"Yeah, me too."
Chase gave her one last smile and ducked out of the guest house, leaving her alone. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to take all of this in. After so much weirdness and uncertainty for the past few weeks, she felt like there was some stability in her life, even if that stability did come from a guest house in a huge movie star's backyard.
She finally walked over to close the door and overheard Chase talking to his virtual assistant as he headed towards his house.
"Can you let Marcus know we have someone in the guest house who will be staying for awhile?"
"Sure thing, handsome."
Emma smiled to herself and quietly closed the door. Then she laid down on the bed and turned on the huge television to scroll aimlessly through Chase's Netflix account.
She felt like she should be weirded out by all of this, but for the first time since Nana died, she felt comfortable and content. And that's how she fell asleep in her expensive dress in Chase's guest house.
Chapter Seven
Chase bounded down the stairs a little happier than usual. Sure, it was early, and he was definitely not a morning person. But he also knew that Emma had slept in his guest house that night, and it made him feel more at ease.
Frankly, he had felt uneasy since their first meeting back at the lawyer's office. All that money that Emma could inherit would really make a difference for her, but it hinged on him helping her out. A guy who was worth millions and millions. Hell, he honestly wasn't even sure exactly how many millions. He had an accountant and a financial guy for that.
But Emma was living in hotels and storing her stuff in her car. If he could help her, he would, and he could. He just had to find some way for her to spend her money so they could get her to the payoff. Being her landlord was just going to have to be one of those ways.
Chase walked into his kitchen to see his assistant already moving around the room to get things organized for the day.
"Morning!"
"Morning?" Marcus asked. "That's it?"
Chase shrugged and grabbed a berry smoothiefrom the fridge. "What more do you want?"
"Oh gee, I don't know, boss," he said sarcastically. "Maybe an explanation of who is staying in your guest house or why there was chocolate cake on your window."
"Did you clean it off?"
Marcus dramatically rolled his eyes. "Yes, you asked me to. Still doesn't answer my question."
Chase looked out his windows past the pool to see Emma emerging from his guest house in a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt that made him start to think that staying in the guest house would need some strict rules for Chase to keep his hands to himself.
"One second." He jogged over to the back door and threw it open with extra flair. "Ms. Colton! I do declare this morning is particularly beautiful now that I've seen you."
"Oh god."
She muttered it, but it was still loud enough for Chase to hear, and he got a little kick out of her response. He wasn't sure if it was disdain or amusement or sarcasm, but he would take what he could get.
"Would you like to join me inside for some breakfast before your meeting with Mr. Dick?"
"Uh..." Emma stood a few more steps towards him but was staring at him now with a serious look on her face. "I know I stayed in your guest house or whatever, but our relationship is completely platonic."
"Oh, shit. I'm really sorry. I didn't mean it like that." He tried to give her a reassuring smile, and her face seemed to soften a little bit. "Mr. Dick is what I call Charles. You know, dick. Dickson. I thought it was an obvious connection."
"Ah, gotcha," she said with a smile on her face. "You had me concerned there for a second."
Really? Because as much as he may be a flirt, she didn't give him the vibe that she was interested in him like that, and he didn't try to give her that vibe back even though he wanted to. There were plenty of women out there who wanted his dick. He didn't need to hit on Nana's granddaughter, a woman he actually had to work with for her inheritance.
And yet, what was so bad about his dick? Or really him for that matter? Sure, things were weird and all, but Emma was gorgeous and smart and definitely not the quiet wallflower he expected her to be after their first meeting in that lawyer's office. Chase would definitely find himself attracted to a woman like that under normal circumstances, and women like that would find him attractive under normal circumstances.
But then he remembered the call they had to make this morning to her finance guy. These weren't normal circumstances. Emma was off limits and she had made clear to him that she preferred it that way.
"So you're going to be on the call with me this morning?" Emma said as she met Chase in thedoorway.
