AllFreeNovel
Share Us
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.
