Page 136 of To Hate Adam Connor
“Lucy.” I sighed and pulled her chair a little closer to mine. “They weren’t the only ones taking pictures tonight. Trust me, from what I saw, at least three other tables were secretly taking our picture.”
“Is that okay? I mean, I know how these things work…what if they post it online? I guess that’s a stupid question because they probably already have.”
“So?” I asked, watching her intently, trying to understand what had her so worried.
“So?” she choked out. She leaned back and tilted her head, thinking something over. “Huh. It’s like that, then. You were serious about what you said earlier.”
“And you weren’t?”
“I didn’t know…”
“You didn’t know what?” I prompted when she trailed off.
“I didn’t know what you meant exactly. I thought we were gonna talk about what you said earlier today.”
“What part was hard to understand? You’re mine now. Don’t know how to explain that further.”
“Ha ha,” she said without humor.
The waiter brought our desserts and another bottle of champagne for the ladies, cutting Lucy’s little speech short. As soon as he left, she was back at it.
“You know exactly what I mean.”
“Actually, I don’t, but let me be more clear. You’re mine means, from now on, you’re mine and only mine.”
She let out an exasperated sigh. “That’s your idea of an explanation? That explains nothing. Does it mean we’re having sex, exclusively? Does it mean we’re dating? And if it does, can you even date? Are we in a relationship now? Do I have to sleep in the same bed with you all night? These are important questions, and I don’t have the answers.”
“Looks like you’ve been thinking about it a lot.”
“I’d like to know what I’m getting into.”
“How about you stop worrying about it?”
“How about you give me a hint?”
“Wasn’t me telling you I’m falling for you a good hint? I thought that explained everything.”
A small gasp had our heads turning.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Please keep going,” Olive whispered, looking amused.
“I hate to interrupt this, but I think it’s time for us to leave,” Jason said, his eyes aimed at the entrance.
I glanced back and saw the manager talking to a few people that kept pointing toward us; it appeared there was a sea of paparazzi waiting outside. Jason called out to our waiter and asked if we could walk through their kitchen and take the back door, something that was unfortunately not new to either one of us.
As soon as we got the okay, we were on our way with Olive and Lucy taking the lead as we were ushered toward the back door.
“I should’ve called Dan,” I muttered to myself, shaking my head. “With everything that’s been going on with Adeline, they’re probably lying in wait in front of the house, too.”
Jason glanced back at me as we reached the back door. “Call him now so he can come here and take care of your car. My driver will drop us off. You’ll use the wall so they won’t know you are home.”
“Thank you. I think that’s a good idea.”
As we waited for Jason’s driver to come around the back to pick us up, I gave Dan a quick call, asking him to pick up my car and then check up on Adeline and Aiden before he got back to the house. As much as I didn’t mind ignoring her calls that day, it didn’t mean I wasn’t worried about how she was treating Aiden with all that’d been going on. She might still be angry at me for the upcoming custody battle and refuse to let me see Aiden whenever I wanted to when it was her week, but that didn’t mean I’d just let her be.
“Is there something I can do to help?” Lucy asked once I was off the phone with Dan.
“Car is here, guys. Let’s go before they think of posting a lookout back here too.”
