Chapter 48
Emily's POV
Shit. How had I completely forgotten Ethan was coming to pick me up?
His eyes found me immediately and then tracked over to Alex sitting across from me. I watched his gaze take in the corner booth and the coffee cups and the way we were leaning slightly toward each other across the table. His expression shifted rapidly through confusion and comprehension before landing on something much darker.
My stomach dropped.
Alex followed my gaze and turned to look at Ethan. The energy in the coffee shop changed instantly, the air charging with a tension that made my shoulders go tight.
Ethan walked over toward our booth and his movements were careful and controlled in a way that set off alarm bells. "Hey," he said, and his voice came out flat and stripped of inflection. "You said you'd text when you got off work."
"I forgot." Guilt flooded through me in a hot wave. "I'm so sorry. We were just talking about something and I completely lost track of time."
"Having a business discussion," Alex cut in smoothly before I could fumble through more of an explanation. He stood up and offered his hand across the table. "Alex Monroe. I run the hospitality group that's been trying to partner with Marco and Emily."
Ethan looked at the offered hand for a beat too long before taking it. His grip was probably tighter than necessary. "Ethan." He didn't add anything else and his eyes kept moving between the two of us. "Business discussion. At almost eleven at night."
"Emily provided some extremely valuable consulting tonight. I wanted to discuss a potential opportunity with her while the ideas were still fresh." The words were perfectly professional and courteous, but something in Alex's tone carried an edge that made them sound almost like a challenge.
Ethan's jaw tightened visibly. "What kind of opportunity?"
"An internship," I jumped in before the testosterone in the room could escalate any further. "He's offering me a paid internship with his company. Working on restaurant strategy and financial analysis."
Ethan's gaze finally landed fully on me. "And you were planning to mention this when?"
"He literally just pitched the actual details ten minutes ago," I said, hearing the defensive note creeping into my voice. "I was going to tell you as soon as I saw you."
"But you agreed to come here without even letting me know you'd be late." The accusation hung between us, sharp and pointed.
He was right. I should have texted him the moment I left Luciano's. Should have at least given him a heads up that I wouldn't be going straight back to campus like usual.
But something about his tone, that edge of implied ownership over my schedule and my time, made my spine go rigid with instinctive resistance.
"I didn't realize I needed to ask permission," I said quietly, knowing even as the words left my mouth that they would make things worse.
"That's not what I—" Ethan stopped and took a visible breath, clearly trying to rein himself in. "I was worried about you, Em. You didn't answer any of my texts and you weren't where you said you'd be."
I pulled out my phone and saw three missed messages from him, all sent within the last twenty minutes. "I'm sorry," I said again, meaning it this time. "I really didn't hear them. But I'm fine, I promise. This was just a conversation about work."
"Just business," Ethan repeated, and his eyes cut sharply back to Alex. "At ten-thirty at night. In a coffee shop. Totally normal business meeting."
Alex's expression remained perfectly neutral but I caught something flash through his eyes. Amusement maybe, or assessment. He was watching this whole thing unfold like it was some kind of fascinating case study in human behavior.
"Perhaps I should let you two talk," Alex said. "Think about the offer, Emily. You have my number. Text me whenever you've made a decision."
Oh no. If I could've convinced myself before that this scene was just an unfortunate misunderstanding, Alex was now deliberately making it worse.
He nodded once toward Ethan in a gesture that could have been polite or could have been dismissive. "Good to meet you."
Then he walked out of the coffee shop, leaving us alone in the suddenly too-quiet space. The few other customers were pointedly not looking in our direction but I could feel their awareness of the scene we were making.
Ethan slid into the seat Alex had just vacated. "He said you have his number." Ethan's voice was tight and controlled in a way that was somehow worse than if he'd been yelling. "What did he mean by that?"
"He gave me his business card last week when he first came to the restaurant."
"Last week." Ethan's jaw clenched. "You've had his number for a week."
"It was just a business card, Ethan. He left it in case I wanted to—"
"You said he offered you this internship ten minutes ago." His eyes bored into mine. "But you've had his contact information for a whole week and you never mentioned it."
"Because it didn't matter. I threw the card in my bag and forgot about it until tonight."
"And you're seriously considering taking it now."
It wasn't phrased as a question.
"Why wouldn't I?" I could hear my own defensiveness rising to match his. "It's good pay, flexible hours, real professional experience. This is what I've been working toward."
"He wants more than just an intern, Em." Ethan's eyes bored into mine. "I saw how he was looking at you."
My jaw tightened. "You don't know that. And even if he was interested in some way, that doesn't mean I would ever act on it. I'm with you."
"Are you?" The question came out quiet but it hit like a physical blow.
"What is that supposed to mean?"