LITMIR.BIZ

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before. It’s not one of my finer moments.”

      “It’s not your fault,” Emma said. “If anything, you saved me from much worse. If you hadn’t caught me, I would have fallen flat on my face, and that would have done more damage than a busted nose.”

      “I suppose you’re right,” he said.

      “Trust me, I’ve had worse,” she said.

      “Oh?” His gaze sharpened on her face, his brows drawing together in a slight frown. “Who hurt you?”

      Emma realized he had misinterpreted her statement. “It wasn’t deliberate,” she said, wanting to clarify that from the beginning. “But my fiancé and I were moving furniture together once and had a bit of an accident. I thought he was going one way, he thought I was going the other, and we wound up dropping the couch. Onto my foot.” She crinkled her nose at the memory, wincing as a fresh bolt of pain zinged into her brain. “I fell and hit my face on the corner of the table and wound up with a broken foot and two black eyes.”

      “Ouch.”

      “Yeah, it was like a comedy of errors. Would have been funny if it hadn’t hurt so bad.”

      Matt dug two water bottles out of his bag and passed her one. “What happened to him?” he asked softly. “If you don’t mind my asking.”

      Emma took a swig from the bottle, stalling for a second as she debated how to answer his question. She didn’t talk about Chris very often, and especially not to people she’d just met. But Matt was different. He was helping her search for Christina, and while they hadn’t been looking very long, she already felt like they were a team. It was a sensation she hadn’t had since Chris was alive, and it made her heart ache a bit.

      “He was killed in a car accident,” she said. “We were a week away from the wedding, and he was stopped at a red light. The driver behind him was texting and didn’t see.” Emma took another swallow, trying to dislodge the lump that always formed in her throat whenever she thought of the accident. “His car plowed into the back of Chris’s, sending him into the intersection. He was hit by a bus and then a garbage truck.”

      “My God,” Matt said softly.

      Emma shook her head and blinked away tears. “The firemen couldn’t even get him out of the car.”

      “I’m so sorry.” His big hand covered hers, his skin warm.

      She sniffed, immediately regretting it as pain spiked through her nose. “Thanks. I found out I was pregnant a couple weeks later. It was a shock, but I figured it was Chris’s last gift to me.”

      “So he didn’t know about the baby?”

      “No.” Emma shook her head. It was one of the most painful aspects of his death for her—the fact that he’d been killed before knowing he was going to be a father. Chris would have been over the moon at hearing the news. Another moment she’d never get to share with him, all because someone figured that texting their friend was more important than paying attention to the road.

      “Damn,” Matt said softly. “That makes it even worse.”

      She nodded, a little pleased to know he saw things the same way.

      “What happened to the other driver?”

      “Physically? Not more than a few bumps and bruises. There was some legal loophole that he used to keep from going to jail, so I sued him in civil court. Wrongful death. It didn’t seem right that he would get to go on with his life like nothing had ever happened while my life had been shattered into a million pieces.”

      “Can’t say I blame you for that,” Matt said. “I’m surprised he was able to get out of a criminal conviction.”

      “He had a fancy lawyer,” Emma said. A bitter taste formed in her mouth at the memory of the man in his expensive suit and perfectly cut hair. He’d waltzed into the courtroom like he owned the place, and a few moments later, after spewing a bunch of incomprehensible legalese Emma hadn’t been able to follow, he’d gotten the charges against the other driver dropped. The district attorney’s office hadn’t been able to give her a satisfactory explanation, and so she’d been left feeling enraged and helpless to do anything about it.

      “But you won the civil suit?”

      “Oh, yes,” she said, smiling. “His attorney couldn’t get him out of that one.” She still recalled the look of shock on both of their faces—driver and lawyer—when the verdict had been handed down. It was almost enough to ease the pain of her loss.

      “I was awarded a pretty hefty sum, which is why Joseph thinks I have the money to bail him out of his gambling debts.”

      “But you don’t?”

      Emma shook her head. “The settlement is awarded in a series of payouts and, to be honest, the other driver used up most of his money paying for his hotshot attorney. I’m getting a little bit here and there, but nothing like I should be and nothing that would help Joseph.”

      Matt frowned. “Does your brother know that?”

      She shrugged. “I tried to explain it to him several times. He came to me before taking Christina, begging for funds. I told him I couldn’t help, but I know he didn’t believe me. A few days later, Christina was gone.” Her throat tightened around the words, as if she could change her reality by leaving them unspoken. If only it were that easy...

      Matt was quiet a moment, studying her face thoughtfully. His blue eyes reminded her of a wolf, intelligent and assessing. She tried to figure out what he was thinking, but he kept his emotions close to the chest. He was a puzzle, that much was clear. In another time, she would have been intrigued enough to want to get to know him. What secrets hid behind his handsome face? What made this man tick?

      But now was not the time for distractions. Not while her baby was still in danger.

      She took the gauze from her nose and inspected it for fresh blood. She didn’t find any, so she crumpled it and stood, grabbing her backpack off the ground and slipping it back on. “We should go,” she said. “We’ve lost too much time already.”

      Matt nodded, getting to his feet and shouldering his own pack. “All right,” he said agreeably. “Lead the way.”

      Emma started down the trail, determination driving her on. Matt had proved to be a good listener, and he was dangerously easy to talk to. It had been a long time since she’d had a conversation with a man that went beyond the polite, superficial level. But she couldn’t allow her loneliness and selfish desire for comfort interfere with her search. Finding Christina was her sole focus—nothing else mattered as long as her daughter was missing.

      * * *

      Matt had to hand it to Emma—she was one tough woman.

      She set a brisk pace, even though he knew her nose had to be throbbing with every heartbeat. But she wasn’t letting her pain slow her down; if anything, it seemed to make her even more determined.

      Once again, he marveled at her strength. Not a lot of people would be able to function in the wake of their child’s kidnapping, much less drive several hours alone and strong-arm someone into mounting a search.

      He felt a twinge of guilt at the way he’d initially treated her. At least he’d kept the worst of his doubts to himself. He might have thought she was crazy at first, but he was glad he hadn’t shown it. The more he got to know Emma, the more convinced he became that she was someone special.

      He was a bit surprised to find himself wanting to get to know a woman better. It wasn’t just sexual attraction driving him, though he had to admit she was quite pretty. He let his gaze drift across her body to land on her rear, and for a split second, he wondered what it would feel like to cup her there. She’d been a tangle of heat and curves in his arms when he’d caught her earlier, but he hadn’t really registered the contact between their bodies until after it was over. And while he certainly hadn’t meant to cop

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