Chapter 46

Jake stood her up carefully, holding her upper arms until she found her footing, and released her as soon as she was steady. He knew the danger of keeping her close, and he couldn’t handle her proximity with her looking as devastating as she did tonight.

“Careful, Leila.” Jake scorned Leila, catching the wicked gleam in her eye of a calculated plot she had brewed up. Jake narrowed his eyes at her and shook his head over the top of Emma. Moving to look away as she turned back to him in case she saw what was transpiring. She seemed to focus on him for a moment and as much as he wanted to turn back and dive into those baby blue eyes, he couldn’t bear it.

“I can’t help being so happy to see her, Jake. You keep her hidden from me.” She grinned wickedly at him, messages in their silent communication they had perfected from years of being friends. Jake tried hard not to glare and instead threw her a slight frown and a subtle warning to back off.

“I’ve been working.” Emma