The Trouble With Love(37)

He pointed a finger. “Asked you out, yes. Proposed, no. That was all me.”

“Was it?” she asked, taking a healthy sip of wine. “Or was it because my father had no intention of handing over his company to someone who wasn’t family?”

Cassidy swore softly and dropped his chin.

“Emma—”

“Don’t,” she said softly. “Please don’t.”

Then she lifted her hand to wave at Jana, who glanced at them, grabbed two bottles of wine, and made her way toward them. “Refill?” she asked, holding up the red for Cassidy and white for Emma.

“Yes, please,” Emma and Cassidy said at the exact same time.

“And two burgers would be great,” Emma added, handing Jana their menus.

Cassidy glanced at her. “You’re staying for dinner?”

She understood what he was really asking: You’re staying for dinner with me?

She lifted an eyebrow. “Are you?”

In response he turned to the bartender. “Can we get Gruyère on those burgers?”

When Jana had refilled their wineglasses and gone to punch in their orders, Cassidy steered their conversation toward safer topics, and Emma let him.

No, welcomed it.

She supposed at some point, she and Cassidy would need to finish that conversation they’d started on the night of their rehearsal dinner. She wasn’t sure what else could be said, but she did know they owed it to each other to have that talk without all the temper and devastation that had choked them that night.

But for now…now she was content to share a meal with someone who was…well, not a friend, exactly. But spending a casual Saturday night with him felt strangely right.

“Do you ever think about going back?” he asked. “To Charlotte?”

Emma thought about this. “I’ll never say never. And Dad’s there. And, of course, Daisy. But…I think New York is my home now. Which is strange, because I always figured Manhattan was an itch I’d grow out of in my twenties, but—”

“It gets into your blood,” Alex said.

“Yes,” Emma replied. “That’s exactly right. What about you? You ever think about going back?”

He lifted a shoulder. “I don’t know where I’d go back to. My parents don’t live in Boston anymore, so nothing for me there. They bought a place in Florida. North Carolina was only home because of college and then because—”

“Because that’s where my father’s company is,” she finished for him.

His eyes flashed, and she knew he wanted to argue, but apparently he thought better of it, because he merely nodded. “Right, and once I sent in my letter of resignation there, I was in San Francisco, but that never felt right, either….”

“And New York? Does that feel right?” she asked, taking a sip of water.

He was quiet for a few moments. “I’m still trying to figure that out.”

To her surprise, Emma felt a strange pang at the thought that New York wasn’t home to Cassidy the way it was to her.

Felt a strange sense of…something…at the thought of him leaving the city. It would make her life simpler to be sure, but she realized then how much her and Cassidy’s cold war had become a part of her life here.

“Did your Oxford team really tell you I went on a date with Cole?” she asked.

Cassidy snorted. “If you knew them like I did, you wouldn’t be the least bit surprised.”

“But why’d they do it? I mean…why lie?”

He swirled his wine. “Because they wanted to coax me into asking out Alisha. They thought if I knew you were going on a date with Cole, I’d take action.”

“Did it work?”

He glanced at her. “Hell, yes, it worked.”

The admission surprised her. She and Cassidy had been seeing other people for years. As far as she could tell, her love life had never had an impact on his, and vice versa.

She wanted to ask what had changed, but couldn’t bring herself to form the question. Wasn’t entirely sure she wanted—or was ready for—the answer.

“You’re not asking why,” he said with a wry smile.

“Noticed that, did you?”

“Date whomever you want, Emma. Just not one of my employees. Especially not Cole. Or Lincoln. Or—”

She bristled a little at the rough command. “You don’t get to decide who I fall in love with.”

“Fair enough,” he said quietly.

They both fell silent as Jana placed burgers in front of them, and oh holy heck had Cassidy been right about this place having one hell of a hamburger.

The fries were hot and perfectly salty, the burger was juicy and messy and decadent. Emma felt juice run down her chin and only halfheartedly swiped at it with her napkin because she was too busy taking the next bite.

“Good, huh?” he said with a knowing smile.

She could only shake her head. “Best Saturday night meal ever.”

He looked at her in surprise. “Even with the company?”

She picked up a fry and bit into it as she met his eyes, alarmed by the response that popped into her head but that she didn’t dare say.

That this night was perfect because of the company.