Page 35 of Miles Apart
“To the White House.” A hunger for power flashes in Juliette’s eyes.
The senator hits the table with an excited slap. “It’s settled. I’ll make arrangements for Carter to check in when I can spare him and will stay abreast of project developments. There are a couple of key senators on the West Coast I’ll work with in the meantime.” He leans over to Emma, who’s morphed into an impressive shade of pale, and kisses her cheek. “Your support means the world to me, buttercup. Thank you for being part of this team.”
He stands in a rush to walk after a small group, leaving me and his daughter speechless. How in the hell did dinner turn into cohabitation and me moving to California for a month? I’ll be damned on both fronts.
Zo leaves with a smirk on his face, one I would knock off if he didn’t spend hours a week in the boxing ring. He’s inching up to fifty-two but keeps up with sparring partners half his age. I’ll deal with his ass later, which leaves me to handle the woman who caused this shit.
“If you think I’ll agree to this, you got me fucked up,” I say through gritted teeth so as not to draw attention. Pretending we’re together during dinner is doable. A monthandliving together? Fuck all that. Emma is fine, but even I have my limits.
Emma whips around in her chair to face me.So much for discretion. “Me? This is your fault.”
“How the fuck does that math add up to you?”
“If you would’ve kept quiet about your job and degree, we wouldn’t be in this mess. I don’t have men over my house, and I don’t need you stomping around my personal space.”
That she doesn’t have men over shouldn’t feel good, but it does. I’m not sleeping with her, but I like knowing I don’t need to toss shit into the ocean. Don’t ask me why it matters, ’cause fuck if I know.
Back to her delusions.
“You need your head checked for real, letting your pops and his nut-sucker tell you what to do with your damn house. Zo and I got history. It was only a matter of time before he made his way to the table—one I wouldn’t be at if I’d kept my ass back at the retreat.” I should’ve pushed for today’s meetings to be a video call.
Show up for Emma.
Have her back.
Look where that got me.
How she has me ready to bury myself deep inside of her one minute and toss her ass in my trunk the next is a hell of a superpower.
Emma stands, and I follow. “No one told you to come.” She cranes her neck to hold my glare with a hand on her hip. “I can handle this myself.”
“You got it,” I say. “Now run off and tell Daddy that. Or are you still scared to speak your mind?”
Her eyes flash, and she steps closer, pressing her breasts in that deep-cut dress I’ve been trying not to eye all night to my chest. My dick hardens, but I stand my ground and follow her eyes to the swell pushing at my pants.
“You haven’t earned the pleasure,” I say with a twisted grin.
She scoffs. “The only place I’d fuck you now is in your dreams. You’re such an ass, Miles.”
“Honest. I’m honest. I’m not one of your fuck boys you can boss around. I’ll always tell you what it is.”
Emma presses into me. “This isn’t happening.”
“No problem.”
“Good.”
“Always am,” I say.
Our showdown pulls all the air from the room. Fury and frustration tangle with a fire, threatening to combust. I shouldwalk away, tell her to deal with this shit on her own. And for no reason other than all of the blood in my body rushing straight to my dick, I kiss her.
Chapter 14
Emma
I’m ready to tell Miles to go to hell, but his lips smother the words. His kiss starts slow and builds into an angry exploration of the recesses of my mouth. There was no warning, only action, sending the pit of my stomach spiraling through an unknown abyss. Here we are, arguing seconds before tonguing each other down in front of my family. Each kiss wraps itself in years of denial and yearning. We broke a seal we can’t replace, and it’s taking me further outside of myself.
Miles caught me off guard, and now I’m standing on my tiptoes to fuse myself with a man I’ve tried to hate for reasons now lost on me.
