“Can you drive me to my brother’s house, please?”

“When do you need to go?”

“As soon as possible.”

“I’ll be there in about fifteen minutes.”

“Thank you, Phillip.”

Chapter 9

Alex

In and out of meetings all day, dealing with ignorant people, a mess of problems, and thinking about Emerson left me exhausted. I wasn’t feeling well, so I decided to call it a night and go home. As Phillip pulled up to the house, I noticed Adam’s car in the driveway.

“Phillip, do you know why Adam’s car is here?”

“I drove Emerson to his house today to pick it up. She told me she’ll be driving herself around from now on.”

“I see.” I climbed out of the Bentley and told him to have a good night.

After I walked upstairs to my bedroom, I changed into my swimsuit and decided to go for a swim. Besides sex, a good swim always relieved some tension. As I stepped out onto the patio, I saw Emerson in the pool. I sighed because I wasn’t in any mood to deal with her tonight.

“Hey. You’re home early tonight.”

“Yeah. I just need to go for a swim before I do some work from home.”

She climbed out of the pool, looking as sexy as fuck. “It’s all yours.” She smiled.

“You didn’t have to get out.”

“It’s fine. I was done anyway. I’m just going to sit here and have some wine.”

After doing a couple of laps, I started to feel relaxed. I got out, dried myself off, and took a seat in the lounge chair next to Emerson.

“I saw Adam’s car in the driveway. Phillip told me he drove you to his house today to get it.”

“I need a car to get around. I have things to do and it’s too difficult to depend on Phillip to take me places.”

“Things?” I asked curiously.

“Life things.” She smiled.

I took in a deep breath and placed my hand on my head. I had a really bad headache and the only thing I could think about was going to bed and sleeping it off.

“Are you okay?” Emerson asked.

“I just have a really bad headache. I think it’s one of the worst ones I’ve ever had. I’m going to call it a night and go lie down.”

“Here, let me help you,” she spoke as she got up from her chair and stepped behind me, placing her hands on my head.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m giving you a head massage with a special technique I learned in Thailand.”

She began rubbing my head, and instantly, I started to get hard. Shit. I rested my hands over my growing bulge.

“Thailand, eh?”

“Yes. Now be quiet, close your eyes, and relax.”

Easy for her to say. She wasn’t the one getting turned on and hard. I closed my eyes and did my best to relax. It was difficult with her hands on me. I’d had many massages and I’d never once become hard because of them. This was crazy and I was going to have to go and jack off once she was finished or I was going to have a serious case of blue balls.

The tips of her fingers massaged my temples in a way I’d never felt before. Her hands roamed from my temples to my forehead and then over my entire head, massaging in circles and pressing down with her thumbs. I was in heaven and it was taking everything I had in me not to turn around, grab her, and kiss that sassy mouth of hers.

“Tell me about Thailand,” I spoke, trying to get my cock to go down.

“It was beautiful.”

“How long were you there?”

“About six months. I learned this special massage technique from a healer there. I wasn’t feeling well and had collapsed outside of the hotel I was staying at. He and his wife were walking past and helped me. They took me to their home and I ended up staying with them as their guest until I left. He taught me various healing techniques and his wife and I cooked together. She taught me some things and I taught her things I learned in Tuscany. They were very nice people.”

“Why did you leave?”

“As beautiful as it was, my time there was up and I needed to move on. Now no more questions. I’m almost done.”

I took in a deep breath as she continued to work her magic on my headache. How in the world could she have traveled so much at her age, and not to mention the fact that she traveled alone, which was unsafe and dangerous for a young woman.

She removed her hands from my head and gripped my shoulders. “There. How do you feel?”

“Wow. My headache is gone.” I turned and looked at her.

“Good.” She winked as she removed her hands from my shoulders.

Without even thinking, I grabbed her hand. “Thank you,” I spoke as I stared into her eyes.

“You’re welcome. It’s the least I could do since you’re letting me stay here and you’re letting me cook for you. That right there is an honor.”

That smart sarcastic mouth of hers was going to get her in trouble with me. I let go of her hand and she jumped in the pool.

“Would you like to race?” she asked with a smile.

Staring at her as the water glistened on her tan skin, I got up and jumped in.

“You’re on, James.”

“First one to make it back here has to cook breakfast in the morning,” she said with a whimsical tone.

“I don’t cook.”

“You will tomorrow if I win. Ready...set...go!”

We did a full lap to the other side of the pool and turned around and headed back. She was fast and ahead of me. She made it to the other side first. When I came up, she was grinning from ear to ear.

“Are you some kind of fucking swimming champion I don’t know about?”

She bit down on her bottom lip and my cock twitched.

“Maybe just a national champion for my school.”

“Jesus, Emerson. You couldn’t have told me that?”

“Then it wouldn’t have been fun. Looks like you’re cooking breakfast tomorrow!” she exclaimed.

As she started to climb out of the pool, I grabbed her waist and pulled her down into my arms. What the fuck am I doing? She wrapped her arms around my neck and stared at me.

“I already told you that I don’t cook.”

“A bet is a bet.”

“You made the bet. I didn’t agree to it.” I stared at her lips. She wasn’t pulling away from me. Control yourself, Alex. She’s not your type and you’ll end up hurting her and making things awkward between you and Adam.

I let go of her. “I’m going to head to bed. I’ll see you in the morning.” I climbed out of the pool, grabbed my towel, and went inside the house.

****

Emerson

I sighed as I watched him walk away. He wanted to kiss me. I could tell by the way he was staring at my mouth. Not to mention the fact that I noticed he was hard as I was massaging his head. If he would have kissed me, I wouldn’t have minded. There was a part of me that would have welcomed it. He was unlike anyone I’d ever met before and, for some dumb reason, I was attracted to him in a weird sort of way.

I dried myself off, and as I headed to my bedroom, Alex was walking up the stairs.

“Goodnight, Alex,” I spoke.

Chapter 10

Alex

I stopped on the stairs and clenched my fists. “Emerson,” I called out to her.

“Yes.” She stood in front of the stairs, looking up at me.

I slowly walked down until I approached her. “I don’t want you walking around this house in your bikini or short shorts anymore. Do you understand me?”

“No, actually, I don’t. What’s wrong?”

I took in a deep breath. “It’s inappropriate.”

“So do you want me to walk around naked?” She smirked.

“No. I don’t want you to walk around naked. What the hell is the matter with you? Why would you say that?”

“Because, obviously, my clothes bother you.”

“Emerson, I’m warning you. I’ve had enough of that smart mouth of yours and if you don’t stop, I’m going to shut it for you.”

She looked at me with narrowing eyes and a small smile on her face. “I dare you.”