49. Emma
Chapter Forty-Nine
EMMA
S he handed a pair of coffee frappes to the waiting teens with a brittle smile fixed on her face.
Emma had been fine covering the first part of Bethany’s shift at the waterfront kiosk when the other barista had called her late this morning.
Garrett had gone off to work quite early and she hadn’t been able to go back to sleep anyway, so she’d spent the early hours going over the papers she needed to apply to college.
Emma was not going to be a trophy wife. Yeah, she was a hot piece of ass, but she also had a brain. A broken one, but it still worked for the new stuff. Most of the time.
She was going to make the most of it. Finding the will to try was half the battle, wasn’t it?
But Emma didn’t kid herself. It was going to be a long war.
After a long deliberation, she had opted not to use her existing college credits or pre-accident coursework. Whatever degree she earned now had to be independent of that.
The decision had been a difficult one. She’d been so close to graduating. But Emma didn’t remember anything from her old classes. Using the existing credits would have been dishonest. Moreover, she could very well be crippling herself, building a new career on knowledge and experiences she no longer had.
She didn’t relish the idea of putting in another four years to get back to the same spot she’d been in before the accident. Besides, weren’t some of the most successful businesspeople college dropouts?
But she wasn’t comfortable enough to go without some sort of knowledge base. Which was why she was now looking at two-year associate degrees at all the local colleges. Perhaps marketing or business administration. She would rebuild her foundation in a useful and productive way while trying to decide what to do with the rest of her life.
However, trying to choose exactly what programs to apply to filled her with anxiety. There were so many choices. Time was precious. She knew that better than anyone. Emma couldn’t afford to waste any of it.
The whole mess was giving her a headache. The cold wind coming through the kiosk service window didn’t help either. It had given her an earache that made the pain in her head worse.
By the time Bethany arrived to cover the rest of her shift, Emma’s head was splitting. Unable to do much else, she sat on the bucket, waiting for the worst to pass so she could head home.
“You look like death warmed over,” Bethany said with her usual charm. “Can’t you take something?”
“I already did.” Emma had finally run out of her old pain medication a few days ago and started the new pills, taking one a few days ago and another this morning.
Bleary-eyed and slightly nauseated, she checked the clock above the service window. It was half an hour too early, but she couldn’t afford to wait any longer if she was going to walk home.
“This stuff just doesn’t work as well as the old prescription,” she muttered.
Bethany shrugged. “Take two.”
Emma must have looked like crap because the other woman voluntarily fetched her a cup of water.
“Thanks,” she said, fishing out the prescription bottle from her pocket. “I just might.”
Garrett handed his edits of the latest contract of the Montevalle Resorts deal to the PA he’d just hired.
“Get this to legal and have them look over the changes. If they approve it, have them send it out.”
The young man nodded, taking the folder and hustling out of the room.
When his former assistant had told him they weren’t coming back, Garrett hadn’t attempted to fill the position despite being slammed with work.
Instead, his brain had spun a little fantasy of Emma coming to work for him. She could help him in the office and learn the ins and outs of business at his side. He thought it might be a good way for her to dip her toes in the pool, before taking off and forging her own path.
Thank God Rainer had talked him out of that. It would have been a disaster, of course. He wouldn’t have been able to keep his hands off her during work hours.
It was one thing to take her to the back bedroom when no one else knew she was here. But it would be quite another to do it if she was a regular employee.
It didn’t matter that everyone knew she was his wife now. That just meant they’d be scrutinized more closely. The staff would be on the lookout for shenanigans. They’d take note when Emma was flushed or when a lock of hair was out of place, and they would correctly assume the two of them had been messing around during work hours.
No, his idea had been a bad one. He couldn’t expose Emma to that kind of gossip and possible ridicule. She was his wife. He wanted his staff to treat her with respect. He would not have them snickering at her behind their backs because he couldn’t keep it in his pants.
It was enough that she had indulged his secret love slave fantasy last week.
Garrett turned his head, looking at the door of the office bedroom as the memories flashed through his mind. But he ruthlessly shut them down.
Any longer and he would have texted her to come over again after everyone went home.
He had gone full sex fiend in that bedroom and would do it again if given the chance. When it came to Emma, Garrett was a glutton. He had to pace himself or she’d start to feel suffocated.
He’d also asked too much of her. Emma had been sore the day after spending the night at the office, enough that he’d noticed a tiny hitch in her step when she walked.
She’d also been suspiciously quiet. Had she been too embarrassed to tell him he was an animal?
No, Emma wasn’t shy about calling him on his bullshit. If he’d gone too far, he would have gotten an earful. Still, a little moderation and a heck of a lot more discretion were in order.
Of course, Emma likely had her own opinions on the matter. She didn’t hide her desire for him and was an enthusiastic participant every time they had sex. He just needed to make sure that she was comfortable yanking on the reins when his lecherous ass went off the rails.
He was going a little crazy, making up for lost time.
Shaking his head, he made a mental note to talk to Em as soon as he got home. It took him a good ten minutes, but he managed to put it out of his mind and got another couple hours of work done.
He was looking forward to a quiet night at home when Bethany called, frantic and swearing like a sailor. “Emma is fucked up!”