Chapter Twelve
Emma was smart enough to wear flats with her dress tonight — something she learned after her grandmother always packed those ugly orthopedic shoes for her conventions because of all the walking.
It didn't help that much though as her feet were still aching as she headed into the hotel with Chase after their martinis.
A few fans were in the lobby who recognized him so Chase stopped to take some selfies.
Emma wished he would hurry up as she really wanted to get her shoes off, but he looked like he enjoyed talking to the fans so she wasn't going to push him to leave.
He just seemed so at ease with them and after all the time Emma had spent with him, she could tell that he was genuinely happy to be around them.
She wondered if that was the same smile he would give Nana when he saw her at these things.
"Excuse me, are you Emma?"
She turned to see two women around her age staring at her. "Um, hi?"
"We're so excited you're here!" one of them said. "I'm Holly."
"I'm Krista." She smiled and gave Emma a small wave. "We just wanted to tell you that your grandmother was so awesome and was such an amazing Lyonheart."
"A what?"
She could see the teasing smile on Chase's face. "Ladies, you're going to have to forgive Emma. She isn't as cool as Nana."
The women laughed at Chase's joke and he rewarded them with the flash of a smile that made Emma think thoughts she shouldn't be thinking about a man she had to share a hotel room with.
"We call ourselves that," Krista explained. "We're fans of the Project Lyonheart movies so we're Lyonhearts."
"We're also LyonSmiths because we love Chase's character," Holly explained.
Emma gave a quick glance over to Chase to see him smiling a little too much at the fact that these were his fans.
"Nana was one of the best Lyonhearts," Krista said. "Oh, and her chocolate chip cookies were amazing!"
Emma couldn't help but smile. Nana always made a point of baking up several dozen of her famous chocolate chip cookies for these conventions to pass around once she set aside a specific allotment for Chase.
"You guys will have to convince Emma to make some for the next convention." Chase smiled. "So where are we going to meet you next?"
Holly and Krista started talking about their plans to see Chase tomorrow and then some convention in a few months in Miami maybe? That would've been too far for Nana to travel. She liked to stick to the ones that weren't hard for her to drive to.
But the next convention? This arrangement of theirs was going to last a month, that's it.
She had to spend the money, fulfill her obligation under her grandmother's will, and duck out.
So why was Chase assuming that she would be taking cookies to another convention?
There was no way that would happen. And yet, Emma also kind of liked the idea of seeing him after this was all over.
That also bothered her. This was a temporary thing. So why was she letting thoughts into her head about making this more permanent? Why was she even entertaining the idea of seeing Chase again when this was all over?
She felt Chase's hand on her back, his touch electric through the fabric of her dress, breaking her out of her daydreams about the future.
"I promised Emma another good day tomorrow so we should probably get going."
The women smiled at her, but there was something else in their eyes now as if they were making assumptions that shouldn't be made.
It was like they were jealous of Emma for being with Chase, which was definitely not the case.
She was just... sharing a hotel room with him. Totally normal thing for acquaintances.
"It was really so nice to meet you," Emma said to them. "And thank you for remembering my grandmother."
That seemed to smooth things over enough for Krista and Holly to go back to their big smiles.
"Are you going to be at the photo booth tomorrow?" Krista asked.
"Oh, I think that would be a great idea!" Chase answered enthusiastically.
Holly clapped her hands and did a little jump. "Yay! It'll be fun to see you there. Nana always loved coming up with funny poses for Chase."
"Oh, I know. She loved showing those to me when she got home." Emma tried to steady herself without looking like she was getting emotional. "That's really kind of you to remember her."
The women smiled at her while a few other fans said goodbye before Chase and Emma headed for the elevator that was waiting as soon as they got there.
Emma relaxed against the side of it as soon as the doors closed. She loved that Nana had this thing that was just for her, that it was something Emma didn't share. But she also never got to see her grandmother in this space where so many people seemed to like her.
"You OK?"
She turned and saw Chase looking intently at her. "Yeah, I'm good. Tonight has just been a lot."
He stepped closer to her. "You did really good with those fans. You're grandmother would've loved that."
Chase put a reassuring hand on her hip and Emma felt that spark of electricity from his touch again. He didn't pull away though and she wondered if he felt that same thing, if there was something compelling him to keep his hand there.
But then the doors opened, the moment broken, and his hand quickly pulled back.
The walk from the elevator to the room seemed to take forever, the silence between them awkwardly rolling out before them. There were martinis and fans and then suddenly something had shifted in the elevator between them.
Emma has enjoyed drinks with Chase and she totally understood why Nana would have been charmed by him after two martinis.
Yes, he was arrogant sometimes and the rich jerk she had to spend money on, which still made no sense to her.
But he was also thoughtful and listened to her talk and introduced Emma to all these fans to show her how much people liked her grandmother.
Maybe it was just the emotion of the whole thing and being here without Nana that was just throwing off the vibes. Emma just needed to sleep and it would be all settled and fine tomorrow.
Except for the fact that there was still only one bed in this hotel room, which Emma became keenly aware of again when Chase opened the door.
Then it loudly shut behind her and the space went quiet again like the hallway, Chase standing there staring at her with a look that she couldn't quite place.
She had to think of something or say something to break whatever was going on here.
"Thank you for the drinks."
Chase gave her a small smile. "I think I should be the one thanking you since you paid for them."
Right. The deal. Emma could only give him a tight smile, wordlessly acknowledging what she didn't want to say. They were only here because of the deal.
"Um, the fans were really great too. I'm glad you stopped so we could talk to them." Chase nodded, his eyes still on her. "I guess I didn't realize how many people cared about my grandmother."
"A lot of people cared about her." Chase took a step closer, invading her personal space. "And there are people who care about you too."
Emma could see every eyelash on Chase's face as he looked at her with something in his eyes that she hadn't seen before. It was turning her on a way that was even worse than the elevator.
How had things changed so much in only a few hours?
Sure, she had two martinis and so did Chase.
But there was something that seemed to have started when they walked out of that bar and headed back to the hotel, something that had been building when they weren't surrounded by places and people, when it was just the two of them walking together.
In the lobby just now, Emma could tell that Chase was being "on" and playing the role of the actor for his fans.
But he wasn't acting in the elevator, and he sure as hell wasn't acting now.
He was being real as he looked at her and gave her a lopsided smile that was awkward and nervous and something she had never seen from him before.
"Emma."
His hand brushed her hair over her shoulder, his fingers teasing her bare skin at the neckline of her dress.
But she didn't pull away. She didn't dare.
Because she wanted to be this close to him, wanted to feel his touch, wanted him to look at her like this.
It was as if there was no deal or bargain or whatever. It was just the two of them.
He stared at her as his hand slid down her side and around her waist, pulling her closer. He was warm and sturdy and everything that Emma expected him to be.
So she leaned in and kissed him.
She had no idea why she did it and she didn't care.
She just knew that her lips were on his, catching him by surprise because he wasn't kissing her back, making her wonder if she read this whole thing wrong.
But then he pulled her tighter and kissed her back, his lips pushing against hers as he backed her against the wall.
She was pinned by the cheap hotel wallpaper and Chase's strong and sturdy body.
Holy hell, this was so good. Better than anything she could've dreamed up.
His hands moved lower on her waist, trying to take in more of her, taste more of her.
Her fingers grabbed at his shirt as she pulled in Chase Warwick, superstar actor that her grandmother had coerced into hanging out with her.
Oh fuck.
Emma pulled away, or at least as much as she could considering her position against Chase's body and the wall.
His eyes roamed her face, searching to see what she was wordlessly trying to say to him.
But she couldn't put words together, and even if she could, she worried it would've sounded like, "This was a bad idea. "
It seemed like Chase could tell that's what she was thinking, pulling away from her and leaving her cold where his body had been touching hers. He stuffed his hands in his pockets as he took a step back, and then another one and another one.
Chase gave her that awkward smile again, but this time it looked a little different, like maybe he regretted kissing her. "I, uh..." He looked up toward the ceiling. "Sorry, I shouldn't have done that."
"It's OK," she stammered. "That was my fault. I didn't mean it."
She did mean it, she really did, but she also had to let him off the hook if that wasn't what he wanted.
And yet, when she said that she didn't mean it, there was something behind Chase's eyes like he was sad or disappointed.
She would have to apologize for that later.
But now, she just needed to get out of this situation.
So instead, she took a deep breath and stood a little taller away from the wall.
"I should get ready for bed. We have a big day tomorrow."
"Right."
She gave him a tight smile and quickly grabbed her suitcase, ducking into the bathroom to get changed.
Dammit, how had all of this gone so sideways?
Things were great earlier when she was watching him and the other actors taking questions and joking around with fans.
Drinks were a wonderful little chance to have a moment with Chase like Nana used to have.
It was a beautiful warm night in Palm Springs walking back to the hotel.
And now she was hanging up her dress and putting on some sweatpants so she could quickly climb into bed and ignore the awkwardness between her and Chase.
In their one hotel room with their one bed.
Emma made sure to brush her teeth since she didn't want them to smell bad if she had to share a bed with Chase, which was going to be a whole lot more awkward thank when they checked in.
She never expected to kiss Chase Warwick when they checked in.
She packed her things back into her suitcase and rolled it out of the bathroom, hoping that things could just get back to normal — or maybe not. She honestly had no clue what she wanted at this point.
It was clear when she stepped back into the room that Chase was distracted by all of it as well. He was standing by the window looking out over the parking lot and the night sky, his body solid and stoic.
"I'm going to sleep on the sofa tonight," he said without looking away from the window. "You can have the bed."
"You don't need to do that. It's a big enough bed for both of us, and you have a long day tomorrow."
"Emma, I—"
"Just stay in the bed," she said with a bit of force. "Really, it's no big deal."
She was such a liar. It was a big deal, a huge deal. But she wasn't going to tell Chase that. Besides, she was being truthful when she said they had a big day tomorrow and would both need their rest.
Chase seemed resigned to agree, turning to look at her with a tight smile on his face. "I'm going to get ready then."
He moved to walk by her but paused for just a moment as he got closer, as if he wanted to say something to her or reach for her or something. Emma wasn't exactly sure what it was and by the time she even thought about why he had stopped, he was already moving away from her.
She climbed into bed, set the alarm on her phone, and put it on the nightstand on her side of the bed. Then she tucked the blankets tight around her and settled in as close to the edge of the mattress as she could.
By the time Chase finally got out of the bathroom and turned off the lights, Emma was settled enough to pretend she was asleep. But when the other side of the bed moved with Chase's weight, it sent a shiver down her spine that she had to deftly hide from him.
It kept her up for another hour, but she didn't dare move in her spot or do anything that would cause her to confront her feelings for Chase and what she really wanted to do with him.