her eyes, his blue ones assessing her state of mind. “Are you okay?” he asked gently.
Rachel wasn’t sure what he was asking her and didn’t want to give away any weakness. She didn’t understand everything, but she knew that the old Jack and the new Emerson were trying to give her a test on whether she could handle this life. And she was going to give it her best shot so no fragility was allowed, take the opportunities, try everything local and live in the moment. Those were the things he’d taught her over the past few weeks and she would apply them to tonight.
“I’m good,” she replied, banking all of her fatigue for later. She could sleep on the weekend, she promised herself. “I just need to get that file and we can be on our way.” She stepped out of his arms and walked around him, digging into her leather bag for the blue file Jennifer had given her earlier today. When she had it in hand, she stood up and turned around, only to find him staring at her bottom.
“What were you doing?” she asked suspiciously, her eyes narrowed on his handsome features. She knew exactly what he’d been doing and he didn’t appear embarrassed at having been caught!
Emerson tore his eyes away, looking into hers. “Admiring the artwork,” he said with a slight smile. “Let’s go.”
She followed him out, not taking the time or energy to be angry with him about his voyeuristic tendencies. She followed behind him, reading the information in the file folder as they descended once again to the street level. Sure enough, the driver was already standing by so all they had to do was dive into the back of the sleek, black car and the driver sped them away towards their destination. She didn’t even need to look up from the material.
Unfortunately, the ride was short and she didn’t have time to read through all of the information, much less memorize what she had been able to read. So she stepped out of the car, ready to wing it for the night and hoping she didn’t let Ja…Emerson down at some terribly awkward moment.
Thankfully, she didn’t have to say too much. The food at the gala was almost decadent and everyone appeared to be having a fabulous time, laughing and conversing, kissing cheeks and welcoming Emerson back into their fold. For his part, Emerson was the ultimate charmer, moving her from group to group, introducing her to everyone and ensuring that she was included in all the conversations. After leaving the dinner, they went through the same motions, had almost the same conversations and the reaction to Emerson’s appearance was just as tedious as at the dinner party. The elegant living room and dining room in the house were lit up with lights everywhere and the champagne and other drinks were floating all around on trays held aloft by experienced waiters and waitresses.
By the time Emerson led her back into his penthouse, she was so tired she thought that her eyes might be covered with sandpaper. All she wanted was to crawl into bed and sleep without shoes. She didn’t care about anything else, just getting these forest green stilettos off of her feet would be bliss.
She wasn’t sure if she even brushed her teeth before she fell into the big bed. A part of her mind told her to find another room, that this was Emerson’s bed and she shouldn’t be sleeping with him after all of his lies, but she was too tired to move, much less care at this point.
Rachel wasn’t even aware of Emerson stripping off his tuxedo and coming to bed. Nor did she wake up when he pulled her into his arms, making sure that her head was resting on his chest instead of the pillow. It took him a long time to fall asleep though. Holding Rachel close, all he wanted to do was bury himself in her heat and make love to her. But she was exhausted and he preferred his lovers conscious and he knew that she was still confused and angry.
Patience, he told himself. He had to make this work. He had to keep her in his life.
Chapter 5
Rachel suppressed the pain caused by sleep deprivation and pretended like everything was okay. But it wasn’t okay. She was miserable and feeling hopeless. What was worse, she had no idea how to get out of this mess she’d created for herself.
She’d been