Breathe In (Just Breathe, #1)(68)

“He’s deciding?” I press.

I’m not sure if I like this whole ordering my wine and food for me deal for a date.

“We have the same tastes. I told him what we do and don’t like.”

“How do you know my tastes?” I playfully contend.

“How many meals have we had together over the past two and a half months?”

He’s right. If anyone was paying attention to what I ate and what I’ve talked about, my tastes would be easily identifiable. Has Joe really taken notes? If so, why? This is weirding me out a little.

Joe holds up his glass of wine and toasts, “To trusting and trying new things and being surprised.”

I clink my glass with his, but I’m not in full agreement to his toast. To me, there are too many underlining messages he has buried in that statement.

Right as I’m about to begin my interrogation about Henry and the whole Hawaii trip, Chef Andrews himself is standing at our table. Joe immediately stands up to greet him. They hug and exchange pleasantries freely, proving that Joe was telling the truth and that he actually does know the chef.


“And who is this exquisitely stunning creature?” flatters Chef Andrews, delicately holding my hand and kissing it. He refrains from letting go for a few extra seconds.

“This is Emma Peterson,” Joe replies.

How does he know my full name? I’ve never told him and for both of my businesses, my full name is not listed anywhere on the internet. In fact, my businesses and my name are not public record.

“Since when have you had a girlfriend?”

“I’m not his girlfriend,” I immediately rebut.

“And, she’s feisty too! I like her already. I see why you’re with her,” Chef Andrews adds.

“She is most certainly feisty, but unfortunately we are not dating,” Joe comments with a hint of rosiness developing on his face. “But, we are on a date.”

“One step closer to marriage,” Chef Andrews announces.

“No,” I contend. “I don’t date and I especially don’t plan to ever get married.”

“Then why are you out on a date with him?”

“To extort information from him,” I explain.

“If you hadn’t seen her first, I would be chasing this one for myself. You are a lucky man, Joe,” Chef Andrews admits. “Is she like this all the time?”

I instantly blush at his compliment.

“Yes,” Joe confirms.

The heat in my face increases.

“I’m working on it being more than just extortion,” Joe states.

What did Joe just say? Did he just admit that he wants more from this date than what I had intended or agreed upon? Crap. Why does he feel so comfortable being this bold — this forward? What gave him the impression that there would even be a chance for anything to happen between us? I told him nothing would at Nathan’s and it’s like he never even heard me.

Aware of his time, Chef Andrews redirects our conversation. “Have you ever dined here before Ms. Emma?” He takes my hand again.

“Once,” I confirm the truth.

He kisses the back of my hand while eyeing Joe. “Well, I’ll be sure not to disappoint!” He bows to Joe before returning to the kitchen and Joe ushers my chair in again as I sit down.

I sip on my wine a few times before I’m fully refocused back on my task at hand. “So what do you know about Hawaii?”

“Going right for the kill, huh?” Joe laughs at my blatant directness.

“It’s why I’m here,” I reply fully composed.

“How about I’ll answer whatever you want to know when dessert is served?”

“Whatever I want to know?”

“Yes, whatever you want,” he agrees.

During our first three courses, caviar, followed by stir-fried eggplant with Chinese black bean glaze and rice puff, and then a vegetable cos cos with Padron peppers, asparagus and light tomato broth, Joe and I comment loosely about the food and other general topics when he evades some of my indirect questioning that pertains to Henry and Hawaii. He doesn’t comment that he notices, however, he just brings up another topic instead.

“I had an idea about how you can easily increase your profits for Raven Media without having to take on new clients or too many new staff members,” Joe mentions.

I’m not surprised that our conversation is venturing back to business; it’s typical for us.

“How?” I ask, full of intrigue.

“You said you created the entire software system yourself, right? From the ground up?” he searches.

“Yes, why?”

“Why not package it as a software program service for companies?”

“What do you mean?”

“There are businesses who have their own internal social media staff to handle each platform, but not a single system to access and monitor it all like Raven Media does. So, why don’t you offer it as a cloud-based system service? They pay a monthly fee and have functionality based on their needs,” he explains.

Soaking in his statement, my brain factors out what could be done and what it would entail.

“That’s a really great idea. I’d have to hire direct staff to handle that division and do some tweaking to the overall company structure, but I don’t see why it couldn’t be done,” I reply.