Stuck with Mr. Grump

17. Emilia

CHAPTER 17

Emilia

T he first thing I feel is confusion when my eyes open. The room is dark and all I can feel is something warm and hard underneath me. I wriggle softly on top of whatever it is and nearly jump out of my skin when I hear a soft chuckle.

“Careful, angel. You probably shouldn’t be doing that if you don’t want a repeat of last night.”

I gasp, nearly sliding off Sterling. Oh my god.

Memories from last night come rushing back to me. Our talk, the kisses, the sex. Oh my god.

I lift my head, my gaze connecting with his. He has a small smile on his face that is entirely too endearing.

“Morning,” he says in the sexiest voice ever.

I feel my stomach warm, butterflies churning in my gut. An insane part of me is actually about to ask for a repeat of last night when I look up, my gaze moving toward the window blinds. My eyes widen when I see the rays of sunlight peeking through.

“What time is it?” I blurt out, quickly climbing off Sterling.

It’s a little ungraceful, but I manage to slide to the ground before standing up again to hunt for my phone.

“Fuck!” I shout when it see it’s already 6:30.

I hurriedly start grabbing the articles of clothing spread out on the floor. Uncaring that he’s still watching, I quickly unbutton his shirt, sliding it to the ground. I start putting on my bra and that seems to spur Sterling into action.

“Hey, calm down,” he says, sitting up on the couch.

“I have to get home before Anika wakes up,” I inform him, pulling on my panties and then my shirt.

Sterling stands, walking over to me. He grabs the leggings out of my hands before I have the chance to finish dressing.

“Emilia, breathe,” he orders.

He’s right. I need to calm down. I inhale a soft breath and then another, trying to think clearly. I have about two to three hours before my sister’s alarm goes off. It’ll be fine. I take the time to look at the man standing in front of me. He looks way too good for 6:30 in the morning.

“You calm?” he asks after a couple of minutes.

I nod.

“Good, because we need to talk, angel.”

The weight of everything that happened last night crashes down on me. I look down at my feet, thinking of the best way to handle the situation. He’s right. We do need to talk.

“Okay,” I agree. “Could you hand me my pants, first?”

He does so, and once I’m fully dressed, I head over to take a seat on the couch. Memories of what happened on it last night run through my head like a loop.

He can tell that I need space right now. Sterling doesn’t come close to me. Instead, he leans against the wall beside the TV, directly opposite me. His green eyes are fixed on me intently, like he’s trying to guess at my thoughts.

Neither of us says anything for a long moment. I’m trying to organize my thoughts and I guess he is as well. I think about the events that led to us having sex last night and come to a conclusion. An explanation that makes sense. But it does make me feel a little sick.

“I think…” I start nervously, “emotions were high last night. Neither of us was thinking properly. And a part of me feels like I took advantage of the pain you were feeling.”

Sterling’s face crumples and he looks like I slapped him. I hear a muttered, “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” right before his eyes sharpen.

“I think I can decide for myself what I want and don’t fucking want in the moment. And I thought you wanted it, too.”

He sounds hurt, and I hate that I’m responsible for that. But this is what’s best for us. It has to be.

“I did. We’re both grown adults that can take responsibility for our actions,” I tell him.

“Okay, so what’s the problem?” he retorts.

“The problem is that we got carried away. It’s the hormones. They took over, made us do something we shouldn’t have.”

Sterling chuckles darkly. “Oh, this is rich. How do you even come up with these things, angel?”

“We shouldn’t have had sex yesterday,” I say firmly. “It should have never happened. But it did and we just have to move on while living with it.”

He nods slowly. “I see. You’re a coward, Emilia.”

“What?”

“You fucking heard me,” he grits out. “When things get too real, you run. You’re so scared that someone could actually care about you, that you’d have to open your heart out to someone. Running’s easier for you. It’s safer. But it also makes you a hypocrite. You preach about being open and in touch with your feelings, but you’re probably the most emotionally repressed person I know.”

“Hey,” I snap, defensive. “You don’t have to be mean about it. All I said was that we shouldn’t have had sex. If your feelings are hurt, handle it like a big boy. Don’t start attacking me.”

He chuckles. “There you go again, evading your own issues and focusing on everyone else’s. I opened my heart to you yesterday. I told you everything and now you think none of that matters?”

“I know it matters. I just don’t think it has to matter,” I say desperately.

“That makes no sense.”

“It does to me,” I say, a note of finality in my voice. “In light of recent events, I don’t think I can keep working as your assistant. I’m going to quit.”

“That’s not happening.” Sterling states, glaring at me.

“Excuse you?”

“I said it’s not happening, Emilia. You’re not going to quit. You signed a contract, remember? You’re going to work as my assistant for as long as I’m manager at the Edenton branch. You don’t get to walk away from that.”

“I think what happened compromises our professional relationship,” I retort.

“And why is that? Like you said, it doesn’t matter. All we have to do is not let it matter. The both of us are going to be tin men. That’s what you want, isn’t it?”

“I’d be a tin woman, actually,” I mutter, unable to resist making the tiny joke.

Sterling’s lips twitch and I feel the tension ease a little. He steps forward, looking down at me with those hypnotic green eyes. Even now, my heart feels like it’s going to jump out of my chest due to his proximity. He has such a big effect on me. And I hate that he knows it.

“You’re going to keep being my assistant, angel,” he begins. “And just like you want, we’ll both pretend last night never happened. The two of us will be civil. Hell, we’ll even be friends. And then we’ll grow closer. Eventually, you’ll drop all your walls. Where are you going to hide after that?”

My throat feels dry but I manage to speak regardless.

“I won’t drop my walls for you, Sterling,” I say confidently.

He smirks. “We’ll see.”

I exhale softly. “Whatever. Can we leave now? I really need to get back home before Anika wakes up.”

“Yeah, okay,” he tells me. “You can drop me off at my car and then we’ll return to Edenton separately. Alright?”

I nod.

“Let me head in there for a sec,” he murmurs, turning to the bathroom.

Once the door shuts, I sigh, relieved that we’re past that conversation. We didn’t agree per se, but I’m glad he’s letting me off for now. I don’t think I can handle anything else. My emotional capacity is at its peak.

It takes him a couple of minutes to re-emerge. When he does, it’s hard not to notice the tired look in his eyes. They were brighter this morning. I guess what I said dampened his mood even more. I bite down on my bottom lip, feeling bad. I wanted to help him, not make him feel worse.

I stay quiet as he puts on his clothes, slowly sliding into the shell of the unruffled grumpy businessman I’ve come to know and care about.

“Sterling?” I call softly.

He turns around in the process of buttoning up his shirt, raising an eyebrow in reply.

“How are you feeling now, though? Are you okay?”

“You know, a part of me wants to be an asshole and tell you to focus on yourself,” he says with a sly smile.

I roll my eyes at that.

“But I don’t need to do that and you don’t need to feel bad, angel. I’m fine. I feel better, actually. You helped me.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. You know yesterday my whole world felt like a crumbling mess but now that I’m looking at things objectively, I know it’ll all work out. My family is still a mess and they all handled things in the worst fucking way possible. But at the end of the day, at least I know the truth now. It’ll take a while, but all those thoughts about not belonging will eventually fade. Because I’m a Harrington, angel. It might not feel like it at times, but I actually do belong.”

“You should feel like you belong regardless of who your father is. They should have never made you feel like you didn’t.”

“I know that. But it happened, and it sucks. You don’t get to choose your family,” he says on a shrug. “When I get home, I’m going to have a long, hard conversation with my father. And then I’m going to be okay.”

I smile. “I’m proud of you, Sterling Harrington.”

“Wish I could say the same for you, Emilia Cameron,” he says, stepping closer to me. “But we’ll work towards it.”

He presses a soft kiss to my forehead and when I look up into his eyes, I know I made the right decision. Because I could fall in love with him so easily.

And that’s a bad idea. Because I’ve seen firsthand how easy it for love to destroy a person.

Thankfully I get back home before Anika wakes up. When sleeping beauty eventually does rise, she finds me in the kitchen, sipping a cup of coffee after a nice warm shower. She runs a hand through her dark hair, peering at me.

“Don’t you have work today?” she questions, pouring a cup of coffee of her own.

“Day off,” I reply shortly.

“What do you mean, day off? It’s your third day!” she exclaims.

Is it? I feel like I’ve been working for Sterling for a lot longer. Damn. I must have lived ten lives in three days.

“Sterling isn’t going in to work today and since there’s nothing for me to do at work without him, he asked me to stay at home as well.”

Anika nods in understanding. “Is he okay, though? I heard Uncle Steven and Aunt Elana were back.”

“He’ll be fine,” I tell her.

He’s strong. A lot stronger than I am.