“They do?”
“Yes, they do. And when I walked in and saw you in that meeting room, I wanted to drop to my knees and thank God above it was you and not your boss.”
Her tongue swept across her lips, and she went to say something but stopped when the waitress brought the check.
“Thank you,” I said as I pulled out my wallet and handed her my credit card.
“Let me split it,” Emma started to say.
Holding up my hand, I shook my head. “My treat.”
Emma remained quiet as I paid then helped her put her coat on. We still had a few minutes to get to the hotel and meet with the manager to look at the ballroom.
As we walked outside, Emma glanced up and smiled. It was snowing yet again.
“Noel does the same thing. Looks up and smiles at the snow.”
Turning her attention on me, Emma said, “I’ve always loved the snow.”
“Shall we?” I said as I pointed toward the hotel and held out my other arm for her to take it.
Emma nodded and we walked the short distance in silence.
My heart was pounding so hard in my chest I could hardly think straight. Harrison’s words replayed over and over in my head.
“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve walked into the library and nearly tripped over myself at the sight of you.”
“You have curves and a body any man would want to put his hands on and explore.”
When the hotel manager who oversaw the meeting spaces started to speak, I could hardly stay focused. Whereas Harrison seemed perfectly fine. As if he hadn’t turned my world upside down. Had he said all of that simply to be nice?
I looked over my shoulder to where he stood with the woman who spent more time laughing and touching his arm than she did even glancing my way. She went on about how they hadset up the tables in the past as I walked around the room and stopped. I turned to face them and cleared my throat, hoping to get her attention away from Harrison.
“This is where they had the dance floor last year. Do you think we should keep it in the same place?” I asked.
My eyes caught Harrison’s. He wasn’t looking at the beautiful woman to his right. He was staring at me.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
A slow smile appeared. “Nothing. I’m simply enjoying the view.”
He winked and I felt my entire body warm.
“Oh, I’m so sorry, are you two together?” the hotel manager asked.
Not wanting her to give the wrong impression, I quickly said no at the same time Harrison said yes.
Yes? Did he just say yes?
“We’re planning this together, right, Emma?”
Of course, that was what he had meant. I felt like a stupid idiot. Maybe I had misheard her question.
“Yes, we are planning it together.”
“Well, thank you so much for showing us the ballroom. It was good to see it with a fresh set of eyes so we can make our own plans. Don’t you agree, Emma?”
All I could do was nod and force a smile. It had been nice to see it empty of all the previous year’s dinners. It was like a clean slate. I could envision our own plans much clearer now. Harrison’s mother was right saying we needed to see it empty.
