“Maybe a little.There is a large part of me that’d like her to stay.”
I swallowed hard.I was downplaying how I was feeling because the thought of her leaving was doing nothing but consuming me.
“Then ask her, man.Remember our talk about taking control?”Knox questioned.
“Yeah.”
“Look where that got you,” Dylan said, raising his eyebrows.
“Yeah, hell, I was certain I heard her all the way across the city the other night.”Lucas chuckled.
“Shut up,” I said, beginning to laugh as the other guys joined in.
I looked at my brothers as they looked at me.They were right.
“Well, now I need a plan,” I said, looking at each of them.
“Alright, boys, let’s work our magic,” Dylan said, leaning forward.
I tookhold of Emma’s hand as we sat in a quiet corner of Vancouver’s newest restaurant, The Crimson Table.Music played quietly in the background as I looked into her eyes.Tonight was so much more than just us.We had things to celebrate because I’d heard from Larson that the charges were being dropped from that horrific night that started all of this.
“That meal was outstanding,” she whispered, running her thumb over the back of my hand.
“I’m glad.Apparently, dessert is even better,” I said, my eyebrows raising in jest.
“Colton.”She giggled, her cheeks flushing.
“What?Seriously, the chocolate mousse is supposed to be out of this world.”I winked, which caused her to laugh out loud.
Anticipation of this evening ending was almost killing me.I’d gotten word from Larson that Emma would head back at the end of next week, which had forced me to put together this plan quicker than I’d have liked.
“My gosh…you,” she said, her cheeks flushing as she picked up her wineglass.
“Seriously, just wait until I get you home, cover you in chocolate mousse, and lick it off you.”
Her cheeks flushed at the thought, and I saw her squirm in her seat a little.
“That would be so messy.”
“Yeah, but I have an island that we can work from.That way we don’t get chocolate all over the sheets.”
Again, her cheeks flooded with color.
“In all seriousness, I just want to thank you for all you have done for me.I know it was rocky to start.”
“That it was and now look at us.”
“Yeah, I wanted to talk to you about that.”
“Oh?”
She looked at me, those beautiful blue eyes dancing, a soft smile on her face as she waited.I swallowed hard; I did not know why I was having such a hard time with this.
“Emma, I know you’re going to be returning home the end of next week, or that is the plan anyway, but I’ve been giving things a lot of thought, and I really don’t want you to?—”
“Emma?Is that you?”
I looked up to see a man standing there with a couple of other men.He was a good-looking guy, dressed in a well-tailored suit, and then I looked over at Emma, who stared up at him in disbelief.
