Chapter Thirteen
Asher
I looked at Emma’s computer screen. The code had failed. Not surprising. R it was after two. I’d just come back from grabbing some food with Miles. I figured Emma would be back from going over the customer service app with Cassie.
I walked over to the windows and looked out at the Sound. Ever since she’d walked into my life, my head had been messed up. Why was I so drawn to her? It was more than simple, straightforward attraction.
The overtime issue wasn’t that big a deal.
Yet hearing her say she’d worked Sunday set me off.
Had it been any of the others in my department, I would have reminded them of the rules and let it go.
But with Emma…I practically went off the rails and overreacted, which was well beyond the scope of supervisor/colleague.
Friday night was sort of the same. I was forceful on Friday, but that was mainly because something inside me wanted to protect Emma, even if she didn’t need it. She didn’t seem to care about her personal safety, so I was damn sure going to make sure she was safe.
I shook my head. When had I decided she was my responsibility? She wasn’t, but I couldn’t help myself. We’d only been working together a week and yet this need pulsed inside me.
I was sure I’d figure it out, in the meantime, I needed to be careful.
Fantasies, Inc. didn’t have any rules about dating other employees, but she was a contractor, and we were clients of her company.
This could turn into an ethical quagmire if I didn’t tread very carefully.
I needed to find a subtle way to get to know Emma better.
Tomorrow, I’d ask her to have lunch with me, and maybe I could learn more about this woman who haunted my dreams.
And that was another thing.
Since meeting Emma, she’d been starring in every one of my dreams, most of them erotic.
I wondered if she had any interest in consensual kink.
I’d been part of the kink community for a while now, but I was still exploring.
I’d often found that the consent discussion could be as hot as the scene itself.
If done right, going over what a potential partner and I enjoyed and even our limits could be manipulated into a form of foreplay.
How would Emma feel about being tied up and ravished.
The office door opened, and the object of my musings walked in. “How did the testing with Cassie go?”
“Great.” She gave me a wide smile. “Cassie and her assistant, Lisa, are going to test the heck out of the app today and tomorrow and let me know of any issues.”
“That’s great.” I said as she sat down at her desk and frowned at the computer screen. “I noticed it failed.”
“Yeah.” Emma rubbed her forehead. “I’m wondering if we can make the app simpler.”
Her idea wasn’t a bad one. “Maybe. What are you thinking?”
“We break it down even further. Right now, we have some pretty big categories. What if we broke down toys into things like vibrators, non-vibrating, specialty?”
“That’s a good idea. Marcus would be the best resource. Why don’t I set up a meeting with him for tomorrow?”
“Not today?”
“It’s almost three, and we leave at four. Actually, you should leave at three-thirty since you got here at six-thirty.”
The enthusiasm in her eyes dimmed to disappointment. “If you insist.”
“I do. I believe in the overtime policy.”
“I get it. It’s something I need to get used to, even if it’s only for a short period of time.”
There was that, but I wasn’t ready to discuss eventual completion of this project and her leaving yet. “How would you feel about going out to dinner tonight?”
Her eyes widened. “Dinner?”
Be cool, Asher. One step at a time.
“Yes. We’re going into our second week of working together. I know very little about you.”
Emma rested her elbow on the desk and propped her chin in her hand “I could say the same about you.”
“That’s why I’m proposing dinner. What do you say?”
She considered for a moment, and I almost forgot to breathe. “Sure, but would you mind doing something outside of Seattle?”
“Not at all.” I considered some suburban restaurants I was familiar with. “What about Tuscany’s?” I hoped it was a good place for her.
“That works. It’s on my way home. But I’m leaving before you.”
“I think I can sneak out. We were both here early.” I’d let Ben, my right-hand man, know I was leaving early.
Emma shrugged and turned back to her computer, making notes on the ever-present notepad next to her keyboard.
I picked up the house phone and called Marcus. After securing a meeting with him at nine tomorrow, I opened a new window and began typing in categories based on Emma’s idea. It was a good one.
We were trying to design an app that would incorporate all the services we offered under one umbrella with two subdivisions—corporate and client.
I was excited about this prospect. When I mentioned it to Josh and Dean in operations, they said it would make their work easier since it would organize negotiations with clients who wanted their services.
I normally didn’t get very involved with that aspect of the business. I was the IT guy. Based on what Josh and Dean said, I made a note that we’d need to incorporate the operations app with the R I wondered why. She stopped next to a small red car.
“This is me.”
“How do you get around in winter?” The little two door car would slip and slide in any snow with the ice built up underneath it; there wasn’t enough weight to it.
“I manage. I bet you have a big honking SUV.”
“It’s not big. It’s medium sized and great in winter with four-wheel drive.”
She laughed and rolled her eyes. “Men and their big SUVs.”
“Don’t back out until I pull up behind you. I’ll be the dark blue SUV.”
“I know where Tuscany’s is, you know.”
“Humor me.”
“I’ll take your request under consideration.” She gave me a jaunty wave as she unlocked the door and slid behind the wheel of her car.
I jogged to where my vehicle was parked two rows away, only to see Emma pull out and head for the exit. Cheeky woman. Once inside my vehicle, I pulled out. Emma made all the lights, whereas I didn’t.
After Friday, I decided not to call her.
What would be the point, and I’d already stepped over a line with her.
If whatever this might be was going anywhere, I had to put the brakes on my protective instincts.
I’d see her at the restaurant. One thing was for sure, with her fierce independence and stubbornness, any relationship we might have would never be boring.
She was waiting already at the door of the restaurant as I pulled into Tuscany’s parking lot. She waved at me while rocking a big self-satisfied grin on her face.
I shook my head as I pulled into a parking space. Okay, Emma. You win this round. I locked the vehicle and went inside to find her talking with the hostess.
“Here he is,” Emma said, looking very proud of herself.
If she were mine…
I felt a flush of anticipation. The Discussion was going to happen; I was absolutely certain of it.
And the aftermath would very likely involve restraint, at least one spanking, and heat.
Lots and lots of heat. Over and over again.
I’d never been this attracted to a woman.
I wanted to know her intimately. Inside and out.
Shit. Now I had a raging hard on. Thank goodness my suit jacket was buttoned.
“Perfect. Right this way,” the hostess said.
I cleared my throat, reminding myself that I needed to play a long game.
Emma might show her sassy side on occasion, but she was a skittish woman, and I was not going to risk doing anything that might send her running for the suburbs.
Still, I needed her to understand that nothing was more important than her safety.
I cupped Emma’s elbow. “You didn’t wait for me.”
“No, I didn’t.”
The hostess stopped at a table. I slipped around the pair and pulled out Emma’s chair. Her eyebrows rose, but she sat down, and I took a seat across from her. The hostess smiled. “Your waiter will be here shortly.”
Luckily, the restaurant wasn’t busy this early in the evening. I waited until the hostess was out of earshot. “Next time, you will wait for me.”
“Will I?” Emma picked up her menu.
“Emma…” I lowered my voice.
She lowered the menu enough that I could see her eyes. They danced with mischief. “Quit being an overbearing Neanderthal.”
“I’m not a Neanderthal.” That word was beginning to annoy me.
“If the shoe fits…” She lifted her menu higher.
All right, maybe I was a little overbearing.
I picked up my menu. Lots of good choices.
“Good afternoon, I’m Marco your waiter. May I get you something to drink? Wine, coffee, soft drink?”
“I’d like an iced tea please,” Emma said.
“Of course, do you want lemon with that?”
“No, thank you.”
The waiter looked at me. “Peroni, please.”
“Good choice. I’ll be right back with those drinks and some bread.”
I folded my menu and set it down. “What are you thinking about?”
“I really want the halibut fish & chips, but the cannelloni sounds so good.”
“How about if we do it family style?”
Emma looked up from her menu, tilted her head, and stared at me. “What do you mean?”
“Trust me?” I was taking a chance here. Emma was already thinking I was taking over too much.
“All right, but just where tonight’s food is concerned.”
Leave it to her to put conditions on it, but I got it. “Thank you.”
The waiter returned with our drinks and a basket of ciabatta bread. “Are you ready to order?”
“Yes. Let’s start with an order of toasted ravioli, then two house salads, I’d like ranch dressing.” I looked at Emma. “Emma, what kind of dressing?”
“Ranch is fine.”
I nodded. “Then an order of halibut fish and chips, cannelloni, and fettuccini. Extra plates, please.”
“Yes, sir. I’ll have the appetizer and salads out first.”
“That’s a lot of food,” Emma said.
“I’m hungry.” I was. But any leftovers would go home with her. “So, tell me more about Emma Palmer.”
Her cheeks flushed. “Not much to tell. You already know I’m the youngest of three.”
“Right. Born and raised in San Francisco.” She nodded. “Where did you get your degree?”
“UC Berkeley, in computer science, of course.”
I whistled. “Nice.”
“Yeah.” She ducked her head. “It wouldn’t have been my first choice, but my parents insisted, and since they paid for it…”
I nodded. “I went to MIT.”
“I think of MIT for engineering degrees.”
“A lot do, but they have a great computer science department.”
“Were you born and raised in Seattle?”
“Not in the city, but down in Tacoma.” My parents still live in the same house.
“Why MIT then?”
I chuckled. “My father wanted me to attend. He thought it would be good for me to get out on my own at college.”
“At eighteen?”
“I’m sure you went to Berkeley when you were…”
“Twenty. I did two years at a community college first.”
“I’d already done most of the first two years of college in my last two years of high school.”
“Ah, one of those gifted ones.” She grinned.
“I never considered myself gifted. I picked up coding easily. One of my high school teachers noticed and helped me get into the right math and science classes. The rest is history.”
“How did you fare being so far from home?” She paused. “Sorry, I’m curious.”
“You can ask me anything you want.” I meant that. I wanted Emma to talk to me. Figuring out what made this woman tick was an interesting prospect and a two-way street. “The first six months were hard. But as I made friends, it became easier.”
The waiter walked up to their table, dropped off two baskets of bread, the toasted ravioli, and the salads before walking away.
“This looks good,” Emma commented.
“Let’s eat.” She seemed relaxed, so maybe I could learn more about her as we ate.