“Pft, of course not! Oh, would you look at the time! I need to go get my clothes and come back so we can watch movies and eat lunch together before-”
“Adrian!” I snapped, cutting him off.
He let out a defeated sigh before giving me a guilty smile. “Okay, yes. On the night of the business dinner, I took your keys out of your bag and put them in a pocket on my door so that you could come home with me. But it’s not my fault! You looked hot; I had to see more of you!”
His poor but flattering defense made me blush while I glared at him. I shook my head and hit his bare shoulder, my blush deepening as my hand came in contact with his bare skin.
“You’re an idiot.” I tried to scowl, but it came out as more of a smile as he broke out into a goofy, lopsided grin.
“Only for you, Shortcake.” He smirked, sneaking another kiss on my cheek before leaving the kitchen. I bit my lip and sighed to myself as I felt his kiss linger on my cheek for longer than necessary, before following him out.
***
“Thank you for hiring me, Mr. Cooper,” I said for what must have been the nth time. “It was a pleasure working for you. It’s just… this job is more suited to my qualifications and I believe I can achieve more if I’m working there.” I finished with a smile that turned out more like a grimace.
“Oh, but Emily,” Mr. Cooper gave me a sad look, “It was so nice having you around. You really brightened up my day. Please stay…” his voice trailed off, and he seemed so sincere that I began to feel guilty. Maybe I could work two jobs…
“She’s coming with me,” Adrian snapped, coming up to stand beside me and pulling me into him protectively. “Now, unless you want me to put in a restraining order, I suggest you sign the papers so we can be on our merry way, old man.”
Mr. Cooper glanced at Adrian, then at me, and back again at Adrian’s intimidating figure. His wary gaze lingered there for a second longer before he sighed and pulled the forms closer towards him. I snuck a look up at Adrian, who was already looking down at me with a stern expression, and I bit my lip to stop a laugh from escaping from in between my lips.
Last night, Adrian had insisted that he come with me this morning to quit my job in case ‘Handsome Mr. Cooper gave me any trouble.’ When Adrian’s eyes landed on Mr. Cooper, his expression was beyond priceless, and he gave me a weird look before asking me if he was the type of man I was into. I nodded and told Adrian that Mr. Cooper was the reason I was never interested in Adrian.
He almost believed me; but I burst out in laughter shortly after my response, making him roll his eyes.
“Done,” Mr. Cooper said as he handed me the papers to let me leave work. “I really hope to see you in the near future, Emily.”
“Uh… sure,” I smiled tightly. “Maybe one day.”
Beside me, Adrian stiffened and glared at Mr. Cooper, then led me out of the small, cramped office.
Once we were in the car and driving back to Kingston Corp., Adrian turned and gave me the same stern look he gave me in the office. “You were about to agree to work for him!” Adrian exclaimed.
I opened my mouth to deny his accusation and shut it once I realised he was right. “I felt really bad,” I said softly, thinking of the frail old man again. He may have been creepy, but he was still old and fragile. He needed all the help he could get.
Adrian’s angry expression instantly transformed into one that made my breath hitch in my throat. This was the same one he had given me on the beach in California, where his eyes were soft and his expression unreadable as he looked at me.
“Okay,” he mumbled, blinking out of his daze and looking away.
I frowned, but didn’t question his sudden understanding, and looked out the window just as we pulled up into Kingston Corp. I tried – and failed – to keep the excited grin off my face as Adrian and I stepped into the elevator that would take us up to my old workplace, and I let out a contented sigh once the elevator dinged open. Adrian looked down at me with an amused smirk, and chuckled once I beamed back at him.
“Go and surprise Suzie,” he told me, taking the box I was holding and nodding in the direction of Suzie’s office. “I’ll take care of your things. She didn’t think I could get you to come back.”
He gave me a wry, smug smile, clearly proud of himself. I was in too good a mood to snipe at his arrogance, so I just grinned before making my way over to Suzie’s office. I knocked softly, and opened it once I heard her familiar ‘Come in.’
“Suzie,” I opened with a very official tone, as if it was just another day at the office, “I was just wondering if you’ve received the paperwork Mr. Kingston placed on your desk from me in regards to how much I’ve missed you?”
Suzie’s head snapped up from the papers in front of her with lightning speed. “Oh, Emily!” she squealed, getting out of her seat.
I broke out into a wide grin and walked over to meet her halfway. She pulled me into a bone-crushing hug, making me return the gesture. “You’re back! I didn’t think you’d come back after the way he treated you! But you’re back! I’m so happy!” She tightened her grip around my waist with every heartfelt line and mumbled into my shoulder, “I’ve missed you so much, dear!”
I grinned and pulled away. “I’m back! And I’ve missed you more! How is Richard?” I asked.
Suzie was still grinning as she took her seat again. “He’s well, dear. He’ll be delighted to hear that you’re back!”
I was just beginning to laugh when her phone started ringing, and she answered it instantly, “Kingston Corp.” She nodded at whoever was on the other end of the line, looked up at me knowingly, and broke out into another grin.
“Of course, Sir,” she said before hanging up the phone and turning her attention fully on me. “Emily, Mr. Kingston said sorry to cut our reunion short, but he needs you in the office.” She beamed brightly, and I nodded and waved before exiting her office.
As I walked down the long hallway, I recognised the familiar faces of the others that I used to work with. They all waved and grinned as I walked by, and I returned the gestures before I made it to Adrian’s office.
“You needed me?” I asked, shutting the door behind me.
“More than ever, Shortcake.” He smirked, and I squealed in shock once I realised he was right next to me. He chuckled before pulling me into his solid torso. “I’ve missed this,” he murmured into my hair, making me blush.
I opened my mouth to respond but was cut off by a sharp knock at the door. Adrian didn’t bother letting go of me – even though I tried to wriggle out of his solid grip.
“Enter,” he said as I squirmed.
The door opened and revealed another familiar face, Daniel, whom I’ve worked with before. He came in with a stack of folders and a USB drive in his hands. “Mr. Kingston, these just arrived from the Harrison Company, sir. They said it was urgent and – Emily? Is that you? Hey! You’re back!”
I grinned back at my colleague. “Hey Daniel! How have you been?”
“Yeah, yeah, great!” he replied excitedly, the smile on his face growing wider. “What about you? You’re back!”
I laughed and nodded, still aware that I was in Adrian’s arms – arms that had become noticeably tighter once Daniel and I began interacting. “Yes, I’m back, and great, thank you for asking.”
“That’s great! Hey, we should catch up tonight over drinks or something,” Daniel suggested.
I opened my mouth to reply but was cut off by Adrian pushing me behind his tall, broad figure. “Just give me the fucking files and leave,” he snarled at Daniel, who suddenly tensed in shock.
Daniel hurriedly passed the files and the USB stick over to Adrian in fright, before casting a brief look over in my direction and calmly walking out of the office.
“What was that?!” I exclaimed as Adrian slammed the large stack of files on the small coffee table that was close to our current position in the office.
“I’ve made another rule,” Adrian spoke out of nowhere, ignoring my question. He dragged his glare away from the space Daniel had occupied and focused his steely gaze on me.
“Um… Okay, what is it?” I asked, biting my lip curiously and temporarily forgetting his irrational behaviour towards Daniel.
Adrian smirked, before snaking his arm around my waist again. I tried not to shiver from the familiar and warm contact, before looking up at his satisfied expression for his answer.
“Rule three: you’re moving in with me. Tonight.”
C
hapter Seventeen
I stared back at Adrian’s expression, blinking blankly for a few moments, before bursting into a fit of laughter. I had momentarily believed him, before it registered in my mind that he was just joking. I began to laugh at his ridiculous suggestion – then abruptly cut myself short once his serious expression didn’t change.
“You’re not serious,” I stated.
“As the plague,” he remarked, smirking slightly.
My expression turned skeptical. “No way! Not happening!” I exclaimed, giving him a look of disbelief.
His smirk instantly fell and was replaced with a frown. “Why not?”
“Because- Because- Just because! No! You’re my boss, its
wrong.
” I wasn’t going to lie, the thought of living with Adrian – waking up with him on a daily basis, watching movies together, having dinner together – had my stomach doing summersaults and my heart feeling like a feather; but I wasn’t going to tell
him
that. He was my boss.
“I don’t care. You’re moving in and-”
I cut him off. “Adrian. I can’t move in with you. I like my apartment! I worked my ass off to get it – it’s small, comfortable, and perfect to me! Plus, I have friends that like to see me every day and family who visit on occasion! And what about all the reporters that follow your every move? Moving in with you will send a wrong image out to everyone and-”
“And I don’t know how many times I have to say this to you, I don’t fucking care about how I look to the public. I care about
you.
So move in with me.” His tone was still commanding, and I had a feeling he wasn’t going to change his mind on the matter any time soon.
I sighed, before meeting his eyes. “Adrian…” I trailed off, not knowing what else to say to change his mind, before my phone began to ring, filling in the silence that settled in the office. “Hello?” I answered, not bothering to check the caller ID.
“Smelly Emily,” a deep voice answered, making a large grin instantly stretch across my face.
“Flaky Blakey!” I squealed in excitement at the recognition of my older sibling’s voice. “Have you come out of hibernation? Or come back from space? Because no other excuse will be accepted for not calling me for this long!” I grinned broadly. My eyes briefly flickered over to Adrian’s tall form, which was now leaning against his desk with his hands in his pockets and staring at me with an amused smirk.
“It was your turn, not mine!” he replied.
My grin instantly transformed to a shocked expression, and my eyes narrowed at the small coffee table that was in my line of vision. “It was not!” I argued, “Don’t you remember? I called you and you were at Michael’s house, and then you snuck out to the bathroom to talk to me and then you promised you’d take the double shift because you had to end my phone call short!”
Blake was silent for a moment, before I heard his tongue click in recognition. “That’s right, and my favourite pair of boxers ripped that day. That sad, sad day.”
I rolled my eyes and grinned at the same coffee table I was looking at earlier. “You’re such a dork.”
“That’s because I had to live with you for 17 years. You were bound to rub off on my amazing personality just to sabotage my-”
“Shut up, Blake!” I laughed, making Adrian’s smirk grow even wider as he watched. He began walking over to where I was, and pulled me into his torso from behind.
“Anyway, guess who’s coming over this Sunday, Smelly Emily?” Blake asked, oblivious to my physical position.
“W- Who?” I stuttered, suddenly feeling every hair on my body stand up from Adrian’s touch.
“Me, dufus!” Blake exclaimed. “And mom and dad; so you better make something nice for dinner!”
My mind momentarily stopped focusing on the feeling of Adrian’s arms around my waist and I focused my attention to the phone call with a small frown. “That’s… a surprise… Why?” I asked out of disbelief. “I mean, not that I don’t want you guys to, because I do! I miss you heaps! Well, you and our parents. No, wait, that didn’t sound very nice. What I meant was-”
Blake cut me off with a laugh, and I felt Adrian’s chest vibrate from a low chuckle behind me. “Smelly, chill! I know what you mean. Mom has been complaining to me that she hasn’t seen you for too long. So, I decided we’d pay you a visit. Sunday, we’ll be there at 4PM. See you then, Smelly Emily!”
I smiled and ended the phone call, before it registered in my mind that Blake couldn’t see me, and I gasped and turned around to Adrian. “I just accidentally hung up in his face!” I exclaimed with wide eyes, feeling panicky.
Adrian smirked down at our close proximity, and I instantly began blushing. “I’m coming over this Sunday,” he informed bluntly as his expression became serious.
Accidentally hanging up on Blake suddenly didn’t seem like such a big deal, and I focused all my attention to my boss with a stern look. “No, you’re not. I have plans that I know you’re trying to interfere with. And just to be clear, Blake is my brother; no one you should be getting all possessive about the way you usually do,” I warned.
“I know that. I’ve read your profile. That still doesn’t change the fact that I’m coming over on Sunday.”
“No you’re not, Adrian!” I hissed, frowning up at him. “This is my
family.
If you show up, they’ll think there’s something going on between us!”
He studied my expression momentarily before shrugging. “Fine, but you’re moving in with me.”
I groaned. “Adrian! I am not moving in with you. Don’t make me list my reasons again.” I sighed, suddenly feeling tired of re-stating my argument.
“Don’t make me tell you my care factor about people’s opinion’s again,” he glared in response.
“Adrian-”
“I’ll give you time to think about it,” he cut me off, grudgingly. “Come on, we have a meeting.”
I bit my lip to stop myself from telling him that I didn’t need to think about it, and walked over to my desk, collecting all the necessary paperwork needed for the meeting.
We began to walk out of the office when I felt Adrian bend down so his lips were in line with my ear. “I forgot to tell you how good your ass looks in that pantsuit today. You should wear them more often.” He pulled away and I looked up at him with an expression of disbelief, blushing furiously from his arrogant smirk.
“Shut up,” I mumbled, pushing him away from my body.
***
Sunday came sooner than I liked, and I found myself checking if everything was properly positioned double, even triple times, before my heart was able to relax slightly. Amy was going to arrive any minute now to calm me down and have dinner with us, and I found myself mentally thanking my best friend once again.
Knowing my parents – my entire apartment would be evaluated to make sure everything was cleaned and positioned to perfection. If there was anything out of place, I’d be forced to move back in with them because I’m ‘incapable’ of living on my own.
“I’M HERE BITCH! Oh shit, are your parents here yet? I SAID WITCH, NOT BITCH – JUST TO CLARIFY!” Amy’s voice echoed through my quiet apartment, making me jump in my position just as she slammed the door shut. I turned to her and rolled my eyes as she held up a bottle of wine and fresh bread rolls. “Have no fear, superwoman is here!” Amy sung out once she scanned the apartment for my family.
I shook my head and grinned at her behaviour before pulling her into a hug. “I owe you
big
time,” I declared while taking the things out of her hands.
“It’s fine. I’m going to get to tease Blake the entire night anyway; you being related to him is pretty much paying me back.” She winked.
I laughed while taking out the bread rolls. “That wouldn’t have anything to do with your crush on him, will it?” I winked back.
Amy’s eyes went wide and she instantly began to turn tomato red – a trait I loved to see on her. “I do
not
have a crush on Blake.”
“Yet you react like
that
every time I bring it up.” I smirked while setting down the plates around the island in my kitchen. Luckily, most of the food was already prepared. I just had to toss the salad together and I was done. Unfortunately, my parents had decided to be late the one day that I was 100% organised.
“It’s not like them to be late,” Amy murmured to herself, mirroring my thoughts. She looked up and met my eyes and I nodded in agreement with a small frown etched on my forehead.
“Maybe I should call th-” My voice was cut off by a firm knock sounding from the living room, and Amy’s eyes instantly widened.
“It’s like they could sense we were talking about them!” she hissed frantically, making me laugh and throw a carrot in her direction.
She dodged it neatly and glared at me as we went over to the front door together. As soon as I opened the front door, I was engulfed in a hug.
“Emily! Are you sure you’re okay to live on your own? It took you quite a while to get to the door… Maybe it’s best if we sell this apartment and you can come back and-”
“It’s great to see you too, mom,” I grumbled loud enough to cut her suggestion off.
She pulled away from me with a small smile on her face, and I instantly regretted the harshness of my tone. “I’ve missed you so much, honey. Talking on the phone and that time with the face app isn’t really the same as real life, you know?” She pouted, and I looked into her brown eyes with the same longing feeling.
“I know mom,” I replied, placing a soft kiss on her cheek. “I’ve missed you too.”
“Stop hogging our daughter, Michelle,” a deep voice grumbled, and I instantly grinned as my dad held me up and spun me around in our traditional hug. “How are you, Kiddo?” My dad chuckled once I pulled him in for another hug.
“I’m great, how are you?” I asked with a huge grin.
“Great now that I’m looking at my little princess again. I don’t like this long distance thing you’ve got going on with us. I’m always having to fake lose against your mom in Mario Kart.” He gave me look of disappointment, and I began to giggle at his immaturity.
“Hey! I win those games fair and square. Your ego does not need another boost, old man!” My mom whacked my father’s arm, who chuckled at her weak hit. A sense of déjà vu washed through me as I remembered the night I had fought with Adrian over the same thing – except our fight was based on UNO cards. Adrian had been nagging me all week about moving in with him – to the point where he even wrote a list of why it was one of his best ideas ever. The list had things like; I get to see Adrian shirtless, and if I’m ‘lucky’, naked all the time; the kitchen was huge and I had an unlimited supply of food due to the fact that his apartment was a hotel suite.
The list had a total of 64 reasons on it, and most of them involved either a naked Adrian or me being naked. That didn’t mean it wasn’t funny though.
“SOMETHING SMELLS REALLY BAD IN HERE. OH, IT MUST BE SMELLY EMILY.” Blake shouted from behind our parents, pulling me out of my thoughts.
I laughed and attempted to glare at him with a grin, before he cracked a smile and pulled me into his buff torso. “I’ve missed you, little sis.” He laughed while ruffling my hair.
“I missed you too, Blakey Wakey.” I grinned while pinching his cheeks. He slapped my hands away, making us both laugh. “Why were you guys so late? You’re usually
never
late,” I pointed out with a small frown.
“Traffic,” Blake mumbled, looking a little worn out at the thought.
“Yet
another
reason why the long distance thing you have going on with us should end right – oh, hello Amy! I didn’t see you there.” My father brought up abruptly. We all turned to look at Amy, who was smiling in amusement at the exchange happening in front of her.