"Well, well, well. Look who's back."

A small smile graces Emily's face as she turns towards him, leaning against the bar.

"Well, well, well. Look who's alive."

"You heard about that, huh?"

"Yeah, my mother told me. Of course, a week or so later she told me you were alive. Which, shouldn't have surprised me at this point. You're unlike your father in so many ways, but you did seem to inherit the Stenbeck resurrection gene."

"That may be the one thing I don't mind getting from him."

She laughs softly, her eyes meeting his. "I'm glad you're okay," she says, the sincerity in her voice touching Paul.

"Thanks," he replies, as he moves to sit in the chair next to her. Following his lead, she sits as well, taking a sip of her drink. "When'd you get back?"

"This morning."

"And already at the bar huh? Not a good sign."

"Well, it was either this," she says, motioning to her drink, "or answer my mother's incessant questions about what I'm going to do with my life now that I'm back. I mean, can a girl unpack first?"

"Yeah, that sounds like Susan," he says, a hint of amusement in his voice. "So, you got to spend the summer with Daniel huh?"

She shakes her head, a dry chuckle escaping her lips as she turns to face him.

"What do you want, Paul?"

He does a quick take at that, then quickly adopts his most charming smile.

"What do you mean?"

"Just because I've been away for a few months doesn't mean I've lost my ability to read you like a book. You want something. So, why don't we just dispense with all the small talk and you can tell me what you want from me."

He's about to protest, but then stops, seeing that knowing grin, the one she always got when she was onto him. He takes a swig of scotch and leans in closer to her.

"You wanna get outta here?"

"And why on earth would I wanna do that?" she responds coyly.

"It would be worth your while."

"Somehow, I have my doubts about that."

"Come on….I…I need to talk to you."

Paul notices immediately the flirtatious glint disappear from her eyes, and instead, a look of concern takes its place.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah…yeah, I'm fine," he responds, feeling oddly comforted by the fact that she still cares about him the way she does, after all they'd been through together.

"Okay," she nods slowly, "so, why can't we talk here?"

"It's a conversation better had in private."

She looks at him, obviously trying to figure out what he's up to. Then she takes a quick look around the almost empty Lakeview lounge.

"We're pretty much alone right now," she shrugs.

"Come on, Em," he says, "I'm just asking for a few minutes, that's it. Up in my suite."

She looks at him, clearly weighing her options. "Yeah…I'm gonna need more than that."

"Alright…I have a proposition for you."

"A proposition?"

"Yeah…and it's a good one."

"Really?" she responds, her interest piqued despite herself. "What kind of proposition?"

"Let's just say….it would be mutually beneficial."

"Hmmm…" she says, sizing him up. "I'll be the judge of that."

To Be Continued