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

He scampered off, and Emily made her way back to her own room.

She dressed in record time, then hunted around the kitchen for something she and Jaime could eat before she wrestled him into some winter clothes. He wasn’t happy about the hat, scarf, or gloves, but he looked so cute that all the wriggling was worth it.

It would have been about a half hour walk to the Natural History Museum, but they took the scenic route, winding through Hyde Park. Jaime chased ducks and squirrels with glee, and Emily snapped an occasional photo to send to Camila. After the Natural History Museum, they spent the afternoon at the nearby Science Museum. Before she knew it, it was getting dark, and they headed back to the hotel, passing through the park again to avoid weaving through the throngs of busy Londoners.

When they got back, the suite was empty, but the kitchen was fully stocked. Emily wondered if Camila put in a specific order each year or if the kitchen was always stocked like that. She was riffling through the cupboards, looking for something easy she could make for Jaime, considering if instead she could get takeout delivered or if that would be frowned upon by the hotel staff, when her phone buzzed.

I’m not going to be back for a while. Order room service if you’re hungry and say goodnight to Jaime for me.

Emily abandoned her dreams of a greasy pizza for the time being and ordered spaghetti for Jaime and the cheapest steak on the menu for herself. When the food arrived, they ate on the couch while watching Frozen.

“You tired, buddy?” she asked. He had finished eating and was rubbing his eyes and yawning. She set her plate down on the coffee table when he nodded. “You wanna go to bed?”

“Okay.”

She gave him a bath and put him to bed with a story, then padded back into the living room, thinking she might join him soon.

She had hit a wall about three that afternoon. Her eyes had slipped shut while watching a movie about how the universe had formed. It was embarrassing, consider what she wanted to do with her life, but it was dark and no one had noticed.

She was wide awake now, though, and not even a long hot shower was going to make her ready for bed.

It was getting late and Camila still wasn’t back, so she dragged a chair over to one of the floor-length windows, grabbed her sketch pad, and sat down to draw the breathtaking view.

The park was well-lit, but the trees dimmed much of the light, and the London skyline was visible over the top of the shadows. She sketched the skyscrapers with as much detail as she could, wanting to immortalize the image so she never forgot that she had been there.

She was so immersed in her work that she lost all sense of her surroundings, and when she heard the door unlock, she jumped. She glanced at the clock and realized she had been sitting there for over an hour. She shifted, wincing as her stiff muscles protested at the movement.

“Aren’t you going to invite me in? We haven’t finished our conversation.”

It was a man’s voice and it had a suggestive lilt that made Emily’s skin crawl. She wondered if she could sneak back to her room without attracting any attention, because she was pretty sure she wouldn’t want to hear whatever came next.

“You can come in for one drink,” Camila answered. Emily was still frozen in place, thinking she might army crawl along the floor when she heard the click of Camila’s high heels. “If you’re on your best behavior.”

“When am I ever?” The man’s voice was too familiar, too teasing, and Emily could think of nothing except getting out of there right now. She was halfway to her feet when she saw Camila framed in the soft lamp light, and even though it was late, even though her makeup was a little smudged and her hair a little messy, even though she looked tired after a long day, she was still the most beautiful woman Emily had ever seen, and it was this image that she should be committing to memory, not the view out the window.

“Oh.” Camila’s companion appeared from behind her. His handsome face was framed by dark hair streaked with silver. His pressed suit screamed that he had money. “I didn’t realize you had company.”

“Yes.” Camila tore her eyes from Emily’s gaze to look between the two of them. “This is Emily, my nanny. Emily, this is Patrick, the head of the CEBC London branch.”

That explained the familiarity—he probably met with Camila every year. Emily wondered if he was always this flirtatious or if it was just because Camila was single now, and she hated herself for imagining the two of them at dinner earlier that night. She wondered if he had kissed her, wondered if Camila would let him if he had tried.

“Oh, of course, you brought your son. How is the little one?”

Emily was ninety-nine percent certain that he didn’t remember Jaime’s name but simply wanted to show interest to score points with Camila. A muscle twitched in her jaw.

“He’s fine. Had a good day, from the looks of it.” She turned to Emily. “Thank you for the pictures.”

Emily shrugged. “It was nothing.”

Patrick was looking at Emily like she was a bad smell, like she should disappear, and while she wanted to stick around just to piss him off, she also really didn’t want to hear him trying to get into Camila’s pants.

“I’ll, uh, leave you guys to it.”

“You don’t have to.” Camila stopped her, glancing at Emily’s sketch pad. “Finish your drawing.”

“Let’s go down to the bar for that drink instead,” Patrick suggested, placing his hand on Camila’s waist. Camila shrugged him off.

“I’m really pretty tired anyway,” Emily lied. She would say anything to escape. She felt trapped by the weight of Camila’s gaze, and she was