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

buddy.” He was wearing his spaceship pajamas, his teddy in his arms, and seeing him warmed her heart. “You doing okay?”

“Yeah! I like planes.”

“You do?”

He nodded, then leaned over to peer out of the window. Emily kept hold of him so he wouldn’t fall. Jessica dropped into the seat next to her with a sigh.

“Hey.”

“Hey, glad to see you made it—it’s nice to have someone else along this year.”

Emily hadn’t spent much time with Jessica, but she liked her and knew she had helped her get this job. It would be nice to know her a little better.

“Is it usually just you?”

“Me, Ms. Evans, the little guy and the—” She mouthed “asshole” so Jaime wouldn’t hear her.

Emily snorted. “I hope that won’t be my nickname by the end of the week.”

“As long as you don’t look down my top or stare at my ass whenever I bend down, you’ll be fine.”

“Agreed,” Emily promised, and Jessica grinned. Her face changed when she looked up. Camila was watching them, leaning over the back of the seat in front, her phone call finished. “Good morning,” Emily said, and Camila smiled tightly.

“Good morning. Jaime, come sit down.”

“Want to stay with Emily.”

“You’ll have eight hours to spend with her once we’re up in the air, but for now you need to sit with me.”

He let Emily hand him over without too much complaint, and Emily, her hands now free, drummed her fingers against the seat arm as the cabin crew prepared for departure.

“Nervous flyer?” Jessica asked.

Emily nodded. “Never been out of the country,” she admitted, “or on a plane for more than four hours. Although”—she glanced around the first-class cabin—“this isn’t the worst place to try it.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty cool.” Jessica nodded. “I’m usually back in coach, but this is…something else.”

Emily wondered what had changed, but she was glad because it meant she wouldn’t be alone with Camila while being steadfastly ignored.

“So, um, how long have you been working for Camila?” Emily asked as the plane headed toward the runway. She was desperate for distraction—takeoff and landing were the worst parts of the flight for her.

“About eighteen months,” she said. Emily was impressed because Camila seemed like the kind of boss who cycled through assistants regularly. “That’s the face most people make when I say that,” Jessica said, chuckling, then leaned closer to Emily so Camila wouldn’t overhear. “But it’s honestly not that bad. You just gotta learn to read her moods. And not get upset when she yells at you.”

“I have not mastered either of those things,” Emily said, more to herself than to Jessica, and Jessica patted her hand sympathetically.

“You’ll get there. It took me awhile.”

Once the plane was in the air and the seat belt signs were off, Jaime climbed onto Emily’s lap. They spent the next eight hours watching movies, playing games, and snacking.

Camila and Jessica both worked for most of the flight.

Jaime was napping on her lap when the pilot announced that they would be landing soon. Emily gently shook him awake and handed him back to his mother. Then she craned her neck to look out of the window, seeing land beneath them instead of the endless blue of the ocean.

Watching the green and brown fields turn into a sprawling mass of buildings was Emily’s favorite part of the flight—at least until the plane started hurtling toward the ground. Emily looked for different landmarks in the fading light to keep herself distracted as they began to lose altitude.

Emily breathed a sigh of relief once they were safely back on land and the plane taxied to their gate. Despite not sleeping on the flight, she was wide awake when they disembarked. She shivered as she stepped into the jet bridge—the air was colder than she expected—and she drew her sweater tight around her as they hurried into the terminal.

Heathrow was one of the world’s busiest airports. People rushed everywhere, and they were soon swept up in a crowd heading toward arrivals. By the time they got through customs and collected their bags, it was eight o’clock.

As they left the terminal, they were greeted by a well-dressed man who held a card with Camila’s name on it. He would be her driver during their stay. The town car was black and sleek, almost an exact replica of the one Camila used in New York.

London was illuminated by sparkling lights, and Emily stared out the window, mesmerized. When they got closer to the heart of the city, the car crawled along in traffic. Jaime leaned against her sleepily while Camila went through her plans for the week with Jessica, who scribbled down everything with startling speed.

The drive took almost an hour. Emily had been up since four o’clock in the morning New York time, and exhaustion was kicking in. Her eyes were starting to droop, but she needed to stay awake awhile longer.

They got to the hotel, checked in, and straggled into Camila’s suite of rooms, and when Emily saw what would be her home for the next few days, she gasped. It was the most elegant, beautiful hotel room she had ever seen in her entire life.

The suite was an entire apartment with a kitchen, dining area, and living room. The second bedroom was almost as big as Emily’s entire apartment. The furnishings and fixtures looked so expensive that Emily was afraid to touch anything.

Jessica opened the drapes of the floor-length windows in the living room. The walkways and fountains of Hyde Park were lit up, and Emily couldn’t wait to see what it looked like in the morning.

“Amazing, isn’t it?” Jessica asked. “I’m heading to my room for the night—I need about ten hours’ sleep if I’m going to function tomorrow. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Sleep well,” Emily called after her, and then the three of them were alone.

“I’m going to give Jaime a bath,” Camila said, hiding a yawn. “Do you want to order room service? I don’t have the energy to go out in search of food.”

“Me