The Carrero Effect - Falling for the Boss (Billionaire CEO) novel Chapter 316

“Keep her warm for me until I come back, Jacob!” Leila grinned cheekily and took off at speed, knowing that Jake was probably about to explode and hightailing it so she could leave them alone. She knew there would be repercussions later, but she didn’t really care.

“That girl,” Jake said tightly, irritation concealed but his anger simmering inside. He avoided looking at Emma, wondering how the hell he could walk away from her and leave her here alone while looking so utterly fucking lost right now. She had an air of Bambi with big eyes and seemed to be suddenly uncomfortable with Leila’s departure. Jake couldn’t control the stomach punching sensation it gave him.

“You’ve got to love her though.” Emma shrugged nervously, biting on her bottom lip and causing yet another wave of excruciating pain. All her little anxiety tells had always been a point of agony for him, he hated seeing her doing it but right now any little Emma-ism was just killing him more. He missed everything about her so much.

Do you really have no idea how goddamn adorable you are?

The music was moving into full swing as couples moved around them, joining together to sway. Emma went into ultimate fidget mode almost immediately, twirling her hair like she always did when she was tense, looking around for an escape route and pretty much making him feel like the biggest asshole known to man. He watched her hand in her hair intensely for a second, lost in so many thoughts and memories, hating the habit yet pining for the familiarness of it. He realized she had caught his look, misunderstood what it meant and yanked her fingers out of her hair like a scolded child.

Great! Another notch of assholeness.

Jake frowned and looked about the floor, making a decision almost instantly.

“Want to dance with me, Anderson?” He had no clue why he thought this was the best course of action, all he knew was that he didn’t want to walk away and leave her here and had no desire to see anyone else dance with her. He would kick seven shades of shit out of any guy who dared touch her. She looked momentarily shocked, color draining from her face a little and her fingers twitched as though aching to be back in her hair. Jake felt a warmth of compassion, an old memory of her looking this unsure and untrusting of his intentions once before.

“I don’t bite.” Jake smiled at the memory of a long-ago moment in his office. Emma seemed to register the memory too, a small smile warming her mouth and looked a little less shell shocked.

Jake didn’t wait for an answer; his body had been aching to be with hers for so long that it was almost impulsive to just reach for her. Pulling her close by the wrist, encircling her dainty smooth skin and bracing himself for the onslaught of emotions that hit him with her nearness.

Emma automatically slipped into dance pose, hand in his and the other on his chest to stop the collision from the suddenness of his maneuver. Her palm was placed directly over his heart and with a searing touch, he was sure she could probably feel how hard and fast his heart was beating. He couldn’t tear his eyes from that perfect red mouth as he drew closer. Emma looked stricken suddenly, a mixture of emotions flitting across her face so fast he had no clue what to even think.

“I can’t do this,” she whispered suddenly, her voice breaking, and he could have sworn he saw a glint of a tear in her eye, but she was turning from him and trying to break free. Jake impulsively caught her chin with his fingers, tilting her back to him so he could try to read what she was feeling. Confused at seeing a look that, to him spelled out complete heartbreak and rendered him almost immobile as he tried to piece together what it meant. Before he had a chance to speak or control the sudden hammering of his chest, she had pulled her hand away and was pushing away from him.

“I need to go.” She yanked her chin away, face down so her hair spilled forward to hide her features from him. Jake felt panic rising within him, confusion and emotion consuming him, he stood motionless, unsure how to react as he watched her move away out of sight into the crowds.

Jake’s head became a mass of thoughts and feelings all warring for space, chaos clouding logical thought as his body seemed to jolt into a mess of heart-pounding sickening panic. He kept questioning that look, trying to dissect in seconds why she would look at him the way he had been looking at himself in the mirror for weeks. His head skimming through memories and conversations of the last weeks with her, tidbits of clues and puzzle pieces.

He remembered the last song she sent him and reached into his jacket for his phone, looking up to see if she was still close enough to catch and realizing she was completely gone.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.