There's a story there. I can feel it.
And suddenly, I want to know everything.
Every detail.
Every reason she felt like she had something to prove.
Logan catches my expression and his smirk widens. I return his glance with one that promises retribution later.
The conversation shifts to industry trends, and I watch Emma navigate it with the same grace she's shown all night. She's in her element here—strategic thinking, market analysis, anticipating objections before they're raised.
When the server brings out the main course—some elaborate preparation of beef,pureed potatoes and brussel sprouts—our hands reach for the wine bottle at the same time, our fingers brushing.
Electricity immediately shoots up my arm.
Emma's eyes snap to mine, and I see the same shock reflected back.
"Sorry," she says, pulling back quickly.
I don't apologize.
Instead, I wrap my hand around the bottle and pour her wine with intentional slowness, holding her gaze the entire time.
"Thank you," she says, voice slightly breathless.
"My pleasure."
Logan clears his throat. "Richard, you were saying about market volatility?"
Richard launches into something about quarterly projections, but I'm only half-listening because Emma's shifted in her seat and her knee brushes mine under the table.
She freezes. I don't move away.
Instead, I press back—just slightly.
Just enough to let her know it wasn't an accident, that I felt it too, that I'm done pretending I don't want to touch her.
Her breath hitches, barely audible, but I catch it.
She shifts again, creating distance, but the message has been sent and received.
"Don?" Logan's voice cuts through my thoughts, deliberately using my nickname. "You agree, right?"
"About?" I have no idea what we're discussing.
Logan's grin is evil. "About accelerating the beta testing timeline. Richard suggested it."
Beta testing. Right.
I force myself to focus, to contribute intelligently to the conversation, to stop thinking about Emma's knee and her laugh and the way she keeps stealing glances at me when she thinks no one's watching.
"The timeline is aggressive but manageable," I say, voice steady and authoritative—the CEO voice that's closed a thousand deals. "Emma's built in contingencies. We move forward, but carefully."
"Spoken like a man who's made a career out of calculated risks," Richard says approvingly.
Logan's eyes gleam. "Oh, Donovan's excellent at calculating risk. Especially lately."
I'm going to kill him.
