Never Say Never Rachael Sommers (story read aloud txt) 📖

she gently roused Jaime and helped him into his clothes before ushering him into the kitchen for his breakfast.

They were eating cereal when Camila reappeared, dressed in a sinfully tight pencil skirt and blouse. Emily tried not to stare.

“Do you have a busy day today?”

“Mm. I have a thrilling day of viewing pilots. We need to decide which shows should be made into series.”

“That actually sounds kind of fun.”

“The novelty wears off after a couple of hours. At least the seats are comfortable.” Camila reached for her handbag, then leaned down to kiss Jaime’s head. “I’ll see you later, sweetheart. Have a good day, Emily.”

“You too.”

Camila’s heels clicked down the hall, the front door shutting a moment later. Emily gathered up the breakfast dishes while Jaime bounced impatiently on the stool behind her.

“So, buddy,” she said when she was done, “what do you wanna do today?”

* * *

Jaime spent the next Saturday morning with Emily while Camila promoted her network’s upcoming shows on a local television program. She called Emily as soon as she was back in her car.

“Hey.” Emily answered breathlessly, and Camila ignored the way it made her heart flutter. “You all done?”

“I am. I can come pick Jaime up now—are you at your apartment?”

“Uh, not exactly.”

Camila heard Jaime whoop gleefully in the background.

“We’re at the gym near my apartment, but if we head back now, we can meet you there.”

“No, it’s okay. I’ll come to you.”

It sounded like Jaime was having fun, and she was curious to find out what he was doing at the gym. Besides which, Camila couldn’t resist the opportunity to see Emily in her workout gear again.

“Are you…are you sure?”

“What’s the address?”

Emily texted her where to find her when she got there, and though the receptionists at the front desk eyed her curiously, they made no move to stop her. She pushed open a door that led to some kind of training room.

One wall was mirrored, and the rest had weights and gym equipment pressed up against them. The wooden floor was partially covered by thick mats, which is where Camila found Emily.

She was doing push-ups with a giggling Jaime on her back. Her arms were bare, and God, Camila couldn’t look away from the muscles tensing and flexing as she raised herself up again and again.

Camila was staring and she knew it, but she didn’t know how to stop because Emily was always beautiful, but in leggings and a tank top that clung to her in all the right ways, sweat glistening over her skin—that was something else entirely.

She managed to look away when Jaime noticed her, and he scrambled off Emily with a cry of “Mama!” and raced toward her as fast as his little legs could move, a huge grin on his face.

Then she realized there was someone else in the room. Leaning against a punching bag a few feet away, a stopwatch in her hand, stood the brunette who had been in Emily’s apartment the other day. Camila had just been caught staring by Emily’s girlfriend.

Wonderful.

“Twenty-three in just under two minutes,” Megan called out as Emily climbed to her feet, breathing slightly labored. “Not terrible.”

“Not terrible?” Emily feigned outrage. “I’d like to see you do any better.”

“Okay.” Megan shrugged. The two of them were clearly competitive, and when she beckoned to Jaime, Camila didn’t know how to feel when he trotted over to the other woman. “You ready, kiddo?”

“Yeah!” He climbed onto Megan’s back, crossing his legs and holding tightly to her shirt.

“Okay, go.” Emily clicked the stopwatch, and Camila watched Megan energetically start her push-ups. Emily came to stand by Camila, though her eyes never left Megan and Jaime. “I hope this was okay. Megan texted this morning and said her client canceled, which meant the room was free if I wanted to come by and train. I said I had Jaime but when she suggested I bring him too, I thought it might be fun for him.”

“It’s fine, Emily—he looks like he’s having the time of his life.”

Jaime giggled uncontrollably, easing the pressure that had been in Camila’s chest ever since she spotted Megan nearby.

“I’m sorry to interrupt your day with your girlfriend.”

“Megan’s not my girlfriend,” Emily said quickly. “We’re not dating anymore—she’s just a friend.”

“Oh. Sorry to hear that.” Although it didn’t look like there was any animosity between them.

“It’s fine.” Emily shrugged, and just as Camila was about to ask her why it ended, the stopwatch beeped and Emily called out for Megan to stop.

“Twenty-six,” Megan sang, and the pout on Emily’s mouth told Camila that Megan had counted correctly, and she shouldn’t think it was cute how much of a sore loser Emily was, but she did, and she’d already fallen so far she didn’t know how she’d ever surface again.

“You lose.”

“Shut up,” Emily muttered, scowling, and both Camila and Megan laughed. The scowl disappeared when Jaime bounded up to her.

“Can you flip me again?” he asked, his eyes bright and excited. Camila would have been alarmed if she didn’t know that Emily was as careful with Jaime as Camila was. “That was fun!”

“All right, bud. You remember what I taught you before?”

He nodded vigorously. Emily led him to the center of the mat and knelt down in front of him. In one quick movement, Jaime was flat on his back and laughing loudly, Emily balancing herself carefully above him.

“Again, again!”

Emily used a couple of different moves on him before he had enough, and Camila couldn’t stop smiling as she watched the two of them together—she loved seeing Jaime so open and unguarded, so happy that he was practically bursting.

“One sparring session before we finish?” Megan suggested, once Jaime was back at Camila’s side. “Give the kid a show?”

“Is that okay with you?” Emily asked, glancing toward Camila.

“By all means,” Camila replied. Emily swigged some water from her bottle. Camila watched a bead of sweat slide along Emily’s neck as she tipped her head back, and she wanted to trace the same path with