9. Emilia
CHAPTER 9
Emilia
W hen you live in the same house as your little sister, you don’t get many private moments. Which is why when I really need an escape, I make my way over here. This park is like my sanctuary, it’s quiet, calm, and no one ever really comes here.
Until now.
There’s no mistaking Sterling Harrington’s gaze despite him standing so far away. There’s always this intensity in his eyes that takes my breath away. I’m still getting over the shock of seeing him when he starts to approach. I slowly rise when he reaches my bench.
He clears his throat awkwardly. “Ms. Cameron.”
“You’re seriously everywhere,” I mutter dully.
His eyes sharpen at that comment. I take in his outfit. Joggers, a black tank top, and running shoes. I try and fail not to get distracted by the sheen of sweat on his jaw. It practically glistens as it slides down his bronze skin. The tank top is tight enough that I can glimpse his abs. This feels very dangerous.
“It’s late. What are you doing here alone?”
“Minding my own business,” I say with a small smile. “You should try it sometime.”
He rolls his eyes. “That was me trying to be a good person. How about you try it?”
Okay, he’s got me there. It’s 10 p.m.; any reasonable person would be asking what I’m doing at a park thirty minutes from my house.
“You’re right, I’m sorry. I could ask you the same question, though,” I retort. “What are you doing all the way out here? Did you run?”
“Yeah.” He nods.
“The Harrington Estate is, like, way back there, though. How long have you been running?”
He looks down at the smart watch on his wrist. “About forty-five minutes.”
“What kind of person runs for forty-five minutes at ten p.m.?” I say in disbelief.
“What kind of person hangs around an abandoned park at ten p.m.?” he retorts.
My lips twitch. “Touché. Are you okay, though? Is someone chasing you? Because a warning would be nice so I can haul my ass out of here.”
To my surprise, Sterling Harrington actually laughs at that. It’s a small one, like three simple ha-ha-has. But it’s nice to hear.
“Don’t worry, Cameron. Your ass is fine,” he tells me, with a glint in his eyes.
If I didn’t know better, I’d think he was flirting with me. I feel a sudden flush of heat creeping up on my neck. The tension between us goes up a few notches.
“I know it is,” I mutter, feeling my heart race a little.
Get it together, Emilia .
“Anyway, I’m going to head home. See you later, Harrington.”
He frowns. “And how do you plan to get home?”
“While my body wasn’t made for running, unlike some people, I do have two working feet that are perfect for walks,” I inform him.
“No,” he states, his frown deepening. “You’re not walking all the way home alone. In the dead of the night.”
My eyes narrow. “There’s nothing you can do to stop me.”
A muscle ticks in his jaw. “Fine, I’ll walk you.”
My eyes widen. “Did I ask you to?”
“You’re my best friend’s little sister. Putting aside your personality, I do have a responsibility to ensure you’re safe.”
“My personality is perfect,” I snap. “Plus, Mr. Responsible Gentleman, I know you haven’t lived in Edenton in a while but it’s reasonably safe. Therefore I do not need you and I absolutely do not want you walking me home.”
“Do you ever just agree to do things or will your biological makeup be disrupted if you do anything without putting up a fight?” he asks, his tone bored. “Besides, it’s on my way anyway. I was just about to turn around and head home. Considering we’re both heading in the same direction, we can just walk together.”
He’s right. I’d offer to go the other direction out of spite, but that would mean walking straight into the woods. I inwardly groan. Why does this keep happening to me?
A couple seconds pass and I keep glaring at him without saying a word.
“Are you going to say anything or…?”
“Let’s just go,” I grumble.
Without further ado, we set off down the path leading back to civilization. The walk back is quiet for a total of five seconds before he speaks.
“What were you thinking about back there?”
“You know, you’re really chatty tonight for some reason,” I say in frustration. “Can we not speak?”
“No. Tell me what you were thinking about when you were sitting on that bench. You looked…” He hesitates. “Sad.”
Sad is an understatement. I was considering running away and shutting myself off from the rest of the world.
“How about you? Are you okay?”
Anyone running for forty-five minutes this late at night must be going through something rough.
“Must you always counter a question with a question?” he asks, frustration tinging his tone.
“I call it the law of give and take, actually. If you answer me honestly, then maybe I’ll consider answering you, too. Sweet deal, isn’t it?”
He looks like he’d rather chew a metal can than open up to me. Which is why I want it even more.
“Come on, Sterling Harrington,” I prod.
“I’m really starting to hate being called that,” he says on a huff. “There. That’s an answer. Is that acceptable enough?”
I nod slowly, a little awed that he actually confessed that to me. But now I don’t know what to say.
“You don’t have to feel like that though. I’m sure you’re just as?—”
“Save it, Ms. Cameron. I didn’t tell you so we could offer me sympathy. I’d rather not talk about emotions I am or am not feeling.”
“It’s okay to do that, though,” I point out. “You’re not a tin man, you’re human. You’re allowed to feel anything you want. Life’s too short to keep our emotions at bay.”
His eyes meet mine at that, the intensity in them causing my heart to race. I’m starting to think sunglasses should be my new modus operandi anytime I’m around this man.
Those damn green eyes.
I look away, unwilling to get sucked into the wonder that is Sterling Harrington. He seems to realize how long we’ve been staring at each other as well. There’s awkward silence for like a minute before he breaks it.
“Your turn. Why did you come all the way out here? And why did you look so sad?”
I inhale softly, considering the implications of telling him something so raw. But he also just confessed something that couldn’t have been easy for him to say to me, so turnabout’s fair play.
“I broke a glass cup,” I finally decide to say, my tone low. “It was triggering.”
Sterling tenses. “What did it trigger?”
“Unpleasant memories. Memories I want to stay buried.”
He doesn’t say anything for several seconds. Finally, he sighs softly.
“I thought you said it was bad to keep things like that at bay.”
“I said you shouldn’t keep your emotions at bay. I feel everything. I’d like to not feel so much on some days. And I want more than anything to turn my brain off most of the time.”
“Yeah, I get that,” he says, his voice a little hoarse but filled with understanding.
We arrive at the pathway that connects the road leading to the Harrington estate and the one leading out of it.
“You can go now. I’ll be fine on my own.”
His gaze narrows suspiciously. “Your house has to be at least twenty minutes away.”
“Yes, and I’m sure I can manage it on my own,” I repeat. “Go home, Sterling Harrington.”
He stares at me for a moment before reaching into his pocket. He pulls out his phone, and I watch quietly as he dials someone’s number. My jaw drops open when he starts speaking to someone I’m guessing is his driver. He tells the person on the other end to bring the car over to where we currently are.
“Yeah we’re standing at the side of the road. Thank you.”
“You’re seriously infuriating. You know that, right?”
He doesn’t reply. A couple minutes later, there’s a black car with tinted windows pulling up in front of us. Sterling opens the door to the back seat, gesturing for me to step inside. I stay put, my arms crossed as I glare at him.
“Hey, Callum,” he says to the middle-aged man at the wheel. “Sorry to bother you this late, but could you take her home?”
“Of course, sir,” the other man says with a curt nod.
“Thanks,” Sterling states before looking at me. “Get in.”
A part of me wants to throw a tantrum and refuse, but poor Callum’s already being dragged out here. There wouldn’t be any point.
“You’re annoying,” I mutter, sliding into the back seat.
He smirks. “Good night, Emilia.”
“I didn’t say you could use my name,” I chide.
“No?’ he asks cockily and I catch a passing glimpse of a small smile right before he shuts the car door.
Well, that was intense.
Sterling’s driver, Callum, drops me right in front of my house and, after wishing me a good night, leaves immediately. The memories of what happened before I left home crash down on me as I stand on my doorstep.
I exhale a soft breath before slowly pushing the door open. As expected, my sister’s in the living room, biting her nails nervously. She looks up as soon as I enter, and it’s hard to miss the worry in her brown eyes.
“Hey,” I say, walking into the living room.
“Emilia,” she breathes. “What happened? You were saying you needed a glass of wine, and I was going to change and then join you in the living room when I heard the glass shattering. By the time I stepped outside my room, you were gone. And you didn’t even take your phone. I thought something had happened to you.”
I take a seat on the couch, tucking my knees beneath my feet and avoiding eye contact with my sister.
“I’m fine, Nika.”
She shakes her head. “No, not good enough. This isn’t the first time you’ve done something like this. You can’t just disappear without telling anyone, Em.”
She’s right. And I don’t mean to, really. But whenever something triggering happens, I kind of just black out. It’s like I’m not really in the moment anymore. I barely remember walking out of the house or all the way to the park. But it happened, and I made my little sister worry unnecessarily.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper softly.
She takes a seat beside me on the couch and sighs. At first, she doesn’t say anything. And then she’s wrapping her arms around me in a tight hug.
“I just want you to be safe, Em,” Anika says quietly into my neck.
“I was safe,” I assure her, rubbing her back.
“No. Safe around us. I don’t want you to hide your pain anymore.”
My throat tightens. I have no clue what I’m supposed to say to that. I just continue rubbing her back in small, comforting circles.
“I’m not in pain, Anika.”
“Liar,” she murmurs.
It takes a couple of minutes before we finally separate. When we do, I offer her a small, encouraging smile.
“You don’t have to worry about me, Anika. I’m the big sister.”
She shrugs. “Just don’t do that again.”
I don’t agree to that because I don’t want to make any false promises. And I don’t think she expects me to, either.
“Okay, now tell me about the car that dropped you off,” Anika says.
My eyes widen. “You saw that?”
I was hoping she hadn’t because then I wouldn’t have to explain, but it’s clear I won’t be that lucky tonight.
“Yeah, of course. I heard the car coming up the street and then it stopped in front of my house. Imagine my surprise when I looked out the window to see my sister stepping out of the back seat. I couldn’t see who was inside, though.”
I shrug, trying to come up with a good excuse. “It was an Uber?” I offer.
Anika’s eyes narrow. “Come on, Emilia. That car looked way too expensive to be an Uber. Tell me the truth. Who was driving?”
I look straight forward, biting down on the corner of my lip.
“Callum,” I reply forcefully.
“Callum?” she asks, confused. I glance at her expression and she seems to be struggling to make sense of that. And then she gasps. “Holy shit. Callum as in the Harringtons’ driver?”
I sigh softly. Of course she knows him.
“He used to drive us to the school all the time when we were kids,” Anika murmurs. “Wait. If Callum drove you home, does that mean you were with Sterling Harrington?”
It’s hard to miss the excitement in her tone.
“No, I wasn’t with him. We ran into each other,” I correct.
Anika’s expression practically screams disbelief. I sigh.
“I’m serious, Nika. We just ran into each other. I don’t know why or how it keeps happening. And then he called Callum over and asked him to take me home despite my protests.”
“Okay so let me get this straight,” my sister starts. “After you left the house, you met up with Sterling?—”
“No!” I exclaim. “I said we ran into each other. Get it together, Nika.”
She laughs. “Sorry, but this is too good. So not only were you with Sterling but he also called his driver to ensure you made it back home? That’s nice, sissy. I thought you two hated each other.”
“He was trying to be nice,” I mutter.
“Sterling isn’t nice,” Anika states. “He’s an asshole and yet he’s doing all these things for you? Something fishy is going on.”
“No. Nothing fishy. This entire situation is clean as hell. There are absolutely no odd smells and there’s nothing suspicious. It’s just a random encounter, Anika. Seriously.”
She pauses, looking into my eyes. I bear her scrutiny for a couple of seconds before she shrugs with a small smirk. Then she slowly rises to her feet.
“Deny it all you want, Emilia. But I can’t wait to see how all this plays out,” she says on a short laugh.
That sounds ominous. I cross my arms over my chest, glaring at her as she walks into her bedroom, her laughter not subsiding.
Ugh. Damn you, Sterling Harrington.