Chapter 23

Emerson

After a long day and a lot wine, Alex and I settled into bed. I took my phone from the nightstand and brought up the video of me and Emily in the car, singing “Don’t Look Back in Anger.” I handed my phone to him to watch.

“I’ve always liked this song.” He smiled.

“It was our favorite song.”

“When was this taken?”

“The day of the accident.” A tear formed in my eye. “About an hour before.”

“She looks exactly like you. If she were here, I honestly don’t know if I could tell you apart.”

“She had a birthmark on her right hip. That was how my parents could tell us apart when we were babies.”

“Did you ever pull the twin switch on a guy?”

I laughed. “Once. Right before our sixteenth birthday, Emily was dating this guy, and he was really needy and clingy. She didn’t want to see him anymore but didn’t have the heart to break his heart. So, I did it for her as her.”

“Did he ever find out it was you?”

“No. Not that I know of.”

“That was nice of you to do that for her.”

“Like I told you before, there wasn’t anything we wouldn’t do for each other.”

He set my phone down and reached over, pushing my hair behind my ear. I yawned and he laughed.

“Am I boring you?”

“Just a little.” I grinned.

“Is that so? Well, maybe I need to make things a little more exciting.” He rolled me over so I was lying on my stomach as his fingers pushed the fabric of my panties to the side and he dipped them inside me.

“Is this better?”

“Oh yes,” I moaned in excitement.

****

We spent the next few days touring the wineries and taking in everything Napa Valley had to offer. On our last night there, I secretly signed us up for a cooking lesson. After all, Alex did drag me golfing, which I had never done before. But I played nice and pretended that I was interested when I really wasn’t. I accidentally hit him with the club, which was his fault for standing so close. Even though I hit him, that was my first hole-in-one and I jumped up and down, screaming with excitement as he held his arm. Oops.

The next morning, we checked out and started our drive back to Malibu. I was flipping through the radio stations when “Don’t Look Back in Anger” started to play on the radio.

“Sing with me.” I smiled as I held up my phone.

We sang loudly as I recorded us. When the song ended, I held up my hand to him for a high five.

“I sent the video to your phone so you’ll never forget me.”

“Thanks.” He smiled. “But I don’t think I could ever forget you.”

I looked at him and then turned to look out the passenger window. After about thirty minutes of silence, Alex spoke.

“I have to go out of town tomorrow for a couple of days. But when I get back, I thought maybe we could hit the golf course. What do you say?”

“Where are you going?”

“To Seattle. I’m meeting with a friend of mine. We are looking into opening a hotel together.”

“Have fun. I hope it rains.” I smiled.

He laughed. “It’s Seattle. I’m sure it will be raining.”

“I’ll play golf with you again and I promise I won’t hit you with the club or score a hole in one, so you won’t feel emasculated.”

He looked over at me and frowned. “I didn’t feel emasculated.”

“Yes you did!” I laughed. “The look on your face was priceless when I made that shot.”

“It was luck, Emerson. Pure luck!”

“Okay, smarty pants. We’ll see if that luck continues.” I smirked.

****

Alex

The next morning, I softly kissed Emerson’s head before tiptoeing out of her room so I didn’t wake her up. But I did the minute my hand gripped the doorknob.

“Sneaking off like you did the walk the shame or something, Parker,” she whispered with a smile on her face and her eyes still shut.

I turned and walked back to the bed, sitting down next to her and softly stroking her hair.

“No. I didn’t want to wake you. I have to leave for Seattle now.”

“Okay. Make sure to dance in the rain while you’re there.” She opened her eyes and looked up at me.

“I will.” A smile graced my face as I brushed my lips against hers and walked out of the room.

I sighed as I grabbed my suitcase and headed to the Bentley. Something didn’t feel right. I hated leaving her. The times we’d spent together since she arrived had been the greatest times of my life. I shook my head as I climbed in the back seat.

“Everything okay, Alex?” Phillip asked.

“I’m not sure, Phillip.”

“Are you feeling okay?”

“Health wise, yes.”

He shot me a look from the rearview mirror and gently smiled at me.

When the plane touched down in Seattle, it was raining. I couldn’t help but smile as I stepped off the plane. Once I arrived at Hotel Luxe, my room was ready and, as soon as I got settled, I met Simon for lunch down in the restaurant.

“Good to see you, Alex,” he spoke as we shook hands.

“Good to see you too, Simon.”

We took our seats at a quiet table in the corner and talked business first.

“What’s wrong with you? You seem off today.”

“Nothing. It’s nothing.”

“Come on, Alex. We’ve been friends for years. There isn’t anything you can’t tell me. I can see something is bothering you.”

“It’s just this girl that’s staying at my house. She’s really gotten to me.” I took a drink of my scotch.

His eyebrow raised as he looked at me in silence for a moment. “A girl is staying with you?”

“You know my friend Adam?”

“Yeah.”

“It’s his sister.”

“Ouch. That’s tough. How long have you known her?”

“It’s been almost two months and she’s so different from anyone I’d ever met. She’s mouthy, defiant, lives life irresponsibly. She travels the world for her twin sister, who died in a car accident eight years ago.”

“Huh?”

“It’s a long story.”

He picked up his drink and pointed at me. “It sounds like to me that you really care for this girl.”

“I do. I care for her a lot. More than I should. If I would have known this was going to happen, I wouldn’t have let Adam talk me into letting her stay with me.”

“How would you have known? Are you only thinking with your dick?”

I smirked. “No.”

“So you haven’t slept with her?”

“Oh, I have. Multiple times. More times than I should have because each time we have sex, it just gets better and better.”

“Well, my friend, it sounds like the two of you have a special connection. Have you told her how you feel?”

I took another sip of my scotch. “God no. I couldn’t. Besides, it doesn’t matter anyway.”

“Why?” He frowned.

“Because she’s leaving California in another month.”

“To go where?”

“I have no clue. All I know is that she won’t stay in California. It holds too many bad memories for her.”

“Oh. Then make her see that she can start over with new and good memories. If you’re really serious about her, make her see that living in California with you can be the best thing for her. Go after what you want, Alex. I shouldn’t have to tell you that.”

I sighed. “I know, Simon. But with her, it won’t be that simple. She’s a very complicated woman.”

We finished our business meeting and lunch and Simon had to leave to get back to the office.

“I’ll make the amendments in the proposal and we’ll get together tomorrow to look over it one last time before you head back home. I’ll be in touch, man. It was good seeing you.”

“Thanks, Simon. It was good seeing you too. Thanks for listening.”

“No problem. That’s what friends are for.” As he began to walk away, he pointed at me. “Remember, if you want something bad enough, you have to fight for it.”

Upon entering my suite, I sat down and opened up my laptop to check my emails and do some work. I would normally meet up with other friends, hit a bar, drink, and maybe pick up a girl for sex. But today, I wasn’t interested in any of that. The only girl I couldn’t stop thinking about was Emerson. She was in my head all the time and I found myself missing her already. I missed that damn sassy mouth of hers. As I was on my laptop, I pulled up the definition of love again. Everything about that definition held true for me where Emerson was concerned. I would do anything for her and everything to make her happy. Maybe Simon was right and I needed to make her see that staying in California with me was what was best for her. I wasn’t ready to let her go in a month’s time. Fuck, I didn’t want to ever let her go.