Rush

I fish in my purse for my phone and pull it out.

“Drake,” I whisper his name before I slide my finger over the screen to answer the call.

“Hey,” I say quietly.

“Em,” he pauses. “Fuck, Em. I’m sorry.”

Tears don’t come because I’m not sad. I’m feeling something that borders on relief combined with acceptance.

Drake is just a man. He’s not the superhero I’ve always made him out to be in my mind.

“I know,” I reassure him.

“You don’t know,” he counters. “I feel like shit. I should have discussed it with you. I should have gone to Case and explained that the idea for Letter Leap didn’t belong to me.”

“Case is handling it,” I say it with conviction. “I’m handling it.”

“I’ll make this up to you.”

How? He made a mistake. He’s apologized and since I’ll be working in the educational division at Cabbott, I’ll be in control of what I bring to the table. I’ll take ownership of that.

The blind trust I had in him may be fractured, but time can rebuild it to a place that’s more balanced.

“We found a house,” he blurts out before I can say anything.

I shut my eyes, trying to grasp what he just said. “What?”

“It was the first one we saw.” His voice climbs to a chirpy tone. It’s suddenly more cheerful. “We’ll put an offer in tomorrow morning.”

“Don’t you want to see a few others before you commit?”

“When you find something that’s perfect for you, why bother looking for anything else?”

I glance up when I hear the apartment door open.

Case’s smile is the first thing I see.

“You’re right,” I say to my brother. “Why keep looking once you’ve found perfection?”

***

“Did you give him hell?” Case asks as I place my phone on the table after ending my call with Drake.

I didn’t tell him I love him. Drake didn’t offer the words to me either, but the sentiment is there even if it’s buried under other emotions.

“Did you?” I counter.

“That and more.” He slides his suit jacket off. “I’m hiring someone to oversee him in London. Drake will be second in command there.”

It’s a demotion. It’s likely temporary but warranted all the same.

I sense that if anyone else in Cabbott’s organization tried to get away with what Drake did, they’d be fired.

“Is the London office an option for me?”

A slow smile spreads over his lips. “You’re not ready to take on the role of being your brother’s keeper, Emma.”

I laugh that off. “That’s not what I meant.”

He works to unbutton his shirt. “I know.”

He doesn’t expand on that, so I press for more. “Is New York going to be my home base?”

My breath catches when he opens his shirt because the man is gorgeous, and the sight of him takes my breath away every time.

“We’ll talk about that.”

I’d ask when but I can tell he wants something else right now. I step out of my sandals. Before I can drop my hands to the buttons on my blouse, he’s on top of me.

“How are you so beautiful and so smart and so everything, Emma Owens?”

Biting the corner of my bottom lip, I shake my head. “That’s a secret I’ll never share.”

“Do you have secrets?” He pops a brow.

“Do you?”

His gaze falls to the floor as he swallows hard. “Doesn’t everyone?”

“You know mine.” I try to lighten the mood. “I was celibate for a long time.”

His hands grip my waist. “A woman like you should never be denied what she wants.”

I slide my fingers over his cheek until they’re resting on his chin. I tilt it so his eyes meet mine. “I want you.”

His heated gaze travels over me. “I’m yours.”

Forever?

That question lingers on my tongue, but I know I can’t ask it because the answer will spear me. It will break me.

“Take me to bed,” I whisper.

Without a word, he takes my hand in his, kisses it, and leads me down the hallway.

Chapter 55

Case

She moans when I stroke my tongue over the seam of her sex.

I take that as a challenge to lure another orgasm from her. She came once as I licked her. It was intense with her fingers clawing at my hair, tugging it, pulling it, and drawing pain to the surface.

But it couldn’t compete with what’s happening inside of me.

My heart is aching.

Never in my life did I think I’d fall in love. That has to be what this is.

I’d sacrifice everything for Emma. I’d step in front of a moving bus if it meant she’d get another minute on this earth.

“Case.” My name escapes her in a long-drawn-out sexy-as-fuck groan. “You need to stop that.”

“Never,” I say.

It’s a lie. It’s the only lie I ever want to tell her.

I can’t promise her anything more than tonight or a day or two more.

“Stop,” she whines. “Please.”

I do because I sense that she needs my arms around her more than she needs this.