35. Emerson

I walked out of the bathroom with a towel around my waist, and my heart tripped over itself. Gi stood across the room, dressed in a black halter dress. Her hair was pinned up so it cascaded down her back in big, loose curls. The smooth skin of her bare shoulders and back contrasted with the black of the dress that tucked in at her waist and flared over her hips, draping perfectly over my favorite ass on the planet. And damn, her legs looked good in those sky-high heels.

The only time they looked better was when they were slung over my shoulders or wrapped around my waist.

I stalked toward her, eating up the space between us until I cupped one shoulder, relishing the sensation of her silky skin against my callused palm. Dipping in close, I pressed my lips to her neck.

In response, she tilted her head, giving me better access.

"You're stunning," I whispered against her skin. "Every guy in the place will have their sights set on you."

"You're ridiculous." She snorted delicately.

My chest pinched at the way she brushed off the compliment. She didn't get it. She didn't see what I saw when I looked at her.

Beautiful, talented, determined, caring, and fierce. A complete package of a woman.

My heart clenched, because she was so close to slipping away.

Tomorrow was the deadline. She'd have to give the stupid douche firm an answer about the job in New York. And although she hadn't come out and told me she wasn't taking it—not that I'd asked; the last thing I wanted to do was push—she hadn't said she wasn't either.

After tonight, she'd have money from the auction as well. That would probably come into play when she had to make that final decision. Wren had texted yesterday to tell me she'd received early interest in Gi's work. The Puff painting had been so popular that they'd raised the starting bid on it.

"Are you planning on wearing a towel?" She smirked, skimming a hand over my abs.

I would absolutely not wear a towel to the big night she had no idea was her big night. But teasing her was in my wheelhouse, so I shrugged. "It's more comfortable."

Lips pursed, she squinted at me. "People will be there."

"And?"

She crossed her arms over her chest, causing her breasts to lift into the deep V of her dress. I lifted a finger to trace the swell, but she batted my hand away.

"There's no way you'd let me wear just a towel anywhere."

My smile bloomed, along with a warmth in my chest. "Is this your way of saying you're feeling possessive of me?"

She rolled her eyes and opened her mouth, but before she could retort, the doorbell chimed. I turned, ready to answer it, but she grabbed my arm.

"I'm dressed. I'll get it," she huffed, every word dripping with exasperation.

I chuckled as she sauntered out of the room, taking the time to drink her in from behind, but my laughter died when her voice echoed down the hall.

"Why are you here?"

Her tone was full of disgust, which meant it couldn't be her brother or her dad. And there was no way she'd talk to her friends that way either. Linc and Mila were meeting us at the auction house, so they were in town, but she didn't know that, and they wouldn't ruin the surprise by coming over beforehand.

"I hate surprises."

I winced. That didn't bode well for my night. Maybe I'd be better off telling her before we left. Holding my breath, I moved down the hall to get a look at the unhappy surprise that had shown up.

At the sound of a man clearing his throat, my back went ramrod straight. Who the fuck was here?

"My attorney said I should get you your money back. So I brought a check."

I gritted my teeth and pushed away the bolt of rage that hit me when his voice registered. Jake.

"You drove three hours to hand deliver it? Why didn't you just stick it in the mail?"

I padded down the hall quietly and hovered just out of sight. The gentlemanly thing to do would be to give her privacy, but every instinct told me to storm out there, lick her, and yell mine. So standing out of sight wasn't that bad in the scheme of things. I wasn't charging out and peeing a circle around her.

"I wanted to see you."

My entire body went from tense to full-on alert.

"You look amazing, Gigi."

I wasn't sure what I wanted to do first: cut out his tongue for talking to her or remove his eyes from their sockets. I could envision the exact expression on the dude's face. It was the same one he'd worn when he saw her at the zoo. The one that made me want to break his nose.

"I missed you. My life has gone to shit since we broke up. I know I made a mistake…"

Hands balled into tight fists, I warred with myself. She was fierce and independent. She'd want to handle this on her own. My head knew that. My heart was really struggling, though.

I took a deep breath to calm my racing heart, but it did no good.

"Mistake?" That small whisper made my heart skip.

There was no way she'd fall for his bullshit. She wouldn't. She couldn't. The two seconds of silence that followed that one word felt like an eternity. My heart hammered so hard I was worried it'd beat its way out of my chest.

"Well, isn't that…disgusting?" she snapped.

Instantly, my shoulders sagged in relief, and I let out the breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding.

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

I could picture the look on her face. Chin up, eyes heated. I couldn't help but smile.

"You have a pregnant fiancée at home. Who, for some unknown reason, likes you. And you're here telling me, the woman you cheated on for seven months with said fiancée, that you miss me?"

"Don't you miss me?"

"No!" She scoffed, clearly thinking the question was as absurd as I thought it was. That one word gave me all the happy tingles. "Not at all. You should go."

"Gigi." His voice dropped low.

"Don't touch me."

Those three words were all it took for my vision to go red. That was my line. She'd made it clear to him, and not only wasn't he leaving, but now he'd put a hand on her.

I turned the corner and strode right up behind her.

"She said you should go," I growled, reining in the urge to knock him out.

Gi turned, her eyes snapping to mine.

I found her waist and grabbed hold of her, my fingers biting into the fabric of her dress.

"I can handle Jake," she huffed at me.

"Well aware, Mariposa. But I still have that being a gentleman problem that you put up with so patiently for me."

A small laugh slipped from her lips.

I stepped around her and loomed over him, forcing him to back out the door. "Bye, Jake." Once he was over the threshold, I pushed the door closed. Then I spun and took Gianna's face in my hands, pressing my lips to hers so I could prove to myself that she was still here and still mine.

I pulled her into my body. "You deserve so much better than that idiot."

"I've learned that." She smiled against my lips. There was a peace in the fact that although she'd been annoyed and possibly exasperated by his appearance, she didn't seem to care. At all. "And you need to get dressed so we can see some art."

"Yup." I pulled back. "Looking forward to it. One of my favorite artists is going to be there," I joked as I turned and headed down the hall.

"Who is that?" she called from where she was still standing in the entryway.

"You'll see." I kept my tone light, but unease swirled in my stomach again, because she might not be smiling later.