Page 21 of Falling For My Best Friend's Brother

Seeing her, being near her again, I knew I couldn’t go back to the way it was before. With her sitting in front of me and looking so damn good I could’ve eaten her up—both literally and figuratively—I knew we needed to be with each other. Even if that meant only at work and only for now.

“Would it make you feel better if I told you that I need you for this job? You’re smart, Emma. We both know that. And you’re a hard worker. I deal with a lot of confidential and time sensitive material and I know I can trust you. I need someone who can anticipate my needs…” Realizing the innuendo in my words, I smirked at Emma. Her cheeks flushed but a smile played at her lips too.

“Kyle, don’t,” she said with a laugh.

“We can’t act like that night didn’t happen.” I shifted in my chair; my dick was very interested in this conversation. “What was it? Three times?”

“Four,” she answered instantly, then covered her mouth with her hand. “I mean, whose counting?” Emma shrugged but it was anything but nonchalant. But, it did tell me everything I needed to know. Emma thought about that night as much as I did.

“Right, four. Who ever said I was good with numbers?” Emma smiled so I went on. “What I do know is that—” I pointed between us with two fingers— “we work well together. If what happened in the mountains is any indicator—”

“Kyle,” Emma said sternly. “I must have earned this job separately of that. We both know that.”

I sobered. She was right, of course, she was, but being near her again made it impossible not think about being inside her.

“Do you think I told Jerry to hire you because we had amazing sex?” I asked.

“No,” Emma answered.

“Exactly. I told him to hire you because you’re my sister’s best friend,” I teased.

“Kyle,” she admonished. “Well, I guess that’s better than the whole sex thing.”

“Exactly.”

“Kyle,” she said with a laugh. “Be serious.”

I leaned forward. “The truth is I didn’t tell him anything. I just gave him your name and said to look out for your resume. That’s all. Everything else was Jerry’s decision.”

Emma nibbled on her bottom lip. “Okay, that seems all above board when you put it that way, but when the CEO tells you to look out for someone’s resume, it means hire them.”

I sighed and it sounded far me exasperated than I meant it to, or maybe it sounded exactly how I meant it to. I was tired of begging people, Krista, Emma, my parents, to let me help them.

“Look, I want you to have this position because I know you’re good, but in the spirit of being honest, I do want to help you. I know you won’t accept charity—” she started to speak but I kept going— “so I’m not going to give you any. I have a job open that you’re perfectly qualified for and you’re looking for a job. This is a no-brainer, Emma.”

She splayed her hands and nodded, a strand of perfectly blond hair falling from her bun. It was damn sex. “You’re right. That is very true, and I know that all makes sense.”

“And this is my place of business, Emma. I don’t want scandal any more than you do.”

“Right,” she said, sounding hopeful. “Exactly. We can do this.”

“We can.”

If I wasn’t mistaken, Emma’s gaze lingered on my lips. When I caught her looking, she swallowed. We both wanted each other, it was obvious. We just needed time for it to happen again.

“Kyle, I just want you to know how thankful I am. Everything else aside, I just—Brendan didn’t just leave me and Lily, he cleared out our bank account. I never even told Krista this, but I hate people thinking I’m bad with money. I made good money all those years I worked, and I saved diligently. Brendan whipped me out. So, this, truly, is saving me. I won’t let you down.”

Emma stood to shake my hand I followed her lead on autopilot.

Shit just got real. I wasn’t playing cat and mouse with her anymore. If we started fucking, dating, whatever, and it went badly. She’d lose a lot more than I would.

Chapter 10

Emma

AfterthreeweekswithThe Beckford Group, I received my first paycheck. Not that I should’ve been surprised by number, Jerry went over everything with me again in detail before I signed all the necessary documents, but I couldn’t believe that I was earning that much. I alone, as a single parent, was making enough money to comfortably support us both.

Childcare was still an issue. Not only was it expensive, a price I was willing to pay to make sure my child was well cared for and happy, but the waiting lists were long. In the meantime, my parents and Kelly, my mom’s best friend of over thirty years hobbled together a schedule where someone was always keeping her.

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