Blitzing Emily by Julie Brannagh Read Free Book Online

fact that a boyfriend would have made his appearance long before now, Emily decided to go with the truth.
    “No such luck.” She tried to make her voice light.
    “I’m surprised at that, sugar.” Emily shrugged her shoulders, and he continued. “It seems to me there would be a line around the block.”
    Speaking of lines, she wondered if that one had worked for him lately.
    “I’m pretty busy. There isn’t a lot of time to date,” she pointed out.
    He didn’t need to know she hadn’t had a date in a year, and that before James she had hardly dated at all. She was too busy with her career. There was also the added benefit that by not dating, nobody got close enough to hurt her again.
    “I might have to take a page out of your playbook.”
    The stretch and yawn she gave him was Oscar-worthy.
    “Ah. You’re tired,” he said.
    Emily wasn’t at the moment, but it would get her out of this conversation. She scooted down in the bed and pulled the blankets up to her nose.
    “When you leave, please lock up after yourself.” He was watching her again. The look on his face was inscrutable. “Thank you so much for taking care of me. Goodnight.”
    “I heard that speech a while ago. I’m not going anywhere, sugar.”
    A FEW HOURS later, Brandon shook Emily’s shoulder and spoke into her ear. “Wake up.” He sat down next to her on the bed.
    “Absolutely not.” She sounded outraged. She tried to pull the blankets over her head again, but he was too fast for her.
    “Let’s get you some medication. Sit up.”
    He gave her a dose, and set the glass and bottle of pain reliever on the nightstand. He tugged the blankets up around her shoulders and fluffed the pillows around her head. “Now you can sleep.”
    “Aren’t you going to tell me a story?” He heard the slight note of sarcasm in her tone, but he found himself chuckling again.
    “Maybe I should.” He took one of her hands in both of his. “Once upon a time, there was a diva who knew nothing about football.”
    “That’s not true. I know what a runback is.”
    “Yes, you do.” His voice was quiet in the dimness of her room. “You’re practically an expert. Back to the story.” He thought for a moment. “The diva had a bad experience with a huge bunch of Mylar balloons, and she needed the handsome prince’s help.”
    Emily let out a snort. He ignored it.
    “Of course, the handsome prince was exhausted after a brutal workout with his teammates, but a few balloons didn’t scare him. Oh, no. He managed to save the diva from herself, even though she fought him all the way. She argued, and was generally disagreeable about the whole thing. He, of course, overlooked this.”
    “I was not.”
    “You just proved my point.”
    “That’s not true.”
    “Shh. You’ll make your headache worse,” he soothed.
    “Like I can sleep now,” Emily muttered darkly.
    “Of course you can. Close your eyes.”
    She was falling asleep, but she had a few more things to say to him.
    “You should go home and get some sleep. I’ll be fine. Thank you again.”
    “Don’t you worry about me. You get better,” he said.
    “Happy Valentine’s Day,” she said.
    “You, too, sugar.”
    He walked to the other side of her room, settled into the chair, and threw the pink cashmere blanket from the foot of her bed over himself. She snuggled further into her blankets. Tomorrow morning, he’d be gone.
    E MILY AWOKE WITH a gasp. She wasn’t alone.
    It took a few seconds, but her eyes adjusted enough to the pearly light of dawn peeking through the blinds to spot Brandon, asleep in her bedroom chair. The cashmere blanket he’d thrown over himself didn’t come close to covering him. He’d curled himself into the chair, resting his head at a weird angle against the upholstery. His neck would be sore when he woke up. His feet hung over the edge of the ottoman. He didn’t look especially comfortable. She’d spent the night in her warm, soft, cozy bed, and he’d slept