“We’re late,” Thad announced, taking her hand and pulling her to the door. “Mr. Weathers is expecting you now.”
With that he hurried her out of the room as she shouted thanks to Claire and Shana. It was on the ride down the elevator that her stomach started to unravel. She was nervous now. She had been fine until she thought about Mr. Weathers seeing her like this.
He’d only ever seen her with her hair up in a ponytail and hidden under a hat. She’d never worn a dress around him, let alone a ball gown. Khaki pants, black polo shirt, and a green apron were the only thing he’d ever seen her in.
The idea of suddenly being beautiful in front of the man she loved to flirt with was suddenly very daunting. When the elevator doors opened, she couldn’t move. She was frozen.
“Come on,” Thad said gently, taking her hand and pulling her into the empty lobby.
Her heels clicked on the marble floors as she held up the hem of her dress and walked to the coffee shop. It felt ridiculous to be this dressed up and going to the shop, but since that was where he was meeting her, that’s where she went.
With only a few steps left to go, Thad jumped out in front of her and made sure everything was perfect. He smoothed a flyaway hair from her face and adjusted the collar on her dress to lay flat.
“You look like a princess,” he told her with a thin smile. “Have fun and don’t worry about the dress. Mr. Weathers already paid for it. Same with the shoes.”
He did one final check before moving out of the way and letting her finish walking to the coffee shop.
Emma swallowed hard. She knew she didn’t have a reason to be nervous, but the butterflies were still mambo-ing around in her stomach like there was no tomorrow. She’d had hundreds of conversations with Mr. Weathers. She knew that she would have a wonderful time tonight, and yet for some reason her heart was pounding and her mouth suddenly went dry.
“Wow,” she heard a voice say behind her...
Chapter 5
Emma
* * *
She spun to see Mr. Weathers leaning against the window to the coffee shop entrance. He wore a jet black suit that fit his broad shoulders and lean waist. He looked like he belonged on the cover of GQ. His perfect blond hair was somehow more perfect as he walked over.
“Hi.” She wished she had something clever to say, but the only thing she could think of was “Welcome to the Coffee Shack,” and somehow that didn’t feel appropriate.
“You look absolutely stunning,” he told her. “I’m going to have the prettiest date at the restaurant.”
She grinned, enjoying the compliment. “Thank you.” She smoothed the green satin of her dress. “This is amazing and so much more than anything I could have expected.”
He grinned. “That’s kind of the point.”
Her smile widened. No wonder women fell over themselves to be with him. “Well, thank you.”
“Let me see you spin,” he requested.
She slowly spun in a circle, loving the way the heavy fabric took the motion and swirled around her ankles when she finished.
“Beautiful,” he said, his green eyes sparkling. She believed him. Even though he was the world’s biggest flirt, she believed that he found her beautiful. “Are you ready to eat?”
“Starving,” she admitted. “I didn’t get much of a break today.”
“Then right this way.” He led her out to the front entrance. A cherry red sports car sat idling on the curb.
“That’s yours?” she asked, pointing to the car.
“Unless you know someone else who drives one of these,” he replied, going to the passenger door and holding it open for her. “There’s only six in the world.”
“Oh. I think there’s several million of my car,” she replied. “So, nearly the same thing.”
He chuckled and she caught the scent of his cologne as she settled in the car. He smelled of clean springs and slightly of mint. He carefully closed the door behind her, making sure her skirt didn’t catch, and ran around to the driver’s side.
Once he sat down, he turned and looked over at her. “You ready?”