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

she was potentially about to hire her, not to mention the fact that she was half her age.

Satisfied with her decision, Camila went in search of her son, hoping that her days of bringing him to work with her would soon be over.

* * *

“So,” Cassie asked the second she dropped into the booth opposite Emily, “how’d the interview go?”

“No Maia today?”

Cassie was a crime scene investigator for NYPD and Maia was a detective. The two of them usually had lunch together, and Emily didn’t want to start telling Cassie about her interview if she was just going to start over when her sister’s girlfriend arrived.

“Nope. She’s out investigating a lead for one of her cases. Come on, Em, I’m dying here. How was it?”

“Um… Okay,”— Emily’s voice wavered a little because she really had no idea how she had done. —“I think.”

“You think?” Cassie’s lips twitched with amusement. “How can you only think it was okay?”

“Because Camila Evans is hard to read and more than a little scary.”

Cassie chuckled. “Not got a crush on her anymore, then?”

Emily vehemently shook her head. “Oh no, I definitely still do.” Emily thought again about Camila in that dress and sighed. “She can be scary and hot. Scary hot. Anyway. We got off on the wrong foot. I’m pretty sure she’d already written me off before I even opened my mouth.”

“Ouch.”

“Yeah.” Emily took a sip of her iced tea. “So then she called me the wrong name, and I corrected her—”

“You corrected Camila Evans”—Cassie looked at her wide-eyed—“and lived to tell the tale? Damn.”

“I think it impressed her.” Emily had seen the flicker of interest in Camila’s eyes when she had stood up for herself. “Or something did because she said she’d give me a chance.”

Cassie raised an eyebrow.

“I’m having dinner with her tonight so I can meet her kid. If he likes me, then I’m hired.” She paused. “I think.”

“What?! Congratulations!” Cassie grinned. “Why aren’t you happier about this? You’re having dinner with your long-time crush.”

“I know. But it’s still—I have to impress her. Camila Evans. How the hell am I going to do that?”

“Just be yourself,” Cassie told her, reaching across the table to squeeze Emily’s hand. “That’s all. You go in there, and you charm the hell out of her, and you make that little boy fall in love with you. She won’t be able to turn you down.”

If only she had Cassie’s confidence. But she hadn’t made a fool out of herself earlier, and now she just had to get through dinner with Camila.

Alone. In her apartment.

She felt like she was going to be sick.

Chapter 3

If standing in front of the CEBC building had been intimidating, it was nothing compared to standing on the sidewalk outside of Camila’s apartment block.

Emily squinted up at the top floor, the penthouse where she would be spending her evening, and let her breath out slowly, wondering when going from one skyscraper to another had become her life.

This lobby wasn’t quite as busy as the CEBC building, but it was still intimidating, and Emily approached the security desk hesitantly.

“Emily Walker?” Emily looked at the guard suspiciously at the familiar greeting. “Ms. Evans gave me your description,” he explained. Emily wondered what that description was—probably nothing complimentary. “You need a key card to get to the penthouse floor. I’ll swipe you in for now, and we’ll get you a card if things go well. Follow me.”

She stepped into the elevator when it arrived and watched him press PH. “Good luck,” he said as the doors closed.

The elevator whizzed to the top of the building, and the doors slid open to reveal two doors, one on each side of the hallway. Emily checked the time. She was ten minutes early, but she didn’t think Camila would have a problem with that, so she rapped on the door.

When it opened, Camila stood in the doorway wearing black jeans and a fitted red sweater. Emily held her breath, thinking the sight of a dressed-down Camila might be the death of her.

“Emily. Come in.” Camila stepped aside to let Emily pass. She wandered uncertainly into the apartment, trying to act cool as she took it all in.

Camila’s apartment was an open-plan living room slash dining room slash kitchen with floor-length windows that looked out onto the concrete jungle beyond. The sun had just started to descend on the horizon, lighting the whole city with an orange glow.

It was beautiful, just like the woman who came to stand beside her.

Emily felt like she should say something. “This place is really nice.” She thought she heard Camila hum, maybe in agreement, but she couldn’t really read her. Maybe she’d get better at it the more time they spent together.

As Emily turned to take in more of the apartment, her eyes fell on Camila’s son sitting cross-legged in the corner wearing pajamas covered in tiny spaceships. He stared up at Emily.

“I thought I’d get dinner ready while you spend some time with Jaime. Do you like carbonara?”

“Sounds great.”

“Jaime.” Camila addressed her son. He shifted his gaze from Emily to his mother. “This is Emily. She’s going to visit with you while I make dinner.”

He looked back at Emily shyly. She was going to have her work cut out for her to coax him out of his shell.

“New nanny?” he asked, looking back at Camila. His voice was soft but his words were clear.

“Yes, sweetheart.”

Emily approached Jaime, sitting on the floor opposite him. The corner of the room was set up as a play area with a tiny table and chair, paper and crayons on top, a stack of books and a dozen toys scattered around it.

“I’ll be in the kitchen if you need anything.” Camila glanced at Emily, leaving the unspoken “I’ll be watching your every move” hanging in the air.

Jaime eyed Emily warily without returning her smile. He wouldn’t be the first kid she’d had to win over.

“Hey, buddy. I’m Emily. And you’re Jaime, right?”

He blinked.

“Okay.” Her first task