"It's not fair that I don't have anything on and you're still wearing clothes. We need to change that."
Emma's brain almost broke as she could only stare up at him. The most gorgeous man she knew was standing in front of her naked asking her if she wanted him. She couldn't say no. Hell, she couldn't say anything. So instead she reached up and pulled him down to kiss him and hoped he was thinking coherently enough to take control of her.
Emma was once again reminded that Chase Warwick wasn't just anyone when they had their couples spa treatment at the hotel. The butler for their suite took them down a separate elevator to a separate entrance to the spa. It was like being in a totally different hotel from the Bellagio everyone else was in, like there was some VIP section thatonly beautiful people could have access to.
It was amazing too and Emma could get used to it aside from the fact that she couldn't get used to it. She was about to get a big inheritance from her grandmother, but she was determined to not be one of those people who spent it all and then went broke. She was going to enjoy some of it, sure, but she was also going to be prudent about how much she spent.
But for now, she had to spend money with Chase and she was going to enjoy herself, especially when it meant a massage and a facial and a mud bath, which she had never had before. It also meant feeling warm and relaxed and happy to be spending that time with Chase.
He grabbed her hand and gave it a little kiss when they were finally done and ready to head out. "Thank you for treating me," Chase said sweetly.
"I'm glad you liked it."
He chuckled. "Admit it, you liked it too."
She could only smile as she went to the front desk and handed over her credit card, that little pang of guilt pulling at her again as she watched the woman behind the counter run her card to get her closer to her goal.
Chase's hand squeezed hers tightly and she wondered if he was feeling the same way about the money and their relationship. They could deal with that later though after all the money was spent. Until then, she just wanted to enjoy her time with Chase.
"Do you need anything else?" the woman asked as she handed back the card.
Emma didn't have to look at Chase to know he had put on his Hollywood smile by the way the attendant's demeanor suddenly changed. Emma wasn't the only one that Chase could charm and they both knew it.
"That's it," he said cheerfully. "Thank you again so much for your help. We had a lovely afternoon."
The woman blushed, and Emma knew she would be telling her friends about waiting on THE Chase Warwick for weeks after that. Emma totally understood the reaction. She had felt the same thing when she was around Chase just as she felt it now. It was that warm, inviting feeling that made her feel so comfortable even with all the uncomfortable weirdness going on in her life.
Chase and Emma started to head out when that warm feeling in her chest suddenly went cold.
"Emma?"
Oh fuck. She knew that voice. She knew who recognized her. She knew exactly who was standing right behind her.
Please don't let that be my mother's voice.
She let go of Chase's hand and closed her eyes for a brief moment, knowing that what she wanted was probably not what she was going to get.
As she slowly turned around, the face of Emma's mother came into view with that fake smile that Emma always hated.
"Oh, I saw you and thought, 'That looks like my daughter.' And it turned out it was!"
Her mother came over and gave her a polite hug that was more for show than actual affection, giving Emma a little bit of time to figure out how she was going to handle all of this. It was awkward enough with just her mom there, but Chase was standing next to her and how would she explain that?
She told him when they first started this that her parents could never know what was going on. It was a flippant comment. She never expected him to ever meet her parents or have a chance to tell them anything. But right now, Emma was really hoping that he would remember that conversation in her car after dinner that night.
Her mother pulled away and her eyes landed on Chase, a cheshire grin spreading across her face. "And who do we have here?"
"Um, this is Chase," Emma sputtered.
Her mother gently raised her hand for Chase to shake. "I'm Emma's mother, Janice. I know, I know. How can I look so young and be Emma's mother?"
Chase put on that stupid Hollywood smile again and shook her hand. "Well, I didn't want to pry."
Emma was doing all she could to not roll her eyes. She didn't like any of this, but there was something about her mother's interest in Chase right now that was making it extremely hard forEmma to just run — with or without Chase. She was probably overanalyzing all of this, wondering if her mom recognized Chase or was about to start prying into her love life. It was one of the few things that her mother actually cared about, worrying about whether Emma would find a man who would sweep her out of the library and back to "normal" society without her hippie grandmother in California.
She wondered what Nana would think of this whole situation right now. Her friend Chase, her granddaughter Emma, and her daughter-in-law Janice who never seemed to like her anyway.
"So, uh, mother. What are you doing here?"
