Now and Then Read Online Free PDF Page B

house a few weeks ago, but I had some friends from college in town that weekend, so I missed it. It was nice to see them last weekend.”
    “I remember you guys coming for dinners after you moved in,” she said, smiling. “I was always a nervous wreck the entire time.”
    “Why?”
    Emma glared at him for a second, as if it was obvious, but he continued to look dumbfounded.
    “You know, I always envied the way Layla would flirt with you at those dinners. I was the picture of awkward adolescence, and she just… glowed. All t he time. She hopes you’ll come back over for dinner soon, you know.”
    Cole sighed and looked away.
    “ You guys have a lot in common,” she said.
    Cole shrugged noncommittally, but Emma persisted.
    “You guys dated back then, in high school.”
    “ We went out a few times and I took her to prom my senior year because Jess and I broke up the week before it, but that’s it.”
    It had been more tha n that, Emma knew, but she dropped the subject.
    “Well, you never even knew I was alive,” she said.
    “ I was three years older than you, and when I did try to talk to you, I think I scared you.”
    She laughed and covered her face with her hand as it heated with embarrassment.
    “You never scared me, Cole. I just had a hard-core crush on you.”
    “On me?” He was taken aback. “I had no idea! Is that really true?”
    “Oh, God. It was bad. ”
    Cole laughed, the blue in his eyes brightening.
    “I’m honored, Em. I never would’ve guessed.”
    “Yeah,” she said, looking down at the wood table top and running her finger along the line of it. Though everyone who had known her growing up called her ‘Em’, there was something about hearing it from a grown-up, sexy Cole Marlowe that felt intimate.
    A reprieve from her embarrassment came in the form of a platter the server whisked onto the table, which was filled with an assortment of foods. While they ate, Cole asked Emma questions about her art, a subject that always made her feel happy and self-assured.
    “I juried for a show opening at a new downtown gallery next we ekend,” she said, her voice rising with excitement. “I can’t wait to go see it.”
    “I’d love to see it, too. Maybe we could go together?”
    Emma froze, her heart wanting to ask him to repeat himself.
    Close your mouth, idiot .
    “Um … sure , it would be nice to have someone to go with.”
    She’ d been planning to attend with her friends Shawn and Lily, but they would understand. They were married, and always encouraged her to date more. Neither of them knew what a jungle it was out there.
    “Great,” he said. “Did you try the calamari?”
    “No, is it good?”
    “You’ve got to try it. I ate tons of seafood when I went to school in Boston, and it’s hard to find good seafood here.”
    “I make the best pan-seared salmon,” Emma said.
    “Maybe you’ll make it for me sometime. ”
    She smiled nervously at the thought of Co le Marlowe in her perennially disorganized apartment.
    “Sure. I learned a lot about cooking in Paris.”
    “I rarely get a home-cooked meal anymore. It’s always Chinese takeout or sandwiches.”
    T he conversation continued to flow easily, and Emma found herself wishing this was a date. She knew it was easy with Cole because they already knew each other. Neither of them was trying to figure out if the other was a closet maniac. But still, it didn’t feel like catching up with an old friend. Cole’s eyes never left her, and the charge of electricity between them didn’t fade.
    But it’s not a date . We’re just hanging out. It’s probably just enough to make me start dreaming about him at night, like I did back in high school.
     
    Then -- 10 years earlier
    Emma glanced down the hall nervously before darting into Layla’s bedroom. Her racing pulse was a constant reminder that her sister would kill her if she got caught. She scanned the clothes hanging in the closet, not seeing what she wanted.
    Please, Lord, help