his keys, found the master, slid it in the lock, and quickly slipped inside the classroom. As quiet as he could muster, he shut the door and locked it behind him. With soft footfall, he crossed the room to where he stood directly in front of Emma, who at that precise moment inhaled deep and let out a big sob.

“What in the world.”

He crouched before her.

She jumped, flattened herself further into the corner, and wailed.

“Will! What are you doing here?”

“Just trying to figure out what is going on with you. Come on out of there, Emma. We need to talk about this.”

Her head gave a brisk shake.

“Nothing to talk about, Will.”

He moved a little closer.

“Why are you crying?”

She swiped both hands over her face in a downward motion.

“I’m not crying. Who said I was crying?”

Stifling a chuckle, he reached for her hand, grasped it, and pulled her to her feet as he stood.

“I said you are crying, and you are.”

Steadying her in front of him, much like he would do one of his students when he wanted their full attention, he peered down into her face and said.

“Don’t move.”

Surprisingly, she obeyed.

He reached into his pocket for a handkerchief, looked into her eyes as he wiped away fat tears from her face and beneath her eyelids, and said.

“Now if those aren’t tears, I don’t know what are.”

Emma sniffled.

“Oh, all right. I was crying.”

“Why?”

She glanced off. “Because.”

He caught her chin between thumb and forefinger and pulled her back to look at him.

“Because why.”

Sniffling, again.

“Emma…”

“Oh, geez, Will. This is so embarrassing. I’m serious. I don’t know what to do here. I mean, we kissed. I can’t work here now.”

He studied her for a moment.

“Perhaps that’s not a bad idea.”

She froze. “What?”

“I said, perhaps that’s not a bad idea.”

“I don’t know what you are talking about. I’d have to quit, Will. Find another job. Move to Alaska maybe.”

She was so cute, and bewildered, it was very difficult for him to not chuckle at her sincerity, even though it was ridiculous. Slowly he moved closer to her. She backed into the corner. He took another step. She was flat against the wall now.

“Will. Stop. We…”

“Emma, I want you to transfer to the middle school. You have a middle school certificate, right?”

She blinked.

“Yes, but…”

“Put in for a transfer. There is a sixth-grade position that just opened up. You are perfect for it.”

“Why? Oh, shit, Will! I swear, it was Suzie, not me! It was not my idea. Please, please don’t make me quit my job because of some silly thing. I swear, I didn’t know she had invited you…it wasn’t my doing. Don’t make me quit because I was an idiot. It was all Annie’s idea to begin with, the matchmaking thing instead of the online dating services and all, so really, please don’t make me…”

Will had quite had enough. He crowded closer, into that tight space between cabinet and wall, and looked square in her eyes.

“Transfer, Emma, because I have this rule. I don’t date my teachers, and that complicates things because I don’t want to stop kissing you.”