Ouch.
Do I look eighteen to him?
Should I take it as a compliment that he mistook me for my younger sister?
“I’m Emma.” I sigh. “Drake’s other sister.”
Raking a hand through his brown hair, he repeats my name. “Emma. You’re Emma.”
I nod even though he can’t see me. “I’m here to surprise Drake for his birthday.”
Taking a step forward, Case walks out of the bathroom before he turns to face me again. “I’ve got my own surprise to spring on your brother.”
What does that mean? As tempted as I am to ask, I don’t because I’m feeling way too exposed to continue this conversation. “I should get dressed.”
“Do that, and then we need to talk.”
With that, he closes the door behind him.
What the hell just happened, and more importantly, how did I not realize that my brother’s best friend is drop-dead gorgeous?
By the timeI’ve run the brush through my hair and gotten myself dressed in the jeans and black sweater I brought into the bathroom with me, I’ve tried to call Drake seven times.
Seven times.
He didn’t answer.
I left six panicked messages asking where he is.
Case said that he has a surprise for Drake. I’m terrified that I might have cost my brother his job. It’s clear that he doesn’t own this apartment even though he told me he did. He told Whitney and our parents the same thing. We were all thrilled that he was successful enough to afford a place like this.
Is Case Abbott the type of man who would fire his best friend over a little white lie? Or a big lie about a very expensive piece of property?
I already know the answer to that. Drake has called me a few times over the past two years complaining about Case firing people. Some of those ex-employees had been with Cabbott Mobile from the beginning.
Since my makeup bag is in my suitcase, I have no choice but to leave the bathroom barefaced.
Case already thinks I look like a college freshman, so what do I have to lose?
Sucking in a deep breath, I steel myself so I can fight for Drake’s job. I owe him that after everything he’s ever done for me.
I swing open the bathroom door and head out to face the man who holds my brother’s future in the palm of his hand.
CHAPTER THREE
Case
Emma Owens.
I have no fucking idea what she’s doing here. She seems to be under the impression that Drake is about to walk through the door.
My door.
I can’t say I’m surprised that he passed this place off as his own. Impressing his family was always important to Drake. He told me how thrilled his parents were when he was accepted into the computer science program at Brown University.
That’s where we met.
I was already on the path to my future. I was programming anything I could think of that would garner me a shot at my own company straight out of the gate after graduation.
