"Do you see that black fence with the bushes in front?"
On the left-hand side of the road was a house with a huge privacy fence and a gate. "Yep. Is that you?"
"That's me," he said with a bit of enthusiasm. "If you pull up in front of the gate, I can jump out and punch the code in."
She did as he directed and pulled up, watching as he jumped out and trotted over with the bottle of wine in his hand to a box near her driver's side window. He turned and flashed her that killer smile of his — "No peeking!" — and punched in some numbers. The gate slid open revealing a modern-looking house beyond the gate with a small driveway in front.
Chase pointed to a spot next to a two-car garage. "You can park right there."
Park right there? Was he actually inviting her in? It felt a little weird, but Chase invited her in and she frankly had nowhere else to be right now.
Emma pulled in and cut the engine, openingthe car door to find Chase already standing there and the gate gliding closed behind him. He offered her a hand, and Emma felt rude about turning him down. It was just a polite gesture.
"You're not going to kill me now or something, are you?" she asked sarcastically.
Chase's whole body shook with laughter. "Definitely not! I don't need Nana haunting me from the grave."
"You know she would do that too."
"Oh, I know."
He probably did. But it still felt strange hearing someone else talk about Nana like that and knowing that Nana had friendships and connections outside of their little house in Torrance.
Chase reached around her to open the back door and grab the bag of desserts from the backseat. "Alright, I've been thinking about that chocolate cake since we saw it on the dessert cart, and I'm determined to have some. Come on."
He extended his elbow for her to take and led her to his front door. There was another keypad there with another code that he punched in. Emma could hear the door unlock beside them.
He put his hand on the small of her back and gently led her into his home. The walls were gray with dark wood accents everywhere and dark, wide-planked floors. A small hallway from the front door led into a huge area with a living room, dining room, and kitchen all together. Beyond thatwas another small hallway that Emma assumed led to the garage and an open stairway going up to a landing on the second floor and a hallway she couldn't see.
"Are you one of those people who is picky about having their own plate or can we eat from the box with two forks?"
"Um, box with two forks I guess."
Chase's shoulders relaxed a bit. "Oh, good. I really hate doing dishes."
He put the bag from the restaurant on the counter and opened up his fancy stainless steel fridge. Then he slipped the boxes of desserts inside except for the large one that someone at The Fish Fry had written "cake" on.
She watched as he moved around his kitchen with determination. First, a drawer for two forks. Then a cupboard for...
"Uh, I'm not really a wine glasses person. Are lowballs OK?"
"I guess?"
"Cool." Chase gave her a warm smile. "Lucy!"
"Hello, handsome."
What the hell? Emma started looking around, waiting for a woman to come out from somewhere. Then she saw the glowing green puck-like speaker on Chase's counter.
"Lucy, can you tell Marcus to buy wine glasses?"
"Sure thing, handsome."
And then there was a small bloop and thegreen glowing speaker went dark.
"You have a virtual assistant who calls you 'handsome'?"
Chase looked a bit sheepish as he handed the two lowballs glasses to Emma. "My assistant did that. He thought it would be funny, and he knows I have no clue how to change it. Can we pretend you didn't hear it?"
