Page 34 of My Forbidden Boss

“Are you sure?” Tristan says. He’s only looking out for me. He understands because he finds the same thing with women. It’s the reason he hasn’t settled down yet. We used to talk about finding a woman often, then as the years passed, so did our hope.

“She doesn’t see it, Tris. I’ve driven her in my car. I’ve taken her places. She sees my clothes. The things I have. Her gaze doesn’t linger on them. She has more depth than some women twice her age. There’s this inner strength to her. She sees past the money. Past everything. She sees me. She looks for nothing from me, but me,” I say.

Tristan plows his fingers through his hair. He’s never seen me like this. That makes two of us. “I’ll support you in whatever you want, David. You know that. Others might not be the same way.”

I stand, needing to move and look out of the window. “I can’t stop myself.”

She’s my drug of choice. I offer my vein willingly. I’ll get high off Adeline every day.

“What are your plans for her?” Tristan asks.

I’ve only known this woman for a week, but days are meaningless. A minute. An hour. Ten years. What I feel about Adeline is timeless. I glance over my shoulder at Tristan.

“Make sure you know where you stand legally should anything happen.” Tristan is ever practical.

So am I. Except when it comes to Adeline.

“I’m not going to get her to sign a thing should she accept me more than she is,” I say and ignore Tristan’s muttered curse.

“Do you think that’s wise?” Tristan asks.

I swing around. Drag a hand through my own hair. “Nothing about this is wise.” If I was wise, I would have done what Andrea recommended within seconds of Adeline turning up at Blue Sky.

Tristan says nothing. He doesn’t have to because his brows rise into his hairline and that says enough. Might as well continue with the shit show. “Samantha says she’s pregnant and I’m the father.”

“Big week for you,” Tristan says and I offer him a grimace in reply.

“You believe her?” Tristan asks.

I shake my head, putting my hands on my hips. “Not a word. We broke up five months ago. She would have known in weeks if she was pregnant.”

“Then why wait this long to tell you? If I read Samantha properly, it would be in her best interests to tell you sooner rather than later,” Tristan says.

“I’m getting our bloods tested. It’s the only way to prove paternity. And I’m getting an agreement drafted. If it is my child, then the legalities will be signed well before the birth,” I say. I’m not concerned about paperwork when anything comes to Adeline, but everyone else gets rule A.

“You’re not planning to get back with her?” Tristan says.

Samantha is pyrite, while Adeline is gold. Polyester to silk. Walmart to Dior. There’s nothing to compare.

I peer through the glass separating Adeline’s work space from my office. Nothing is going to stand in my way, and I want Adeline like I want my next breath. Like air, I need her to live. “If the baby is mine, I plan to be a father, but that’s all.”

“Samantha won’t be happy with that,” Tristan says, weighing up the situation accurately.

“She won’t be happy I choose Adeline over her either,” I say.

Tristan gets up, clasps me on my shoulders, “Just be careful is all I’m saying.”

I nod. I will be careful, but not in the way Tristan thinks. I don’t care what the world thinks of the two of us together, but I won’t do anything to scare Adeline away. The fact she isn’t already gone is astounding. She should run for the hills and not look back, but she’s sitting in that chair on her perfect little behind, letting me do things that should never be done to a woman twenty years my junior. I can hardly wrap my mind around what she sees in me. That she accepts my touches. That she responds to them the way she does.

I’m not going to let her get away. I’ll do whatever it takes to keep her at my side.

It’s just like that.

I follow Tristan out of my office. He smiles at Adeline and wishes her a cordial good afternoon. She replies with a smile. Tristan sends me a long look before he strides to the reception area and steps into an elevator. The doors close and Adeline swallows my attention.

“Have you finished for the day?” I ask her.

She glances at the time on her computer, and looks back to me with a faint crease on her smooth brow. “It’s only four.”

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