Chapter 54
CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
Emma
I could have stayed in Drake’s office and waited for Case to finish up with his work, but I needed time alone to digest what happened today.
I’m being handed a chance to change my life completely.
Although it couldn’t have come at a better time, something inside of me is mourning the life I had a month ago.
I don’t miss Beauregard. That’s not it at all.
I’ll never be able to drive over to the house I grew up in to hang out with my parents. I won’t braid Whitney’s hair while she complains about a guy she secretly wants to date.
Sandy and I will never again convince the woman who runs the theatre near my condo to let us sneak in just to buy a bag of popcorn because it’s the best we’ve ever tasted.
Beyond all of that, I’ll miss the kids I worked with.
I know most of them by name since I’ve floated in and out of their classrooms.
Life changes. I know that. I accept that.
I want that.
I move from where I’ve been standing near the window in Case’s apartment that overlooks Madison Avenue.
When I got here an hour ago, I let myself in and dropped the envelope in my hand on the dining room table.
Lester gave it to me as I was passing through the lobby on my way up here.
It’s the print I had made of Drake’s wedding that I ordered through the Printe app. I look at the envelope, suddenly wondering if Drake was actually the person who created the app or not.
I’ve never doubted my older brother, but I do now.
Faulting him for taking my idea and passing it off as his own won’t splinter our relationship. The only thing it’s proven to me is that he’s human.
He has flaws.
We all have flaws.
Setting myself into one of the dining chairs, I open the envelope and slide out the picture.
The quality is impressive. The colors are vibrant.
I’ve never ordered anything from the app other than snapshot size prints for my scrapbook.
My phone’s sudden ring jars me enough that the picture falls from my hands onto the table. I stare at it, marveling at how happy Drake looks even though he’s not facing the camera.
I fish in my purse for my phone and pull it out.
“Drake,” I whisper his name before I slide my finger over the screen to answer the call.
“Hey,” I say quietly.
“Em,” he pauses. “Fuck, Em. I’m sorry.”
Tears don’t come because I’m not sad. I’m feeling something that borders on relief combined with acceptance.
Drake is just a man. He’s not the superhero I’ve always made him out to be in my mind.
“I know,” I reassure him.
“You don’t know,” he counters. “I feel like shit. I should have discussed it with you. I should have gone to Case and explained that the idea for Letter Leap didn’t belong to me.”
“Case is handling it,” I say it with conviction. “I’m handling it.”
“I’ll make this up to you.”
How? He made a mistake. He’s apologized and since I’ll be working in the educational division at Cabbott, I’ll be in control of what I bring to the table. I’ll take ownership of that.
The blind trust I had in him may be fractured, but time can rebuild it to a place that’s more balanced.
“We found a house,” he blurts out before I can say anything.
I shut my eyes, trying to grasp what he just said. “What?”
“It was the first one we saw.” His voice climbs to a chirpy tone. It’s suddenly more cheerful. “We’ll put an offer in tomorrow morning.”
“Don’t you want to see a few others before you commit?”
“When you find something that’s perfect for you, why bother looking for anything else?”
I glance up when I hear the apartment door open.
Case’s smile is the first thing I see.
“You’re right,” I say to my brother. “Why keep looking once you’ve found perfection?”
“Did you give him hell?” Case asks as I place my phone on the table after ending my call with Drake.
I didn’t tell him I love him. Drake didn’t offer the words to me either, but the sentiment is there even if it’s buried under other emotions.
“Did you?” I counter.
“That and more.” He slides his suit jacket off. “I’m hiring someone to oversee him in London. Drake will be second in command there.”
It’s a demotion. It’s likely temporary but warranted all the same.
I sense that if anyone else in Cabbott’s organization tried to get away with what Drake did, they’d be fired.
“Is the London office an option for me?”
A slow smile spreads over his lips. “You’re not ready to take on the role of being your brother’s keeper, Emma.”
I laugh that off. “That’s not what I meant.”
He works to unbutton his shirt. “I know.”
He doesn’t expand on that, so I press for more. “Is New York going to be my home base?”
My breath catches when he opens his shirt because the man is gorgeous, and the sight of him takes my breath away every time.
“We’ll talk about that.”
I’d ask when but I can tell he wants something else right now. I step out of my sandals. Before I can drop my hands to the buttons on my blouse, he’s on top of me.
“How are you so beautiful and so smart and so everything, Emma Owens?”
Biting the corner of my bottom lip, I shake my head. “That’s a secret I’ll never share.”
“Do you have secrets?” He pops a brow.
“Do you?”
His gaze falls to the floor as he swallows hard. “Doesn’t everyone?”
“You know mine.” I try to lighten the mood. “I was celibate for a long time.”
His hands grip my waist. “A woman like you should never be denied what she wants.”
I slide my fingers over his cheek until they’re resting on his chin. I tilt it so his eyes meet mine. “I want you.”
His heated gaze travels over me. “I’m yours.”
Forever?
That question lingers on my tongue, but I know I can’t ask it because the answer will spear me. It will break me.
“Take me to bed,” I whisper.
Without a word, he takes my hand in his, kisses it, and leads me down the hallway.