Saturday Snippet
There’s nothing in the world like a best friend. Today’s snippets explore this very special bond. In White Knight, Emma and Travis have been best friends for years.
Snippet:
“There you are.” Emma came up next to her. “Do you have a minute?”
Shea nodded and felt ice form in the pit of her stomach. She’d been living on pins and needles waiting for Travis to tell Emma about her sleepovers in the club, but so far he’d kept her secret. “Sure. What’s up?”
Emma pulled her to a quiet corner. “That’s what I was hoping you could tell me.”
Shea bit her lip. The jig was up. “Emma, I—”
“Jessica is here to take over your tables for the rest of the night.”
Oh God. She was fired. She became lightheaded from panic and her voice failed.
“Travis has requested that you bring dinner for the two of you up to his office. When did you meet Travis?”
Confused, Shea struggled to take a breath. “I’m not fired?”
“Fired?” Emma’s surprised tone sent a wave of relief through her. “Why the hell would you be fired?”
“I don’t know,” she hedged. “It was just the way you said Jessica would relieve me.”
“God, Shea. You’ll have to get a clue sometime and realize I like you. You’re the hardest-working, most reliable waitress I have. You’d have to do something pretty terrible at this point for me to fire you. But don’t let that tempt you to try,” she finished with a wink.
Shea smiled uneasily. How would Emma feel if she knew the truth?
“That still doesn’t explain how you know Travis and why he’s arranged for you to have a night off so the two of you can have dinner. He never socializes with the staff and he never goes out on dates, so you’ve sort of floored me here. I’m dying of curiosity.”
Shea tried to come up with an appropriate answer. She didn’t want to appear like one of those girls who slept with the boss to get promotions or raises or something. “We ran into each other at that diner across the street a few days ago. He recognized me and started a conversation.” She decided it was best to stick as closely to the truth as possible.
“Must have been some conversation.”
Shea shook her head. “I didn’t think so. Just normal, run-of-the-mill sort of talk.” Liar, liar, pants on fire.
“Well, you obviously impressed Trav. He said dinner was your choice. Go on over there and give Bill your order. He’ll put it in for you. Travis said you were to sit at the bar and have a glass of wine while you waited.”
“Controlling much,” Shea murmured.
Emma laughed loudly. “You don’t know the half of it.” She studied Shea with appraising eyes. “But I think you may be good for him. I don’t see you as a pushover.”
“Gee, thanks.”
Emma looped her arm through Shea’s and led her to the bar. “All I mean is, you need to keep that backbone of yours stiff. Don’t let him run roughshod over you, talk you into things you don’t want to do.”
Shea paused, causing Emma to stop walking. “What sort of things?”
Emma shrugged. “I don’t know specifically. I mean, despite the fact I consider Travis one of my best friends, there are parts of him he keeps hidden from me. He has lots of secrets, but I’ve heard gossip over the years. Ordinarily I dismiss it, but the stories all seem to travel along the same vein.”
“What kind of stories?”
Emma hesitated. “He’s a wonderful man. All I’ve ever wanted is for him to find someone who’ll make him happy. Unfortunately he seems determined to live the rest of his life sequestered in that damn office, playing Big Brother. He watches everyone else have lives while denying the same for himself.”
Shea had discovered all that last weekend. Regardless, she knew Emma was trying to distract her from the real truth. “What stories, Em?”
Emma grinned. “See what I mean? You’re too damn smart. I was trying to let that subject drop before I stuck my foot in my mouth any deeper. All I’m going to say is he seems fond of some rather unique sexual practices.”
Shea gasped.
“No,” Emma interjected quickly. “I don’t mean anything bad or painful. Just unusual.”
“Unusual how?” Shea recalled Travis’ demand that she not touch him. She’d wondered constantly about that odd request, and his panicked reaction when she didn’t comply. Something was terribly broken inside Travis. She’d sensed it almost from the start. The caregiver in her wanted to fix it.
Before Emma could respond, her cell phone rang. She glanced at the number and rolled her eyes. “Christ.”
She clicked the answer button. “Yes, Travis?”
Shea looked over her shoulder at the security camera. Big Brother indeed.
Emma proceeded to answer Travis in a string of simple, annoyed answers. “I’m not. Fine. Whatever.”
She hung up and gave Shea a guilty grin. “He told me to stop trying to scare you away.”
“Can he hear what we’re saying?”
Emma shook her head and pointed to the camera. “No, but unfortunately he’s very good at reading body language. If this place weren’t packed to the rafters, I’d flip him off. Let him read into that what he would.”
Shea laughed and continued to the bar. “Maybe we should let this conversation lie. I’ll consider myself warned.”
White Knight is available at Ellora’s Cave, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Sony and All Romance Ebooks.
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