"I figured it was best so I could explain the whole thing about me being your landlord."
"You're awhat?"
Chase rolled his eyes at his assistant's dramatic reply from inside. "Come on in, and let's get you some breakfast."
"Do you have coffee?"
Chase moved out of the way and let Emma walk in, closing the door behind her. "Do we have coffee?"
"We do," Marcus said. "I was just about to start a pot, but I have a few questions first."
Chase put his hand on the small of Emma's back and led her to the kitchen counter to have a seat. "Emma, this is my assistant, Marcus. Marcus, I'd like you to meet Emma."
Marcus's face went from dour to warm and happy. It was weird for Chase to see.
"Emma!" he said with extra enthusiasm. "It's really nice to finally meet you. I've heard a lot about you."
"I hope it's not all bad."
"All good!" Marcus turned and started rummaging around in Chase's cupboards. "You said you wanted coffee, right?"
"If you could."
He smiled. "For you, of course."
Wow. Marcus had become a friend over the years and he and Chase had a great relationship, but Marcus never treated Chase as well as Emmawas getting treated right now.
"So can I ask what you've heard about me?"
Chase tried to keep a smile on his face, but he would be lying if he said he wasn't worried about what Marcus was going to say. The two of them had already talked about Emma and this crazy challenge that he had been roped into. Marcus was the one who had made the dinner reservation for them on Emma's request and had tried to help Chase brainstorm ideas for other plans that could help Emma spend some of her money. But to have Marcus actually talking to Emma now made him nervous for some reason.
"Only the best things!" Marcus said reassuringly as he put the water in the coffee pot and pressed the brew button. Then he turned and leaned on the counter across from Emma. "I know you like delicious desserts, and you're funny, and you're a librarian."
Emma looked surprised as she turned to Chase. "So Chase already told you I like desserts and I'm a librarian? Because he only learned that yesterday."
"Heonly learned that yesterday. Nana told me that last year."
Emma's head snapped around and she gave Marcus a curious look. "Nana?"
Marcus looked a bit sheepish. "Your grandmother, I mean. I met her last year at one of the conventions that Chase went to. She was a really cool woman."
"Thanks."
"And I always loved finding things to buy for her birthday."
Emma's eyes went wide. "I thought that was Chase sending her presents."
Chase felt like climbing under the counter while Marcus laughed. "Oh, no. He would remind me it was Nana's birthday because it was on his calendar, and it was already on mine too. But I was the one picking the gifts out and I always loved finding a special one for her."
Emma gave Marcus a warm smile. "She really liked that vintage eighties charm necklace you sent her a few years ago."
"That was one of my favorite finds for her birthday!" Marcus said. "I wanted to get that particular one for her because it had one of those charms that looked like a record, and Chase would always come home from conventions with a list of eighties songs that Nana liked."
"She did love her eighties music. That was really nice that you remembered that."
Marcus ducked his head and quickly turned to busy himself in the kitchen. Emma wouldn't have known it, but Chase could tell that her compliment flustered his assistant — in a good way. Marcus prided himself on paying attention to details, but a compliment about it probably meant something special to him coming from Nana's granddaughter.
And yet Emma didn't seem upset by Marcuscalling her grandmother "Nana" or Marcus mentioning her grandmother at all. Maybe she was getting better with her reaction or adjusting to life after her grandmother's death.
