Getting by (A Knight's Tale) (18 page)

She huffed and puffed and I was afraid of what her next move might be. Biting, hitting, crying….

“Want to talk about it?” I asked and massaged away the stiffness from her neck and shoulders. “The woman is a manipulative bitch, Gavin learned the hard way. Your parents enabled her. She hates us because we rescued Gavin out of her hell.”
We forced him into rehab—twice—and finally he shook off the parasite who sucked him alive.

“Stop it, Jake, let it go. Please?” I nodded, and her watery eyes pleaded me to make the pain go away. “What’s the story with Sam?” Work, it was the cure.

“He’s pissed because I took Nate’s to another agency.” The asshole had harassed Liam and Em all day. “He assumes that if he promises you the account, I’ll be back to K&W.”

“I lost him the account,” Emma said, glaring into my face.

Shit, that was the wrong wording.

She bowed her head and began to change her tone of voice. “A crappy move on your part. You gave it to me yesterday.”

“I gave it to you, Em, not to K&W.” Her attitude changed and her body adjusted. Emma’s world made sense again. “We have a business proposal for you, let’s talk about it after the wedding. Now calm down, babe. Enjoy your meet and greet. Put a big Maid of Honor smile on that pretty face and I promise to bail you out before midnight—like Cinderella.”

“Nine, tops, please?” I agreed, and followed her with my eyes until she turned toward the kitchen and disappeared.

The email Holton sent had the coroner’s point of view, a few witnesses’ testimonies and the results of the investigation. However, I wanted to dig deeper into what had happened next door and the story behind the tragedy. I had the feeling that Mr. Clement would know something that hadn’t been published in the news or printed on the report. When I mentioned it to Mitch and Liam, they both agreed with me and together we went to join him and Dad. They were outside in the backyard sharing a beer.

John Clement loved his next door neighbors. Their deaths pained the entire family. They paid for the funeral after learning they had lost all their money. Emma took charge of the entire process. From the time she received the news, until they cremated the couple. Not once did she cry. She cleaned the house by herself after the police released the scene of the crime. Both sets of grandparents arrived the day of the funeral and neither one offered to pay for the expenses incurred. Not that Mr. Clement cared; it was the principle that mattered. When Emma graduated and began to work though, she made installments until every cent they spent on her parents was paid off.

Chloe on the other hand, took all the valuables from the house. Boxes and boxes of fine China, collections and jewelry had been shipped to New York. The rest went to charity or trash. Except for the few paintings and pictures Emma made. Mrs. Clement salvaged them from the garbage. The debate of who’d be in charge of Emma wasn’t pleasant. Neither set of grandparents wanted the responsibility. In the end, the Lyndens gave in and bought her a plane ticket to Connecticut.

Most of the information John gave us had been personal, everything else he added had been documented by the police. John knew Nicholas Anderson’s city life, but as a friend, he kept it from his wife and Anna. Anna counted the minutes until Emma finished high school to run back to her parents and start a new life. There was some resentment toward her, and if she hadn’t existed, Anna would’ve left her husband several years before she died. On the other side, she was proud of her. Driven, the girl kept a perfect GPA while working hard in her studio consistently six to eight hours on school days. Afraid he’d support her for the rest of her life, Nicholas tried to steer her away from the profession.

That bit of information stirred some kind of protectiveness toward Emma from Dad’s side, I noticed. He frowned and his eyes became a couple of slits. If she had been a Knight, Mom and Dad would’ve been different kinds of parents. Then again, Emma as my sister was not my idea of a good time.

“That’s enough Mitch,” I told my brother when I noticed his stooped posture. I became aware of his change of attitude toward her. From stranger, to acquaintance and now he appeared to want to be Emma’s friend. If she allowed it, she just got herself a new best friend, unless he was doing it for the wrong reasons; which was why I had to warn him. “You better do it for the right reasons, and not because you feel sorry for her.” He frowned at me. “Wanting to be Emma’s friend,” I clarified.

“No pity.” He scratched his chin. “I like her. Mom and Dad are just a few moments from signing her imaginary adoption paperwork. This is the moment when you stop them or live with the consequences, Jay. I won’t let her go, you know that right?” Deflated, I nodded. Emma needed a friend like him. “You two make sense, yes, I think I already mentioned such. Do something nice for yourself, Jake, she’s a keeper.”

“With my baggage and hers…that’s an ugly future waiting to happen.” I checked the time as the sun began to come down. I didn’t want to rehash my issues with him, that would explain why I couldn’t mix her and I. Too many shitty things wouldn’t make a whole. “Have you seen her?” He shook his head. “I’m going to look for her.”

I went inside the house and searched for her, but no one had seen her in a while. Gaby swore she was with us. She avoided her bride duty or maid duty—I didn’t care. My girl disappeared. There were ninety three people here and no one had seen her. I went back outside, checked the house where she used to live and there weren’t any traces of her there either. My last resource was texting her.

JAK: Em, baby, where are you?

ELA: Hiding?

The fucking comedian in her decided to show up at the most inappropriate time.

JAK: I know, where? Been looking for you.

ELA: And people swear you can find everyone and everything. I’m not telling.

The unique sound of her text alert gave me her location, the roof. I extended my arm, and with my finger and a seductive look I allured her toward me, but she covered her face. While she stayed put, I rushed upstairs to find her.

JAK: You want me to come for you, Pretty Girl?

ELA: No, can I stay here until we leave?

“Nope, Gaby’s also looking for you, baby.” I climbed outside through the window, breaking a few tiles by accident. But I didn’t care. Bending down, I put my arms under her and lifted her body backtracking my previous steps. I brought her inside the childish bubblegum colored room and decide to talk to her before joining the festivities on the main floor. “What happened?”

“Mrs. Johnson, she’s the star—”

“Witness?”

She threw her hands in the air, and I playfully shook her from my arms. Emma held tight to my neck with both her own. I grinned at her to distract her a little from the serious stern look she had. “You never read or heard about the case, did you?”

No,
she rolled her eyes.

“We’ll talk about it later.” I kissed the tip of her nose. “Let’s go, Pretty Girl, we don’t want to awaken the wrath of Bridezilla, do we?”

Chapter 22

Emma

THE INTENSITY OF Jake’s green eyes, and his strong arms holding me tight, shifted my mood. I was no longer depressed, but hungry. I linked my hands behind his head after he shook me, and pulled my face toward the soft curve of his neck, nuzzling him while I satiated my need to be close to him.

So freaking hard.
My self-control went out the window, and I ran my hands slowly through his short hair and massaged his scalp. My lips didn’t obey my brain either, they began to kiss and suck and bite his neck and jaw with need. It took one movement for him to capture my lips and plunge his tongue, assaulting my dormant senses. One minute he cradled me, the next I lay on Gaby’s princess bed with Jake on top of me, my legs interlocked over his waist and my hips rubbing against his, getting stimulated and searching for release. His body responded with the same urge, and our hands were all over each other finding those spots we loved.

“Emma, baby, stop we can’t. Not here or now,” Jake’s soft, lust filled voice reasoned with me while catching his breath. I opened my eyes to find his hungered gaze. “I need you, and want you just as much. Three months without you is pure torture, I miss you, babe. But there are about ninety three people downstairs who will hear my girl, and I don’t like the idea. Wrap this meet and greet up, we’ll take my family back and then…we have to talk.” He grinned looking at me, deeply penetrating those barriers I had put up. Jake wanted sex, plain and simple. “I love when your eyes turn glassy and pure green for me. Not a brown freckle around. It’s so pretty.”

“Sorry,” I apologized. I didn’t want him to get the wrong idea. I couldn’t go back to him. We knew each other’s expectations and I respected his, though I wished he felt different. I missed him, and craved his touch, but for the past six months I had changed. Perhaps it had been longer—eight months—when I held Max and loved him immediately just for being my nephew, and then lost him all at the same time. Some door inside of me opened wanting more, a different life and love. Then Grampy getting sick, Nana depressed and the fear of losing them both like I did my parents, got me to think about the future. It was a lonely future. Ever since then, I weighed the pros and cons about my affiliation with Jake. That was it, an affiliation and not a relationship of any kind, like a business deal with no currency exchange. Good times and fun. It spelled alone forever, capital a—no strings attached. “I didn’t mean to, I’m sorry. It’s complicated. I changed my views and can’t do this casual, light thing, Jake. I apologize if—”

“Emma,” he said, and his index finger covered my lips and he placed his forehead over mine. Our noses touched. “We have to talk, not now, later. Understand?” I nodded, his
“don’t start”
stare brought me back to reality one hundred percent. “Wrap up party number two, Pretty Girl.” He gave me a quick peck on the lips.

So freaking hard!

Gaby didn’t let us leave until ten, because Cade wanted to sleep in his hotel room. She had a girl thing going on with her cousins. An event I wasn’t invited to. Wasn’t I the maid of honor? Brushed under the rug, I forgot about it and continued with the ordeal. Aunts and Uncles hugged the Knights, and I stayed in the corner of the foyer, close to the door. I wasn’t, and didn’t want to be, a part of the mushy fest. Rachel’s wide smile and openness matched the Clements’ family candor. The guys didn’t like the touchy feely moments either. Mostly the touchy, and especially Cade, he was uncomfortable.

Twenty one minutes. That’s how long it took us to get into the car from the time we mentioned it was time to leave. Mitch opened the front door for me and helped me get inside. That was a different dynamic, since he usually rode next to Jake. I didn’t have a say, since everyone jumped inside the back cabin before I could open my mouth. After Gaby’s room incident, I needed a break from Jake to put my walls back up. That was impossible since once he started the car and took the road, he interlaced his fingers with mine for the entire ride.
Trespasser, not together, can’t do casual. Emma, take your hand back, now!
All the alarms continued ringing, but my hand stayed where it was and nothing changed until we got to the hotel and he parked the car. Unless I counted the times he rubbed his thumb against my skin and my stomach fluttered.

Jake squeezed my hand before releasing it. He got out, walked to my door and opened it. He extended his hand and helped me get out. I didn’t notice the rest of the passengers while the gesture took place. The deed swept me off my feet for some unknown reason, wait, no I knew the reason. I loved Jake, and him doing couple-like deeds made me want more. Melancholy took over because that wasn’t in the agenda. The first act was stipulated three months ago. Forget Jake Knight. Until I moved on from the perfect guy, the possibility of falling in love with another man was miniscule.

Fingers intertwined, we walked to the lobby behind his family. They seemed to accept the fact that their son held my hand as if we were a couple. I tugged my hand several times but his tight grip didn’t allow me to claim it. Rachel kept talking with Cade, a conversation I wasn’t privy to. Liam and Ed had their own conversation going, and Mitch, I realized, walked next to us. Once we entered the hotel, we headed to the elevator.

“Drinks?” Mitch asked Jake, who bobbed his head and looked at me awaiting my answer. I nodded too. It was better than going back to my room, or talking. What was there to talk about? The vibrating sound coming from Jake’s jacket reminded me of the times when he needed to work late at night or leave the house because there was an emergency. His normal cellular phone had a different sound. Jake stopped, making me stay next to him. The rest kept walking toward the elevator. He pulled the phone outside of the pocket, “unknown” read the screen and his fingers second guessed where to push; the answer or the decline button. The first won.

“Knight.” The hesitant voice matched his slumped stance. We both knew what the call meant. His fingers tightened the grip on my hand. “Give me five minutes.” His index fingers pushed the red button to end.

He put the phone back inside his jacket. “I need to—”

“I know, work.” I looked up to the ceiling, grateful because there was a higher power looking after me that sent me a life line to avoid ‘the talk’. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Can I come later?” He fixed his gaze on mine, then turned toward the elevator to check if everyone had taken it. Mitch and Liam stayed downstairs. I believed they waited for us to hit the hotel bar. His eyes came back to me, they tensed, and his tight closed lips could mean he was upset at me or whoever had called him. Jake had a temper, one that I could cool down with a deep kiss and if that didn’t work, sex. The shift of his body was there, and his eyes and grip relaxed at the simple thought of me having sex with him. “Later then?” One side of his lip lifted.

“No.” I claimed my hand. “You’ve got to work, and I’ve got to decompress. There’s nothing to talk about though, we can’t go back to it. You and I know it.” I scratched my nose. “Thank you for today, Pretty Boy. Don’t work too late.”