He wished it wasn't like this. He wished he could just fix all of it. But he also knew this was more deep and emotional for Emma than just something a Hollywood smile could fix.
It was also something that had been festering for awhile. Her grandmother, the one person who really saw Emma for who she was and loved her for it, was gone. And then the whole thing with the will and having to hang out with Chase. It was a lot.
He wasn't sure when Emma finally got up, but he heard the door open and looked up to find her silhouette in the doorway.
"Hi," he tried to say cheerfully. "Did you get a good nap?"
"Yeah, I guess."
She walked over and flipped on the lights on the wall, illuminating the room with a harsh brightness. But it didn't change the gloomy look on her face as she wandered over and dropped down on the other couch in the living room.
"We're skipping out on dinner with my parents, right?"
He tried to give her a reassuring smile. "I already took care of it. The hotel concierge is going to hook them up with a complimentary dinner to make them feel better that we couldn't make it. Well, not totally free. I asked them to chargedinner to the room. Gets you closer to your goal."
"Thank you." Emma shook her head and looked out the huge windows. "They'll probably be flattered that you got them free food while ditching them."
"I thought the same thing," he said with a bit of a laugh. "Anyway, what would you like to do now?"
"How expensive do you think room service is?"
Chase smiled and stood up, grabbing the room service menu from the desk nearby and walking over to meet Emma on the couch. "How expensive do you want it to be?"
"I was checking my calculations when I woke up."
Chase bristled but tried to hide it. He was really getting sick of this stupid challenge and turning his relationship with Emma into just transactions and nothing else. It had become so much more than dollars for Chase, but he still had to remember that the money wouldn't be much for him but would mean everything for Emma. He would go along with this as long as necessary.
"So what kind of damage do we need to do?" he tried to ask flippantly.
"Around five hundred dollars just makes it over the line, but that includes the flight tomorrow."
"And don't forget your parents' dinner. But that's still a bit close."
She shrugged. "I was going to toss a bunch on the roulette table tonight, but I don't feel like doingthat now."
"Gotcha." He flipped open the room service menu and started looking at their options. "We could easily blow through that last bit of money if you want to really clear it. Maybe a nice bottle of wine."
"Wine is good." She turned and gave him a sad smile. "It's going to be so disappointing when I go back to drinking fifteen-dollar bottles from the grocery store after this."
"I promise I'll still buy you the good bottles sometimes."
She simply turned to the menu without giving Chase a response. He knew he was probably being a little heavy-handed with his remark trying to imply that they would be together after this. But she didn't really give him the reaction he was hoping for. It was like he was hoping she saw a future for them, but that hope was only one-sided.
But then there was a little laugh from her, and he turned to see her smiling down at the menu.
"See something you like?"
"There's a two-hundred-dollar Wagyu burger." She scoffed. "Amateurs."
Chase couldn't help but smile, thinking back to that first date by the beach with her princess dress and super expensive hamburger with the gold-leaf bun. It had only been a month but still felt like ages ago. Back before they had been consumed by this challenge from Nana.
Back before he had been consumed by her.
"I'm going to get one of those I guess," she said wistfully. "For old time's sake."
Chase laughed as best he could, but it still got stuck in his throat. "Me too. For old time's sake."
"Get an order of the truffle fries. They're more expensive than the regular ones."
