CHAPTER 3
1086 Words
Rose nodded her head dumbly before shaking herself out of his daze and blinking.
‘’Uh, yeah, that’s me,’’ she answered, painfully aware of how monosyllable she sounded. ‘’And you are?’’
‘’Adrian.’’ The blond man stretched his hand out towards Rose.
It seemed like a very formal gesture, considering, but Rose took the man’s warm hand in his and gave it a shake, looking him in the eye. She immediately felt a bit more at ease from the gentle but firm answering squeeze of his hand.
‘’Nice to meet you,’’ Rose said with a small smile, finding Adrian’s friendly expression quite contagious.
‘’Pleasure all mine, I’m sure,’’ Adrian replied smoothly, his smirk deepening while he trailed his eyes down Rose’s frame, not seeming to be bothered to hide the obvious scrutiny.
Rose felt her cheeks heat up even more and was just beginning to wonder when it would be a good time to release Adrian’s hand from the slow shake they still had going when Adrian lifted his eyes to meet her again.
‘’The gold one.’’
Rose blinked
‘’What?’’ she asked
‘’The gold one,’’ Adrian repeated, nodding his head to Rose’s lower left side
Rose looked down in confusion, but when she lifted her hand and saw the heels still dangling from it, realization dawned on her. ‘’Oh, you mean these,’’ she said around a short chuckle as she lifted her hand higher and waved the heels around a bit.
Adrian raised an amused eyebrow at her, and Rose cringed when she realized how stupid she’d already managed to make herself look in the first minutes of them meeting.
Rose slowly released Adrian’s hand and reached up to rub her neck and continued, ‘’Um, yeah I couldn’t decide…..’’
Adrian's smirk turned into a softer smile. ‘’Why don’t you invite me in, and I’ll help with the heel?’’ he suggested, reaching out and sliding the gold heel out of Rose’s hands.
Clearing her throat, Rose nodded.
‘’Yeah! I mean, of course, come on in!’’ She offered as he once again looked up Adrian’s smiling face and motioned behind him with his arm in a sweeping motion, stepping out to open the door further.
Rose didn’t know why she was so comfortable inviting a perfect stranger into her house without much compunction, but somehow Adrian gave off a calming sense of security, and since he didn’t seem like an ax murderer right away, Rose thought she might as well give him a fair chance. Who knew, this might turn out better than the horrifying scenarios she’d feared leading up to their meeting. After all, Adrian had a great start just by looking like someone out of a men’s magazine.
Adrian accepted the invitation with a nod and stepped past Rose into the hallway beyond. As he walked by, a waft of his cologne reached Rose’s nose, and her eyes rolled heavenwards for a second.
He even smelled amazing.
Closing the door behind them, Rose followed the taller man into her apartment and stopped in the middle of the living room when Adrian turned to face her. The blond stepped forward and bent over on one knee while gesturing for her to sit in the seat closest to them. He wore the golden heel for her so well, and he was a bit experienced that Rose couldn’t help but wonder.
‘’This fits your dress better,’’ Adrian explained.
As if reacting to the proximity of Adrian’s touch, Rose swallowed noisily.
‘’Okay,’’ Rose answered. ‘’Thank you.’’
Adrian winked at her.
‘’You’re welcome, beautiful.’’
Rose paused at the unexpected compliment and cleared her throat. Adrian stepped back, his eyes still locked with Rose’s, and Rose searched for something to say in the awkward silence that followed.
‘’So,’’ she began hesitantly, ‘’is the your first blind date?’’ Rose asked while following a step behind Adrian, who turned to look around her living room. Rose watched as he eyed the record collection in the vertical stand by the window before turning to look at her over his shoulder with a raised eyebrow.
‘’Not really,’’ he said in a way that made his word almost sound like a question. ‘’I’ve been on quite a few dates, you know,’’ Adrian trailed off before turning back to scrutinize Rose’s apartment.
Rose frowned slightly. No, she didn’t know. Was Adrian saying that blind dates were somehow a regular occurrence around here?
‘’Really?’’ she asked, curiosity getting the better of her.
Adrian stuffed his hands in his pockets and shrugged, moving on to look at Rose’s small collection of figurines depicting a laughing wolf.
‘’Yeah, this isn’t exactly my first time with a new lady for the night,’’ he replied casually, leaning forward to inspect the tiny statues in greater detail.
Choking slightly on Adrian’s oddly forward words, Rose stopped in her tracks and began to wonder just what Jenny had cooked up this time.
Adrian seemed like a nice guy, but there was something …… peculiar… about his confident mannerism, which unsettled her a bit. Not to mention the strange answer he just gave her. What exactly was Adrian hinting at?
Taking a deep breath, Rose decided she needed to clear things up before they left for the night, mostly to avoid potentially awkward moments later on. Having to send Adrian on his way when they’d already arrived at the benefit would just look suspicious, and she might as well save herself the effort by eliminating the risk before they left.
‘’Wait, Jenny told you that you’re accompanying me to a company event, right?’’ Rose paused as she watched him turn around to face her with another smile. ‘’We’re not going on an actual date,’’ she added almost as an afterthought.
With the smile remaining on his lips, he titled his head slightly to one side and looked at her with an amused frown on his face. ‘’Yes, she did,’’ he answered slowly, his tone patient but his eyes laughing.
Rose blushed as she realized how rude she must have sounded and, hoping that she hadn’t managed to offend him already.
She was just about to apologize when Adrian continued with a casual wave of his hand, ‘’Oh, and if you’re worried about the fee, it’s been taken care of.’’
A wave of coldness washed over Rose, her eyes widening.
‘’F-fee?’’ she stuttered, wondering if her fears might be valid after all.
- Writer
