She was being played like a finely tuned violin. The saddest part of all was, she knew it. He was using his words, his gestures, trying to get her to follow along. The common sense side of her, the side that had ruled the majority of her life, scolded her for even being at this dinner. It told her to leave before the main course arrived, to thank him but tell him this was ridiculous and couldn't happen.
But Emma was made up of many layers, and the stone cold woman on the outside was only a part of it. She had dreams, so many of them, and they'd all fallen apart. She'd wanted better for Henry, it was why she'd given him up. For so long, she'd thought she could have it all, and every single day something showed her why she couldn't. And here he was, using a honey sweet voice and perfectly placed words to slip through her defenses and make her need to have that life she'd dreamt of. Maybe she could have something here. No, she wouldn't have Henry, but just...something.
The war of her emotions was likely flickering through her expressive face, but she wasn't afraid to let him see that. Let him see that there was still fight in her, a part of her that knew even talking to him as much as she did was wrong. He thought he could see things in her eyes? Let him. "I think you do," she finally admitted, her eyes flickering over his. "I think you've got too much to give to be what you are. But I'm also not stupid; I know you're not going to change. And it'd be pathetic of me to even try."
Years lost in the system hadn't just made her hard; they'd made her smart. No, not as smart as him. Certainly not as smart as Sherlock. But she knew people. And she knew that, despite his own exterior, she had some effect on him. This wasn't just a game for him, even if he was playing her like one. Something she'd said or done had reached him. Maybe there was a person she could trust underneath all of this.
"I have control of my life," she said, her words a bit icier than she'd intended. "I'm no one's pawn. I make my own decisions. And while there may be things I have no power over, there's plenty of things I can." Not him. She knew better than that. But she'd made her mark on him, and it had to count for something.
Her eyes studied him for a moment more, then she looked away. "I don't know what it is you want from me. But I think you understand that it's not something that can just happen."