Claimed Series Novel – Emma I sit up, disoriented, as I blink at the darkness. I swore I had heard something pull me out of my sleep. Squinting my eyes as I glance at my phone, I groan when I see it’s midnight. Flipping my pillow over, I’m about to lay back down when I hear a muffled thud.Is someone knocking? This late?I would kill whoever it was, physically or figuratively, depending on what they wanted. With a huff, I get out of bed and storm to my front door.
When I glance through the peephole, my breath catches. The man standing there looked like my uncle. My gorgeous, kind, and ridiculously tall uncle Jamie. The uncle I had a teenage crush on growing up. I calm my beating heart and pull on a blank face. The last time my aunt caught me ogling her husband, she scolded me for my inappropriate behavior. How unbecoming it was to lust after an older man, a taken man who was also family. She slapped me when I reminded her that he wasn’t my family and we had no relation other than being married to her.
That was six years ago at my high school graduation, and they haven’t returned since. Jamie had taken over the company branch in London, and my aunt jumped at the chance to joinrealhigh society. Whatever the fuck that meant. Another knock shook me from my thoughts, and I realized I still needed to open the door. When I did slowly, my stomach dipped nervously at the beaming smile aimed my way. “Little Em, I’m sorry to wake you,” he apologizes, his eyes widening when the porch light floods the doorway.
I didn’t have a chance to swoon at using the old nickname because embarrassment quickly replaced it. I had answered in my sleepwear, a thin tank top and panties. I cross my arms over my chest and glance nervously around him, expecting another tongue-lashing from my aunt. Jamie clears his throat and sheepishly holds up a small duffel bag, “it’s just me.” I frown, “what are you doing here?” “My flight ran late. I couldn’t get a hold of anyone at the main house,” he points a thumb over his shoulder, “I remember your dad saying you live on the back estate property.
Can I crash here tonight?” Nodding, I open the door wider and step back. “I converted the guest bedroom for my office, so you’ll have to take the couch.” “I’ll take anything. Serena and I were supposed to arrive yesterday, but all our fights got delayed, and we missed some connecting ones. She decided to stay an extra day in New York to visit a friend before flying in,” he chuckles, but I can see the exhaustion on his face. His lips were pursed, and the wrinkles near his eyes aged him. He looked older, and it made him devastatingly more handsome.
The softer features I was drawn to when I was eighteen were gone, and his cheeks were sharper, the days-old scruff giving him a rugged appearance. His body was more prominent too, his arms more defined under the light jacket he had on. His dark hair was longer and tousled, but I figured he would have it slicked back like usual if he hadn’t traveled. I could see his enormous thigh muscles as he walked past in his jeans. I blinked. I was ogling him again. Thank god it was just us, and so much for my crush being long gone. “Yeah… well, it was always about what she wanted,” I reply.
I’m sure a considerable amount of time had passed with my staring, making it more noticeable. I scratch the back of my neck and give him a weak smile, “Sorry, tired.”