He shrugged. “Figured a couple drinks wouldn’t hurt. It ismybirthday.”
The butterflies got tangled up in each other like they’d had a few drinks of their own. “Of course, but I told you I had something special planned and it starts tonight.”
He sighed. “You always do that, pin me down. I say yes because I feel like I have to and then you’re upset when I bail. And I’m not bailing. I know it messes with your precious scheduling, but I’m just saying we’ll meet up later tonight. Okay?”
She pushed down her irritation, reminded herself he didn’t actuallyknowwhat she had planned. She picked up the packet, tapped it against the table. “Not really.”
Her pie was forgotten when she caught his look of irritation, which he made no effort to hide. “Pres.” That’s it. That’s all he said—the first syllable of her name—and then he just stared at her. A typical Emmett tactic.
It’s fine. Everything is fine. It’s okay.She pushed the packet toward him. “I think you’ll be happy to skip drinks for this.”
He grabbed the packet, opened it up. Presley held herself impossibly still, watching him as he looked over the information, his eyes widening. The airplane tickets, a little brochure for the resort, and a couple of fun doodles she’d done of them fishing and relaxing on the beach were inside.
Emmett looked up, locked his gaze on hers. “You bought me a vacation?”
Mostly. She nodded, her head feeling like one of those bobbleheads. “Yes. We need to be at the airport in an hour. Do you remember how much you talked about going to this place? It has everything you wanted. We’ll fish, hike, sunbathe, swim. Not a museum or play in sight.”
She expected him to laugh, as they spent a fair amount of time arguing over what to do with their weekend evenings and disagreeing on what counted as fun.
His brows scrunched. “This is that place we didn’t get the account for?”
Uh-oh. Hopefully that didn’t bring up bad vibes, but the owners had pulled the account for reasons that had nothing to do with Emmett or his team.
“Yes, but just because you aren’t doing their marketing and advertising doesn’t mean it won’t be fun, right? We’ll have a great time and you can finally check it out.”
“We?”
Okay, the butterflies were starting to resemble unstable pigeons in her stomach now. One tripped, the others all following suit like dominoes.
“Of course. I worked everything out. The guys know, so they probably didn’t even mean it about tonight, because Paul was the one who helped me get your time off, and I have the week as well. It’s ten days, actually, but your boss was great about it. Mine not so much, so I might be working some triples when we get back, but it’ll be worth it.”
Emmett’s gaze shuttered. He was good at his job because he had a great poker face. Even Presley couldn’t get a good read on him sometimes. “Pres. This is cool. I mean, it looks like a great time.”
There it was. The gratitude she’d hoped for. The “my girlfriend kicks ass and I should up my game, give her a drawer at my place, maybe even suggest we live together” energy she’d been after.
“Ten days… together… away… that’s…” Emmett’s voice trailed off.
“Amazing? Spectacular? A dream come true?” Her excitement amped up her pitch and she had to remind herself to take a breath.
“Too much.”
All of the energy coursing through her stopped like someone had pulled the plug or switched off the power. “Excuse me?” In her periphery, she saw the waitress almost approach then veer right and sidestep their table.Smart move, lady.
With another heavy sigh, Emmett let go of the packet and lifted one arm so he could rest it along the back of the booth. He’d done that eight months ago, too, on their date. But her shoulder had been just underneath and he’d scooted a little closer.
“I just don’t think we’re there. A couples’ vacation? I love this. It’s great. You’re a sweetheart for being so thoughtful. But this has guys’ trip written all over it. I think that much forced proximity might, you know, be a bad thing for us.”
She said nothing. He kept going. “At this stage. Maybe we could try a weekend away sometime. An overnight at a bed-and-breakfast. I don’t know. Ten days is a lot.”
“What?” The word came out as a raspy whisper.
He lowered his arm, folded his hands together, and leaned in. “Can you imagine us in each other’s space for ten days?”
Her nod was slow. She had spent time doing just that. “Yes. It was supposed to be a prelude. An idea of what it would be like if we moved in together.”
The horror on his face should have sent her running. But Presleyliked to really nail a coffin closed. “Clearly, that idea doesn’t impress you.”
“Look, this is fun. What we have. It’s good. But it’s not till-death-do-us-part.”
