Chapter Seven
Asher
I glanced at the time on my computer monitor. Where had the day gone? Heck, the week. Emma sat at her desk, frowning as she studied her screen. As of today, we’d worked together for a week, and I still knew very little about her.
She wasn’t a chatter box, but she rarely initiated conversation.
I wondered about that. What or who had caused her reticence.
Throughout the week, I’d seen glimpses of the person I was sure was the ‘real’ Emma.
Like Monday, when we were in R her reaction seemed like more than ‘a little’, and she hadn’t talked much about R&D since the visit. Was it shock or just surprise? That definitely warranted a future conversation.
But not tonight.
“I will say your questions about customer service were right on track with what I wanted,” Cassie said.
“To me, customer service is customer service, no matter what the business does. It’s all about having happy customers.”
“And good focus groups,” Cassie commented.
The waitress returned with the beers. Cassie ordered first, then the waitress looked at Emma.
“I’m not sure yet.” She bit her lower lip. “Please take their orders first.”
I glanced at Marcus who shook his head. “We’ll wait.”
Emma rolled her eyes. “Bacon cheeseburger, no tomatoes.”
“Fries?” the waitress asked.
“Yes, please.”
“Good girl,” I whispered, unable to help myself, and Emma stilled then tilted her head. Her expression changed from confusion to curiosity in the blink of an eye, and this time, she didn’t look away.
Marcus ordered and then I did.
“You didn’t need to wait until I ordered.” Emma’s voice was barely above a whisper. She leaned back in her chair, her arm resting on the chair arm closest to me.
I reached over and gently squeezed her hand. “It was the polite thing to do.”
Cassie laughed. “Emma, arguing with men like Marcus and Asher is pretty much wasted effort. They’ll do what they want.”
“And don’t you forget it.” Marcus placed a kiss on Cassie’s cheek.