CHAPTER39
Deep breath. Steady, calm, composed.
The closing walls begin to move back out, and I calm myself, pushing out of his embrace and against the elevator door with a palm to steady myself.
“I’m okay. Really!” I give him a quick glance back and a tight smile, but his expression stays the same. He looks worried and only frowns at my reply. Felicity watches us silently, suspiciously.
Yes, Felicity. My boss often manhandles me; it doesn’t scream affair!
Jake knows nothing of my father; he’s never broached the subject. Not that I would ever volunteer the information if he did.
“You want me to send Felicity home?” he says right in front of her, and I catch her small intake of breath followed by the indignation in her voice.
“No!” we retort in unison. I don’t want this kind of awkwardness. I feign a smile and give him a reassuring look as we stop at our floor.
“It’s fine; it’s nothing,” I warn, impressed with how quickly I’ve managed to sound bright and normal. All those years of hiding finally pays off. I head to the door of our suite and let us in with my swipe card knowing his eyes are on me; I can feel it. Felicity is, for once, silent, and I think she senses the oddness in the atmosphere.
“I’m going to bed. I’m tired. I’ll grab a shower and a light snack and hit the sheets.” I need to get away from his probing eyes because I know he will start to question me, and we’ll only end up quarreling about this.
“You don’t want to come for dinner?” He sounds odd, tense, watching me closely.
“No, I just want to stay here.” I sound normal despite the hammering inside my chest and the tremble in my fingers, ever grateful for years of perfecting this. My whole body just feels weak and surreal, and I’m lightheaded.
“You want me to order you some dinner to the room?” The look of concern is still crossing his face, and it endears me to him for a moment, guilty that I’m clamming up, but I can’t help it; it’s who I am.
“Why, Mr. Carrero!” I smile at him, hoping to look amused. “I didn’t know you knew how to do such things,” I purr demurely, and he smiles back, relaxing a little. Finally, that look in his eye dissipates, mission accomplished. I’ve always been good at quick recoveries, no matter how bad the shock; the mask is back on and he’s none the wiser.
“You would be surprised at my capabilities, Emma. Maybe some time you’ll let me show you the extent of them.” He’s still eyeing me, only this time with that mischievous glint, and I try a more genuine smile and shake my head. It’s always sex with him.
“Do you want me to order food?” he asks again insistently with his serious tone back on.
“No, Jake, I can do that; go have fun.” I head towards my room in the suite and throw my coat and bag over the nearest chair. I just want him to leave so I can sit down and process what just happened, alone. I need to think about what I’m going to do if Frank Roberts continues to pursue me. He can go crawl back to his hole and die for all I care.
Felicity makes a beeline for his room with her overnight bag, eyeing us weirdly, but he makes no attempt to follow. As she disappears, his expression changes back to full blown frown mode.
“Who was it?” he asks in a serious, no-nonsense boss tone.
Ughhhh!
I should have known better! He’s hard to palm off, even on a good day.
God dammit, Jake.
I turn away, frustrated. I know he won’t let up; he’ll cancel dinner and stay here if I say nothing. There’s no point being evasive when he has that look on his face, so I resign myself to caving.
“My sperm donor,” I wave an airy hand as though I’m saying something unimportant, but I can already feel the tension in my face. I’m glad I’m looking away from him toward the open door of my room; I pull out my cell to cradle in the charging dock on the table beside it.
“Your father?” He sounds surprised."
