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

neither,” Emily admitted, and Camila handed her the menu. “What do you guys want?”

“I’ll have the Caesar salad, and Jaime will have whatever you think he’ll eat.”

Emily nodded. She knew his tastes well enough by now. She ordered him macaroni and cheese that would probably be stupidly fancy, a salad for Camila, and a burger for herself, then dragged her suitcase to the second bedroom and unpacked her things. She felt stale from traveling and longed for a shower.

Twenty minutes later, room service knocked. Emily hurried to answer it but Camila was already there. Jaime sat at the dining table, his hair still damp and wearing clean pajamas; he ate his mac and cheese happily.

“Right, Jaime. Whose room do you want to sleep in tonight?” Camila asked when they had finished eating.

“Emily’s!” he answered immediately.

“Will you tuck him in while I take a quick shower?” Emily asked. Camila nodded, and she grabbed her pajamas before ducking into the bathroom. When she finished, Jaime was already asleep. Camila sat in a chair beside the bed, the book she had read to him on her lap.

“You’re all right with him staying in here?” she asked, and Emily nodded. “All right then, I’ll see you both in the morning.”

“Night, Camila.”

The bed was huge, and Jaime took up almost no room, so she wasn’t worried about waking him as she lifted the covers and sank into it. She was exhausted, and she barely remembered to set her alarm and put her phone on the charger before she fell asleep.

* * *

Emily awoke feeling rested, but it was still dark. The clock in the corner showed it was two in the morning; she had only been asleep for three hours.

She tried to go back to sleep but after half an hour she gave up. She grabbed her phone and slipped quietly from the bed, wary of waking Jaime, and padded into the living room.

She lay back on the black leather couch, which was much more comfortable than her bed back home, and switched on the giant TV, keeping the volume low as she searched for something to watch, finally settling on a quiz show, hoping that she would feel sleepy again soon.

She was still wide awake when she heard a bedroom door open. She looked over the back of the couch. Camila was walking toward her in a tiny black nightgown that exposed her legs, most of her thighs, and if she turned around, Emily was reasonably confident that her ass would barely be covered as well.

When she caught sight of Emily, she hastily fastened her dressing gown around her waist to cover herself.

“Did I wake you?” Emily asked timidly. Camila shook her head and joined her on the couch, sitting at the other end where Emily’s feet rested.

“You couldn’t sleep either?” Camila asked. She kept her voice low, despite the fact that Jaime probably wouldn’t hear them even if they yelled.

“I did for a while. I got about three hours, I think. You?”

“About the same.” Camila leaned back against the couch and closed her eyes, allowing Emily to study her profile. She itched for her pencil so she could sketch. “You’re going to be wrecked tomorrow,” Camila told her, eyes still closed.”

“I’m not the one who has to work all day.”

“Oh, so I don’t have to pay you watch Jaime anymore? Excellent news.”

When Camila was tired, Emily had noticed recently, she was more likely to let down her guard and relax, and right now she was more unguarded that she had been in a long time.

“You know what I mean. I’m pretty sure Jaime would be happy to hang around here all day tomorrow if I made it fun enough—you actually have to go out and talk to people.”

“An unfortunate side effect of being a CEO,” Camila admitted. “I’ve survived on less sleep, though.”

“Do you usually have trouble sleeping?” Lately she had seen deep bags under Camila’s eyes, though they were very carefully hidden under makeup.

“Sometimes.” She opened her eyes, turning her head to look at Emily, her cheek pressed against the back of the couch. “It’s been worse lately, since…since Chris left.”

“Hard to get used to sleeping alone again,” Emily said, and she hated herself for wondering when someone had last shared Camila’s bed.

“Mm. Luckily, I don’t need much sleep.”

“Are you one of those people who thinks that sleep is for the weak?”

“Of course,” Camila replied, and Emily allowed herself to smile. “How about you? An eight-hour flight wasn’t enough for you to sleep through the night in a new place?”

“Apparently not.” Emily shrugged. Camila raised an eyebrow, waiting for an explanation. “I guess it’s left over from my time in the system. Your first night somewhere new, you had to be alert because you didn’t know who was going to come near you while you slept. It could be one of the other kids or the creepy foster dad…”

Camila looked horrified. “No one ever… You were never abused, were you?”

“Nah. I already knew how to defend myself by the time my parents died.” After punching one person in the throat and giving another person a black eye to protect herself and the other kids around her, people learned to leave her alone.

“But still…”

“It wasn’t the best time.” Emily grimaced. “But hey, it all worked out in the end, even if some of the after-effects still linger. I’ll be fine tomorrow.”

“Even with a wriggling five-year-old sleeping next to you?”

“He’s a lot less wriggly than Cassie was when we were teenagers, believe me.” Cassie kicked in her sleep, and some of the bruises had lasted for days. “Besides, he might want to bunk with you tomorrow.”

“I doubt that.” Camila got to her feet. “I’m going to go make some cocoa. Do you want some?”

“Yes, please.”

“If I remember correctly from last year, there are some games in that cabinet.” Camila inclined her head in the direction of the TV. “If you’d like to play something, pass the time.”

“That would beat watching crappy TV and scrolling