Prejudice Meets Pride (22 page)

Wait. Kevin’s mind cranked into overdrive, taking an idea and turning it into the perfect solution. Why hadn’t he thought of it before?

His fingers gripped her shoulders. “Emma,” he said, trying to keep his voice quiet. “What you did for Adi and Kajsa—will you do that to my office?”

Her eyes widened before lowering to his chest, where her finger traced a seam on his shirt. “I think it’s time you stopped trying to save me. Knights in shining armor belong in the room with the fairies—not out here with me.”

Hearing a noise behind him, Kevin glanced over his shoulder to where Sam stirred on the couch. He took Emma by the elbow and steered her down the hall and outside, where they could talk on her front porch without fear of waking anyone. He shoved his hands in his pockets and stared down at her. “I’m not trying to save you. I’m trying to save my office.”

Emma let out a snicker. “If you wanted me to believe that, you shouldn’t have put me over data entry. I know for a fact that you’re not hurting for new business.”

She’d misunderstood. “That’s not what I meant.”

“Then what did you mean?” Emma’s eyes were filled with amusement, as though they were having a fun little scrimmage and she had no intention of backing down.

Kevin brushed his fingers through her soft curls, letting his hand come to rest at the base of her neck. “When you finished that room, how did Kajsa and Adi react?”

“They liked it.”

“I think you’re being modest. I think they loved it. I think it’s now their favorite place to play, and they probably fight over whose turn it is to swing.”

Emma shrugged. “I do wish there had been room for two swings.”

“Exactly,” said Kevin. “Right now, my office is just a plain, boring pediatric dental office. I’m honest and good at what I do, which is the only reason my patient list keeps growing. But do you think those kids look forward to coming? Do you think they’re excited to walk into that office, have people poke around in their mouths, drill holes in their teeth, and make their mouths feel funny?”

Emma chewed on her lower lip, saying nothing.

“Don’t you see?” Kevin said. “I want my office to feel like Kajsa and Adi’s room. I want it to be fun and imaginative—a place kids are excited to visit because it’s cool. Not a place they have to get dragged through the door.”

“I never once saw anyone being dragged through your door,” Emma finally said.

“But do they look excited to be there?” said Kevin. “Do they race
toward
the door?”

A rueful smile appeared on her face. “I think you’re forgetting something.”

“What’s that?”

“You’re a dentist.”

“True.” Kevin chuckled, then leaned against a post on her front porch and folded his arms. “Which is why I need all the help I can get. Will you do it?”

She didn’t immediately say no, which Kevin took as encouragement, but she wasn’t saying yes either. She looked torn.

Since Kevin knew that adding “The job pays really well” wouldn’t help his argument, he simply sent her a pleading look and said, “Please? For me? You do owe me.”

It was Emma’s turn to laugh. “But you said we were even.”

“That was before I gave you the kiss of all kisses,” he countered. “Now you’re back to owing me.”

“Oh really.” Emma moved toward him and ran her finger across his chest, swirling it around like she was doodling. “What if I evened things up again by kissing you back?”

Kevin liked where this was headed. “I don’t know. That was some kiss back there. It will be tough to beat. My guess is that it will take both.”

“But you just said we’d be even if I agreed to do the job.”

“That was before I knew you were willing to negotiate. Now it’s going to take more. Maybe even two kisses.”

Emma stopped doodling and poked him in the chest. “You’re not playing fair.”

“It’s up to three kisses now,” he said. “No, wait—make that four. Possibly even five. If I were you, I’d hurry before it becomes six—”

Emma grabbed a fistful of his shirt, pulling his mouth to hers. She gave him six kisses in quick succession, then tried to draw back with a “There,” but Kevin’s arms wound around her waist and stopped her from going anywhere.

“I don’t think so,” he murmured, before stifling her giggles by dragging her against him and deepening the kiss. Kevin forgot what time it was, forgot that he had to be up in only a few hours, and forgot about Sam and the girls sleeping behind the closed front door. All he knew or wanted to know in this moment was Emma.

When he finally let her up for air, her fingers clenched around his neck in an attempt to keep him close, the way she’d done the night at the park. It took every ounce of will power not to take her in his arms and kiss her again. He raised his lips to her forehead, rested them there for a moment, then forced his body to take a step back.

Emma looked up at him with large and trusting gray eyes. All amusement was gone, and in its place was an intensity that Kevin completely understood.

“I’ll do it,” she said finally, quietly. “For you, I’d do anything.”

Sam eyed the charcoal pencils with misgiving. “Are you sure we can’t use colored pencils today? Black-and-white still-life drawings are kind of getting…” Her voice trailed off.

“Boring?” Emma guessed, because she knew exactly how Sam was feeling. She’d felt it too—many times.

“I was going to say ‘old,’ but boring works too.”

Emma laughed. “I know, and I’m sorry. But today I have a surprise for you. We’re not doing a still life today. We’re doing a landscape. Tada! Aren’t you excited?”

“Yay,” Sam said, with zero enthusiasm.

Emma laughed again, then put her arm around Sam and guided her to the chair. “You need to learn values and edges before you try to add in color. Otherwise it’s like being asked to play Beethoven’s fifth when you’re just starting to learn piano.

Sam looked up with a pained expression. “Is that another way of saying that color won’t come for a very long time?”

“All I’m saying is that you need to be a little more patient. You’re a gifted artist, Sam, and you’ll get there soon. I promise.”

“Okay,” said Sam. “Let’s make a boring drawing of a landscape then.”

“That’s the spirit,” teased Emma as she pulled out two drawing papers, a grayscale value chart, and a black and white picture of a barren field with trees, mountains, and sky in the background. “So, if we were to number this value chart, white would be number one, this light gray box is two, then so on all the way down to number ten, which is black. Got it?”

“Got it.”

“Now, in all landscapes, there are four major areas that receive different amounts of lights. You’ve got the sky, which is always the brightest. Then comes the ground, the sloping areas next, and finally the upright stuff, like trees and bushes. Those are the darkest because they receive the least amount of light, especially at the base. See?” Emma held the value chart over the picture, pointing out how the skies fell between one and two on the value chart and the trees were more like nine or ten.

“Aunt Emma, Aunt Emma, it’s Uncle Kevin,” said Kajsa, thrusting Emma’s phone in her face.

“You answered my phone?” said Emma.

“It’s Uncle Kevin,” she said, as though that explained everything and made it okay.

Emma smiled and lifted the phone to her ear, willing her heart to stay calm. It was only a phone call. “Hello?”

“I have that little girl wrapped around my finger, don’t I?” said Kevin.

“Almost as tight as she has you wound around hers,” teased Emma.

“Missed you today,” he said. “There were no triplicate entries in the database, no mixed up appointments, and no—”

“You’re a brat, you know that? It’s been weeks since I’ve messed up.”

“Still missed you.”

Although Emma’s heart warmed, she shot a hesitant look Sam’s way, feeling uncomfortable having this conversation in front of her. “Yeah, me too,” she finally said.

“You missed you, too?”

“You know what I meant.”

“I rarely know what you mean.”

Emma laughed. “Will you get to the point? I’m in the middle of an art lesson with Sam.”

“A boring lesson,” Sam inserted loudly. “Your conversation sounds much more interesting.”

“Ah, so that explains it,” said Kevin. “You don’t want Sam to know you missed me.”

“I’m beginning to think that I haven’t,” muttered Emma.

This time Kevin laughed, and the sound made Emma’s stomach flip over. “Okay, okay, I’ll get to the point. I was just calling to let you know that I’m going to be a few minutes late picking you up. I have some things I need to take care of before I take off.”

“I’m just sorry you have to pick me up.”

“I’m not. And don’t worry. We’ll stop by the store afterward to get Sunshine a new battery, not that she’ll live long enough to get your money’s worth.”

“Hey, don’t jinx it.”

He chuckled. “Be there around seven. Sam still okay to watch the girls?”

“Only if you let me get back to her art lesson.”

“K. See you soon.”

“Can’t wait.” Emma set down the phone, unable to wipe the giddy smile from her face.

“Somebody’s in love,” said Sam in a sing-song voice, wearing a giddy smile of her own.

“What? No I’m not.” The words came out completely unconvincing, so Emma tried again, “We’re just good friends.”

“Yeah, and I love drawing in black and white,” said Sam dryly. “C’mon, tell the truth. I saw you kiss him in the hallway last night, and that was the opposite of a friendly peck.”

“You saw us?”

“You weren’t exactly quiet when you came in.”

Emma’s cheeks flamed. What would Becky say if she found out Sam had seen that? “What do you know about kissing, anyway?”

“Enough to know the difference between a kiss on a cheek and full-on making out.”

“I am so telling your mother you just said that,” said Emma, not that she really would. “She is going to ground you from boys until you’re twenty.”

Sam wiggled her eyebrows. “Feel free. I already told her, and she said she’s taking you out for ice cream to celebrate when she gets back. She wants to hear all about it firsthand.”

Becky had already heard? Who else knew? Justin? Probably. That family had no secrets, apparently.

Sam opened the desk drawer and pulled out Emma’s colored pencils, then held them up. “Aren’t people in love supposed to let other people they love do whatever they want?”

“I told you, I’m not in love.” Emma snatched the pencils away, shoved them back in the drawer, and pointed to the charcoals. “Now stop being cheeky and get to work.”

Sam sighed, then picked up a medium shade of gray. “I bet Kevin would let me draw in color,” she said under her breath.

Nervous anticipation buzzed through Emma as she waited for Kevin to unlock the door to his office. This was the type of job she could only dream about doing before now. Very few artists could turn painting into a career, so she’d always set her sights on teaching. But now Kevin had given her yet another gift—a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get paid for doing what she loved. She couldn’t wait to get started. This was her thing. Her talent. She would come up with an amazing design, and everyone—especially the kids—would love the end result. And even if it wasn’t amazing, nothing could be worse than the bland tan walls Kevin had going on right now.

Her pen tapped against her lower lip as she examined the waiting room. Good size, large windows, and some cool architectural details that included the circular reception desk. And that aquarium, with so many of the fish from Finding Nemo—beautiful. Emma could easily use that as her inspiration. In fact, it was perfect. Under the sea. Not too masculine and not too feminine. Bright, colorful, and cheerful. It would make all the children—and parents—feel like they’d donned a snorkel and a mask and were hanging out in the crystal blue waters of the Caribbean.

Yes, this was definitely her thing.

“What kind of timeframe are you thinking?” she asked. “It’s going to be tricky with the girls’ schedule, but I could come in some nights and weekends if—”

“No,” said Kevin. “I don’t think that’ll be necessary. I have a conference the first week in November, so the office will be patient-free for five days. You can work while the girls are in school. Or, if that doesn’t give you enough time, I can watch them in the evenings when I get back.”