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“You could have just left it on my desk,” he pointed out.
I arched my eyebrows at him. “Why? So you could claim it was missing—that I stole it—and lure me into a predatorial slave-contract to pay you back?”
Even in the dim lighting of the single bedside lamp I could see his ears tinting red as he studied me. “You really think that little of me?”
“No,” I answered truthfully, “because even that’s giving you too much credit.”
A muscle in his jaw bounced. His smirk was gone. “I told you I didn’t want to play this fucked up game with you anymore. So just tell me why you’re still here.”
I shoved the ring into the pocket of his jacket since he refused to take it. “I need to confirm something really quick, and then I’ll be on my way.”
I’d called the airline and had my flight rebooked. The earliest they could do was tomorrow afternoon, but I’d be more than happy to spend the night at the airport or a motel. I just really needed to get this out of the way first.
“And what’s that?” he practically growled through clenched teeth. “What do you need to confirm?”
My tongue darted out to wet my drying lips, my heart doing its best to crawl right out of my throat as I shoved my fists into my jacket pockets. I was dressed and ready to go. The second my little experiment was over, I’d grab my suitcase and march right out.
“I need to kiss you super quick,” I told him directly.
His eyebrows twitched, then slammed together. Twitched, slammed. “Pardon?”
“I need to kiss you,” I repeated as evenly as possible. “I’m telling you in advance for consent purposes. I’ll keep it short and PG-13, and we’ll both keep our hands to ourselves. Just so we’re not tempted to strangle each other at any point.”
Just so I’m not tempted to rip away your clothes on the extremely off chance that this morning wasn’t a fluke.
He was looking at me like I was a crazy person. Because I sounded exactly like a crazy person.
“Why?” he asked.
I cleared my throat, my gaze darting away from him momentarily. Thinking was easier when he wasn’t in my direct line of sight. “I felt a lot of things this morning that I shouldn’t have when you kissed me. And I just need to prove to myself that it wasn’t real.”
Adrien eyed me for a few moments, something entirely unreadable flashing across his face. He let out a frustrated breath, glanced up at the ceiling, then yanked at his tie like it was suffocating him.
I shifted on my feet. “You don’t have to say yes, this is why I asked first—”
“Has it occurred to youeven onceover the last couple of weeks that I’m an actual human being, Ria?”
I blinked.
Huh?
“I—what?”
“Has it onceoccurred to you over the last two weeks that I’m a real person?” he repeated. “With real feelings and all the other bullshit that comes with it?”
It was my turn to frown. Of course he was a real person. “What are you talking about?”
His throat worked like he was trying to swallow back whatever response was bubbling up his chest. Then he scrubbed a hand over his face, his lips pressing together. The redness from his ears had crept to his cheeks and was beginning to drip down his neck.
“Fine,” he eventually muttered. “Go ahead. Do what you need to do.”
I hesitated. He’d completely thrown me off with the human comment. “Maybe we should—”
But he cut me off, his voice readopting its usual sharp edge. “What were the parameters? PG-13 and hands to ourselves?”
I nodded and he shoved his hands into his pockets, mirroring me. “What else?”
I studied him carefully. “You don’t have to say yes. You can just tell me to fuck off and kick me out of the house.”
