“You’re right.” Emma nodded. “I just need a new perspective.”
“And this apartment is a stunning place to find it in,” Nick complimented, glancing up at the high ceilings and wooden beams.
“You’ve been a huge help to me,” Emma stated gratefully.
“Don’t mention it.” Nick gave a dismissive wave of his hand. “It’s what friends are for.”
Emma smiled while she turned her head ever so slightly so that Daniel’s apartment was visible through the corner of her eye. She couldn’t help but wonder what he was currently doing. Was he even home at that moment?
“Stop it!” Nick cried. “Don’t make me put huge drapes over these windows to stop you looking out for him all the time!”
“I...” Emma didn’t have the energy to lie. “I can’t help it.”
“This is a new start for you, Emma. New place, time to get a new man.”
“You sound like a life coach,” Emma teased.
“I’m a man of many talents.” Nick smirked.
“So, are we ready to sign on the dotted line?” the realtor asked as he came back into the apartment.
“Yes.” Emma nodded her head with confidence. “I’m ready.”
SURROUNDED BY UNOPENED boxes, Emma drank a glass of wine and tried to avoid the window that looked out on Daniel’s apartment. But with each box she unpacked and each glass of wine she drank, she became more convinced that she needed to pay him one final visit, that she needed closure.
Finally, she gave in to her impulses and headed out into the fresh night air. It took her longer than she anticipated to walk to Daniel’s apartment building. The view from her own place gave her a false sense of perspective. After almost forty minutes, she was standing outside his door, her hand raised to knock against it when she suddenly had second thoughts. What if being there was a bad idea? She should have called first. What if Daniel was there with someone else? She certainly couldn’t handle that. Emma wanted to run back to her own apartment, but she willed herself to see it through, and she promptly rapped several times upon the pristine white door. Daniel opened it with a stern expression and damp hair; he’d clearly just been in the shower.
“I’m sorry,” Emma said quickly. “This is a bad time. I should go.”
Her mind was racing. Daniel had just showered because he had someone there. Emma was about to come face to face with his new girlfriend, and she was terrified by the thought of it.
“Ems.” Daniel sighed. “What do you want?”
“Are you... alone?” she asked awkwardly.
“Yes.”
“Oh.” Emma couldn’t conceal her surprise.
“You figured that since I’m getting out of the shower I must be washing off the sexual musk of an encounter?” Daniel asked flatly.
“Actually, yes.”
“Well, it’s not that. I’ve just had a really long day and only just got in.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah, I’m trying to get everything finalized over here before I head back to London.”
“You’re going back?” Emma put a hand against his doorframe to steady herself. She’d never considered the fact that Daniel might actually leave her life once more even though he’d never once said that his return was permanent.
“Why don’t you come in?” Daniel suggested.
Emma felt oddly self-conscious as she sat down on his couch and watched him make them both a coffee. The effects of the wine she’d drunk had worn off on her walk over, and now she was stone-cold sober and nervous.
“I’m going back to London tomorrow night,” Daniel explained as he raised his voice over the kettle.
“So soon?”
“Yeah, I need to go and prepare the European stores for the release of the fall line.”
“Ah right, yeah. That makes sense.”
The thought of Daniel leaving again made Emma feel empty inside.
He came over and handed her a mug of coffee. Then he wandered into his bedroom and came out seconds later wearing sweat pants and a white T-shirt. It was rare for him to wear such casual attire. He dropped down beside Emma and nursed his own mug of coffee.
“I got a new apartment,” Emma said, trying to make small talk.
“I heard.”
For a few minutes neither of them spoke. Daniel sipped tentatively at his drink before turning and looking at Emma, anger glistening in his eyes.
“Why did you come here?” he suddenly demanded.
“To say goodbye.” Emma raised her head and pushed her shoulders back to make herself look more serious.
“Goodbye?” Daniel raised a disbelieving eyebrow.
“Yes,” Emma confirmed. “I’m moving on with my life. This thing that is happening between us, whatever it is, it’s over.”
“Is that so?” Daniel seemed amused by her as he placed his half-drunk mug of coffee down on a nearby table. He gently took Emma’s mug and moved that also.
“Yes.” Emma nodded, confused by his movements.
“So if I wanted to make love to you right now, on this couch, you’d stop me?” Daniel’s voice was flirtatious as he took his hand and began to move it up Emma’s thigh. She instantly felt her heart begin to race.
“Daniel—” She wanted to tell him to stop, that their romance, or whatever it was, was over. But she couldn’t. All she could think about was how good it felt to be with him.
“Tell me to stop,” Daniel teased as his hand reached her skirt and slid up beneath it. Emma was breathing hard, unable to say anything as he continued to move his hand upwards. He maneuvered her panties to one side, parted her vaginal lips, and began to massage her clitoris. Emma leaned back on the couch and groaned with delight.
“So is this over?” Daniel looked deep in her eyes as he brought her closer to climax.
“No,” Emma gasped. “It never could be.”
As she grew wet around his fingers, Daniel felt himself becoming hard. Just as she was about to climax, he removed his hand, scooped her up into his arms, and carried her off to his bedroom.
There on his bed they made gentle, tender love that lasted for over an hour. He removed every item of clothing and kissed every inch of her skin. Emma took his full girth into her mouth, and Daniel closed his eyes and savored the sensation. Everything felt blissful and perfect.
When they finally made love, they both climaxed together and, shuddering with satisfaction, rolled up together with Emma as the little spoon. There, curled together, they fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.
EMMA RUBBED HER EYES and looked around. It took her a moment to realize where she was. She turned and noticed that Daniel was still sleeping with one arm wrapped around her. Bright sunlight was bursting in through the window, warming the room, but Emma had no idea what time it was.
“Daniel,” she whispered his name gently and shook him. Daniel moaned and stirred slightly, lifting one hand to rub his weary eyes.
“Urgh,” he groaned. “What time is it?”
“I don’t know,” Emma whispered, rolling onto her side so that she was facing him. It felt special to be waking up together, and she wanted to savor every moment of it.
As Daniel’s eyes opened, he saw that he wasn’t alone in bed. He looked at Emma, and the tenderness from the night before was completely gone. His handsome features crumpled up with anger, and he removed himself from the bed as though he’d just found out that the sheets were infected with some awful contagious disease.
“What are you doing here?” he demanded, his nostrils flaring.
“I... I came round last night. Remember? We chatted, and stuff happened, and then we fell asleep.” Emma sat up in the bed and pulled the sheets protectively around her naked body.
“You fell asleep?” Daniel roared. “In my bed?”
“Yes! Daniel, what’s the problem?”
“Don’t you remember our agreement?” Daniel fumed.
“Agreement?”
“No staying over. You broke the rules, Emma. You need to
leave.”
“What?” Emma couldn’t believe what she was hearing. How could he be so incredibly rude to her after the wonderful night they’d spent together?
“I’m going for a shower.” Daniel pointed towards his en suite bathroom. “And when I come back, you’ll be gone. Do you understand?”
“No,” Emma said pitifully, tears beginning to run down her soft cheeks. Why was he being so horrid?
“We’re done!” Daniel shouted. “This”—he pointed back and forth between the pair of them—“is over. Don’t come here again. Don’t call me; don’t pine after me. You broke the rules, and we’re done. I want you out of my sight.”
Daniel trembled as he spoke, his mind spinning with the painful torment of Emma’s almost marriage to Nick. His wounds that still felt so raw. Getting close to her again, letting her back into his heart was just opening them all up, and he wasn’t ready to risk being hurt again.
He slammed the bathroom door behind him as he disappeared inside to shower. Trembling, Emma got up from the bed and pulled on her clothes that were strewn around the room. Each item had been so lovingly removed; she couldn’t believe that the same man who had made gentle, tender love to her the previous night was now removing her from not just his apartment but from his life with such cruel efficiency.
She was still crying as she fled his apartment, clutching her sides to hold herself together. She kept replaying the events of the night in her head, but she failed to figure out what exactly had gone wrong. She felt like they had finally connected, that they were getting back to how things had once been.
Emma wiped at her tears as she hurried through the busy morning streets back to the sanctuary of her own apartment. Once inside she’d release the full extent of her grief, hide beneath a duvet, and sob. Because this time she could tell that when Daniel Richmond had told her that they were over, he’d meant it.
Don’t stop now! Continue reading Designing Emma (Volume 5)—
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Designing Emma (Volume 4) Page 7