Chapter 2
Beth is looking through the profile of Adrian Dane that Iris sent her for the interview. The folder contains his biography and snippets of previous interviews. But there are only a few interviews and none of them seem to have any clues about his current projects, interests, or really any information about his private life. She makes a mental note to ask more questions about his private life.
There are lots of pictures of him and he looks drop-dead gorgeous in all of them, with his dark brows and dazzling smile.
"J. Adrian Dane," the caption below one of the pictures reads. "CEO and Founder, Triad Technologies Corp." The paper is dated two weeks ago. In the centre of the page, there’s a picture of him lounging on the deck of a house looking cocky and arrogant with his arm around a beautiful blonde.
There’s another journal with an article about his company. According to the article, the company was founded by Adrian Dane nine years ago and he built his empire without using his family’s money or connections.
There’s a knock on her door and Iris sticks her head in. “Ready for lunch?”
“Wait. I just need to finish the list of questions to ask for the interview. One second.”
Iris rolls her eyes, “Girl, get off that computer and come with me. You’ve done this a million times, you don’t need to prepare interview questions.” She walks over to Beth and drags her off her seat playfully. “Oh, my God, I tried this coffee place last week and they have ah-mazing croissants. We should go there! It’s just two blocks away, I don’t know why I’ve never thought to try it.”
They leave the office building and start toward the shop. When they get there ten minutes later, Iris is telling Beth about her date last night.
“This guy straight up asks if I want to sleep with him. Can you imagine?” she says, making a face that makes Beth laugh.
“Wow, that’s super charming for a first date.”
“It is, isn’t it?” Iris replies dryly.
They’re just about to enter when an incoming call notification flashes on Beth’s phone’s screen. Alex. Her heart rate quickens. It happens every time she gets a call from him or her mom because she’s scared something terrible has happened.
She steps out of the shop and quickly presses the button to answer. “Are you okay?”
“Calm down, sis. I’m okay. Great, actually.” He’s handling everything well and it just makes her heart break even more. He’s more concerned about her than he is about himself. He really has the purest heart and is the last person such a thing should happen to.
“I told Mom I’ll be back home to see you next week.”
“Yeah, she told me. I can’t wait to see you.” He pauses and she knows he’s trying his best to keep it together. “Well, I just called to say hi and to remind you about movie night. You forgot the last time.”
“I won’t forget this time. I promise.”
“Okay. Bye. See you soon.”
“See you soon. Take care of yourself. I love you.” When she gets off the phone with him her heart feels ten times heavier. She keeps telling herself it’s going to be okay, but repeating this doesn’t make her feel better.
Iris notices the change in her mood when she joins her at the booth. “Hey, what’s wrong? Was that Alex?”
Beth nods. “I’ll go get our orders,” she says and leaves the booth to join the queue.
****
When Adrian walks into the coffee shop he notices the cafe attendant’s eyebrows flash up and hold. He smiles at her and her face and neck flush slightly.
He’s standing in line waiting to get his coffee when his eyes are drawn to the entrance of the shop. Or rather, the woman standing at the entrance of the shop. Something about the way she moves captivates him, the wiggle of her hips as she walks in makes his fingers ache with the desire to touch them.
Before he can get a better look at her, she’s distracted by something on her phone, and her expression changes. She looks worried like she just got bad news. She steps outside to take a call and he has to crane his neck to catch a better view of her.
When she lifts her head, he catches a glimpse of her face through the glass doors of the shop. Even here, meters away, he can tell that she’s extremely attractive. Her dark brown hair falls in soft curls around her face, accentuating her round cheekbones and jewel-like eyes fringed with long lashes. Her short dress reveals long, lean legs. The modest cleavage of her outfit can’t hide her perfectly plump tits.
He can’t seem to take his eyes off her and he doesn’t understand why. He’s been with a bunch of beautiful women, but he can tell that there’s something different about her.
When she steps back into the shop, he gets a better look at her body. Her slender frame boasts curves that his fingers long to trace. It had been a long time since he’d truly craved a woman. Most, if not all, of the women he sleeps with, are mere distractions. And when he invites them into his bed, it was always with the knowledge that they’d be leaving.
This woman, though… Something about her intrigues him, calls to him.
She joins her friend at a booth, the look of worry still evident on her face. When she leaves her seat and walks toward the queue, he has a sudden fantasy of pulling her close and kissing her. Of ripping that damn gown off of her.
When it’s his turn to order, he orders his regular espresso, completely oblivious of the googly eyes the café attendant makes at him. He’s preoccupied with fighting the urge to walk up to the woman that’s captured his attention. He’s never had any trouble speaking to women before. He was Adrian Dane for crying out loud. But he knows this woman isn’t like the others and he would have to treat her accordingly. How? He has no idea.