Page 21 of Never Finished

I shivered at the thought. That Jaime might want me in that way made me feel dizzy with anticipation.

As if my thoughts had summoned him back, Jaime reappeared behind the bar. “Sorry about that,” he said, slightly breathless.

“They must have had you running. I hope everything’s okay.”

His smile widened, and he leaned on his elbows, his mouth inches from mine. “I'm not out of breath from running back over here…”

“You’re not?” I squeaked.

“Nope. It’s because when I rounded the corner, I saw Emma Carter sitting on one of my barstools.”

I felt my cheeks flush. “Jaime Acosta, are you flirting with me?” I teased, although I knew better. Jaime had never been a flirt, just unfailingly honest and a little intense, with no filter. He wasn’t afraid to say what was on his mind, or ask for what he wanted. It’s something I always admired about him. I spent my life biting my tongue and verbally dancing my way around social interactions and uncomfortable situations.

Jaime’s eyes drifted to my mouth again, and I had to work to suppress the shiver that danced down my spine. “Emma, you know that’s not my style,” he said in a low voice.

“I know,” I whispered.

He tilted his head, looking at me curiously. “You know, I’ve been going on and on telling you all about what I’ve been up to, but you have yet to tell me what’s been happening with you.”

I don’t know why his words made me feel like there was a rock on my chest. Maybe I didn’t want to admit to him I’d spent most of the last twelve years doing my father’s bidding. So, I sucked in a deep breath and stuck to safer topics. “Well, um, I went to Stanford.”

“I heard about that. I was surprised you went that far away,” he said idly as polished glasses.

There was that heaviness again, but the truth was, I hadn’t expected to go to California either. I wanted to stay close to my mom and Jaime, but after he and I… well, after everything went down, I needed to get away to some place that didn’t remind me of everything I’d left behind. So I traded in the snowy mountains of Colorado for the beaches of California and hoped the change would be enough to distract me. I’d been wrong, but I built my life out there anyway.

I cleared my throat. “Yeah, it’s not where I expected to wind up, but life’s funny that way,” I said. His eyes caught on mine and all the old hurt came rushing back, socking me in the chest. I’d been walking around in agony all of this time, thinking I was alone. And yet, based on the look in Jaime’s eyes, I hadn’t been the only one feeling that way. Had he been hanging on all this time the way I had?

Needing a break from the intensity of the moment, I huffed out a nervous laugh. “I, um, rowed for Stanford too. We won a few championships—not to toot my own horn.”

His expression relaxed into an easy smile. “Toot away, that’s awesome. You were always a talented athlete. I’m glad to hear you kept it up.”

“I’m hoping to get out to Silver Lake before I leave.”

“And how long do we get to keep you here?” he asked.

I swallowed hard at his question because there was something in his tone that had me thinking about the soon to be empty suite upstairs.

“I’m not sure yet. A few days, maybe a week? This negotiation is going to be a little trickier than I first thought.”

“Well, I wish I could say I’m sorry that it isn’t going more smoothly but selfishly, I’m happy to hear it,” he said, leaning closer. Suddenly the bar felt impossibly small and despite the voice of reason in my head screaming to create some space, I couldn’t look away from Jaime and those soulful brown eyes. They still seemed to see right through me.

There was no hiding from this man—there never was. I hadn’t been able to hide from him twelve years ago, so why did I think I’d be able to resist him now?

Jaime

Old habits die hard, and evidently there wasn’t anything in this world that could quell my desire for Emma Carter.

I didn’t press her for information about her life after college—about what it was like to give her life over to her old man, because if I had to guess, it hadn’t been all sunshine and roses. I suspect Mr. Carter ruled with an iron fist and without Mrs. Carter there to keep him in line, he probably imagined himself unstoppable now.

Judging by the weariness in Emma’s eyes, I would guess her father’s moral boundaries had gone up in smoke with his late wife. That and the intense relief that overcame Emma when she walked in here after her “business dinner date.”

After all these years, I still felt this possessive urge to keep her as close to me as possible and protect her from anyone who made her feel that weary.

The spark in Emma’s eyes when we were kids was barely there now, and while most people would agree that adulthood has a way of dulling such things, this was different. My gut instinct told me she’d been put in an impossible position.

Or maybe that was just wishful thinking. I long entertained the notion that there was more to Emma’s decision when she cut me out of her life years ago than loyalty to her family.

Come on, Jaime, you need to stop living in the past.

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