Emma: I did let you in and you abused the privilege.
Mr. Wonderful: It was absolutely not what it looked like and I think you know that.
Emma: Yes.
Mr. Wonderful: Go out on your balcony.
Emma: One step ahead of you.
Mr. Wonderful: As usual. Look over the edge.
Emma stood and crossed to the edge and peered down to the sidewalk. Nathan was standing there, arms spread, tie loose, shirt untucked. He looked winded, like he had run there from midtown. In his fist, he held a bouquet of awful flowers. His expression was pleading. And adorable. She shook her head and disappeared back into the apartment as she texted.
Emma: You have five minutes.
She called down to let the doorman know Nathan was expected. A minute later, the doorbell rang. She had barely cracked the door when Nathan burst through. Without preamble, he grabbed her and kissed the shit out of her. Any normal person probably would have rejected him, slapped his face, yelled, but Emma understood. He needed to feel her. She needed to feel him. She gave him a minute to settle. He stroked her face.
“Don’t disappear on me,” he pleaded.
“I’m right here.”
“That’s not what I mean, and you know it.”
“I’ll try.”
“Thank you.”
He pulled her to the couch, but before he sat, he said, “Do you have anything to drink? I don’t allow myself alcohol in situations like that, and I could really use it.”
Situations like what?
“Um, I have some scotch I keep for when my dad comes, and I think there is some beer in the fridge.”
He poured himself a generous glass of Glenfiddich and downed half of it before he sat. “You understood, didn’t you? My code?”
She eyed him warily. “I think so.”
“Good.” Another gulp. “Okay, Emma, I’m telling you this as my girlfriend, not my interviewer, just so we’re clear.”
“Understood.” Girlfriend.
“That was business.” She arched a brow, but he plowed on. “I can’t go into detail. Everything is extremely sensitive, but let’s say I owned a candy company.”
“I think I would prefer that.”
“At times I would too. Now pay attention.” He tapped her nose with his index finger.
She sat up straighter and met his gaze.
“My candy company wants to buy this new candy product from a supplier who is making big claims, but there are a couple of problems. One: the man who has the candy doesn’t want to sell it to me. He wants to auction it off to the highest bidder. Two: the other potential buyers and I don’t know exactly what the supplier is selling yet. Is it a hybrid cocoa bean? A new flavoring? A recipe? A method of transporting candy?”
“Seems like information you’d need to make an informed purchase.”
“Exactly. The woman in the bar is the wife of the owner of a rival candy company that also wants to purchase this new product. And because of his reputation as a frequent buyer of all different sorts of candy, I thought he might have more information about this particular product than is generally known. I’d met her before in past, eh hem, candy negotiations, and she had made her interest known. So, I decided to use that to find out what her husband knows.”
“And she’d tell you because you’re hot? I don’t think I understand the candy business.” Nathan just shook his head.
“The owner of the chocolate factory isn’t an honest businessman. He buys his beans from sketchy people and sells his chocolate to even worse. We needed to use every tactic available to get information on this... candy.”