Marriage by Law

God, it was horrible. And by the way Adrian was crazily sniffing his bacon, I think it was affecting him, too.

I picked up a tomato with my fork and inspected it as I heard James speak up again. "So, Darius, isn't your secretary meant to join us?" And his wicked eyes met mine and I glared at him. What was he trying to accomplish?

CHAPTER THIRTYEIGHT

I bit into the tomato, narrowing my eyes as he looked around. I was surprised he could even see. Wasn't the shimmery suit reflecting into his eyes, making him blind? Oh how good that would be, but somehow I was sure a blind James is just as annoying as the one that can see.

"So where is your secretary?"

"On the way," said Darius, filling up my glass with water. So who was this secretary? How come I never met her? I watched Darius to see if there was any sign of nervousness, or if he was acting in a way that meant he had something to hide. But no. He pulled out his phone, checking something and putting it back in his pocket. Then looked at me.

"What?" he asked.

I shrugged, looking around. So where was this blonde bombshell bimbo I was going to meet? I bet her skirt was probably shorter than Adrian's dream girl with boobs the size of his plate and perfume that made her edible. Oh Jesus, what was this, a playboy magazine?

No, I wasn't jealous, and I wouldn't get to be. That would just make James the winner.

"Perf can't wait to meet her," I said with my mouth half full.

"Perf?" asked Adrian, raising his eyebrows at me.

"Meet who?" said Darius.

"What?" I asked as I stabbed another tomato. These were good, perfectly roasted and still warm inside. What was wrong with perf? Wasn't that what everyone else said? I wasn't that old, yet.

And what did he mean ‘meet who’? Obviously his secretary, the whorissistant. That was harsh.

I watched as James and Darius conversed, wanting to pluck James's eyes out with the fork. I bet they were as big and ugly as this tomato, the only difference was that his eye probably, unfortunately, wouldn't turn red when roasted.

"Are you going to eat that?"

I followed Adrian’s eyes and saw that he was looking at the sausage and bacon cut into small pieces. Since when did they cut them up? Then I looked at Adrian. His plate was full of bacon and sausages, which weren't cut up.

“You have heaps."

"But I want more."

"No, get your own," I said, flicking away his fork with mine.

"Greedy pig. Get fat," he snapped at me childishly. I snorted at him and he sulked in his chair. He had nearly the whole restaurant’s bacon on his plate. I stabbed a sausage and placed in my mouth at the same time I looked up and nearly choked at the pair of eyes smiling at me.

The guy, where have I seen him? He started walking toward our table and my heart skipped a beat. Was he coming over to say hi? That's when it hit me. He was the guy who told me where the banquet room was, the one who knew my name but I didn't know his name.

He was wearing something similar like last time, black blazer with his white shirt tucked in, no tie. Could be some type of uniform. His blue eyes were smiling at me as he approached me and I felt like I should excuse myself and run to the toilet or something.

What if James told Darius that I was having an affair with him? As stupid as that was, I was sure James could make up some story. I cleared my throat, just about to announce some stupid excuse, like going to see if they sold umbrellas since it looked like it was going to rain in a week, when Darius turned his head.

"Ah, Jesse, join us," he said and I froze half way out of my seat and sat back down before anyone noticed. Yep, I was just pulling my chair closer to the table.

"Mr. Quartz," Jesse said as the waitress approached with a new plate and glass. I narrowed my eyes in confusion as I looked at Jesse. That was a male name. No shit, Ivory, of course it was a male name.

Adrian waved a fork at him and Jesse nodded before looking at me and smiling. "Mrs. Quartz," he said, nodding. How did he know me?

The three of them got into a conversation and I subtly, or as subtly as I could, moved my chair closer to Adrian, the only male who wasn't partaking in that conversation.

"Who is that?"

Adrian looked up and narrowed his eyes. "How am I supposed to know? Probably some old fart here to eat."

"No," I said, sighing. "Not the man on the other table. Jesse." I was sure I sounded frustrated.

Adrian looked up with his mouth chewing loudly and I wrinkled my nose in disgust. "Darius's assistant."

"What?" I exclaimed, picking up the water glass and taking a sip. Darius's assistant is male? Then what on earth was James on about!

"Assistant slash bodyguard. He usually just tells us when and where we have to be at what time," Adrian explained as he reached over and stabbed the bacon on my plate. I narrowed my eyes at him as he quickly shoved it in his mouth.

"Pig."

"Yes, Ivory. Well done. Bacon is pig."

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