Chapter Four
Chase watched the beach come into view as the black Town Car he had reserved pulled onto Pacific Coast Highway. He loved growing up in Wisconsin along the shoreline of Lake Michigan, but the beach there was nothing like California. That's why he always tried to enjoy these moments by the ocean.
Tonight, he was going to be eating at a fancy restaurant right on the beachfront. A few of his co-stars had recommended The Fish Fry, which had become huge among the elite in Los Angeles. It was hard to get a reservation — well, hard to get if you weren't a big-name movie star.
Luckily, Chase was the Chase Warwick. His assistant, Marcus, called up two days ago and secured a reservation with no issues by dropping Chase's name.
Yeah, even Chase thought it was a dick move sometimes to drop his name for reservations, but he wanted tonight's dinner to be special so he was doing what he had to do.
And by special, he didn't mean special for him. He meant special for Emma. He honestly felt bad for her. This inheritance would be life-changing money for her, but it was locked up and sitting in an account behind this challenge from Nana.
Chase remembered coming to Los Angeles a decade ago with a few hundred dollars in his pocket from his parents and a dream to make it big.
He remembered the crap jobs he took just to make connections in the industry before he finally got his big break and a check with a few extra zeroes at the end of it.
Now, Emma was close to having that same experience, staring down at a check with extra zeroes in it that could change her life, and he would do what he could to give that to her. It was only a month of his time, but it would make a big difference for her. It was the least he could do.
"We're almost there, Mr. Warwick," his driver said from the front seat. "I've heard this place just introduced a really expensive burger, so make sure you hold on to your wallet just in case."
Chase laughed from his spot in the back seat. "Thanks for the warning."
But what he didn't feel like telling the driver was that he wasn't paying for tonight.
Emma was. Sure, the dinner would only be a few hundred dollars if they really splurged so they were starting off slow.
Hopefully, he could use the time tonight with Emma to brainstorm some other ideas that would cost more than that and get both of them a little closer to her goal of spending all that cash to get her inheritance.
There were actually a lot of things that Chase wanted to talk to Emma about.
He hadn't spoken with her since their first meeting at that lawyer's office.
His assistant had coordinated the plans for tonight with Emma and then made the reservation for them.
Emma had specifically requested The Fish Fry for some reason.
Maybe she had heard the buzz about it and wanted to take advantage of Chase's fame to get a reservation.
Maybe she assumed that a place like that was expensive enough to drop some real money and get this challenge rolling.
Chase's driver pulled into the restaurant's parking lot and stopped right in front to let him out. "Mr. Warwick, just be aware that there's a Lakers game tonight, so we may be a little delayed in picking you up depending on when your dinner is over."
"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind," he said with a smile.
But really? They were pushing him to the back of the queue for a regular-season Lakers game? It wasn't even the playoffs. But Chase had to remind himself that it didn't matter that much as he was paying nothing for this car service tonight. It was all going on Emma's tab.
He put on his Hollywood smile as he walked into the place, throwing extra wattage at the woman behind the maitre d' stand.
"How are you tonight?" he said with extra sweetness.
"Hi, Mr. Warwick! It's great to see you," she replied with the same extra sweetness as she grabbed two menus from her stand. "We already have your table waiting for you if you want to follow me."
She led him to a bank of windows that looked out on to the ocean with dark booths close to the edge.
Chase was a bit worried that he was the first one here, as if Emma could possibly stand him up or something.
So he decided to take the seat facing the front entrance to make sure he wouldn't miss her coming in.
The maitre d' left him to peruse the menu, and he had just started to check out The Fish Fry's specials for the day when he heard it. It was like a low hum or murmur from the people sitting around him, like something was drawing their attention away from dinner.
That's when he turned and saw her, and he immediately understood when the buzz was about.
Emma Colton was walking through The Fish Fry in a gorgeous dress that even made Chase stop what he was doing.
It was dark blue, like a midnight blue, with a big skirt piled high with tulle that shimmered as she walked.
It was like twinkling stars that blinked with each step.
The top of it was the same midnight blue with a low v-neck cut in front and was held up by two little spaghetti straps that honestly made Chase's pants feel a little tighter.
It wouldn't take much for those things to snap and that top to expose whatever she was hiding under that silky fabric.
Her hair was down but looked like it had been professionally styled.
Gone was the flat style she had a few days ago, replaced with soft curls that gave it depth and made him want to run his fingers through it.
He had been in enough make-up trailers over the years to know that her make-up was definitely professionally done, but in a soft, light way that still made it look natural.
He knew full well that everyone in that restaurant had their eyes on Emma and Chase, and he loved it.
He wanted everyone to see that he was with a woman that hot.
He stood up and greeted her as she walked up to the table, placing a gentle kiss on her cheek before laying his hand on her back to direct her to her seat across from him, feeling warm skin under his palm.
The back of Emma's dress had a deep cut in it, exposing an expanse of luscious skin under his touch.
Damn, he was lucky she was his date tonight.
Get a grip, he tried to tell himself. This wasn't a date.
Emma wasn't some big-name actress or the normal model he would pick up and then have his way with later.
This was... well, he wasn't sure what she was to him.
A friend? Not really. Acquaintance? Eh. A business partner? Sure, that sounded good for now.
"Did you find the place OK?" he said as he sat back down across from her.
"Yeah, it was fine."
Huh. All dressed up, but her attitude didn't match her physical appearance.
She was probably still a little bitter about this whole spending money to get her inheritance, or maybe she felt as awkward about this as he did.
Chase decided it would be his mission to make her warm up to him as best as he could.
After all, they had to work together for the next month to get her that money.
"I'm glad you chose this place. This view is amazing, and there's something so calming about the beach, right?"
He could see something stormy brewing behind Emma's eyes, but she quickly blinked it away. He would have to remember not to mention the beach again apparently. Although he did wonder what that was about and why, if she had a reaction like that, she suggested this place for dinner.
"It's a nice view," she replied in a clipped tone.
Emma turned and gave him a tight smile that he knew was fake, but he had to give her credit for at least trying.
"How about some wine?" he asked.
He started to look at the menu before their waiter showed up to yammer on about the specials.
"I heard the fish sticks are amazing," Chase said, exaggerating the "amazing" to get Emma to buy into it.
"They are one of our biggest requests," their waiter said with extra enthusiasm.
"Yeah, that sounds fine," was all Emma said in that clipped tone again.
"And we were just talking about some wine. How is this bottle of pinot noir?" Chase looked up to see Emma giving a moody stare to the wine menu. "Sorry, are you not a pinot fan?"
Emma shook her head. "It's fine, but it's kind of cheap. What about this four-hundred-dollar bottle?"
A huge smile spread across the waiter's face. "Oh, that's a wonderful choice. One of my favorites!"
Chase could see what was going on, and he wasn't sure he liked it. Emma was going to go big at this dinner to ring up a huge bill. He couldn't blame her. After all, every dollar counted. But this seemed like it was more of a chore for her.
This wasn't just about the bottom line to him though. Nana said they had to have a good time with the cash, and that's what Chase was going to do even if it meant dragging Emma kicking and screaming into a fun time.
"Sure, let's go with that." Chase handed the wine menu to the waiter. "And an order of the fish sticks. I think those sound like they would be good."
He turned and gave his huge wattage smile to Emma. She gave him nothing back.
"Actually, are you ready to order?" she asked.
Chase fumbled a bit with the menu in front of him, thankful that he had taken a peek at it before Emma got there. "We're going big, right?"
"Yeah," she said blandly.
"After you?" She just shook her head so he pushed on. "OK, then I'll have the king crab legs. Can you bring extra butter?"
Those things were a splurge for him sometimes for dinner, but he was determined to spend some money. The extra butter was a few dollars more too, which should make Emma happy.
"And for you, miss?"
She took a deep breath and then smiled up at the waiter. "I called earlier to reserve one of your Golden Burgers for dinner."