I studied his expression for a moment before swallowing back any tears and nodding. “Okay.” I breathed, letting my walls down momentarily. It then occurred to me that we were pressed up against each other behind the curtain, our faces inches apart.
“You look really sexy in my clothes. I’m going to make you wear them more often.” Adrian’s gaze trailed down to his suit jacket, barely staying put on my shoulders.
He bent down and kissed my neck before I pulled away, glaring, and he chuckled. “You’ll want me soon enough.” He announced arrogantly.
I raised an eyebrow and crossed my arms over my chest. “Arrogance won’t get you anywhere, Adrian. Hey!” I suddenly remembered the announcement he made to his mother earlier. “What was that whole ‘going on a trip next weekend’ all about?” I asked, frowning as I bit my lip curiously.
His eyes studied my lips intently, and I released them from my teeth, blushing. “What?” He said, turning his gaze back to mine as he cleared his throat.
My blush deepened at his reaction, and I found myself clearing my own throat. “You told your mom that you and I are going on a trip next weekend – which we’re not, by the way – but why?” I asked.
Adrian’s gaze suddenly darkened. “Don’t worry about it. And we will be going. We have to now that I’ve mentioned it in front of her.”
I gave him a look of disbelief but decided against arguing about it at the moment. I’ll leave that for another day. “She doesn’t seem to like me much. I don’t understand why, I’ve never met her before.”
“Just… don’t worry about it,” he said. “Don’t let her get to your head.” He pulled me back into his torso and smirked down at me. “Now, about this dress… I think it needs to come off.”
The blush returned to my cheeks as my eyes widened.
“Adrian,” I hissed, trying to mask my blush with a dark look. “Someone will hear you.”
His eyebrows shot up in surprise. “That’s an improvement from ‘That’s never going to happen.’ I think I’m making progress here. Kingston 1, Johnson 0.” He joked, sneaking another kiss on my cheek.
I gave an exasperated sigh before pulling out his grip once again, rolling my eyes. “Let’s get back. They might think we’re doing more than talking.”
“I mean… I wouldn’t mind proving them right…” He trailed off smirking, before chuckling at my expression “Okay, okay. Let’s go, I need to do my thank you speech anyway.”
***
By the time the event ended, I was in tears from Adrian’s father, who I realised, shared his humour gene with his son. While he made remarks that made me cry from laughter, he also threw a few suggestive comments involving Adrian and me, and sometimes even based them on himself and me. Adrian would glare at his father every time a comment not involving him came up, and I rolled my eyes at his protective nature.
Almost the entire venue was empty by the time the woman came back to me at the table, and she gave me the same secretive smile she wore when we first met; making my stomach do countless flips once again.
“Are you ready to go?” she asked. I cast an uneasy glance around the room and only found Suzie, Allen and a few other men left, as well as the staff of the venue. No sign of Adrian.
I sighed before nodding. “Yeah. Let’s go.” I called out a brief goodbye to Suzie and Allen, who waved in response. I followed the woman outside to the car park, just as I realised I was still wearing Adrian’s suit jacket. I was thankful, due to the chilly wind that was whipping my hair about and making my toes freeze in my heels.
“My client will meet you in the car shortly. It was nice meeting you, Emily. Have a wonderful weekend.” She smiled as I climbed into the black car, and the words registered into my mind.
“Wait, what? You’re not coming?” I asked, growing even more nervous at the thought of her familiar face being absent with the stranger I was about to meet.
“You’ll be fine” was all she said, before she shut the door of the car.
I looked around the dark vehicle nervously, my breathing becoming heavier as the silence of the car suffocated me.
It felt like forever had gone by before the door on the other side of the car opened, and my head snapped towards the tall figure who just spent half a million dollars on me. He got into the car, shut the door behind him, and told the chauffeur in front to drive off – all while I continuously stared at him in shock.
“Come on, Shortcake,” Adrian smirked. “I told you I’d take care of it.”
Chapter Nine
“Come on, say something!” Adrian chuckled as he unlocked the door to his penthouse suite.
I continued glaring, staying silent as the rattling of the keys echoed throughout the empty top level loudly. The door clicked open, and he turned to face me fully, smirking in amusement.
“’Thank you Adrian,’” he said in a slightly higher-pitched tone than his usual one. “’You’re the best boss ever.’”
My glare stayed.
He let out a sigh before pulling me into his torso by wrapping his arm around my waist, and I instantly tried to wriggle out of his stone-like grip. “You’re not as happy as I thought you’d be, Shortcake,” he muttered, looking down at me with a slight pout to his lips.
I stopped trying to wriggle out of his grip momentarily to look up and give him a look of disbelief. “Not as happy as you’d thought I’d be? What part am I supposed to be happy about? Coming to your apartment where you’d probably be even worse than someone who bid on me at the auction, or the fact that you didn’t tell me about your
brilliant
plan to ‘take care of it’ to begin with? How did you do it anyway? I thought you weren’t allowed to participate since it was
your
charity fundraiser.”
“I didn’t participate,” he stated with a grin as he led us inside, still holding me in his iron grip. He closed and locked the door behind us.
“Yes you did! You bid on m-”
“
I
didn’t bid on anybody. ‘A client on the phone’ did,” he pointed out with a smug expression, throwing his keys on the counter near the door. I groaned in annoyance before pulling out of his hold and throwing my bag onto the sofa in the living room – beginning my silent treatment rule once again.
Adrian chuckled from behind me as he followed me down the hall to the bathroom I showered in last time. I slammed the door shut before he could comment and instantly stripped off my clothing before jumping into the large glass shower area and turned on the gushing hot water.
Once I felt squeaky clean and no longer pissed off, I stepped out of the shower and wrapped the towel that was hanging on the towel rack around my body securely before going over to the mirror and wiping off the steam that blurred my reflection and looking for a hairbrush in the drawers. Once I found one, I quickly ran it through my hair, before grabbing the other towel available in the bathroom and wrapping it around the newly tamed blonde locks. A firm knock sounded at the door just as I finished balancing the towel on my head, and I looked over at it and frowned.
“Shortcake, I have clothes for you.” Adrian’s deep voice came out slightly muffled from behind the door, and the realisation of my lack of pajamas registered in my mind just then.
Sighing, I walked over to the door and cracked it open, sticking one arm out for Adrian to put the clothes in. I waited for the soft feel of material to surround my grip. But instead of clothing, my hand was met with another hand, just as Adrian pulled me out of the bathroom. I let out a startled scream. When my eyes met Adrian’s amused gaze, I gave him a look of disbelief. He barely noticed, as his eyes scanned my body hungrily.
“Adrian! Let go.” I tried to pry my arm out of his grip while also trying to hold up the towel securely.
“I invited you into my home and let you use my shower. The
least
you could’ve done was invite me in there with you,” he said in a tone of mock exasperation.
I groaned, suddenly feeling tired. “I
knew
this was going to happen.”
“You knew what was going to happen?” Adrian asked, and I looked back up to meet his curious expression.
“That this is how my entire time with you was going to turn out,” I explained. “You’ll keep trying to either see me or get me naked, all the while making comments like
that
to make me either uncomfortable or angry – purely for your own entertainment.”
“You know me so well,” he said smugly, and I rolled my eyes.
“Unfortunately.”
I used the opportunity to yank my arm out of his hold due to the short distraction. He chuckled when I began glaring again, and held out the clothes he put together for me to wear. I snatched them from him, before stomping over to the room I had gotten dressed in last time and slammed the door shut once again.
I pouted as I slipped on my bra, and decided to text Amy and Rita at the same time:
Do you want to know who I went home with? Adrian Kingston.
Whoop-di-do!
If you have any sort of affection for me – save me!
And don’t tell anyone about this.
He wasn’t supposed to participate.
Wish me luck with Satan in human form :(
I didn’t wait for their replies as I walked out of the bedroom wearing another one of Adrian’s boxers, this one royal blue, and one of his shirts that came down to my knees. This one had ‘The Beatles’ logo printed on it.
“Are you hungry?” Adrian asked once I entered the living room. I placed my dress and heels on a secluded chair in the corner of the living room and strolled over to the leather sofa, ignoring his presence completely.
I heard him chuckle as I made myself comfortable on the corner of the sofa and switched on the large flat screen television that was positioned in front of me. I tried to disregard the feeling of the leather of the sofa sinking beside me as he sat down.
“Come on, Shortcake,” he implored, wrapping an arm around my waist and pulling my body closer to his. “Talk to me.”
I bit the inside of my cheek and glared at the screen, continuing my silent treatment. He let out a full-fledged laugh. I tried to keep my expression neutral, even though his real laugh – not his usual arrogant chuckle – had an effect on me I couldn’t yet understand.
“Emily.” He tried again, meshing our bodies even closer to each other than before. “What do you want me to do? Lie and say I’m sorry? Because I really am not. I wanted you to come home with me for the night.” I felt his shoulders go up for what felt like a shrug.
I continued to ignore him, and aimlessly flicked through the channels that were available on his television. Various programs briefly passed my vision – until I saw the familiar face of Sheldon Cooper pop up, and I kept it on the channel that was currently airing
The Big Bang Theory.
I temporarily forgot about Adrian’s firm hold around my waist and started laughing at something Sheldon had done to his roommate, Leonard, and my mood was no longer classified as ‘pissed off’.
That is, until, the asshole opened his mouth again.
“You know, he’s gay.”
I could practically feel the smirk on his plump lips as they formed around his statement.
“That means you have
no
chance with him. You have a chance with me – in case you were wondering.”
“I wasn’t – in case
you
were wondering,” I mumbled, rolling my eyes.
He chuckled before I felt his long fingers wrap around my chin, pulling my face to face his. “Talk to me. I’m bored.” He pouted. “Or let’s watch a movie together or something. I’ll make popcorn and I’ll even let you choose the movie!”
I frowned slightly as his words registered in my mind. “Okay,” I said.
“Okay?” Adrian repeated with a surprised expression.
I nodded, smiling slightly at his shock. “Let’s watch a movie. Go and make the popcorn while I go through the choices.”
Adrian gave me a cautious look. “You’re not… Are you playing a trick on me?” he asked, narrowing his eyes, “Trying to get me to leave so you can escape?”
I laughed and shook my head. “Where do you keep your movies?” I asked, pulling out of his grasp.
He lifted himself off the sofa at the same time I did, and pointed to the large white cabinet that was located on the side of the living room. “Go crazy,” he said before heading for the kitchen.
I walked over to the large cabinet and opened it cautiously, not wanting to ruin the expensive looking piece of furniture. My jaw almost fell to the floor in shock. There had to be
at least
400 DVD cases in this thing! The sound of popcorn erupting in a microwave sounded from the direction where Adrian went, and I shook myself out of my amazed state.
My eyes scanned the large variety thoroughly; searching for any movie that involved Johnny Depp or The Hemsworth or Franco brothers, before my eyes stopped at the one DVD case I had been itching to watch for a while. I took out the navy coloured case and made my way over to the Blu-ray player before inserting the CD into the machine.
“
Now You See Me
,” Adrian suddenly said from behind me, making me jump and whip around. “Good choice. It’s a long movie too.”
I felt my eyebrows raise. “Is that a problem? I can choose a different-”
“Not a problem. More like a treat. 2 hours with you not hating my guts? I think I’m going to enjoy myself.” His grin grew as I rolled my eyes at his logic. The microwave signaled the popcorn was finished, making Adrian leave the room once again.
I took my original position at the corner of the sofa and ruffled my hair out to feel less of a strain on my head, then crossed my legs and put a pillow on my lap as Adrian re-entered the living room.
“Comfortable?” he asked with a smirk, before squashing up to me with the bowl of popcorn in his hands.
I rolled my eyes at his overly excited grin before answering.
“I
was,
” I stated, glaring playfully.
He chuckled and pulled me into his warm torso once again before reaching over to the remote control to press play.
“Good. Let’s watch the movie.”
***
“Dave Franco needs to marry me,” I stated with a glazed expression as the end credits rolled onto the large flat screen in front of Adrian and me. “He is the most handsome man I have ever laid my eyes on.”
Adrian scoffed, before he looked down at me with his trademark smirk and an amused glint in his eye. “He’s not even in my league, and you know it, Shortcake.”
Somehow, during the movie, I had ended up in Adrian’s lap, with his arms curled around my waist in a tight restraint so I wasn’t able to shift my position. It was comfortable –
really
comfortable – and I instantly scolded myself for liking the fact that I was being held in the arms of my boss.
“Whatever you say, Adri-poo,” I teased, pinching his cheeks with a grin.
“‘Adri-poo?’” he repeated with the same trademark smirk and amused expression.
I nodded, still grinning. “Your new nickname. Oh, and you’re right. Dave Franco is not in your league at all. He has an entire league of his own. Far, far away from you.” I winked.
Adrian turned off the Blu-ray player and television while he chuckled at my statement. “You’re right as well, I’m afraid. You see, he’s all the way at the bottom of the scale, and I’m all the way at the top. Actually, I’m that sexy, that I don’t even qualify on the scale.”
I raised an eyebrow at his inflated ego.
“Okay Boss. Sure. If that’s what makes you sleep at night.”
“Actually,” he chuckled, “the thought of you makes me sleep at night. You know, with no clothing on-”
I groaned, cutting him off. “Do
not
even finish that sentence and ruin the 2% progress you’ve made with me.” I scowled at him playfully in warning.
Adrian was still chuckling when I felt his arms retract themselves from around my waist. One of them slid to my back while the other slid down to the bend in my legs. He lifted me up bridal style, making me squeal in surprise in the process. “Come on Shortcake, let’s go to bed.”