The Assistant(70)

I groaned and opened the door. “Shut up and get cleaned up. I’m going to get dressed and make breakfast.” I tried to get rid of the blush that seemed permanently stuck to my face whenever he was around.

“Yes housewife, thank you housewife,” Adrian called out. I could practically feel his smirk before I slammed the door shut and made my way back to my room.

By the time I had finished getting dressed and was putting the plates of breakfast down on the small island in my kitchen, Adrian had finished from the bathroom and walked into the kitchen in nothing but his boxers, making the spatula I was gripping fall out of my hand and land onto the floor with a loud clatter.

My eyes widened in shock and I quickly bent down to retrieve the utensil just as Adrian began smirking as he caught me looking at his bare torso.

“Smells good,” he commented once I threw the spatula into the sink. I nodded meekly and sat across from him just as he dug into his meal hungrily.

Adrian hadn’t brought up last night yet, and I was beginning to wonder if they were just drunken thoughts. Why would he come here, to my house? It had been over a month since we last spoke to each other, and it wasn’t on good terms either.

I looked down at my scrambled eggs with a small frown. I was hoping the job offer part of his drunken speech was true – I didn’t want to go back to that moldy underwear factory and have to put up with creepy Cooper again. This reminded me that I was going into work tomorrow and quit my job at that factory, and I cringed as I thought of being in the small office alone with the sleazy old man who was my boss.

“Emily?” Adrian’s voice sounded, pulling me out of my thoughts.

I looked up to meet his amused expression, frowning slightly. “Sorry, what?” I asked.

“You tell me. You’re looking at your food as if it just twerked like Miley Cyrus did at the VMA’s.” Adrian chuckled at his own joke, looking proud of himself, and I fought the smile that was threatening to escape my lips.

“I was just thinking,” I replied, taking a bite of the loaf of bread on my plate.

“About my offer last night? You don’t have a choice in the matter. You’re coming back to work for me.”

I almost choked on the piece of bread that I was trying to swallow as he said those words, and I looked back up at his smirk with wide eyes. So he did remember.

“I… I’m pretty sure it’s my choice, not yours.” I glared at him in response. In reality, I wanted the job back more than I could describe – but he didn’t need to know that.

Adrian’s arrogant smirk practically melted away as the words left my lips, and his expression turned to one of desperation. “Shortcake, please.” I bit my lip and tried not to blush at the nickname he had assigned to me. I hadn’t heard it in a while.

“Ever since you left… Well, I haven’t exactly been paying much attention to the business. My mind has been on you the entire time; I need you to come back in Emily. Please.” Adrian had gotten up during his talk to stand beside me.


I looked up at his eyes and inhaled sharply. The amount of vulnerability in Adrian’s expression caught me completely off guard, and my steady breathing hitched in my throat as I looked straight into his hazel eyes. Something hit me just then, and I realised just how much Adrian had an effect on me. I dragged my gaze away from his and looked down at my plate of food before letting out a sigh.

“Okay.”

“No, please, Emily. I need you – wait, what?” Adrian asked, cutting his begging short.

I laughed softly. “I said okay. I’ll come back, but there are going to be some rules,” I replied sternly, giving him a hard look.

“Anything. Okay, not anything. If I don’t like it, I’m not going to listen to the rule.” Adrian smirked, shrugging once I gave him a look of disbelief. “I’m still the boss,” he pointed out, making me blush again.

“Whatever,” I grumbled, trying to stop my blush from deepening. “Number one, no more mood swings. If you have a problem – business or personal related – you tell me 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.