“Right.” She sipped her drink and then smirked. “Like..we’re a couple or something?” She raised her eyebrow over her glass before setting it down. Emma had never had a partner before. Neal seemed to have a better handle on the rules of it all. “‘Cause, I mean, I can play pretend.“
Emma winked and sat up a little straighter. She watched as he looked her over. She took the opportunity to do the same. He did have that look that screamed ‘thief’. She tilted her head, noticing some things she could do to clean him up and hide that rough exterior. After all, it was easy to hide bad intentions under a cleaned up outfit.
She nearly choked when he asked her about pretending to be pregnant. “What? I mean, I don’t have personal experience or anything.”
"Yeah—that’s usually what’s most believable. Y'know, act like a couple, split up to browse the store so there’s not just one focus point, stuff like that.”
While he tried his best to keep his tone of voice as casual as possible, it didn’t quite go as planned; the more he mused upon these plans, the more he realized this was going to be a challenge altogether. Sure, he was a suave young man and certainly no stranger to flirtationships or casual social interaction—but this was different. He was going to have to trust someone who was in essence a stranger to him so far, and that was something he wasn’t quite accustomed to. It would be difficult, but it’d be good for personal development for the both of them as well, no doubt.
When she placed the remark of pretending to be in a relationship with him and threw in a wink for good measure, Neal’s mood lit up at least the slightest bit, and he seemed to relax more as he curled his fingers around his glass and raised it to his mouth, flashing her a crooked grin before letting the last of his drink slip past his lips.
“Oh, I’m sure you’ll adjust to that just fine.”
There was a hint of his signature cheeky undertone in his voice, and the grin remained on his lips for a little longer before they parted to produce a laugh in response to her reaction to his suggestion of pretending to be pregnant.
“That’s not what I mean—but people’re usually more lenient towards pregnant women. Plus, you’ll have a good spot to hide the haul. And if you’re about to get caught, all you have to do is pretend you’re about to have a baby in the middle of the store. Though I’d suggest not gettin’ caught at all.”
