Or maybe she was just standoff-ish when it was Chase talking about her grandmother. That kind of hurt. He wasn't trying to cause Emma pain, but he suspected that she viewed him differently than other people like Marcus because she was stuck with him. He was the one standing between her and millions of dollars that could change her life, and that probably gave her a different view of him.
He couldn't really blame her. He would feel the same too if he was stuck with someone like him in order to get an inheritance. There were times like this when he realized that she may have viewed him as the enemy and not a partner-in-crime when it came to working together to get this money. He couldn't really blame her for feeling that way.
The coffee machine started bleeping, and Marcus gave her a small smile before turning around to grab some mugs from the cupboard.
"So Chase, what's this about you being a landlord?" he said over his shoulder.
"I thought Emma could stay in the guest house for the next month, and I could charge her rent."
"It's for this thing in my grandmother's will."
Marcus turned and gave her a reassuring smile. "Oh, I know all about that. Chase alreadytold me." He set a mug of coffee in front of Emma. "You want milk or sugar?"
"Milk if you have some."
Marcus smiled and headed over to the fridge. "Chase explained the whole thing the other day when I made reservations for your dinner." He walked back and set the milk down in front of Emma. "Also, I plan to keep all of his receipts for you, although I think the car service is the only one I've had so far."
"I really appreciate that."
The sound of an electronic chime floated through the air from Chase's speaker system. "You have an appointment with Mr. Dick, handsome."
Chase couldn't stop the growl that escaped his lips. "Thank you, Lucy."
"Anytime, handsome."
Marcus stared at him with a shit-eating grin, and Emma looked amused. It was nice to see her smile, even if she was trying to hide it behind her coffee cup so he couldn't see it.
"Shall we?"
She nodded and slid off the kitchen stool, coffee cup still in hand.
"Chase, I'll call your lawyer and find out about a basic rental agreement," Marcus said. "And Emma, it was nice meeting you."
"You too."
Chase shouldn't feel jealous. There was nothing to be jealous about. But the way she had smiled at Marcus made him feel a little jealous. Hewished she would look at him that way.
He led her down the hallway to his office tucked behind his stairway. When he bought the house, he thought having an office was a little excessive. He was an actor after all. But now he realized that since he didn't work in an actual office building with an actual desk, he liked having this space to separate his work stuff from his life stuff.
He let Emma walk in first, gesturing towards one of the chairs he bought from his interior designer that sat on the other side of his desk and rarely got used. Then he sat down across from her and grabbed a coaster for her coffee cup, placing it on the desk in front of her. She gave him a skeptical look in exchange.
"Blame Marcus. He's domesticated me or something."
"He worked a damn miracle," she said as she put her mug down.
"Wait until you see my hair after it's properly coiffed."
Emma gave him a small smile and ducked her head, tucking her hair behind her ear. Did she like his joke? Or was she nervous about this call and didn't even care a bit about Chase's hair? It was probably the last one.
"OK, you ready to talk to Charles?"
"Not really, but I don't think I have a choice."
He felt the same way.
Chase dialed the phone number he had savedfor the financial guy's office and put it on speaker phone. When he told the administrative assistant who he was, he heard her get a little flustered on the other end of the line.
"Sure, Mr. Warwick. Right away."
