They went to the office, pulling out their work. Motu lounged lazily on one of the chairs while Emmeline scrolled through her proposal, which was all but finished now. She expected to feel disappointed at all that work amounting to nothing—but she didn’t.
She looked over her laptop to Luke sitting beside her, the focused expression on his face. Her heart squeezed. She had never minded doing things for the ones she loved, even if it didn’t get her any credit.
“Hey, you okay?” Luke asked a little while later. “You’ve been staring off into space.”
“Oh.” She blinked. “Yeah, I think I’m just tired.” She cleared her throat. She didn’t want him to suspect, so she closed her laptop, standing. “I’m actually going to head up for the Baby Dragon Book Club.”
Luke furrowed his brows. “Isn’t it early?” he asked, while she gathered her things. “Are you sure you’re okay? Do you need a painkiller or anything?”
She gave him a fond smile. “No, I think I just need some sleep. I recall not getting much last night.”
He smiled at that, and she went over to kiss him. “I love you so much.”
A crease appeared between his brows. He looked up at her carefully.
“Why are you saying it like that?” he asked.
Her heartbeat quickened. “Like what?”
“I don’t know...” He trailed off. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing.” She shook her head, giving him an easy smile.
Chapter 32
Emmeline was acting weird on Monday evening, but Luke couldn’t understand why. He didn’t think it had anything to do with them sleeping together because she seemed perfectly content in that department, but there wassomething.
He felt it had to do with the proposal, because she didn’t do any work on Monday evening and left for the Baby Dragon Book Club meeting a whole half-hour early. Before then, her focus had been frayed, as if she was anxious about something.
Then, on Tuesday, she didn’t come to the bookshop. When he called her to ask, she said she was visiting her parents, that she would see him soon.
He thought it was strange. Their meeting was on Friday, and he expected her to be going over every last detail. He knew how clever she was, and he was certain her proposal was going to be an absolute knock-out. Even he was looking forward to seeing all her ideas, and he was sure Anh was just as eager.
While he’d worked hard on his own proposal, he was already kind of resigned to not winning, not when he was up against Emmeline—and that was okay. It was a bit disappointing and regrettable, but it wasn’t the end of the world. Just the end of an era.
He could sell Tempest, then get another job working for a company rather than running his own business. It wasn’t ideal, but he found nothing bothered him too much, these days. Not when he had Emmeline. He didn’t care if all of his good luck had been used up in getting her. He could manage anything else, as long as he had her.
But then, on Wednesday, as he was heading to the bookshop, he received a call from Anh.
“Anh, hello,” he said. “Is everything alright?”
“You tell me,” she replied curtly. “Emmeline has called me again to insist there is no need for our meeting on Friday.”
He stopped in the middle of Elderberry Lane, confusion washing over him. “I don’t understand,” he managed to say.Why would she say such a thing?
“Neither do I,” Anh said. “She has gotten it into her mind that there’s no need for the meeting—not when the investment should go to you, anyway.”
He blinked, thinking he’d heard incorrectly. “I’m sorry, what?” His stomach twisted as the words sunk in. Emmeline wanted Anh to give him the investment?
Just like that?
Anh released a breath. “She’s asked me to give you the investment, but I’ve told her the meeting will go forward as planned,” she said, her voice carrying an edge. “But I do hopethis idea hasn’t somehow come from you. I would be deeply disappointed if so.”
“No, of course not,” he replied immediately, anger going through him at the accusation. “Absolutely not.”
“Good,” Anh said, voice softening slightly. “Still, I don’t understand. It’s out of character for Emmeline not to see something through until its end.”
“I’ll speak with her,” Luke said. “We will both see you on Friday.”
