“So you want to lose your virginity to a guy who doesn't give a damn about you? He will forget you as soon as you're out of his sight.”
I let out a little sigh. “I didn't say anything about sleeping with him. He just asked me on a date.”
Amy looked a bit exasperated. She put her latte down. “You know what you get if you engage yourself with the likes of Adrian. He wants your body, not more and not less. If you can accept that, then go out with him. I personally wouldn't.”
“A date can't hurt,” I whispered.
Amy took my hands in hers and squeezed gently. “No, a date can't hurt, but promise me that you won't sleep with him, Nora, unless it's only sex for you. Then it's fine, but if you're feeling something for him and are hoping for more, then don't let him get close to you. You will only get hurt if you do.”
“I promise,” I said softly. “I don't even know if he'll ask me again and maybe I won't say yes if he does.”
Amy gave me a small smile, clearly not believing me. We both knew that I'd say yes.
Chapter Nine
Dragging Bruno behind me, I was shuffling towards my scooter, yawning constantly. I hadn't gotten much sleep those last two days. Why was I kidding? Ever since the thing with Adrian started weeks ago, I’d barely slept more than a few hours at night. My mind was on constant overdrive.
I pulled my keys from the pocket in my jeans when my heart nearly stopped. Adrian was waiting beside my scooter, his arms crossed over his chest and an arrogant smirk curling his lips. Usually the sight would have made me wet my panties, but right now seeing him like that made my blood boil. I resisted the urge to stomp towards him and make a scene. Instead I strode toward my scooter and only glared at him.
“What are you doing here?” I demanded.
His smirk faltered ever so slightly but he didn't move from his spot. He lowered his gaze slowly and I felt bad instantly, worried that I'd hurt his feelings. Any feeling of compassion for this man left me however when I heard his next words.
“Why is it that you're always having this ugly dog in tow?” He hadn’t averted his eyes in shame. He’d been checking out poor Bruno.
What? I stiffened and my hands balled to fists at my sides as I stared down at Bruno who was watching me with his beady little eyes. I was glad that he wasn't able to understand what this bastard had said.
It wasn’t worth it. I was tired and shouldn’t be standing here talking to Adrian. My resolve to leave without a comment went out the window when I saw his face. He was smiling his stupid grin again, as if he thought his comment had been funny. I wanted to wipe the smile off his face. Amy would probably say anger and sex were inevitably interwoven.
Don’t think about sex, I chided myself. “What did you just call my dog?”
The smile fell and he frowned, looking at me as if I'd just spoken a foreign language. “I was just...” he began but then shook his head. “Never mind.”
I narrowed my eyes.
“There's a nice Italian restaurant you should try. I have nothing planned tomorrow evening, so we can go together.”
I was rendered speechless by his audacity. He'd done it again. I bit the inside of my cheek to stop myself from lunging at him and ripping his beautiful hair out. Amy was right. He didn't deserve to go out with me. Arrogant bastard.
“Listen. I don't know what's wrong with you, but there's definitely something wrong, so maybe you should get some help. You can't tell me to go out with you and just assume I would agree. I've never met such an arrogant, self-absorbed bastard like you before and I hope I'll never see you again!”
When I was done with my rant, I was out of breath and my face was glowing with a deep blush. I grabbed Bruno, walked past Adrian and put Bruno into his basket. Adrian didn’t take his eyes off me and it was starting to seriously unnerve me, and yet I couldn’t stop myself from wondering if he liked what he saw. Of course, my coat covered up most of my body, so there wasn’t much too see unless he had a foot fetish. I mounted my scooter and my coat parted, revealing my upper thighs. Adrian’s eyes slowly traveled up my legs. I could practically feel his gaze like a butterfly’s touch on my skin. Heat gathered in my stomach at the look on his face. “Stop staring!” I snapped. I quickly started the engine and hit the gas, shooting out of my narrow parking slot. Adrian took a few steps back so I wouldn’t hit him. I sped off before I could do something I would regret. Like kiss him. Or kill him. Both were possible.
He was infuriating.
I'd never been so rude to someone before, not even to Chris.
On my way to the bar I stopped at a store to provide myself with some stress-relieving food. Cookies. I had a short six-hour shift to look forward to, and I knew Adrian’s expression as he stared at my legs would haunt me the entire time. Nobody had ever looked at me like that. It made me feel powerful and desirable.
When I pulled up in front of the bar, one packet of cookies was already gone, thanks to Bruno and myself. My beloved dog was as much of a cookie addict as I. If the police caught me eating cookies while meandering through traffic with my scooter, I’d probably lose my license. But it was either that, or drive back home, find Adrian and do something very regrettable.
I stuffed another cookie into my mouth as I hurried into the building, Bruno walking beside me like the well-mannered, cute pug that he was. I waved at Mona and she smiled at me but there was still a hint of worry in her eyes. I tried to ignore it, since I wasn't in the mood to talk about my life, especially Adrian. This man was so infuriating. Sadly he was also infuriatingly sexy.
I stifled a groan and another cookie disappeared in my mouth.
At the end of my work day, not a single cookie was left. In my frustration about Adrian, I'd eaten three packets of cookies. Now I wasn't only angry and frustrated, but I was also feeling sick.
It was really time for the day to be finally over.
Bruno pressed against my chest, I hurried up the stairs toward my apartment, almost bumping into Jared in my haste. He steadied me with his hands on my shoulders, preventing me from tumbling down the steps and probably breaking my neck.
“Careful,” he said with a grin as I regained my balance.
I gave him a grateful smile, feeling myself blush. “Thanks. You just saved Bruno's life, I would have probably crushed him if I'd fallen down the stairs.”