“What the fuck do you mean we can’t? You described her as if she’s the woman we’ve both have fantasized about. All you have to tell me now is that she’s smart, isn’t a stalker like Olivia, and that she’s single.”
“She’s too young.”
“Too young? How fucking too young?” Stone asked, feeling himself getting all worked up over a woman he hadn’t even met.
“Young,” Emerson said then nodded his head as if totally disappointed and there was no need to continue the conversation.
“Wait, young like in her twenties or young like, holy shit the chick is under eighteen?”
“I think she’s in college and working there to pay her way. It would be too much of a worry if she were over twenty-one to date her and know if she could be trusted. Olivia is in her twenties. Look how her true colors came out. It’s not worth the chance.”
Stone ran his hand up and down his cheek and chin, feeling his dusting of whiskers right on schedule of late afternoon.
“Maybe she just looked young? How do you know she doesn’t have money? Why would you think the worst about her? Was she wearing a lot of makeup? Maybe some foundation, too?”
“That’s something else about her, she wasn’t wearing any makeup. She could be working her way through college. I don’t know. As attracted as I was to her, I would worry about her intentions, too. Women cling to men in our positions. It’s hard to differentiate the t
ruthful ones from the liars.”
“Fuck. You had me so fucking excited until you let me know this chick could be on a Clearasil zit commercial for teens. Is there any way that you could be wrong? Maybe Olivia has spooked you?”
“Spooked me? Hell, I can’t stand that woman. No, this is different. I’m telling you that she’s probably underage.”
He grabbed a hold of the box, pulled out another brownie bite, and popped it into his mouth. As he chewed, he stared at Emerson and saw his disappointment.
“Well, I don’t know if I can wait three years to check this woman out. Maybe another trip there this week will be in order for you. You can find out how old she is, if she’s in college, and if she’s single.”
“I don’t know. She saw me in my business suit. She’s going to assume that I have money and I’m set.”
“You don’t know that. Hey, but if you go in there and converse with her, find out more about her, just don’t mention that you’re a fucking billionaire. Say you work for the company, but you’re at the bottom, making your way up.”
“Lie to her? I don’t think that’s the best way to start off a possible encounter with the woman. She seemed sweet.”
Stone raised one eyebrow at Emerson.
“So did Olivia until her beast claws came out. Play it safe. Feel her out and if you think she is what we’ve been both looking for, then let me know and I’ll go with you the next time.”
Emerson sighed. Stone couldn’t believe that they were actually discussing this woman in such depth. They always did what they wanted, and went after any woman they were interested in. Sure, sometimes they were pompous and demanding, but they had yet to meet a woman who captured their hearts. Starting off with a little lie or in this case, nondisclosure shouldn’t be a big deal if things progressed.
“I guess when I go meet the clients on Thursday I can stop in for another coffee.”
“Yeah, and grab another box of these. These are incredible.”
“They have other items there. But then I saw on a blog post online that shop has multiple items plus specialty items that the owners themselves make. They’re called Toni’s special touch.”
“Toni? Like Toni as in a guy?”
“Yeah, but I guess to go along with the theme of pink and a fancy signature, he spells his name with an I instead of a Y.”
Stone nodded his head.
“It’s pretty cool actually.”
“It is. It was a great place and perfect location. It was really crowded, too. Maybe I’ll check it out again. If there isn’t a wait.”
Emerson leaned forward and took a brownie bite from the box and popped it into his mouth. Stone watched him and wondered if maybe Emerson was wrong about the woman’s age. But if he weren’t, the least Emerson could do was bring back something as tasty as these brownies, and Stone could let his stomach fall into total bliss.
Chapter 3