making me stiffen from the proximity. Regardless, I brushed him off by turning my shoulder so that he faced my back. It was his fault I was going home with a complete stranger who probably wants me to have sex with them to begin with – no amount of flattery in the world would change that.
“Shortcake, please listen to me for a moment,” Adrian said into my ear once again. I realised he was keeping his voice low because we were surrounded by business people. I took a deep breath before turning around to face him, and gave him my fiercest glare. I hope it came across clearly that I was in no mood to talk to him right now. Not waiting for a reaction, I turned my attention back to the front of the venue.
Adrian sighed from beside me, and I saw him glace at Allen from the corner of my eye.
Suddenly, someone chuckled on the table, making me avert my attention from Suzie. My eyes landed on Adrian’s father, who was looking at me and chuckling, eyes twinkling in amusement.
“My, my,” he said. “My son is not one for rejection. I like you. If he ever fires you, let me know. I’ll give you your job back in the blink of an eye.” He winked, and I looked at him in confusion as he continued laughing.
Once he sobered up, he smirked at me, and I was taken aback momentarily because he looked exactly like Adrian – just an older version. “Mason Kingston. Nice to meet you, Emily.” He nodded, and his smirk grew. “You’re very beautiful.”
I began to blush as I looked down at my bag. “Uh…” I trailed off, trying to figure out Mason Kingston’s cheerful behaviour. “Thank you, sir,” I finally said, smiling slightly.
“I hope my slut of a son hasn’t been treating you badly.” My eyes widened in shock as the sentence left his mouth, and he burst into a fit of loud laughter, attracting gazes from the tables around ours.
“Mason,” Adrian’s mother snapped, “that’s quite enough.” She glared at her husband before she turned the glare to me. I frowned slightly at the harshness of her look, and looked down at the empty plate in front of me to avoid her gaze.
“Katherine, relax. I’m just having a little fun. Something you should try once in a while when we’re not in be-” Katherine shoved a carrot into Mason’s mouth, and he chuckled as he chomped on it, purposely loud.
Katherine turned toward her son with the slightest ghost of a smile. “Adrian, honey. I would like to speak with you after this is over.”
“What about, dearest mother of mine?” Adrian asked wryly. Her eyes travelled over to me briefly, narrowing a little just before they returned to Adrian’s face.
“Just something,” she said vaguely.
Adrian, however, noticed the brief look his mom gave me, and he glared as he wrapped an arm around my waist. I wanted to pull away – still angry with him – but I figured he was trying to prove a point to his mother.
“Sure.” He smiled at his mother tightly. “By the way, Emily and I are planning on going on a trip next weekend. Just thought I’d let you know.”
My eyebrows shot up in surprise before I managed to mask it. I internally scoffed, thinking, You wish.
“That’s… interesting.” She finally said, glaring in my direction again. My blood began to boil and I gnashed my teeth together. What the hell was this lady’s problem with me? We’ve never met!
I picked up a carrot and took a bite before remembering Adrian’s arm around me. I disentangled my waist from his grip just as Mason spoke up.
“Emily, have you ever tried stuffing things in between your chest? I mean, they’re pretty huge. I see why my son has taken particular interest to you as his assistant.” He winked as I choked on the carrot I was in the middle of swallowing, and my face turned into a tomato as I felt the heat radiate on every corner of my face.
“Dad,” Adrian groaned, rubbing his temple.
I looked around us discreetly, hoping no one had been paying attention to Mason’s comment. I felt Adrian shuffling beside me and I turned to see him shrugging off his suit jacket.
He handed it over to me with a look of warning. Wear it, his face read.
I took the jacket off him and slipped it on, the sleeves covered my hands by a good few centimetres and the shoulder