Acting Suspicious Much?

"It's nice to finally meet the man my daughter always talks about, your highness," Chloe said to the nervous James.

Emma blushed from behind James, knowing she'd most likely get embarrassed from this.

James smiled.

"Emma's told me all about you, so I concur," he said as he shook Chloe's hand.

Chloe grinned before she looked at her daughter.

"Em, I have a suggestion. You can go talk to other guests while I can chat with your boyfriend," Chloe suggested.

Trusting that her mother wouldn't embarrass her too much, and wanting to go matchmake Lily and Connor, Emma nodded.

"Okay, I'll see you later, mother. James, I'll go and chat with Lily and Connor," Emma said before she waved and left.

James turned to Chloe.

"Are you going to ask me questions?" He asked explicitly.

To his surprise, Chloe shook her head.

"No, of course not. I trust my daughter and her choices. She's intelligent, and wise enough to decide what's best and right for her. And from how you're acting, there's probably something you'd like to talk about," Chloe said.

James was appalled. So intelligence runs in the family.

Chloe had practically read his mind. He did have something to talk to her about, and it wasn't cute yet embarrassing stories about Emma as a child. It was something else.

James pursed his lips.

"Yes, you're absolutely right, Ms Grey," he said politely.

Chloe smiled.

"Your highness, you don't have to call me by that. Just call me Chloe. Now please, sit," she said, gesturing down at a nearby seat.

Prince James quickly sat down before replying, "If that's the case, it's better if you don't call me formally either. Just call me James."

Chloe acknowledged his words before asking him.

"Now, what is it that you wanted to talk about," Chloe said as she had an inkling about what it possibly might be.

James fidgeted with his fingers nervously, as he began telling her everything he wanted to talk to her about.

The two were interrupted when Emma came with three glasses of champagne, handing one to her mother and one to her boyfriend. "How are you two doing?" She asked before she took a generous sip of her wine.

James racked his brain for a quick answer before standing up and smiling.

"It went splendidly, Emma," he replied, assuring the worried Emma.

Emma sighed in relief.

"Well that's a relief," she mumbled to herself.

James nodded, as the couple exchanged goodbyes with Chloe, before James ushered her away from her mother, who had already taken a few sips of her wine.

Emma tilted her head as she left, wondering what it was they talked about.

"What did the two of you talk about? She didn't say anything embarrassing about me, did she?" Emma asked.

James shook his head.

"No, no, nothing of the sort. We only chatted about you," James said, mumbling the last part all to himself and not for Emma to hear.

"And some other stuff."

Emma, trusting her boyfriend enough to assume what he said was probably the truth, told her how her trying to matchmake her two friends worked out.

"They were quite awkward together, and they get flustered by what the other person says easily, but once they warm up to each other, probably with our help, it'll be smooth sailing from there," Emma explained, already halfway done with her glass of champagne.

Her trying to matchmake her two closest friends didn't exactly work out, seeing as how it wasn't awkward only when someone else was around the two of them. The whole time, it was basically Emma bringing up a topic, and Lily and Connor both talking to her instead of to each other.

Lily and Connor always seemed to be less awkward when they had other people around them, preferably their close friends. This itself made double-dates seem much more ideal, but that wasn't a permanent solution.

James wrapped his hand around her back, as they made their way to Lily and Connor, who was seated at another table.

"Hey guys," Emma greeted as she took a seat.

James sat beside her, as he closely watched how Lily and Connor behaved around each other.

"Hey Em," Lily greeted, Connor doing the same.

Once greetings and a round of compliments were done, Lily asked James.

"How'd meeting Chloe go?" She asked curiously, wondering what happened.

James shrugged.

"It went well, so to speak," James answered.

Lily wanted to say something else, but Emma was there, so she kept her mouth shut for James' sake and to keep it as a surprise for later on, even if she had to keep it a secret from her best friend, which would be one difficult feat.

Connor neared Emma, wanting to inform her of some news.

"Apparently, you and James are the talk of the ball. People like your dress, and they say your beauty stands out from anyone else here," Connor whispered.

Emma wanted to taunt Connor, choosing her next words wisely.

"Not even from Lily?" She whispered.

Connor blushed, as he whispered back, "Did you have to bring that up, Em?"

Emma sneered.

"It was the first thing that came to mind, how could you blame me," she said, faking a pout.

Her and Connor's conversation was interrupted when something was banged against the table.

Upon looking at who had made that sound, Emma wasn't too surprised to see a furious Courtney looking back at her with her heavy-sounding designer purse in hand. Here comes trouble.