“I’ll tell you this much,” Lythe said. “If you get him to lighten up, you’ll be a hero around here.”
Lythe tipped her cup to me like a salute, then left the breakroom. I was still microwaving my lunch when Adrian opened the door.
The small room didn’t feel big enough to contain him. He loomed in the doorway for a moment, seeming to decide whether it was wise to come in. Then he entered and looked around. “It’s a mess in here.”
“Don’t visit much?” I asked.
“No, not much,” he said.
I tilted my head. “Then what brings you today?”
Adrian ran his thumb across the stubble on his chin, grinning like he’d been caught doing something wrong but wasn’t about to apologize. “Some of the men in the office treat the breakroom like a place to pick up women. I wanted to make sure you were able to use the microwave in peace.”
“So you’re trying to scare any men off from hitting on me? Lucky for you they already seem scared of me. Everybody but Lythe scattered like cockroaches as soon as I walked in.”
“Why would they do that?”
“Believe it or not, your employees are so terrified of you that they don’t even want to associate with your assistant.”
I expected a smart ass comment from him, but he just hung his head and shook it. “I’m sorry, Jules. I’ll speak with them about the way they’re treating you and make sure they are more welcoming.”
“That’s okay,” I said quickly. The microwave dinged and I reached in to pull my lunch free, blowing away the steam. “I think you might just scare them even more if you try to help. But I appreciate the offer.”
Adrian turned his lip up at my salisbury steak. “Jesus Christ. What is that?”
“Lunch,” I said.
“No. It’s not.” He took the tray from me and carried it to the trashcan, dropping it inside. “You’ll get some kind of chemical poisoning from eating that shit.”
I stared at him, mouth still hanging open. “You threw away my lunch? Seriously?”
“I’ll take you to get a real lunch. I won’t have you eating that.”
“Now you’re watching my weight?” I asked with a dangerous edge to my voice.
“We can get cheeseburgers and fries for all I care. I just won’t have you eating out of microwavable plastic dishes.”
I folded my arms. “Next time you want to make a point, maybe ask me first. We could’ve given that food to a homeless person outside at least.” Even though he was dangerously close to taking the same stance my parents had on processed food, I had to at least give him a pass for saying we could still get cheeseburgers. I guess I couldn’t fault the guy for not wanting me to ingest little bits of microwaved plastic and probably poison myself, even if he was being overprotective.
He sighed. “You’re right. We’ll buy some takeout from wherever we go and give it out on our way back. Fair?”
I smiled. “That’s fair. Yeah. So do we have to put on masks and sneak out of here like ninjas? Do we go separate? Maybe work out a code word so we can secretly communicate which route we’re taking out of the office?”
“Um,” he said. “I was thinking we could just walk out a few minutes apart. I go first, then you go. We meet outside the building.”
“Oh,” I said. “Yeah. That makes sense, too.”
21
Adrian
I wasn’t sure what had come over me, but I was beginning to get used to that. As soon as I had eyes on Jules, all my ability to function logically seemed to evaporate. She was my fucking kryptonite.
The plan I’d formed after I learned the truth about her was to immediately meet the guys and my sister. We’d all talk and form a plan about what to do. I knew I needed their level heads to see this straight, and I’d sworn to myself I’d keep my distance from Jules until then.
And only an hour later I’d watched her from my office window as she walked her tight little ass into the breakroom. I saw the way the men in the office leered after her, eye fucking her.
I’d managed to last about five minutes before I burst out my door and went after her. Now I hadn’t just tried to scare off the men in the office, I’d made it worse by inviting her out to lunch.
Idiot.
But Jules was waiting outside with a sweet little smile when she saw me.
It was pleasantly warm and sunny out. The city was bustling with people in business attire heading out for lunch and a mixture of others walking dogs or standing outside buildings to chat with food in their hands.
The look on Jules’ face told me she’d already put my outburst over her lunch behind us and seemed completely excited for the moment. I appreciated that about her. She was a creature of the present, always ready to put the past behind her and live in the moment.