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She might look like she’s still arguing with me; hell, she might think she still is, but she’s not. Adeline has put down her weapons today.
She was quiet when we left home after her mother did a number on her this morning. I had to work to get her to talk. Not a strength of mine, but I managed to get her to move past that bullshit and immerse herself in shopping. Once she did that, I saw her lack of arms.
She’s spent the past three hours dragging me from shop to shop, talking about everything from the gifts she thinks my family might like, to the designer she’s recently hired, to how she’s concerned her assistant is in the middle of a crisis, to questions about Shantel, to her stress over some fashion show she’s got coming up.
Throughout all that, she gave me her special brand of battle, arguing with me over things no one argues with me over. Testing every last shred of patience I possess. But she did it differently than she usually does it. Gone is her hostility. In its place is a ceasefire that feels a lot like foreplay.
“I have no doubt nothing could make you forget what you were arguing over,” I say as she lets me go.
“You will thank me for helping you select these gifts when your mother and brother fall in love with them.” She looks at something behind me. “And now, you should buy me lunch. I see a place that looks good, although I don’t think they’ll have Nutella rolls.”
I’ve never known anyone who craves Nutella like Adeline. She’s asked Max to stop at Brenda’s coffee shop almost daily to pick up Nutella rolls. Not that she always ends up buying some. There’s been a few times where she’s simply stared lovingly at them before ordering only a latte. I’ve wondered why the hell she made us stop in the first place, but after spending time with her mother, I now understand. Her mother has a lot to fucking answer for.
I pay for the gifts and follow her to the noisy food court she’s set her sights on. I can’t remember the last time I came to a mall. It’s not something I particularly enjoy, and while we blew past my time limit for shopping hours ago, I can’t deny I’m enjoying watching Adeline now.
She’s radiant, alive in a way I haven’t seen yet, as she walks through the crowd in the food court. She’s not oblivious to the people who recognize her, but she’s not paying them the kind of attention she’s spent the last three and a half months paying the public. It’s almost like she’s forgotten her job. Not that I think being available twenty-four-seven is her job, but I know she does.
Something catches her attention, and she turns to me with excitement, grips my forearm, and says, “Oh my God, tell me you love Korean chicken.”
“I’ve eaten it once.”
“Did you like it?”
“I don’t remember much about it.”
She squeezes my arm and I feel it low in my gut. “We need to fix that. Now.”
With that, she glides her hand down my arm to take hold of my hand and drags me to the Korean chicken.
Twenty minutes later, we’re sitting on stools at a long high table with about fifteen other people, eating our chicken. Thank fuck we’ve got two of my security guys with us because Adeline has drawn a lot of attention at this table.
My preference was to take our food and eat in the car. She wouldn’t hear a word of it. “This is fun,” she insisted. Clearly, our ideas of fun are vastly different. I put one of my security men next to her and the other across from her. If I could get ten more of them here in the next five minutes, I would. Either that or shut the entire fucking mall down so she’s safe. I don’t doubt she wouldn’t hear a word of that either.
“Oh, God,” she practically moans as she eats a piece of the sweet, tangy Korean popcorn chicken we’re sharing. “This. Is. Divine.”
I’ve lost count of the number of women I’ve shared a meal with, but not one of those dining experiences was like this one.
The women I’ve dated would never eat in a food court in a mall. They wouldn’t talk and laugh with strangers sitting around them. And they sure as fuck wouldn’t eat crispy chicken that cost thirteen bucks.
Adeline’s as at ease here as she is at a black-tie event.
She finishes her mouthful and looks at me expectantly while I eat. “Stop keeping me in suspense. Do you love it?”
“It could be sweeter.”
“Seriously? That’s all you’ve got for me?”
“I like it.” I drop my gaze to her mouth. “I like watching you eat it more, though.” I’d bring her here every day for this experience.
The rise and fall of her chest draw my attention as she feels the effect of my words. Hell, her entire body is feeling my words and I’m having difficulty sitting here, amongst this crowd, keeping my hands to myself.
She lowers her voice. “We’re changing the subject before you do that thing you do that gets us in trouble.”
My lips twitch as I find her eyes again. “That thing I do?”
“Yes, that thing. You know very well what I’m referring to.”
“I think I’d like to hear you say it.”
