by Elle Brace
I sighed once it dawned on me just how much I had come to like her; it was more than a crush but I wasn’t sure how much more. I hadn’t realised I had been staring at her again until she spoke up. “W – What is it?” She stuttered, looking down at her feet.
I snapped out of my gaze once again and shook my head, clenching my jaw at the foreign feelings. “Nothing. Let’s get back inside and spend the last few hours here indoors.” I got out, avoiding her gaze.
Emily frowned and bit down on her bottom lip, but didn’t question my sudden silence on the topic as I dragged her away from the stupid crab and back to the beach house in silence.
***
“I chose Law Abiding Citizen. I hope that works for your lady needs,” I spoke out once I entered our bedroom.
Emily turned away from her suitcase with a large grin on her face, nodding enthusiastically. “I love that movie.”
“I knew you would. It’s your type since The Shaw shank Redemption is your number one choice,” I commented slyly. “Let’s watch it in bed. That way, if we doze off, we’ll already be in bed and would’ve had a comfortable sleep before the flight tomorrow morning,” I suggested.
Emily nodded in agreement. “Good idea.”
I could tell she was uncomfortable and that’s when I noticed she was wearing the same outfit she tried to sleep in the first night we were here. “Just wear my shirt, shortcake. It’s not like I’m going to fondle your body at the sight of Gerard Butler.” I smirked, watching as her eyes went wide with shock as her cheeks flushed again.
“Well, I won’t. But who am I to say that you wouldn’t want too? That’s it, isn’t it? I’ve finally figured out what makes your prized jewel click! You want me to act like a murdering psychopath? Brilliant. Who do you want me to kill first?” I asked, chuckling as she threw a pillow in my direction.
“I told you not to ever refer to my… lady parts using that phrase ever again!” She groaned.
“Okay, okay. I won’t do it again. But is my theory right? That’s why you don’t want to wear my shirt! Because it’ll be noticeable if you touch –”
“Don’t you dare finish that sentence, Kingston!” She snapped, glowering at me. I chuckled again while putting my palms up in defence, before climbing into the bed and pressing the play button for the movie to start.
Emily climbed in after me but jumped out once I frowned and hooked my thumbs into the waistband of my boxers. “What the hell are you doing?” She shrieked, covering her eyes with her hands, before slightly moving a finger to take a peek at what I was doing next.
“Wear your normal sleepwear, or these come off,” I threatened with a smirk.
She removed her hands from her eyes completely in a moment of disbelief before letting out a frustrated sigh. “Turn around,” she snapped, snatching my shirt off the bed. Another smug smile curled its way onto my lips as I shifted to the other side of the room so that my back was facing her.
Once I felt her climbing into the bed again, I turned around and inched towards her so that our bodies were melded together. “Idiot.” She scowled, crossing her arms.
“Shhh, you’ve missed the first five minutes of the movie,” I whispered into her ear, making her glare at the television screen instead.
About half way through the movie, I decided to bring up the thing that had been bugging me the entire trip. “I need you to do something important for me when we get back to the office tomorrow,” I stated uncomfortably, making her turn over and face me with a curious frown.
“Of course. I’m your assistant, that’s my job,” she pointed out, laughing lightly.
“No, no…” I trailed off frowning and felt my jaw clench. “I need this to happen. I don’t want it to,” I emphasised, glaring slightly.
“Adrian…” She trailed off, looking suspicious. “What is it?” She finally asked.
“I’ve been talking with… someone… who I’ve managed to negotiate one of the best business deals I’ve ever heard of. It’ll be great for the hotels, and my father’s real estate company combined,” I explained, looking over at her. This wasn’t going to end well. I could feel it already.
“Well, that’s great!” Emily grinned. “Who’s it with? And what’s my role in all of this?” She asked curiously, not seeing the negative side of the favour yet.
“Well… the only way they’re going to be convinced is if you talk to them,” I stated, not looking her in the eye.
Emily’s curious frown returned as she glared at me slightly. “Who’s ‘them’?”
“Walter Inc.,” I mumbled under my breath.
Emily stiffened beside me. “As in…” She trailed off, waiting for me to confirm her thoughts.
“David Walter’s business.” I confirmed, “He said the only way he’d agree to the deal is if you and him spoke in a room alone for a while.”
“No fucking way!” She snapped suddenly, jumping out of the bed and giving me an angered look of disbelief. “Being ‘alone in a room’ with that pig is practically signing me up for sexual assault!” She exclaimed angrily.
I glared up at her before replying. “He won’t do anything. The room you two will talk in will have surveillance cameras and I’ll be right outside the door if anything happens,” I explained in a snippy tone, trying to end the topic in hopes that I hadn’t angered her too much and ruined our last few moments alone together before we returned to New York.
Emily wasn’t having that. “No way! David Walter is not coming near me, whether it was in a room filled with thousands of people or whether it was him and me alone. It’s not happening.” She snapped again, crossing her arms over her chest. Her angered expression suddenly fell. “Is this…” She trailed off, eyes widening. “Is this why you brought me to California? To convince me by trying to spoil me?”
“What? No!” I growled, getting out of the bed to walk over to her. Why would she think that? “And you have no way in the matter. I am your boss!” I reminded her, raising my voice slightly.
“What boss sets up their assistant for sexual assault?!” She threw back, scowling. I growled in frustration before stepping towards her, making her take a step back in response before her back collided with the glass window.
“Do not test me, Emily,” I warned in a low voice, closing the small space between us completely by pressing my body against hers.
“I’m not testing you. I’m telling you. It’s not happening,” she declared firmly, glaring up at me. The realisation of just how close to each other we were must’ve hit us both at the same time, and my gaze unconsciously trailed away from her eyes and down to her lips. Emily chose that precise moment to lick them, making all my restraint fly out the window.
We both began breathing heavily once our eyes met again and my anger increased. This woman was going to be the death of me. I slammed my palms against the glass windows beside her head, pinning her against me completely before letting out a low growl. “Fuck it,” I muttered, losing any little control I had over my body completely.
I wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her off the glass and into my torso while the other hand tangled itself within her long blonde waves.
Then, I kissed her.
It was everything I hoped it would be. And then she started kissing back. Our lips meshed perfectly against each other as I felt her own hand tangle themselves in my hair and around my neck. I groaned into her mouth from the small gesture, savouring every moment. I licked her bottom lip before forcing my tongue in between her lips desperately, wanting to deepen the kiss even further.
I held her up against the cool glass window and she wrapped her legs around my waist while the kiss deepened, much to my liking.
Then it was over.
Emily pulled away abruptly, looking at me with widened eyes, before she untangled her fingers and body away from me. “ I – I –” She stuttered in a flustered state, her eyes still wide from the previous event. “Oh my god.” I heard her whisper to herself while she ran her fingers through
her hair.
Oh my god indeed. That kiss was every bit incredible as she as a person was. I didn’t want it to end. I needed to tell her that. “Emily…” I trailed off, trying to be cautious in how to approach the situation.
“That –”
She cut me off. “Never happened.” She stated firmly. I was still able to catch the slight waver in her tone as she spoke, but didn’t point it out from my surprise and anger.
“What?” I asked with a frown.
“I – It – It was a mistake, Adrian. A stupid, stupid mistake. I apologise for acting so inappropriately.” She spoke as evenly as possible, trying to sound composed after the kiss that clearly affected her as much as it did me.
“Emily –”
She began to shake her head, cutting me off. What the hell was wrong with her?! She started making her way towards the door. “I need some air,” she mumbled, before completely disappearing from the room.
“Holy shit,” I murmured to myself in the room, running a hand through my own hair this time. If I had a crush on Emily before, this just intensified my feelings for her beyond explanation.
If you enjoyed this book,
then watch out for the full book in Emily’s perspective. “The Assistant”, coming on the last week of May!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Elle Brace started her writing career on wattpad, a free site for writers who just want their stories to be read. Her first book “The Assistant” got a total of over 8 million reads when it was first completed.
Now she has over 11 million reads and she’s a young professional author currently living in Sydney Australia, where she enjoys watching movies, tv shows, and listening to music. She loves to study, especially criminology. And has hopes of exploring Europe one day.
If you want to send her a message or two, feel free to email her here: [email protected]
