My body relaxed slightly as I looked up and nodded at him. “Sorry,” I muttered, before following him inside the hotel and into the conference room that was transformed into a dinner reception, leaving the reporters behind.
“So how do these things work? Is it dinner first then socialising or opposite?” I asked Adrian curiously. I expected to hear his answer, but abruptly stopped when Adrianna came into view and blocked my path.
“I’m sorry, who are you?” she asked, a slight frown crossing her features.
“I’m Adri- Mr. Kingston’s assistant.” I smiled and put a hand out for her to shake. “Emily Johnson. It’s nice to meet you, Adrianna.”
She scoffed and turned away from me, facing Adrian, who didn’t notice the exchange because he was preoccupied with someone else. “Adrian, sweetie. Is this really your assistant? I’m finding it hard to believe her since she’s so fat.” Her nose scrunched up, and I felt my face turn red with anger.
“She’s not fat at all. She’s rather sexy.”
A voice I could not recognize broke into our exchange. The man walked around Adrianna and Adrian, who I noticed had become stiff.
“Hello, gorgeous,” the stranger said, taking hold of my hand and bringing it up to his lips for a light kiss on my knuckles. “I’m David Walter.”
I gave the man, this David, a tight, uncomfortable smile and withdrew my hand as soon as his grip loosened. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir,” I nodded.
His eyes travelled down the length of my body, lingering on my chest area a little longer. “No, no, the pleasure is all mine, I can guarantee you that. Does the lovely lady have a name?” he asked, raising both his eyebrows.
I cleared my throat as my eyes slowly slid over to Adrian, who was glaring daggers at David. “She’s just my assistant, David,” Adrian said in a snippy tone, “no one you should be associating with.”
David’s gaze slowly drifted from my figure to meet his. “A little fun won’t hurt,” he told Adrian with an amused smile, bringing his eyes back to me.
I cleared my throat. “Excuse us, Mr. Walter; Mr. Kingston has other business to attend to.” I looked over at Adrian as an indication to start walking away. I could see the anger building within him by his clenched jaw and fists. Adrian’s eyes met with mine, and he turned to walk away. I started to follow him, before I was pulled back by an arm that was wrapped around my waist. I let out a startled yelp as my back collided with David’s chest.
He chuckled. “Mr. Kingston has business to attend to, but I’m sure you don’t. Let’s get out of here for a little while…” He trailed off suggestively, making me cringe in disgust.
Before I could reply, I felt my body being ripped out of David’s arms roughly, before I collided into another male.
“Don’t touch her,” Adrian growled, directing his command at David.
David put his hands up in defense. “Now, now. I was just messing around. Didn’t know she was already spoken for.” David raised his eyebrows Adrian, waiting for his response.
Before Adrian could answer, I put a hand on his chest. “Leave it. Let’s go,” I muttered, hoping to distract him. He looked down at me before lightly spinning me around so that I was walking within his eye range.
We stopped and spoke to a few more people – both men and women – before finding our seats on the table assigned to us and sitting down. As soon as I had gotten comfortable on my seat, I felt my phone vibrate in my purse. Groaning, I took it out and found my friend Molly’s name in bold letters.
“Excuse me,” I muttered to the table, smiling briefly, before answering the call and leaving the conference room. “Hey Molly, what’s up?”
“YOU’RE ALL OVER THE INTERNET!” Her voice, along with what sounded like Claire’s, screeched through the speaker of my phone.
I froze in my position, my grip on my phone suddenly becoming tighter. “What? What do you mean?” I asked in mortification.
“There are photos of you on every gossip site! Some are just saying you’re not Adrian’s usual type of secretary, others are saying that you and Adrian have a thing going on because HE WAS TOUCHING YOUR SHOULDER AND LOOKING DOWN AT YOU WITH A REALLY CONCERNED EXPRESSION –“
“EMILY, WHAT ARE WE MISSING HERE?!” Claire suddenly burst out, before Molly shushed her and continued, a little more coherently.