Never Say Never by Rachael Sommers (books to get back into reading TXT) 📕

confusion in our relationship. And I’ll admit we’re both at fault. But you’re my employee, nothing more.”

Emily winced as if she’d been struck.

“In the future it might be better if things remained more…professional between us.”

“Oh. I… Okay.” Emily swallowed hard around the lump nestled in her throat. At least Camila wasn’t going to fire her outright. “If that’s what you want.”

“I think that would be best.” Camila’s car pulled to a stop in front of them. “It’s best not to muddy the waters. For Jaime’s sake.”

“R…right.”

“I’ll see you on Monday.” Camila slipped into the waiting car.

Emily stood staring at where the car had disappeared, tears stinging her eyes. How she could have been so stupid? They had been having fun, but now everything had come crashing down, and she feared her relationship with Camila would never be the same.

She didn’t realize she was crying until Cassie and Maia found her. Cassie’s hands tugged at her shoulders, forcing her to look away from the empty street and into her sister’s worried eyes.

“Emily? What’s wrong?”

Maia stepped closer as Cassie wiped the tears from Emily’s cheeks. “Why are you standing out here? Where’s Camila?”

Emily forced herself to speak through her tight throat, her words shaky and soft enough to be snatched away in the breeze. “She’s gone.”

“What do you mean, she’s gone? She left? And that’s why you’re upset?”

Emily shook her head.

“Then what’s wrong?”

“I ruined everything.” The words were filled with anguish, and a flicker of understanding crossed Cassie’s face.

“All right.” Cassie rubbed her hands up and down Emily’s arms—she hadn’t even noticed she was shivering. “Come on, let’s get you home.” Cassie wrapped an arm around her back to steer her down the street, Maia taking the other side of her.

They took her back home with them because their apartment was only a few minutes away and Emily didn’t have the strength to argue.

It was pathetic to be that upset. She and Camila had never even had anything, and it wasn’t like she was never going to see her again, but the thought of Camila being distant, of keeping things “professional,” made her stomach twist.

“We don’t have any ice cream,” Maia said as she unlocked the door, “but I’ll whip up some hot cocoa.”

“You don’t have to.”

“I know.” Maia headed for the kitchen, leaving Emily and Cassie on the couch together. Cassie pulled her into a tight hug.

“You want to talk about it?”

She waited for Maia to return with steaming hot mugs overflowing with cream and marshmallows before she told them what had happened.

“I can’t believe you kissed her.” Cassie looked dumbstruck.

Emily groaned. “I don’t know what I was thinking. God, I’m such an idiot.”

“You’re not an idiot,” Maia told her, squeezing her arm sympathetically.

“Did you not hear the part about where I kissed my boss out of the blue?”

“I wouldn’t say it was out of the blue,” Maia replied. “We both saw the way you two were looking at each other all night, and we saw how jealous she seemed to be over Megan. Sounds to me like maybe Camila’s just scared. Maybe she realizes that she’s thinking of you as a friend or even something more, and she knows it’s unprofessional, given the fact that you work for her and you’re younger than her. Maybe she’s just trying to put some distance between the two of you.”

“And that’s a good thing because…?”

“Well, I didn’t say it was a good thing, just that it doesn’t make you an idiot. But it probably means that she’s got feelings for you too, or she’s starting to.”

The suggestion might have made her happy if she wasn’t so miserable.

“And if keeping you at arm’s length doesn’t work, then it’s only a matter of time before something happens.”

“And if it does work?”

“We’ll get you through it,” Cassie said. “Ready for bed?”

“I’ll go back to my place. I don’t want to—”

“Nope, you’re staying here. We’ve already decided.” Cassie cut her off with a no-nonsense tone. “So come on.”

Emily didn’t argue. She washed up and put on the spare pajamas she kept stashed in the guest room for nights like this.

When she went to say goodnight to Maia and her sister, Cassie beckoned her inside and lifted up the covers. Maia patted the space between them. “Get in. We’re making a sister sandwich.”

“But—”

“No arguing.”

She climbed in and was immediately squished between the two of them. She laughed in spite of herself. “I love you guys.”

“We love you too,” they said in unison, and it warmed her heart to have both of them in her life. Maia didn’t seem to mind her being a complete mess and needing her big sister, and she went overboard to make sure Emily knew she would always be there for her too.

Once upon a time, she thought she’d never have a family again, but here she was in the middle of the two best big sisters she could ever have dreamed of, and she knew that, no matter what happened, she was going to be okay.

* * *

Camila slammed the door, grabbed a bottle of scotch, and stalked into her study.

How could she have been so stupid to let herself get in this deep? When she saw that woman with Emily, smiling with enough charm to make her blush, it had felt like a knife through her heart.

Because Emily should have that, should flirt with gorgeous women on a night out with her sister, should have someone her own age, someone who wasn’t old and jaded, someone who didn’t work such ridiculous hours that it was hard to have a life.

She and Emily could never have the kind of easy relationship that started with eyes meeting across a crowded room, but pushing Emily away after that kiss had hurt almost more than Camila could bear.

She didn’t want to think about that fleeting kiss and how easy it would have been to pull Emily closer.

She didn’t want to think about how much she had wanted to.

She had been stupid, so unbelievably stupid, for not