Read Online All I Need (Hearts of the South) by Linda Winfree - Free Book Online Page B

her physical desire had been muted, sure, but sinking onto him had felt good and surely that pleasure would have led to some release for both of them.
    Only somehow, she hadn’t been enough.
    He was the first man to ever make her feel that way. Despite the cool water enveloping her, mortification burned her neck and face. He’d rejected her, cold, in the middle .
    Of course, he’d wanted to talk, and maybe she should have stayed to hash it out, but all she’d wanted was to retreat. Failure had never existed in her vocabulary with men, but that had damn sure changed tonight.
    And it still didn’t make any sense. He’d wanted her, or at least to sleep with her. They’d established that up front, and he’d been aroused by her touch. She knew that, could still feel how hard he’d gotten under her hand, how hard he’d been inside her. Then she hadn’t been good enough? What the hell?
    Whatever. She did not like the effect he had on her emotions, and she refused to give in to any more of this. So he didn’t want her, after all. Fine. She didn’t want to care, either.
    * * * * *
    “You already posted the schedule for next month?” Calvert’s voice pulled Emmett’s attention from the training-hours spreadsheet he was compiling.
    “Yeah.” Emmett frowned. Had he missed a protocol about when to post it? “Is that a problem?”
    “No, but…” Calvert shook his head. “You’ve been here three days, and it usually takes me a week to get that done. How’d you pull that off so fast?”
    Emmett shrugged. “I found an extension that lets me enter the shifts, who needs time off when, and where we need extra coverage. Then it runs the schedule for me. I can link names to a calendar with holidays, so like we know Khalil Williams needs the Islamic holy days off, right? It automatically schedules him off. I think it can interface with payroll too, but I haven’t had time to play with it yet.”
    Calvert grinned. “I should have hired you a year ago.”
    “A year ago, I was laid up in a hospital bed, hoping they didn’t have to amputate my leg. Probably wouldn’t have been much use to you then.”
    “You’ve come a long way since then.” Calvert rapped on the doorframe. “I like what I see so far, Beck. Let me know if you need anything.”
    “Yes, sir.”
    Calvert disappeared down the hall, and Emmett returned to entering hours. He hadn’t been sure about the administrative tasks at first, but there was a lot to do and busy was good. Busy made him feel productive, like he wasn’t in a hole somewhere anymore.
    Besides, busy meant he didn’t have time to think about Savannah.
    Not during the day, anyway.
    They’d managed to go the past two days without running into one another. There’d been no texts, no phone calls. Simply silence, and after three nights of turning the mess over in his head while staring at the ceiling, Emmett didn’t know if he was more angry or hurt. A little of both, probably.
    His cell buzzed, and his gut tightened with anticipation. Stupid, to want her to be the one texting him. Wasn’t her walking away and the silence after enough said?
    He lifted the phone to check the screen. Troy Lee, wanting him to meet for lunch. They’d missed their regular Wednesday lunch after his physical-therapy appointment because he’d been trying to get his brain wrapped around everything in the office. Emmett tapped out a quick reply, saved the spreadsheet, and reached for his keys. Getting out meant something else to distract his attention from everything he didn’t want to think about.
    Just his luck Troy Lee picked the retro diner downtown, where Emmett and Savannah had gone that first night. Troy Lee and Clark were already seated when he arrived, so he couldn’t even suggest moving down the street to the Bistro.
    “Hey.” He grabbed the chair next to Clark and gestured at the empty seat across the table. “Where’s Bennett?”
    “Lunch with his wife.”
    The server appeared to take their