Chapter Forty-Five
Jake
Three Hours Later
After I carried Emily to the sofa, I let her sleep.
I figured she’d endured enough excitement for the night and deserved some rest before taking her home.
But like a mother hen, I’ve hovered around her checking her pulse, her breathing, and consulted ten websites for the symptoms of combining alcohol with muscle relaxers.
Thankfully, her vitals remained in the safe zones.
“Can you bring my pickup around back?” I toss my keys to Sean. “I don’t think Emily would appreciate hearing a story of how I carried her through the bar on our first date.”
From her position on the sofa, she opens one eye. “This is your idea of a first date?”
“Yes, this is my idea of a first date.” I wink at her as Sean shakes his head and exits the back door with a thump.
“I guess it’s better than taking me to Rusty Nail. Amanda got the raw end of the deal.” Her head flops against the cushions as her eye flutters back closed. My chest constricts. Even loopy, she’s still perfect.
“That’s something we need to discuss when you’re more aware of what’s going on.” I brace my hands on my hips and watch her as her breathing steadies. And she’s out again.
Despite the shitshow of a night, I smile as I take in her features. She’s beautiful when she’s sleeping. So quiet and peaceful. I rub a hand over my face.
When she wakes up, she’s going to be full of sass. But this time, I’m not letting her go. I’ve waited too long to tell her how I feel. To explain why I was with Amanda’s at Rusty Nail. I don’t care that she chose Spencer over me. He’s not here. I am.
And it’s time she accepts that she belongs to me. To hell with how chauvinistic that sounds.
Her eyelashes flutter against her cheeks as she sighs and shifts deeper into the cushions.
Some asshole tried to drug my girl. My hands ball into fists. When I find that asshole again, I’m going to beat his ass. Two punches weren’t satisfying enough. The corner of my mouth quirks upward. Okay, they were enough for him.
I pop my knuckles and then switch to the other hand. I don’t care if there’s no evidence. I know what I saw. There’s no place in the world for fucking rapist pigs.
Ten minutes later, the door swings open and Sean grins. “Your chariot awaits.”
“Thanks, man.” I stride to the sofa and scoop her into my arms.
When she wraps her arms around my neck, everything feels right. I inhale the sweet scent of her perfume, letting it wrap around me. Heaven. She’s pure heaven. Nothing has ever felt better than having Emily in my arms.
Slowly, she blinks open her eyes and licks her lips. “You’re carrying me?”
“Yes, Pretty Girl, I’d carry you anywhere.”
Sean shakes his head and hands me the keys. “See you around. Be careful.”
“Always.” I clasp the keys in my fingers.
“Pretty Girl?” Her brows furrow. “Why did you call me, Pretty Girl?”
“Because you’re my pretty girl.”
“Oh….” Her frown deepens as she settles back against me while blinking up at me. The confusion and disbelief in her eyes make my stomach cramp. How did I screw things up so much that she didn’t realize she was the most important person in the world to me? “Since when?”
“Since, forever.” I lean down and kiss her forehead. “Now, go back to sleep, and we’ll talk in the morning. You need to rest.”
“Right.” She snuggles her face into my chest. “You smell good.” When her cheek rubs against my T-shirt, my heart skips a beat. “And it feels good to have your arms around me.”
She clasps tighter around my neck and eases upward until her lips press against my neck. And then, her tongue flicks against the pulse beating there.
That simple touch has blood rushing from my head to my dick. Down boy. She has no idea what she’s doing. You’re not taking advantage of her like this.
I steady my shoulders and march to the door. “Thanks for everything, Sean.”
“No problem. Take care of your girl.”
Once we’re outside, the dark sky encircles us. The back parking lot is private for staff and family members only. While there are several vehicles lined up outside the door, it’s quiet with no other activity.
My pickup is parked at the edge of the lot where the lights cast the space in shadow. The other end of the lot has better lighting, nearly blotting out the stars. At least, when we get back to Brookhaven, we’ll see them again.
“Hey Em, I’m going to drop your feet to the ground. Can you lean against my pickup while I get the door?”
“Yes.” She nods and launches off me, pulling my body toward her as she thumps against the side of my vehicle. “Ouch.” She grasps her hip, massaging the area that was slammed into the hard surface.
“Baby, slow down.” I shake my head and rub my hands up and down her arms. “I wasn’t going to drop you. Are you okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine.” Tears fill her eyes as she glances at the building behind me. “But I’ve acted like a complete fool tonight. I drank too much. I was stupid enough to dance with a guy who tried to drug me and then managed to take a muscle relaxer by accident. Two muscle relaxers.”
“Babe–”
“Don’t.” Her bottom lip quivers. “I’ll call an Uber to take me home. I’m never going to be able to live this down.” She waves her hand toward me, smacking into my chest. “And here you are, feeling sorry for me. I don’t want your pity. And God forbid if Kaleb hears about this.”
“Stop.” When I cup her cheeks, she wraps her arms around her chest as if to ward off more embarrassment. “Look at me.” Her wet lashes catch a thread of light as she tips her head up.
Clearly, she’s sobered up enough for the guilt to rush in, and she has nothing to feel guilty about. “I don’t pity you. And if your brother says one insulting thing about you, I’ll kick his ass.”
“Why’re you being nice to me?”
“Em….” I shake my head. “I didn’t want to talk about this until tomorrow because I don’t know how much you’ll remember.” One corner of my mouth arches upward. “But that’s okay. I’ll tell you again in the morning.” I stroke my thumbs over her cheekbones.
“What?”
“I….” Don’t freak her out. “I care about you a lot, and not as my best friend’s little sister. When I took you to bed, I meant every second of that. It wasn’t a mistake. It was the closest I’ll ever come to heaven.”
“Really?” Her nostrils flare as her eyes widen. Thankfully, the tears have dried, leaving what I hope is happiness or at the very least shock in their wake. A car door slams from the other side of the high fence that blocks the parking lot from the street.
“Yes, really. I didn’t want you to leave that morning.”
“What about Amanda?” She unlaces her arms and places one hand on my chest where my heart beats erratically.
“There’s nothing going on between Amanda and I.”
“But she messaged you about tonight.”
“Damn it, Em.” I rest my forehead against hers. “I was worried you saw that message, and it looks like I had a reason to be concerned. It wasn–”
“I didn’t mean to see it.” Her hand drops from my chest. “I only saw the top part. I was afraid to see anything else. I didn’t want to see her naked pictures or read what she wanted to do with you.”
Even as I narrow my eyes at her in frustration, a part of me is ecstatic that she was jealous. Is jealous. More than ecstatic. Whether she’s ready to admit it or not, her feelings for me were more than as a one-night stand.
“I should spank your butt for thinking I’d make love to you while planning to take another woman to bed.” After I draw out my cell phone, I scroll to my message with Amanda.
“I don’t need to see it.” She raises her hands in defense.
“I want you to look.” I bring up the string of messages. “I don’t want you to question my intentions.” I flip my phone around. I need her to see that I explained to Amanda that I wasn’t interested. That we were only meeting to discuss her brother. And I was interested in someone else. “Read it.”
Me: I’ll meet with you to discuss your brother, but that’s it. We’re not getting back together.
Amanda: I can get you to change your mind.
Me: No, you can’t. What we had has been over for years, and I’m interested in someone else.
Her eyes scan the screen as she gnaws on her bottom lip and then glances up, wrinkling her nose. Her face is full of chagrin. “Oops.”
“Oops, is right.” I wrap my arms around her and pull her tight against me. “I wasn’t making plans with Amanda. At least, not like you thought. I don’t want her. The only woman I want is you.”
“The plum-colored flowers and the purple Skittles were really for me?”
“Of course. I’ve never bought flowers for another woman, except for your mom, and I wouldn’t sift through tons of candy to pick out your favorite color for someone else.”
She throws her arms around my neck, pulling me down, and smashes her lips against mine, causing me to lose my breath.
When her tongue slips past my lips, I groan and pull back. “Em, we need to stop. I need to know that you know what you’re doing before we go any farther. You’ve had too much to drink and paired with the musc–”
“Shut up.” She stands on her tip toes. “I know what I want, and what I want is you.”