Emma crinkled her nose. "Yuck, no. I had a cheesecake incident once so no more."
She thanked the waiter without any explanation about what exactly a "cheesecake incident" meant. That was something else Chase would have to ask about later. He had a running list so far.
He was thankful that Emma had finally started to open up to him tonight. The ice breakerwas definitely the fish sticks. Then the waiter brought Chase's crab legs out with a bit of a flourish. But Emma? She got special treatment with the chef and the restaurant owner coming out to deliver her really expensive burger. He could tell the chef was taking extra pride rambling off all the amazing things in the burger on a gold-leaf bun.
Emma had given Chase a shocked look as they walked away. "What have I done?"
"You're having fun." Chase leaned in a little closer. "Enjoy it, Emma."
So he couldn't blame her when she asked for dessert to go instead of eating it there. He felt the same way after those crab legs.
When the waiter came back, he placed the bag with four to-go boxes of dessert in front of Emma and the check in front of Chase.
"Would you like me to recork your wine to take home?" he asked.
"Yes, that would be great, thanks." Once the waiter had walked far enough away, Chase put his hand on top of the tray with the check on it and slid it over to Emma. "I think this is for you."
She gave him an awkward smile and looked down at the piece of paper in front of her. Then she took a deep breath and started rummaging around the mounds of tulle fabric before coming up with her phone.
Chase leaned over and looked down at the seat she was sitting on. "Where did that come from?"
"Pockets!" Emma said triumphantly. "Considering how much I paid for this dress, it was required that I at least had pockets."
Chase leaned back and looked over at her. "Do I dare ask how much the dress cost?"
"Enough," she said quietly. "At least more than this dinner, so that's something I guess."
He tried to casually glance at the paper he had slid across the table to her. Her burger was by far the most expensive item on that receipt, but he thought he did pretty well helping out with the crab legs and the expensive wine. He hoped she would enjoy the leftover desserts too.
He also thought it was endearing to watch her punch a bunch of numbers into the calculator on her phone to help her figure out the tip.
"Have you thought about leaving a big tip? Like areallybig tip?" he asked. "Maybe that could be your solution to spending this money."
"I can't." She looked up and gave him a tight smile. "I asked Charles, and he said everything had to be market price. So no huge tips."
Chase leaned forward and put his elbows on the table. "So you talked to Charles?"
"Yeah, this morning. I told him I had a dinner date with you, which justified the dress and the hair and the make-up. But he was very reluctant to approve all this." She gestured towards her entire body, and Chase had to pull his eyes away from her breasts so he didn't stare too long. "I didn't tell him about what I ordered, but that's market value for aburger with truffles and Wagyu beef I guess."
"That is true," Chase said with a little laugh. "So, do you need some help with the check?"
She shook her head and looked back down at the pen in her head. "Trusty calculator works. I just have to sign it, right?"
Her hand was shaking a little, and Chase reached across the table to steady it a bit. "Dinner tonight was a great idea, and this gets you a step closer to your inheritance, so you're doing a super job."
She gave him a sarcastic look. "Super job? You sound like my second-grade teacher."
"But I'm better looking than your second-grade teacher, right?"
"Oh, definitely," Emma said with a laugh. "Mrs. Smith didnothave your body."
Chase winked at her and leaned back just as the waiter came back with their bottle of wine. Chase thanked him before turning to see Emma signing the check with a flourish and stashing her credit card from Charles back in a wallet that she then stuffed somewhere in those mountains of tulle.
"All set." She quickly pushed the check towards the waiter as if it was going to burn her hand if she held on to it for too much longer. "Thanks again. We had a lovely evening."
The waiter seemed smitten with Emma — Chase couldn't blame him — and helped her slide out of the booth before handing her the bag ofdessert. Chase grabbed the bottle of wine with one hand and put his other on the small of Emma's back to steer her out.
As they walked by different tables on their way out the door, Chase noticed that heads were turning to watch them go and he was pretty sure it wasn't because of him. Emma may not be used to dressing extravagantly, but she made it look effortless.
