Never Say Never
Emily’s abs before clearing her throat and looking away.“You can use the shower in my bathroom.” Camila recovered quickly, ruining Emily’s fun, and led her down the hall. “I’ll find something for you to wear.”
Emily braced herself when Camila opened the door to her bedroom, half expecting to find Stephen inside, but the room was empty.
It was the first time she’d been inside, and it looked exactly like she expected: expensively decorated, spotlessly tidy, framed pictures of Jaime dotted across the walls.
Her gaze lingered briefly on Camila’s bed as she imagined Camila lying in it, naked, her hands twisted in the white sheets, Emily’s lips on her skin.
Camila pointed out the bathroom before she disappeared. It was the fanciest shower Emily had ever used. She had no idea what half the buttons did and only dared adjust the water temperature to make it hot enough to ease the ache of her tired muscles.
She didn’t know what to do with the idea that Camila might be attracted to her—at least to her body. All night she had tried not to think about her because there was no way anything could happen between them—except now she wasn’t so sure.
But just because Camila was physically attracted to her didn’t mean she wanted to act on it. And all of her reasons for not getting involved were still valid—Camila was her boss, she loved this job, and she loved Jaime, and she didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize that.
So nothing had changed, not really.
Except she could be happy about the idea that Camila thought she was hot, at least when she was wearing workout clothes.
Maybe she should do it more often.
When she emerged from the shower, wrapped in a fluffy towel, she opened the bathroom door to find a stack of neatly folded clothes.
The sweatpants (that Camila Evans even owned a pair of sweatpants surprised Emily) were a snug fit and stopped halfway down her calves, but she managed to get them on, and she was reasonably certain she could bend over in them. The sweater was also a little tight, but it beat spending the rest of the day in her sweaty gym clothes.
She returned to the kitchen where a sleepy Jaime, still in his pajamas, waited for her at the breakfast bar. Camila was almost ready to leave.
“Sorry about the clothes,” Camila said, her gaze lingering on Emily a little longer than strictly necessary. “It was either those or some of Chris’s clothes. If you prefer, I can get you something of his.”
“No, these are fine,” Emily assured her. “Would it be okay if I got my sister to swing by with some of my own clothes later, though? I don’t really want to wear these on the subway.”
“Of course.” Camila laughed. “I’ll let the doorman know you might have a visitor.” She glanced at her watch. “I should really get going.”
“Is everything all right?”
“Oh yes.” She leaned down to kiss Jaime on top of his head. “Just the latest fire to put out. I wish people would think before they tweet. I’ll try not to be too late tonight, but no promises. I’ll see you both later.”
After Camila left, Emily turned to Jaime.
“Hey, buddy. You ready to get dressed, or do you want breakfast first?”
“Food!” he declared, and Emily laughed, lifting him onto a stool at the breakfast bar.
“What do you want? Should we make pancakes?” She was hungry too, and Camila had always told her to cook anything she wanted. Jaime nodded enthusiastically, and Emily stood with her hands on her hips and studied the multiple cupboards. “Okay, well, help me out here, buddy. Do you know where your mom keeps the mixing bowls?”
“In there!” He pointed to one of the lower cupboards.
“Well done, Jaime.” She grabbed one of the large plastic bowls and a frying pan from another cupboard. “Now, do you know what goes into pancakes?”
“No.”
“No? Your mom never made them for you?”
“Yeah, but I forget.”
Emily grinned. “Okay, well, we’ll make the easy kind because I’m a terrible cook, so we just need flour, eggs and milk.” She gathered the ingredients and quickly made up a batter while the pan heated on the stove.
Pancakes was one of the few things she felt confident enough to cook for Jaime without giving him food poisoning, and before long there was a stack ready to eat. They both dug in.
“What do you want to do today, little man?” she asked him as he helped her put the dishes in the dishwasher. “You want to go to the park?”
“Okay!”
“I’ll have to get some clothes first.” She remembered her current attire. “Let’s get you dressed, then I’ll call my sister. Are you okay with my sister coming over? She’s really nice, I promise.”
She took him to his room and picked out some clothes, then called Cassie.
“Hey, Emily.”
“Hey, Cass. You’re not working until this afternoon, right?”
“Uh-huh. What’s up?”
“Will you do me a favor?”
“Depends what it is and what I get out of it.”
“I need you to go and pick up some clothes for me and bring them to Camila’s place. And what you get out of it is the chance to see the inside of her apartment.”
“Sold!” Cassie said immediately. “But why do you need clothes? Oh, my God! Did you stay over last night? Did you sleep with her?”
“No!” Emily snapped back, then lowered her voice, conscious of Jaime in the room with her, pulling on a pair of black jeans. She lowered her voice. “I did not sleep with her. I was at the gym this morning when she called to ask me to come over early, so I didn’t have time to get a change of clothes.”
“A likely story.”
“You are impossible.”
“And yet you still love me. I’ll bring your clothes, calm down. Anything in particular?”
“Whatever you grab is fine. Do you need the address?”
“Nah, I already stalked where she lives. I’ll see you in about half an hour. Oh man, Maia’s going to be so jealous.”
Chapter 8
Emily went