Chapter Seven
Chase bounded down the stairs a little happier than usual. Sure, it was early, and he was definitely not a morning person. But he also knew that Emma had slept in his guest house that night, and it made him feel more at ease.
Frankly, he had felt uneasy since their first meeting back at the lawyer's office.
All that money that Emma could inherit would really make a difference for her, but it hinged on him helping her out.
A guy who was worth millions and millions.
Hell, he honestly wasn't even sure exactly how many millions.
He had an accountant and a financial guy for that.
But Emma was living in hotels and storing her stuff in her car. If he could help her, he would, and he could. He just had to find some way for her to spend her money so they could get her to the payoff. Being her landlord was just going to have to be one of those ways.
Chase walked into his kitchen to see his assistant already moving around the room to get things organized for the day.
"Morning!"
"Morning?" Marcus asked. "That's it?"
Chase shrugged and grabbed a berry smoothie from the fridge. "What more do you want?"
"Oh gee, I don't know, boss," he said sarcastically. "Maybe an explanation of who is staying in your guest house or why there was chocolate cake on your window."
"Did you clean it off?"
Marcus dramatically rolled his eyes. "Yes, you asked me to. Still doesn't answer my question."
Chase looked out his windows past the pool to see Emma emerging from his guest house in a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt that made him start to think that staying in the guest house would need some strict rules for Chase to keep his hands to himself.
"One second." He jogged over to the back door and threw it open with extra flair. "Ms. Colton! I do declare this morning is particularly beautiful now that I've seen you."
"Oh god."
She muttered it, but it was still loud enough for Chase to hear, and he got a little kick out of her response. He wasn't sure if it was disdain or amusement or sarcasm, but he would take what he could get.
"Would you like to join me inside for some breakfast before your meeting with Mr. Dick?"
"Uh..." Emma stood a few more steps towards him but was staring at him now with a serious look on her face. "I know I stayed in your guest house or whatever, but our relationship is completely platonic."
"Oh, shit. I'm really sorry. I didn't mean it like that." He tried to give her a reassuring smile, and her face seemed to soften a little bit. "Mr. Dick is what I call Charles. You know, dick. Dickson. I thought it was an obvious connection."
"Ah, gotcha," she said with a smile on her face. "You had me concerned there for a second."
Really? Because as much as he may be a flirt, she didn't give him the vibe that she was interested in him like that, and he didn't try to give her that vibe back even though he wanted to.
There were plenty of women out there who wanted his dick.
He didn't need to hit on Nana's granddaughter, a woman he actually had to work with for her inheritance.
And yet, what was so bad about his dick?
Or really him for that matter? Sure, things were weird and all, but Emma was gorgeous and smart and definitely not the quiet wallflower he expected her to be after their first meeting in that lawyer's office.
Chase would definitely find himself attracted to a woman like that under normal circumstances, and women like that would find him attractive under normal circumstances.
But then he remembered the call they had to make this morning to her finance guy. These weren't normal circumstances. Emma was off limits and she had made clear to him that she preferred it that way.
"So you're going to be on the call with me this morning?" Emma said as she met Chase in the doorway.
"I figured it was best so I could explain the whole thing about me being your landlord."
"You're a what?"
Chase rolled his eyes at his assistant's dramatic reply from inside. "Come on in, and let's get you some breakfast."
"Do you have coffee?"
Chase moved out of the way and let Emma walk in, closing the door behind her. "Do we have coffee?"
"We do," Marcus said. "I was just about to start a pot, but I have a few questions first."
Chase put his hand on the small of Emma's back and led her to the kitchen counter to have a seat. "Emma, this is my assistant, Marcus. Marcus, I'd like you to meet Emma."
Marcus's face went from dour to warm and happy. It was weird for Chase to see.
"Emma!" he said with extra enthusiasm. "It's really nice to finally meet you. I've heard a lot about you."
"I hope it's not all bad."
"All good!" Marcus turned and started rummaging around in Chase's cupboards. "You said you wanted coffee, right?"
"If you could."
He smiled. "For you, of course."
Wow. Marcus had become a friend over the years and he and Chase had a great relationship, but Marcus never treated Chase as well as Emma was getting treated right now.
"So can I ask what you've heard about me?"
Chase tried to keep a smile on his face, but he would be lying if he said he wasn't worried about what Marcus was going to say.
The two of them had already talked about Emma and this crazy challenge that he had been roped into.
Marcus was the one who had made the dinner reservation for them on Emma's request and had tried to help Chase brainstorm ideas for other plans that could help Emma spend some of her money.
But to have Marcus actually talking to Emma now made him nervous for some reason.
"Only the best things!" Marcus said reassuringly as he put the water in the coffee pot and pressed the brew button. Then he turned and leaned on the counter across from Emma. "I know you like delicious desserts, and you're funny, and you're a librarian."
Emma looked surprised as she turned to Chase. "So Chase already told you I like desserts and I'm a librarian? Because he only learned that yesterday."
"He only learned that yesterday. Nana told me that last year."
Emma's head snapped around and she gave Marcus a curious look. "Nana?"
Marcus looked a bit sheepish. "Your grandmother, I mean. I met her last year at one of the conventions that Chase went to. She was a really cool woman."
"Thanks."
"And I always loved finding things to buy for her birthday."
Emma's eyes went wide. "I thought that was Chase sending her presents."
Chase felt like climbing under the counter while Marcus laughed. "Oh, no. He would remind me it was Nana's birthday because it was on his calendar, and it was already on mine too. But I was the one picking the gifts out and I always loved finding a special one for her."
Emma gave Marcus a warm smile. "She really liked that vintage eighties charm necklace you sent her a few years ago."
"That was one of my favorite finds for her birthday!" Marcus said. "I wanted to get that particular one for her because it had one of those charms that looked like a record, and Chase would always come home from conventions with a list of eighties songs that Nana liked."
"She did love her eighties music. That was really nice that you remembered that."
Marcus ducked his head and quickly turned to busy himself in the kitchen.
Emma wouldn't have known it, but Chase could tell that her compliment flustered his assistant — in a good way.
Marcus prided himself on paying attention to details, but a compliment about it probably meant something special to him coming from Nana's granddaughter.
And yet Emma didn't seem upset by Marcus calling her grandmother "Nana" or Marcus mentioning her grandmother at all. Maybe she was getting better with her reaction or adjusting to life after her grandmother's death.
Or maybe she was just standoff-ish when it was Chase talking about her grandmother.
That kind of hurt. He wasn't trying to cause Emma pain, but he suspected that she viewed him differently than other people like Marcus because she was stuck with him.
He was the one standing between her and millions of dollars that could change her life, and that probably gave her a different view of him.
He couldn't really blame her. He would feel the same too if he was stuck with someone like him in order to get an inheritance.
There were times like this when he realized that she may have viewed him as the enemy and not a partner-in-crime when it came to working together to get this money.
He couldn't really blame her for feeling that way.
The coffee machine started bleeping, and Marcus gave her a small smile before turning around to grab some mugs from the cupboard.
"So Chase, what's this about you being a landlord?" he said over his shoulder.
"I thought Emma could stay in the guest house for the next month, and I could charge her rent."
"It's for this thing in my grandmother's will."
Marcus turned and gave her a reassuring smile. "Oh, I know all about that. Chase already told me." He set a mug of coffee in front of Emma. "You want milk or sugar?"
"Milk if you have some."
Marcus smiled and headed over to the fridge.
"Chase explained the whole thing the other day when I made reservations for your dinner.
" He walked back and set the milk down in front of Emma.
"Also, I plan to keep all of his receipts for you, although I think the car service is the only one I've had so far. "
"I really appreciate that."
The sound of an electronic chime floated through the air from Chase's speaker system. "You have an appointment with Mr. Dick, handsome."
Chase couldn't stop the growl that escaped his lips. "Thank you, Lucy."
"Anytime, handsome."
Marcus stared at him with a shit-eating grin, and Emma looked amused. It was nice to see her smile, even if she was trying to hide it behind her coffee cup so he couldn't see it.
"Shall we?"
She nodded and slid off the kitchen stool, coffee cup still in hand.