“No, no!” I reassured her quickly, scrambling for a lie. “You haven’t interrupted anything, Suzie! Adrian and I were just discussing the final marketing plan developed for the hotels in the Australian region.”
Adrian cleared his throat. “Just place the papers on the table in front of you and I will send them back to your office later. Emily, you’re going to be my +1 for the Gala. Mrs. Brown, please make sure everybody knows that, and seat her in between Allen and myself. Is there anything else?”
Suzie looked back and forth between Adrian and me again with uncertainty on her features before clearing her throat. “Did you want the dinner to be themed in any way?”
“No. Just make sure everyone is dressed to a high standard. If that is all, you can leave now.”
“Adrian!” I exclaimed, turning around to him with a frown. “Stop being so rude,” I mumbled, looking up at him with a stern look. He ignored my glare completely, and focused his gaze on my lips again, making me blush.
“Okay, thank you sir,” Suzie called out softly, before we heard the door shut once again.
My blush deepened as I looked away from his intense gaze. “Why am I your +1 this time? Do I even have a choice in the matter?” I asked in an attempt to change the tension in the air.
“No, and because I want you to be,” Adrian snapped. “Anyway, you can’t complain. I’m putting Allen next to you. Having said that, I don’t want anything unnecessary happening between you two.”
I rolled my eyes at his sudden mood swing. “Okay Mr. Bi-Polar.”
“I mean it. And get your weird friend to pick out your dress this time. Rita will do your hair again and I don’t want you wearing a lot of makeup. You already attract too much attention as it is.”
“Yes, Boss,” I said sarcastically, mock-saluting him. “Is there anything else, Boss?”
“Don’t call me boss, Shortcake,” Adrian warned in a low voice, even as a mischievous light glinted in his eye, “or I will not hesitate to kiss you this time.”
I looked up at him with wide eyes and my cheeks began to flame up again at his comment. I cleared my throat to compose myself. “S-Sorry,” I stuttered.
Another event. I did not have a good feeling about this one.
Chapter Nineteen
Dress shopping was probably the worst thing that was ever assigned to the job description of being a girl. Especially when it’s with your psychotic best friend who refuses to let you see the dress that you’re going to be wearing.
“Ames, I didn’t come all the way down here just to watch you glare at your laptop,” I said, growing more and more nervous by the second. “Let me see!”
“I’ve already bought it so it can come on time, so you can’t say anything! I actually love it, wow!” Amy grinned to herself, making me laugh.
“May I see it, your royal highness?” I asked sarcastically.
Amy rolled her eyes before passing the laptop over to me. “You’re such a dork. I can’t believe Adrian didn’t let me come over, that’s so unfair! I mean, I know you don’t have a lot of friends, but does he have to reject my amazingness?” Amy exclaimed in disbelief.
“Shut up! And he’s very strict of the whole ‘no human being apart from you and Maria are allowed in my apartment’ thing. Hey, he did offer us a vacant room in the hotel; you just rejected it! Plus, I’m pretty sure that if you were in the same room as him, all you’d be doing is ogling at him like the creep you are.” I grinned, before using the laptop as a defense mechanism against her violent act.
“It’s not my fault he’s hot.” She scowled. I laughed and shook my head before focusing my attention on the screen in front of me – and almost choked on my own saliva.
Amy noticed the barely audible sound and gave me a look of disbelief. “What the hell?! Don’t you dare complain to me, you stupid cow, it’s not tight or revealing and it’s long as fuck! Listen up, you little---”
“It’s perfect,” I murmured, cutting off her insult. It was. For the first time, I actually liked a dress.
“What?” Amy asked, giving me a look of confusion. “Wait, wait. Are you sure you’re looking at the right thing? You’re looking at a dress, right? And you know it’s a dress?” she asked cautiously.
I looked away from the blood red garment with a wide