straight away. I’m not going to tolerate your PMS Sessions where you’d give me the cold shoulder.”
“No mood swings. Got it.” Adrian nodded, grinning widely. I felt my own lips tug into a smile, catching his enthusiasm as my eyes took in every feature of his grinning face.
“Number two,” I continued, clearing my throat as I felt another blush crawl its way up my neck, “No more women while I’m working. Do it in your own time.” My voice became snippy at that point, and I tried to mask the sick feeling at the pit of my stomach at the thought of Adrian with another woman, before mentally scolding myself for thinking about that in the first place.
“No women. Got it.” He nodded, smirking at my flushed face.
“Shut up.” I scowled, making him chuckle. “Last rule,” I continued, glaring, “Business only. We’re not having a repeat of the last time I worked for you.”
“Nope. I don’t like the last rule, so I’m not listening to it. Now it’s my turn.” His grin widened. “Rule one: you’re sharing my office.”
I rolled my eyes. “Fine. Since you’re listening to my first two rules, it won’t be so bad,” I teased.
He chuckled and his smirk turned into a stern glare. “Rule two; you have lunch with me, nobody else.” Like my second rule earlier, Adrian’s voice turned snappy while he said the rule to me, and I frowned.
“Is this so I don’t interact with Allen?” I asked, “ How is he, by the way? He broke all contact with me after I quit, and I don’t think he did it by choice.” I looked at Adrian pointedly and waited for an explanation.
“Yeah, it wasn’t by choice,” he conceded, but with a glare. “I made him.”
I frowned in response. “Why?! We got along really well!” I exclaimed, giving him a look of disbelief.
“Because you’re mine,” he snapped in reply as his glare hardened. “You’re mine and he was taking you away from me. I’ll let him talk to you when I think he can talk to you.”
“That’s not even fair! You can’t control your best friend!” I cried, still in shock.
“I can and I did,” he replied swiftly, making me huff in response.
“You’re impossible,” I grumbled. “Are there any other rules?” I asked, giving him a sarcastic smile.
“For now, no. You start tomorrow. Welcome back to Kingston Corp.,” Adrian smirked and placed a quick peck on my cheek, “Shortcake.”
My skin instantly tinged pink from the contact, and I looked away from his satisfied expression to hide the effect he had on me.
“I- I can’t start tomorrow. I need to go tell my old Boss that I quit first. He’s not going to let me leave easily, so it’ll take a while…” I cringed as a mental image of creepy Cooper smiling at me popped into my mind again, and I bit my lip to try and figure out a way that will make him let me quit without delaying the process any further.
“He?” Adrian asked, raising an eyebrow before narrowing his eyes. “I’ll come with you then,” he announced, and I watched his shoulders visibly tense.
“Relax, Adrian.” I laughed.
“Who is he?” Adrian pressed, “Has he touched you or hurt you in any way?”
“Oh, he’s really handsome. One of the nicest men I’ve seen in my life so far. You should see him, he’s quite the catch. He has a memorable smile, too.” I tried not to laugh as Adrian’s expression darkened at my description of creepy Cooper, and I left my seat to clean the plates that we had wiped clean of food.
“I’m going to get my clothes for tomorrow and come back to your apartment,” Adrian declared, booking no argument. “Do not leave. I’m sleeping over again tonight.”
I gave him a confused look. “Why? You don’t-”
“Unless you want to come back to my place? My bed and television are bigger, after all.” He smirked, and I flicked some water onto his face, making him chuckle.
“I’m fine, thank you. You can go home – and stay there. I’ll see you at work tomorrow.” I smiled, remembering the fact that I had my job back.
“No. I’m coming back. Or I could always make you ‘lose your keys’ again so you can stay at mine.” Adrian smirked.
I wiped my hands on the tea towel I had hanging near the sink before turning to face him with a frown. “What do you mean ‘you’ll make me lose my keys’?” I asked, narrowing my eyes suspiciously.