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He opens it once he pulls the pants on and stops to talk to whoever is on the outside, keeping it closed enough to conceal the bedroom, conceal me in stages of undress. I can only hear mumbles. I wait with my towel around me, unsure if I should dress, unsure if he’ll come back to what we were doing. My body feels like liquid, I’m sure if I look in the mirror I’ll be glowing and flushed and showing signs of having been ravaged. I’m breathless as hell and overheated.
He laughs, and it catches my attention. I love his laugh, it’s so deep and carefree and male, yet there’s a hint of boyishness to his normally husky tone when he laughs. I could close my eyes and listen to it forever.
He shuts the door and turns around to see where I’ve gone, his gaze returning to lust when he catches me still draped in my skimpy covering. I’m surveying my clothes in the open cupboard in a bid to decide if I’m to get dressed or get back o
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The hotel restaurant is bustling despite the earliness of the day. Daniel was quick to invite a leggy blonde beauty to join us for breakfast and is currently trying to feed the poor bimbo strawberries, managing to drop most into her exposed cleavage and fish them out manually. It’s cringe worthy. Jake watches him with a serious frown creasing his brow and he eye rolls every time Daniel swoops in for another berry. We both know he’s using the girl as padding, so Jake won’t bring Leila, up again. That sweet bundle of blonde, Daniel is hopelessly in love with. Jake has pretty much got nowhere with him on that front.The girl giggles hopelessly, pretending to be embarrassed but the look on her face shows she isn’t shy about it at all. Jake looks down and starts flicking through his phone with one hand, answering messages from his little brother, coffee held in the other while I eat my pancakes beside him. We’ve been here around a half hour and conver
The Carrero Effect 139
“What exactly did his mother do to him?” I slide my arm through his now that he’s got both hands on his phone and rest my head against his shoulder. Looking up at him with wide-eyed, inquisitive adoration.“Let’s just say Daniel caught her in a lot of compromising positions from early in life with men who weren’t his father. She had time for affairs but never any time for her only kid or her actual husband. The boy has serious mommy issues that I don’t even think he understands, and he completely idolizes his father.”“So that’s why he surrounds himself with endless porn stars and one-night stands?” I blink in surprise, this little insight into a guy I thought was just a jerk and a sex addict. Maybe he has as many issues as me.“Daniel doesn’t trust women; he doesn’t have much respect for them either. He looks at them all the same way he looks at his mother. The guy needs therapy
The Carrero Effect 140
I giggle as Jake finally releases me from his arms in the changing cubicle, shaking my head at him in disbelief. My face must match the color of the dress I’m trying to retrieve from the floor. His eyes dark and wicked, buttoning up his shirt with a huge grin on his face as I try my hardest to get dressed without being knocked into the narrow walls, it’s so cramped in here.I can’t believe he managed to get me naked and have sex without knocking the feeble walls down.“Was this your plan from the word go? Claiming to need me in the changing room to admire your shirt choices.” I dart up at him while trying to get my bra straps on untwisted, he drops his shirt and instead straightens the strap on my shoulder, reaching behind me to help straighten it. He answers with a wolfish grin, dimples on display.Why am I even surprised by this? I should have known the second his hand ran under my skirt as we walked to the changing a
The Carrero Effect 141
“Over something like this, Emma, I’ll literally rip heads off.” He snaps at me, pure fury in those normally calm eyes and I lose my courage, his voice is venom. I flinch in fright as his hand grips my wrist harder. The inner fear of male aggression takes over, I reach up with my free hand and snatch back my underwear, hauling my hand free and shout at him impulsively.“You’ve a goddamn nerve! With the amount of conquests, you’ve had? … It was you! Jackass!” I snap and turn on my heel to storm away, tears instantly pricking my eyes. From our happy morning to this, I don’t even know how we got here. I feel like bawling.I should never play games with Jake; I learned a long time ago that it only ignites this side of him. Even before I was his, when I was just PA Emma, I saw this side of him when I tried to get a rise from him. Jake likes to be the on
The Carrero Effect 142
Jake pushes the cream cannelloni into my mouth, almost choking me with the amount he’s picked up from the plate. I struggle to push him away, stifling a giggle but he tries to ram it in further, close to choking me. I lift my hand and push him off, taking half out of my mouth and dropping it on the napkin in front of me, attempting to chew what’s already there. He stuffs some into his own mouth, seemingly oblivious to what he’s done to me.“What is this deal you have with ramming food in my mouth?” I finally say, shoving his shoulder playfully. He leans around attempting another go at pushing more into my mouth, but I turn away. “Jake!” I scold, pushing his hand back, he shrugs redirecting it into his own mouth instead.“Feeding you is part of taking care of you.” He smiles but I only look at him with disbelief.“There’s feeding someone … You know like sexily in the movies? And then there&r
The Carrero Effect 143
He’s going to see her; he’s going to stay away from New York and talk about his future with Marissa’s baby and I don’t want it to be happening.“Nora will come in and change the bed for you, bambino, she’ll make you dinner around five … Make sure you eat, okay?” He lingers over me, a look in his eye of reluctance. “I’ll be back before you know it … Don’t go to work tomorrow, stay here, and take some you time. I’ll call you, okay?”“Okay and okay.” I smile emptily, wrapping my arms around his neck one last time, pushing down all my inner upset before he slides up and waves. He grabs my foot at the end of the bed and strokes down my sole gently, causing me to flinch and giggle. He pauses, looking one more time as though he’s reluctant to leave then turns and goes. I think maybe he’s feeling it too, that trepidation at leaving me, at goi
The Carrero Effect 144
“I just … I dreamt you died.” I break into a sob and there’s nothing but silence between us. I know she must feel awkward, she doesn’t know emotional Emma, I don’t think she’s seen her for a very long time. She’s no idea how much I’ve changed, what Jake has done to me or even that I’m with him at all. Last time we saw one another it ended so badly and she’s probably wondering what’s changed.“I’m fine, darling … I’m just bobbing along, you know … Getting on with things.” She sounds wary, she doesn’t know what to say, which helps me reel back in the tears and regain my equilibrium, back to the Emma she’s more able to deal with. My mother isn’t one to be overly emotional and she sounds uncomfortable at the evidence I am.“I think I might come home for a few days … With Jake.” I add, surprising even myself. Knowing her, she wo
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My day is going to consist of sitting about here if I don’t plan something productive. I end up sat in Jake’s rarely used home office with my laptop and try to work through everything Margo has forwarded at my request. It seems taking that month away from this side of the business has made it so much harder for me to slot back into this life and I’m finding it less than satisfying.The time we’ve spent at the office, I barely made a dent and found every file ridiculously hard to focus on. My mind always wandering to the six-foot two hunk in the next room. I used to love working for, and with, Jake but now, looking back, I think it was more than just the job; it was him and being around him, even if back then I couldn’t admit it to myself. Now that he is mine and all I can focus on; I’m finding returning to PA mode more than difficult.Staying home today hadn’t only been because Jake insisted, I just didn’t want to go in a
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