"I would normally find this intriguing, but I'm not in the mood so just spit it out."
Marcus took a deep breath and slid a folded piece of paper over to him. "Emma wants to see you at this address at one o'clock."
Chase stared at the paper. Emma wanted to see him?
"I don't know why," Marcus explained. "She texted me and asked me to put it on your calendar. The address is for some specialty restaurant warehouse. No clue why she wants to meet you there. But I put it on your schedule like she asked. I can go if you don't want to or something."
"No, no. I can go."
Chase grabbed the paper from the counter and opened it. Shake It Up, 452 Walnut Street.
"This sounds like a strip club."
Marcus rolled his eyes. "It's not a strip club."
Chase looked back down at the paper. Going would mean seeing Emma again and he wasn't sure he was ready for that. But he also knew he wanted to see her again. Maybe he needed an explanation. Maybe just seeing her smile would be enough. Seeing her one more time would never beenough, but it could be enough for now.
Chase took a breath and dropped the paper on the counter, taking a big bite of his completely soggy granola and dropping the spoon in the bowl.
"Can you take care of this?"
"As if I don't already take care of your dishes." Marcus huffed and grabbed the bowl from the counter while waving Chase away. "Go get ready. Remember you need to be there at one o'clock."
Chase didn't need to be told twice and bounded up the stairs to his bedroom. He was going to get ready and drive to this not-a-strip-club and he was going to do his best to persuade Emma to give him another chance. He just hoped she would agree.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Marcus has sent her a text telling her that Chase would be here, but Emma still felt anxious about whether he would actually show up.
She moved out of his guest house without even saying goodbye and now she was standing in the street in front of a warehouse in Los Angeles because that's what her grandmother told her she had to. Emma didn't even know what this place was and was a little surprised to find it was just a nondescript white brick warehouse with some stenciled letters on the door. All she had was the address and she refused to dig into it anymore past that. It would just make her overthink seeing Chase again.
Emma checked her watch and confirmed that yes, she was still early, so no, Chase probably wasn't blowing her off. She had given herself too much time to arrive, even after factoring in Los Angeles traffic, and then decided to wait outside rather than sitting in her car until one o'clock.
This was a bad idea, right? Or was it the best idea?
"Emma?"
She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice Chase get there, standing in front of herwith a small but awkward smile as her eyes met with his.
She took a deep breath and tried to smile back. "Hi."
"Hi." He shifted from one foot to the other as he continued to stare at her. "You look really nice today."
"Thanks."
She gave him an awkward half-turn to show off her favorite outfit that she bought recently. She had decided to splurge and update her wardrobe with her inheritance, even though this was a bit of a retro look with her layered ruffled skirt and crop sweater. It was a little nod to Nana's love for the eighties, and she felt good wearing it in front of Chase. He seemed to appreciate it too.
But what didn't feel good was the silence that crept over them now. She had never experienced a moment of awkward silence in the middle of Los Angeles like this and yet, here she was trying to find words to say to Chase.
"I, uh—"
"It's good to—"
And now they were talking over each other, not even able to get the basic rhythm of a conversation together. So Emma just grabbed the envelope from her purse and stuck her hand out toward Chase.
"My grandmother wanted you to have this."
Chase took it gingerly and gave her a small nod as he stared down at Nana's scrawl on theenvelope. And there it was again: that awkward silence as her mind raced trying to figure out what to say next or do next — or how to just be with Chase.
