Emilia nods, and I lead her to our table, when the very last thing I want to do is have another fucking business dinner. I want to take my Minx back to our hotel and draw her a bath or book her a massage. I want to take care of her, if she’ll let me.
“Carter,” Chris says. I nod at the man whose company I’m trying to acquire, but tonight all my attention is on Emilia. I pull her seat out for her, and she smiles up at me. I don’t know what it is about today, but I’m feeling far more protective than usual. I’m worried about her and I want to be the one that makes her feel better. I don’t want her thinking of anyone but me.
“Is this lovely lady your girlfriend?” Chris asks, Emilia’s hand in his. I drop my arm behind her chair and shake my head, wishing I could yes instead.
“She’s my lawyer.”
Emilia smiles at Chris and nods politely. She’s got bags underneath her eyes that betray how rough last night was for her. She woke up countless times, crying. It broke my heart to see her that way. The only other time I’ve ever experienced her crying while fast asleep was when Kate tore her apart. I hate that she’s going through this again. Even worse, yet again, there’s nothing I can do about it.
I can barely focus on what Chris is saying, even though his company is highly valuable, and highly coveted. I spent almost an entire year convincing him to sell to me, but now that I’m this close, I just want to go back home. I want to put Emilia on a plane and take her back to her dad. I feel horrible for taking her away from him in the first place.
Emilia places her hand on my upper arm and tilts her head in question, and I realize I must have missed a question. I smile at Chris in apology, but much to my surprise, he’s smiling at me. He’s always been incredibly short-tempered, but today he’s being very… pleasant.
“Emilia just reassured me that none of my staff will lose their jobs,” he tells me, and I glance at her, nodding.
“That’s right,” I tell him. “One of the things that makes your company so invaluable is the company culture, the bond and the vision everyone seems to share. I’d be a fool to take that away.”
Chris nods in agreement. “I never thought of you as a family man, Carter. For as long as I’ve known you, all I’ve seen is a ruthless business man. Tonight, I’m seeing a different side of you,” he says, glancing at Emilia. My eyes follow his, and Emilia looks into my eyes, her eyes twinkling. Every once in a while, she looks at me the way she used to, back when she was mine. I tear my gaze away and smile at Chris politely.
I refill Emilia’s wine glass and try my best to focus on what Chris is telling me about his company, but my eyes keep finding Emilia’s. By the time dessert comes around I’m antsy and ready to get out of here.
The waiter places our desserts in front of us, and I shake my head, stopping him. “I’m sorry,” I say, “but she doesn’t like anything that’s strawberry flavored,” I add, my head tipped towards the strawberry tart.
Emilia looks at me in surprise, as though she can’t believe I remember that about her — like I could ever forget anything about her. She smiles, and this time, it’s a real smile. It’s that type of intimate smile that we always used to share, the one I didn’t think I’d get to see again.
She puts her hand on my shoulder and shakes her head. “It’s fine,” she says, her voice soft. “I’ll have this.”
I shake my head and have the waiter replace her dessert. I lift my hand to her face and gently brush her hair out of the way. She smiles at me in thanks, and my heart skips a beat.
“I’ll sell to you, Carter,” Chris says, and I turn to him in surprise. I expected to have to go through far more groveling. He glances at Emilia and then smiles at me. “Family is at the heart of my company. Family, love, respect. Those are our core values. Until recently I didn’t think you’d be a good fit for us, but I was mistaken. I’m not getting any younger. It’s time for the next generation to take the lead, and I think you’ll achieve exceptional things without losing the values the company is built on.”
Relief rushes through me and Emilia grins at me. I smile back at her and nod at Chris. “Of course. Your legacy is safe in my hands, Chris,” I tell him, before glancing at Emilia. “Emilia will personally take care of all the paperwork.”
She nods and that’s that. I’m still in disbelief when we walk out of the restaurant. The second we walk around the corner, Emilia grabs my shoulders and throws herself in my arms. “Oh my gosh,” she says, squeezing tightly. “We actually did it!”
I laugh and lift her off her feet, twirling her around. She giggles, and I lift her higher, my arms on her upper thighs. She looks down at me, her eyes sparkling with joy and pride. It’s the happiest I’ve seen her in a while.
“I always knew you’d go far, Carter, but wow… you’ve surpassed every dream, every wish I’ve ever had for you. I’m so proud of you,” she says, her arms around my neck. I lower her to the floor slowly, her body still pressed against mine.
“Every dream?” I ask, my voice playful.
She narrows her eyes and giggles. “Carter,” she admonishes, grinning from ear to ear.
I reluctantly let go of her and grab her hand. She looks startled, and I smile. “It’s cold, Minx,” I murmur, putting both our hands in my pocket. I entwine our hands, and Emilia looks at me with such longing… this is exactly what I wanted. I want to be the only one on her mind. I want to fill her every thought, so that there’s no room left for sadness or heartache.
“Let’s go for a walk,” I murmur, and she nods, looking happy. She’s probably the only person I know that can set aside the things going on in her own life to be genuinely happy for me. I’m going to do whatever I can to keep that smile on her face, to keep her sadness at bay.
Chapter 22
Carter
I’ve got Emilia’s hand in mine as we slowly make our way back to the hotel, purposely going the long way around. Despite the terrible news she received, she seems so much happier here, where it’s just the two of us. Being so far away from everyone makes it easy to pretend like life didn’t tear her away from me.
She sighs happily and I turn to look at her. She’s staring up at the sky, and I’m staring at her. “You’re still the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on,” I tell her without thinking. Emilia looks at me, her eyes wide. She blushes, and I like that look on her. I like throwing her off, I always have.
Her eyes roam over my face, and her cheeks darken even further. Her eyes drop to my lips, and she looks away.
She tries to pull her hand out of mine, and I shake my head, tightening my grip on her. I tuck our hands back into my pocket, my thumb stroking over the back of her hand, my face tipped up at the sky. Stolen moments… that’s all I’ll ever have of her, but if that’s all I can have, I’ll take it.
Emilia’s cheeks are crimson and her eyes are sparkling in a way I haven’t seen in years. We both have smiles on our faces as we continue our walk.
Emilia flinches when a snowflake falls on her face and she looks around as snow comes pouring down around us. She giggles and looks up at me, and I wish I could just capture this moment.
My fingers brush past the edges of her coat, and I zip her all the way up, half her face hidden behind her collar. She looks up at me, her gaze intense. I can’t help but wonder if she’s feeling what I’m feeling. Does this moment feel precious to her too?
I throw my arm around her shoulder and keep her close as we continue our walk, snow surrounding us. Emilia pauses and then grins at me. “Let’s grab a bottle of champagne,” she tells me, and I frown at the liquor store we’re standing in front of. “We have something to celebrate, after all.”
Emilia pulls me along, and I laugh. “Minx, you do realize I can afford to order us champagne at the hotel, right?”
She pouts at me and shakes her head. “It won’t be the same,” she tells me. Emilia grabs my hand and pulls me into the store.
We emerge with a couple of bottles of cheap champagne, and Emilia all but drags me
back to the hotel. She’s shivering by the time we make it back to our suite.
“Shall I draw you a bath, Minx? You’re freezing.”
She looks at me and shakes her head. She grabs one of the bottles of champagne and smirks. “You pop this, I’ll be right back.”
I shrug out of my coat and do as she says. Minutes later Emilia returns to the living room with her entire duvet wrapped around her. I bark out a laugh as she runs up to the sofa and pats the seat next to hers. I smile and take off my suit jacket before joining her, two glasses in one hand, a bottle of champagne in the other.
“I didn’t work this hard to have cheap champagne,” I tell her, shaking my head. Emilia shrugs, the duvet dropping off her shoulders. She holds it out for me to crawl underneath and then covers me up. My eyes fall to the clothes she changed into, and I grin as I pour her a glass of champagne.
“Oh-kay, Mr. High and Mighty,” she says, rolling her eyes. “You know what we call people that say stuff like that back in London?”
I shake my head as I tap my glass against hers. “Tossers,” she says. “You’re acting like a total tosser. Cheap champagne is wonderful, I’ll have you know.”
Whenever she talks about London, her accent turns a little more British, and it’s hot as hell. “You know what we call you here?”
Emilia sits up, her hair still windswept, and her eyes filled with excitement that’s become foreign to me. “A thief,” I murmur, my fingers tracing over her collarbone. Emilia looks down at the hoodie she stole from me and blushes.
“Well, you did say you had more interesting stuff for me to steal…”
I smirk and take a sip of my champagne. “It’s fine, I guess it does look better on you than it does on me.”
She blushes and grabs the remote control, zapping through channels until she finds some sort of telenovela, for a lack of better word.
I look at her with raised brows and she looks back at me, a challenge in her eyes. “Let me guess,” she says. “The amazing Carter Clarke is too good for Spanish soaps.”
I purse my lips and tug my tie off. The truth is that I’d watch anything with Emilia, I’d do anything to spend some time with her, just as she is right now — no shields up, no hiding behind the person she thinks she’s become.
Emilia shifts positions, bringing her knees up, and I pull her legs towards me, settling her feet in my lap. “God, Minx. Your feet are freezing,” I say, alarmed. I rub my hands over them, massaging her and warming her up at the same time.
A small moan escapes her lips, and I have to reposition her feet in my lap to keep her from finding out just how much she still affects me. A single moan from her, and I’m rock solid. Emilia tries her best to focus on the soap she’s allegedly watching, but her eyes keep dropping back to mine. She follows my every movement as I undo the first few buttons of my shirt, her tongue darting out to moisten her lips, and I get even harder.
I clench my jaw and try my best to watch the soap she put on, but I’m struggling. I so badly want to pull her closer. I want her in my lap the way I had her last night, but this time I want her smiling at me, I want her arms wrapped around my neck, her lips on mine.
I circle my thumb over her ankle, and another gasp escapes her lips. I love all of these little sounds she makes. I fucking wish I could massage the rest of her body too, but she’d just pull away from me entirely if I tried.
I try my best to focus on the TV and end up reading the subtitles just to keep my mind off the things I want to do to Emilia. I narrow my eyes and then look at Emilia. “What the hell does that even mean, outraged in Spanish,” I say, and Emilia bursts out laughing, her body shaking. I can’t help but laugh too.
I want more of this. More of these moments with her, where we’re both who we used to be. I want more of these moments where I truly feel happy once again. I can’t help but fear that this bond we seem to have recovered here in New York will fall apart the second we set foot in Woodstock tomorrow.
Chapter 23
Carter
Emilia walks into the office wearing the stuck-up clothes she’s come to love so much, when most people at the office are in jeans and tees. I guess it only makes sense, since she’s a lawyer, and not a techie.
I pause what I’m doing and look up at her, my eyes trailing her across the room. She’s so fucking beautiful. Our trip to New York is still fresh in my mind. It’s been years since she and I have been so close. It feels like I’ve got her back now, even though she isn’t mine.
“Pay attention,” Asher snaps, and I look back at him sheepishly. He narrows his eyes and shoots me a warning look, which I ignore. I don’t understand why he feels the need to run over every single business decision ten times. His risk appetite decreases every freaking year, and it drives me insane.
“Let’s move forward with this,” I say, pointing at the least risky investment. We’d stand to make so much more money if we went with any of the other two options, but I just know Asher is going to be anxious as fuck if we do.
I’m excited about this new project. It means I’ll get to spend some more time with Emilia, getting all the due diligence and paperwork done. I might even be able to invite her for another trip.
It’s like Asher can read my mind, because he crosses his arms over each other. “I’d like to take point on this one,” he tells me, and I shake my head.
“Hell no,” I say, glancing back at Emilia.
Asher follows my gaze and shakes his head. “Carter, I warned you.”
I sigh and look back at him. “I know. I know, Asher. I’m not doing anything. I’m not pursuing her. When the time comes, I’ll let her go. But she’s here now. I just want to spend a couple more moments with her.”
He looks so hurt on my behalf that I almost wish I didn’t speak at all. He nods and looks away. “Just be careful. In trying to protect her heart, you’ll end up breaking your own all over again. I’m the one that’s had to keep you together in the last couple of years. I don’t want to have to do it again, man.”
He’s right, of course. I was a fucking mess for years, but that’s one of the main reasons our company is so successful. Working is the only thing that kept my mind off her.
I sigh as I walk towards the meeting room, pausing by the coffee machine right outside it. I frown at the stack of documents and Emilia’s bag and phone on top of it. Where the hell did she even go?
I grab her phone and it lights up, the background photo one of her and John. What would I have done if she had a photo of her and Sam on the background? Back when she and I were dating, we always had pictures together as our screensavers.
I bite down on my lip and try to unlock it. I hesitate before trying her old password, a combination of her birthday, mine, and our dating anniversary. Much to my surprise, it unlocks. She’s still using the same code after all these years? I grin to myself and think about all the mayhem I can cause with this knowledge.
The very first thing I do is download the most obnoxious song I can think of and set that as her ringtone before taking her phone off silent. I grin to myself. I can’t wait to find out what expression she’ll have on her face the next time her phone rings.
Her phone buzzes as she gets a text from Sam, and I freeze. I hover over the notification with my finger, my stomach turning. He’s her boyfriend, and she says she’s happy with him. I can’t help but wonder what she’s like with him. She’s so closed off these days, and I wonder if Sam gets the version of her that I miss so much.
I click on the message without thinking, expecting the worst. Instead, all I find is the most mundane text messages imaginable. All she and Sam ever seem to talk about is how their day was or what they ate. Yet when she was with me, I could never open my messages in public, because I never knew what kind of naughtiness she was getting up to that day. I clutch her phone tightly and click on the photo icon, my entire body tense. Maybe this is exactly what I need to get her out of my mind. I just need to see something I can’t unsee.
I
scroll through her photos, and sure enough, there are some cute ones of her with Sam that I fucking hate, but none of the type of photos she’d always send me. I can’t imagine being away from her for weeks and not having her keeping me on my toes. Has she really changed that much or was she just different with me?
I’m so caught up in checking out the contents of her phone that I don’t even realize that she’s returned until she snatches her phone out of my hand.
“What the hell, Carter?” she says, her eyes flashing.
I grin at her and cross my arms over each other. “You should really change your access code.”
“You— are you insane? That’s such an invasion of privacy. How… how… uncivilized.”
I chuckle, I can’t help it. “Uncivilized?” I repeat, amused. “That’s the best you can come up with?”
She grits her teeth and crosses her arms over each other, pushing her breasts out unknowingly.
“Can’t believe how boring you’ve become. You were never like that with me,” I murmur, my voice husky. “What did you have for dinner? Really?”
Emilia holds her hand out and I frown at her. “Phone,” she says, angrily. “If you get to go through mine then you’d better damn well believe I’m going through yours. Give it to me.”
I shrug and place my phone in her palm. I watch her as she tries to unlock it and succeeds in one go, my password still identical to hers. She looks up at me in wonder for a brief second, and I lean back against the wall as she scrolls through my phone. I know she won’t find a thing. There were some messages Layla sent me that I wouldn’t want her to see, but I deleted that entire message thread the day I called it quits with her.
The few things that I absolutely don’t want her finding are locked up in an app I created myself. I don’t entirely put it past her to manage to get into that too, since the password is her birthday. I really should’ve picked a more secure password, but then again, no one but her would ever dare touch my phone, or like Emilia just did — straight up demand it from me. I’m nervous as she scrolls through my apps. I really don’t want her to find out that I still have old photos of her and of the two of us locked away.
The Ruins Of Us (Mayhem Book 3) Page 9
