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About orgasms. About oral sex. About all of it.”
    Nate gaped at her. Holy hell.
    Hearing Emma say orgasms, made him feel… hungry .
    Which was stupid. Emma was the most openly sexual woman he’d ever met. Emma said the word orgasm like a weatherman said precipitation.
    Still, Nate felt like he hadn’t eaten in days and she was a double decker bacon cheeseburger.
    Maybe when comparing a woman to food it was best to compare her to something rich and decadent and classy. Maybe she should remind him of filet mignon or crème brulee. But dammit, Emma Dixon was definitely a cheeseburger—his weakness, the thing he most tried to avoid, the thing that combined all the things that were so bad for him but were too fucking hard to say no to when put on a platter right in front of him.
    And he wanted to dive right in with both hands.
    He shook his head.
    Letting her come along tonight was a really bad idea.
    “She told you all about that stuff when you were thirteen ?” he demanded, trying to work up some ire to override the sudden lust.
    Emma laughed.
    Which didn’t help the lust thing at all.
    “No. Not that young. But as I got older. She was like this cool older sister. I could ask her anything, say anything to her.”
    “You had an older sister,” Nate pointed out.
    “But Amanda’s only a year older than me,” Emma said. “She didn’t know all the things Dena did.”
    “And your mom was okay with you hanging out with Dena?” He might find Emma’s wild side sexy as hell, but he could never totally shake the parent in him.
    “Mom thought of Dena as Shannon’s mom. My mother took Shannon into her life like she was her grandma. She loved—loves—that kid. Mom overlooked a lot of Dena’s…flaws. Or maybe she didn’t know about the parties and the boys and the inappropriate things Dena introduced me to.” Emma shrugged. “Anyway, it wasn’t all wild and crazy. I made Dena stop smoking, she chewed my ass hard and long when she found me at a party with drugs. I didn’t speak to her for a week when she missed one of Shannon’s parent-teacher conferences, she literally pulled me out of bed with a guy who was no good. We’ve had each other’s backs.”
    Nate sat, stoically not looking at the woman beside him.
    She made him nuts. Plain and simple.
    Usually it was because she was mouthy and cocky. And because, around her, he felt constantly turned on and frustrated.
    Now she was showing him another side…and it wasn’t helping the turned-on thing at all.
    “Why are you telling me all of this?” he asked irritably.
    “Because I wanted you to know that I care about Shannon,” Emma said, her voice harder now. “And that I care how this night goes down.”
    He knew she meant it. And he knew that she was going to make this all very difficult for him.
    He sighed. “How’s it going to go down, exactly?”
    “I’m going to be right there with you, whatever happens. And you can deal with your son, but you won’t say anything or do anything to Shannon.”
    He looked over. She sounded riled and, as always, part of him—the part that wasn’t a mature, responsible, professional man—wanted to get her really worked up.
    “What is it that you think I might do to Shannon?”
    “Embarrass her. Make her feel bad. Make her feel like she’s not good enough for Michael.”
    Nate scowled at that. “It has nothing to do with her being good enough or not good enough.”
    Emma scowled right back at him. “Good. Remember that. And don’t say or do anything stupid.”
    They turned onto Tenth Street and Nate let the comment go as he turned his attention to their surroundings. He’d simply prove to Emma that he didn’t say and do stupid things. Ever.
    The Washburn Theater was on the left. Nate moved the truck over to the curb in front of the building and shifted into park.
    “Whoa,” Emma said. “You can’t pull up in front. Keep driving.”
    Nate frowned. There was no parking lot at the Washburn. All that was