Read Online Bedded Then Wed by Heidi Betts - Free Book Online

Emma replied softly, gifting him with a comforting smile. “Pop was just fishing for compliments on my behalf, anyway.”
    Still smiling, she floated up from her chair and made her way to the sink to rinse her coffee cup. He watched her cross the room, mesmerized by the fluid grace of her movements, by her long, slim limbs and tight, round bottom.
    His gut tightened and a sensation like warm melted butter crawled through his veins.
    Before he could talk himself out of it, he pushed his chair back and got to his feet. “Care to take a walk with me, Emma?”
    Her head whipped around, startlement in her clear blue eyes. She reached over to turn off the water, then dried her hands on a nearby dish towel before turning to fully face him.
    “Um…okay.” Her gaze skittered to her father for a brief second. “You don’t mind if we leave you alone for a while, do you, Pop?”
    “‘Course not,” he answered quickly, waving them away. “You two go on. There’s plenty around here to keep me busy.”
    Mitch opened the front door and held it while Emma passed through. He waited until she’d crossed the width of the porch and stepped down into the yard before tipping his head back in Wyatt’s direction.
    “I thought about it,” he said in a low voice, not wanting Emma to overhear, “and I’ve decided to take you up on your offer.”
    He stepped outside, closing the door behind him, but not before he caught the grin of pure delight on Wyatt Davis’s bearded face.

    Emma turned in time to see Mitch come down off the porch steps and catch up with her. Without speaking, he took her hand and started walking.
    They moved away from the pale streaks of yellow light shining through the windows of the house, but the moon overhead shone brightly enough to illuminate their path.
    “Where are we going?” she finally broke the silence to ask.
    “Nowhere special. I just thought we’d find some place private to talk.”
    “Just talk?” she shot back with a teasing grin. From her experience, he was fine with talking in public. It was other things he preferred to do in private.
    “Just talk.”
    His tone was so serious, so unyielding, a ripple of fear caused her stomach to tighten.
    This was it, she thought. He was getting ready to break up with her.
    She shouldn’t be surprised. She’d known it was coming—eventually.
    But that didn’t keep her heart from twisting, didn’t keep regret from tensing her muscles and slowing her step.
    Just a little longer. That’s all she’d wanted—just a little longer to be with him, to love him, to pretend he loved her, too.
    A few more days, a few more weeks…then she’d have been able to let him go. She might even have been the one to end it before he had a chance.
    Breathing deeply, she tried to remain calm, tried to tell herself it was inevitable and probably for the best. She was a big girl, she could handle it.
    She would miss being with him, but they could still be friends. Instead of going out as a couple, they would run into each other on the street and make small talk. Instead of making love, they would smile and pretend they’d never seen each other naked, never made each other pant and scream in ecstasy.
    Piece of cake.
    And maybe next she’d attempt to leap tall buildings in a single bound.
    When she felt a tug on her arm, she realized Mitch had stopped walking. Looking around, she decided they must be out behind the house. She hadn’t been paying enough attention to know how far.
    “So…what did you want to talk about?” she prompted, even though she knew perfectly well. She swallowed hard and blinked, telling herself not to cry.
    He leaned back against the bark of a tall catalpa tree and took her other hand, pulling her close. Their bodies brushed and she reveled in his warmth, even as she wondered why he was bothering when he just planned to dump her, anyway.
    “Our future,” he said.
    Here it came. By our future, he meant the lack thereof.
    Her heart was racing,