“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 area was way too broad – sagging on my arms.
“I told you not to look hot, Shortcake,” he murmured into my ear, smirking once he pulled away.
I glared in his direction before turning over to Allen, who had stayed quiet this entire time.
“So, what made you bid on me?” I asked, my tone coming out bitchy.
Allen looked at me with surprise before a small grin broke out. He shrugged. “You’re hot.”
I didn’t believe him. “Is that all? No one told you to?” I asked, briefly turning to Adrian for a moment before turning back to Allen for my answer.
“No. If you’re thinking Adrian told me to bid on you, he didn’t. In fact – he got really pissed off instead.” Allen said the last part in a hushed tone, and I frowned in confusion.
“I’m right here, you idiot. I can hear you.”
I turned back to Adrian to find him rolling his eyes. Allen just chuckled and shoved a large piece of celery into his mouth, crunching on it loudly.
“Can I talk to you for a second?” I asked Adrian, not leaving any room for argument. Surprise briefly flashed through his eyes, before he nodded and got out of his seat, and I followed closely behind.
He went to a corner that was covered by thick red curtains, and then turned to face me. “What’s up, Shortcake?”
“Don’t you ‘what’s up’ me,” I hissed. “You said you’d take care of me not going home with a stranger tonight, Adrian! Not only am I doing that – but I don’t even know how he looks! You promised!” I pressed my index finger to his solid chest as I pointed at him.
He smirked before he stepped forward, wrapping his arms around my waist. I tried to wriggle out of his grip – but he held me in place.
“I did take care of it,” he simply said, still smirking.
“No you didn’t, Adrian. ‘Taking care of it’ would’ve meant that I would be going home tonight, with no worries of a man that I haven’t even seen yet, betting half a million dollars on me! I mean, he’s only seen a photo! How the hell does he know that the photo shows every feature I have? What if he doesn’t like what he sees and takes all his money back? Or, what if he likes what he sees a little too much and – and wants to have… it with me?!” I looked up at him with a desperate expression, my eyes beginning to water.
“Emily…” He trailed off, placing his warm hand on my cheek. “You’re worth every penny they put on you. Don’t worry about it. I keep my promises. I have taken care of it, and you’ll see that tonight. Just trust me on this one.” His gaze bore into mine.
I studied his expression for a moment before swallowing back any tears and nodding. “Okay.” I breathed, letting my walls down momentarily. It then occurred to me that we were pressed up against each other behind the curtain, our faces inches apart.
“You look really sexy in my clothes. I’m going to make you wear them more often.” Adrian’s gaze trailed down to his suit jacket, barely staying put on my shoulders.
He bent down and kissed my neck before I pulled away, glaring, and he chuckled. “You’ll want me soon enough.” He announced arrogantly.
I raised an eyebrow and crossed my arms over my chest. “Arrogance won’t get you anywhere, Adrian. Hey!” I suddenly remembered the announcement he made to his mother earlier. “What was that whole ‘going on a trip next weekend’ all about?” I asked, frowning as I bit my lip curiously.
His eyes studied my lips intently, and I released them from my teeth, blushing. “What?” He said, turning his gaze back to mine as he cleared his throat.
My blush deepened at his reaction, and I found myself clearing my own throat. “You told your mom that you and I are going on a trip next weekend – which we’re not, by the way – but why?” I asked.
Adrian’s gaze suddenly darkened. “Don’t worry about it. And we will be going. We have to now that I’ve mentioned it in front of her.”
I gave him a look of disbelief but decided against arguing about it at the moment. I’ll leave that for another day. “She doesn’t seem to like me much. I don’t understand why, I’ve never met her before.”
“Just… don’t worry about it,” he said. “Don’t let her get to your head.” He pulled me back into his torso and smirked down at me. “Now, about this dress… I think it needs to come off.”
The blush returned to my cheeks as my eyes widened.
“Adrian,” I hissed, trying to mask my blush with a dark look. “Someone will hear you.”
His eyebrows shot up in surprise. “That’s an improvement from ‘That’s never going to happen.’ I think I’m making progress here. Kingston 1, Johnson 0.” He joked, sneaking another kiss on my cheek.
I gave an exasperated sigh before pulling out his grip once again, rolling my eyes. “Let’s get back. They might think we’re doing more than talking.”
“I mean… I wouldn’t mind proving them right…” He trailed off smirking, before chuckling at my expression “Okay, okay. Let’s go, I need to do my thank you speech anyway.”
***
By the time the event ended, I was in tears from Adrian’s father, who I realised, shared his humour gene with his son. While he made remarks that made me cry from laughter, he also threw a few suggestive comments involving Adrian and me, and sometimes even based them on himself and me. Adrian would glare at his father every time a comment not involving him came up, and I rolled my eyes at his protective nature.
Almost the entire venue was empty by the time the woman came back to me at the table, and she gave me the same secretive smile she wore when we first met; making my stomach do countless flips once again.
“Are you ready to go?” she asked. I cast an uneasy glance around the room and only found Suzie, Allen and a few other men left, as well as the staff of the venue. No sign of Adrian.
I sighed before nodding. “Yeah. Let’s go.” I called out a brief goodbye to Suzie and Allen, who waved in response. I followed the woman outside to the car park, just as I realised I was still wearing Adrian’s suit jacket. I was thankful, due to the chilly wind that was whipping my hair about and making my toes freeze in my heels.