Page 50 of Company Ink

"I don't know," I answer honestly with a sigh. "Lately, I've just felt that everyone around me is moving forward and chasing their dreams and I'm just sitting here like an idiot living life day-by-day. With my parents moving and you getting married, I just feel like everything is changing."

Monique tilts her head, her gentle brown eyes full of concern. "You've always said change is good."

"Yeah,changeas in trimming my hair or rearranging the living room. Not my entire life as I know it. I always thought that if anything happened, I'd have my parents to fall back on but now that they're moving, I'm going to be alone."

"You're never going to be alone, Cassie. I'm still here and so are Lucy and Ness. We'll always be here for you, you know that."

I force a smile, hoping that it reaches my eyes. "Thanks, Mon."

I know Monique believes what she's saying is true, but soon she and Matt will have kids and their priorities will change. Lucy and Ness have already been through so much that I try to avoid burdening them with my problems. Lucy works around the clock to pay for all of Ness's continuing rehabilitation sessions, and I'm sure the last thing she wants to do is play therapist to her niece, who's responsible for her child's current condition. Despite her saying it's not my fault, I know it is.

"Your phone's ringing, Cassie," Monique says, nodding towards the coffee table.

"Right." I jump off the barstool and quickly run to answer the call. "Hello?"

"It's me," Adrian says. "I'm parked outside. Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah, I'll be down in a minute."

I hang up and slip into a pair of my favorite silver Manolo's, tossing on a light trench coat and grabbing my purse. "Wish me luck, Mon," I say, heading out the door. God knows I need it.

When I exit my building, I find Adrian standing outside his convertible, thankfully the top is up because the wind tonight is just nuts. He's wearing a black sports jacket, with a crisp white dress shirt and matching slacks; not as professional as he looks in the office, but still handsome enough to take my breath away.

"You look beautiful, Cassie," he says, his luminous eyes giving me a slow once over. "Blue's definitely your color."

"Everything's my color," I counter lightly, blushing, as he opens the passenger door for me. "But thank you."

Adrian shakes his head, an amused chuckle leaving his lips as he comes around to the driver's side. He's been in a relatively good mood all day, even at work, I just hope that it lasts all through dinner.

"Can you punch the address into the GPS?" he asks, pulling out onto the street.

"Sure, it's not too far from here. Maybe a thirty-minute drive?" I enter the address into his navigation system. "Oh,twenty-eight minutes," I read the display. "I was pretty close!"

In the corner of my eye, I catch Adrian smiling. "Is there anything I should know before I meet your parents?" he asks. "Are they going to surprise me with a Cassie-Pop-Quiz?"

I purse my lips and let out a low whimper. "They'll probably ask us where we met, our first date, blah blah blah." I inwardly cringe. "My parents are a bit overbearing—" I pause and laugh. "Which is hilarious because they're also very distant."

"Trust me, Cassie, I get it," Adrian says, his smile fading. He takes a deep breath "Well, in order for our...relationshipto be believable I think it's best if we stick to half-truths. We can say we met at Havan, our first date was at Miso Bella, and we went dancing at Mamba." He faces me. "Does that sound good? If they ask any follow-up questions, I'm sure we'll be able to improvise."

"Good idea," I grin at him, memories of our kiss from Mamba swirling around my head. "Can you actually dance though?"

Adrian chuckles. "Of course, I can dance. Why else would I have been at Mamba?"

I shrug coyly. "I don't know. Maybe you were just stalking me."

"You spotted me very quickly, Cariño, that would make me a horrible stalker."

"Or an excellent one," I counter. "Maybe you were doing the whole 'hidden in plain sight' thing. Hmm?"

"You have a very active imagination," he observes with a laugh. "I'd love to see how your brain operates."

"My roommate, Monique, once told me that my brain is just a little monkey parading around playing cymbals." I wince immediately. Perhaps that's not something I should share with my boss.

"Acutemonkey wearing Manolo Blahnik's'," Adrian adds with a smirk, nodding down to my feet.

"Funny," I scowl at him, furrowing my eyebrows. "Wait, how do you know these are Manolo's?" I'm having terrifying,Legally Blondeflashbacks.

"I know my Spanish designers, Cassie," Adrian clarifies casually. "Plus, they're a competitor of my family's corporation."

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