Forgetting Prince Charming.

CHAPTER 5

"He's your uncle!" he whispered hastily. He was bent forward with his hand covering the side of his mouth. She shook her head. He was paranoid.

"So?"

"So," he wheezed. "Do you know what this means?"

She sighed. "Can you drop it, please?" she pleaded quietly. "Yes, Billy Mann is my uncle, but he's from the side of my family I'm not supposed to know about. So," she leaned back and looked at him squarely, "can we move on?"

"Are you not supposed to know him because of his job?" What Joey really meant was whether it had to do with his 'supposed' crimes. If only that were all there were to it.

"Something like that," she mumbled just as Step delivered their drinks. When Steph was out of earshot and Joey had slipped back both shots, she said, "now can we move on?"

He contemplated it and Emma's irritation rose. "Sure," he eventually said.

"So, what's this competition really about?" she asked, referring to the phone call they'd had an hour previous. He hadn't said much but it had been enough to pique her interest and pull her out her home clothes and down to Billy's at eleven at night.

"It's quite simple really. We'll run a weekly segment on the show where I'll give back a report on the progress we make with your issue. On our social media accounts, we'll be doing most of the interacting with the public. We'll host polls where they can vote on what activity we should have you do. We'll put up short statuses or pictures where they can see what you're up to." He leaned forward and smirked. "Think of it as a twist on those dating shows girls like."

"What shows?"

"The bachelor. Except, instead of handing out roses to the man of your choice, the public chooses, not you."

She groaned and rubbed her temples. This was complete madness. "This is ridiculous. There's no way anyone would be interested in this."

His one eyebrow shot up and Emma stilled. She'd always wanted to know how to do that and on Joey, it looked seductive as hell. "They already do."

"What?" she asked, having forgotten what they were speaking about.

"We already put it out there and the public want in. We just need you to agree."

This couldn't be happening. "There's no way I'm agreeing. The point is to keep this a secret. What good will it do me if the whole city finds out? My sister listens to your show. She heard what you said this morning. If I do this, she'll know I'm in love with Eamon and she'll kill me!" She was hyperventilating now. The panic was there, all too real. She couldn't do this. She couldn't let Larissa or Eamon found out. She wouldn't.

"Woah there," he muttered and reached forward to place his hands over hers. His hands were bigger and firmer. He grabbed both her hands into his hold and pulled them closer to him. He held them, tight against his chest. It caused Emma to lean awkwardly across the table, but she didn't care. His tight hold and sincere eyes were grounding her. "Just breathe alright. Can you do that?" She nodded. "Good, now do it with me." He breathed in and her hands felt his chest move. She watched him and mimicked his movements.

Slowly, her breathing and panic subsided to normal levels. "Thank you," she whispered. She wasn't one to suffer from panic attacks but, she was also never one to put herself in panic worthy situations.

"No problem," he said and rubbed his thumb lazily across the soft skin of her hand. She stared at their hands, mesmerized by how different they looked. It reminded her of a cappuccino- her being the rich coffee underneath and him being the creamy milk on top.