The Trouble With Love Read Online Free PDF Page A

it. “What happened to the genteel world where people didn’t talk to other people about their exes? Isn’t that off-limits in polite society?”
    “You’re so cute when you go all Magnolia Manners,” Camille said gleefully. “Was that a little drawl I heard creeping into your voice?”
    Emma pressed her lips together. She’d worked long and hard to banish the soft North Carolina lilt from her speech. She wanted no trace of the naïve girl she’d been back then to show.
    Emma tried again. “I’m just saying—”
    Camille gave another of those dismissive waves of her hand. “I know what you’re just sayin’ . And don’t worry, I don’t usually go around throwing previous relationships in people’s faces. But you and Cassidy have always seemed so at peace with your past.” She paused. “Aren’t you?”
    “Definitely,” Emma said. Firmly.
    “So then,” Camille said with a shrug, “I figured there’d be no harm in getting his opinion on whether or not you and Benedict might hit it off.”
    Emma remained silent, and Camille gave her a knowing look. “You want to know what Cassidy said, don’t you?”
    Emma pursed her lips and made a deliberately indifferent face. “Not really.”
    Camille leaned forward. “He thought you and Benedict would be excellent together.”
    Not a trace of emotion flickered across Emma’s face. She was confident in that. When it came to Cassidy, she’d long ago learned to ward off pesky things like feelings .
    Emma handed back Camille’s cellphone. “I’m not really looking for a relationship right now.”
    “Fine,” Camille said with a shrug. “Doesn’t mean that you can’t date. Have sex. Have fun.”
    “I can have fun without a man.”
    “Of course you can. We all can. But, Emma . . .” Camille’s face was kind, and that was unnerving. “You’re young. You’re beautiful. And from one cynic to another . . . if you wrap yourself in bitterness too long, it will start to seep inside you.”
    Emma swallowed. She knew she could be a bit . . . distant at times. But bitter? She wasn’t bitter.
    Was she?
    The thought chafed. Her eyes dropped to the phone in front of Camille.
    Maybe she should ease off the whole ice queen thing. Give a guy a chance.
    “I’m handing the reins over to Cassidy by the end of the week,” Camille said, her voice quieter than usual. “But I do have one last assignment for you before I leave.”
    Emma’s eyebrows lifted. “Assignment? I pick my own stories.”
    “Not this time you don’t.”
    Emma slumped back in her chair. “I was wondering when you’d try to pull this.”
    “Pull what?” Camille fluttered her eyelashes—or tried to—but the effect was . . . ghastly.
    “Well, let’s see,” Emma said, tapping her nails against the arm of the office chair. “You assigned Julie a story about what comes after the first kiss . . . she got engaged. Then you had Grace work on a battle-of-the-sexes story with Jake—”
    Camille held up a finger. “Hey, Grace volunteered for that—”
    “So you had nothing to do with Grace and Jake getting together?” Emma pushed. “Didn’t get involved at all ?”
    Camille made her eyes go wide and innocent.
    “Uh-huh,” Emma said knowingly. “And then you set Riley up to spill her guts and she ended up with Sam—”
    “I fail to see the problem,” Camille said. “Your three besties are all in happy relationships. I refuse to apologize.”
    “Fine. But I’m not looking for a relationship,” Emma said.
    Camille’s lips twitched. “Neither were they.”
    Emma’s fingers found her temples. She knew there’d be no winning this argument. “Just tell me. Tell me what you want me to do so I can get it over with.”
    “A blind date story. Julie told me you’ve never been on one—”
    “Because they’re a terrible idea,” Emma muttered.
    Camille continued as though Emma hadn’t spoken. “So spin it. Do whatever take on the story you want. “My First Blind Date.” “Are