The Carrero Effect - Falling for the Boss (Billionaire CEO) novel Chapter 305

“Hey.” He sounded husky as she began to rouse with the sun fully hitting her face, adorably sleepy and those perfect soft blues that he loved so much flickering open to melt his heart some more.

I love you, bambino.

“Hey.” She half smiled, half blinked up at him sleepily, his heart aching a little too much.

“You shouldn’t sleep in the sun,” he scolded gently, watching her trying to focus on him. Even though he’d put himself in between the sun and her to shield her, she seemed to be having a hard time looking at him properly, squinting at the brightness.

“I didn’t intend to.” She blinked some more as Jake slid his sunglasses onto her face, smiling back when she smiled at him in that endearing way she had. He knew they had to talk about last night and set things straight, not just brush it aside as she seemed to want to do. He didn’t want to do it here either.

“Want to go somewhere?” Jake looked off to the ocean, away from her face. A deep sense of trepidation that this was not going to go how he wanted it to but that doing it was unavoidable.

“Such as?” She sounded inquisitive, mellower than before he had gone to bed and less PA toned.

He shrugged in reply, he just wanted them away from here, away from the others who would start questioning him about Hunter, tilting his head up to watch the sea crashing on the distant shore to give him some sense of calm.

“Anywhere but here.” He sighed dejectedly. He had told Hunter that deep down he knew Emma didn’t want a relationship with him, but he had always held a tiny spark of hope that he was wrong. Being here now with her after last night and how normal she seemed had killed all his chances. He knew undeniably that Emma was never going to see him as anything other than a boss and a friend.

“How’s Hunter?” she asked gently, watching his face a little too closely.

“He’s fine … he will be. They just need to monitor him. Secondary drowning is a risk when you swallow as much as he did.” He answered on autopilot, his head too wrapped up in what was missing between them to divulge much about Danny.

“Secondary drowning?” she asked looking at him shyly.

“You can drown long after you come out of the water. It’s in your lungs still.” He tensed, remembering Blake Carlisle, his childhood friend who’d drowned after a stupid drunken boat party. It hurt to remember him.

“So where will we go?” she asked a little more brightly, a smile plastered on her face, but it did nothing for his mood. She was so far removed from the Emma of last night it was scary.

“We could drive somewhere.” He went back to watching the horizon instead of that beautiful face of hers, tense, distracted. He just needed to get things moving and get this over and done with. He had formulated a plan at the hospital last night with Hunter. A way out of this emotional mess he was in if things were looking hopeless with her.

“Okay.” She smiled a little warily, unsure of his mood. “Shall I get changed?”

He shook his head, looking over her floaty dress and sandals, she was always gorgeous no matter what she chose to wear but in the summer clothes and dresses she was even more so.

“No … You look perfect.” His eyes flickered down the length of her as she got up, waving her book at him to say she was going to put it in her room. He watched her walk away elegantly and felt his stomach drop heavily. He had got enough from these few minutes to know he might be putting his plan into action later today. Emma wasn’t the same girl of yesterday, the connection was gone, and she was most likely never to get that drunk again, knowing how far they had gone.

Minutes later, Emma walked back on deck toward him, looking every bit the angel who held all the keys to his heart and every bit the destroyer of it. He smiled, despite feeling like absolute hell, and gestured for her to follow him to the stairs again to get off the boat.