Chapter Seven
Adam
Sunday
I was going to have to heed Max’s advice more. I thought I was great at being nice, but judging by the way I’d pissed Lindsey off no end yesterday, I wasn’t quite what I thought.
I hadn’t meant too much about it when I referred to her clothing, I was just being practical. There was no way in hell my father would accept a girl who dressed in such poor clothing – but of course she took it all wrong. I could tell as she eventually stormed out of my house that she was only putting up with me for the money. I was such a bad person that I actually had to pay people to like me.
Just don’t be a dick today, I thought as I pulled up the car outside the address that Lindsey had given me. Think before you speak and everything will be okay…
Woah!
My brain stopped spinning for just a minute as I ran my eyes up the tower block that Lindsey lived in. All of a sudden my flashy car didn’t feel safe and my nice suit left me vulnerable and uncomfortable. It couldn’t have been more obvious that I didn’t belong here if I tried.
Maybe that was a moment where I should have been happy for what I did have. I should have been grateful for the fact that I hadn’t even had to try hard in life and I lived somewhere really out of this places league, but I didn’t. I felt sick and sorry for everyone that lived here, especially Lindsey.
No wonder I pissed her off, I thought with stark realization. She has a lot to be defensive about.
The fact that I hadn’t earned my lifestyle did get to me at times like this. My grandfather and father had done the hard work; I just got lucky off the back of it. Of course, it wasn’t easy for me that I was very misunderstood by my family, but when I saw the way that other’s lived it reminded me that really my problems weren’t problems at all.
I took a shaky step forward and stared at the door in dismay. There wasn’t just an easy way to open it – there were buzzers with reams of names the proved just how many people lived inside this tower block. I rattled around inside my big home alone and all these people had to share this one building. The apartments inside of it must have been absolutely tiny.
Most of the names were rubbed off or peeling slightly. I couldn’t really read any of the names so I had to pull my, much too posh, cell phone out of my pocket to find the text with Lindsey’s address on it. She lived at 17A according to her message so after only a few moments I found it. My heart raced as I pressed the button, my discomfort grew.
Bzzz.
The sound was so loud it flew through my brain making me wince. How did anyone live in these conditions, it was barbaric.
“Yeah?” came the brass reply that didn’t seem to be Lindsey. Shit, had I pressed the wrong button?
“Erm, sorry, I’m looking for Lindsey?” I said questioningly.
“Yep, I’ll just get her.”
My pulse pounded as I waited there. My eyes kept flicking back towards my car. There was a part of me that just wanted to jump into it to get the hell away from this neighborhood once and for all…
“Hello?” Her soft voice changed everything; it grounded me and reminded me what I was doing. “Adam, is that you?”
“It is,” I replied smilingly. “I’m outside waiting for you.”
“Okay, I’ll just be a moment.”
Once she disconnected us, I moved back by my car and I rested my back against it as I waited for her to come out. Every single time the door opened, hot anticipation coursed through my veins, but it continued to not be her for a while. All sorts of odd, rough-looking characters emerged, heightening my discomfort to top level. By the time Lindsey did appear in a white dress over some black leggings which gave her a real sweet angelic look, I couldn’t help but wonder what she was doing living in a place like this. She was just too beautiful to be there…
“Right.” Her pursed lips reminded me that as sweet as she looked, she had a fiery temper – and right now that was directed at me. “Where are we going today then?”
I opened the car door and let her inside. As she slid into the passenger’s seat her dress blew out just a little bit. “I was thinking Oscar de la Renta.”
Her eyes bulged out of her head, just like I knew they would. A girl like her had clearly never been to a store like that, so she was about to get her mind blown. Partly I wanted her to have the best of the best because I needed to impress my father, and partly I also wanted to help her. I hoped that the money I gave her for the job, plus the sale of the dress would help her to get somewhere much better for her. She wasn’t safe where she was… I couldn’t stop myself from wanting to get her out of there.
Maybe I was nice after all.
“Are…are you serious?” she gasped. “That’s a bit much.”
I got into the driver’s seat and shrugged at her. “I need us both to look top notch – it’s my father’s honorary dinner, after all.”
“Yes…of course.”
She slumped back in the heated seat and rolled her head towards the window. I wanted to ask her what she was thinking, but I didn’t. There was no point – after all we were only going to spend one fake night together. It wasn’t like we were about to start dating. I didn’t need to know any of that. I just needed to get through this with my head in one piece.
***
“Okay, that’s enough,” Lindsey barked at me, making me take a step back as she shot me those flame-filled eyes once more. “I’ve answered everything you’ve asked me, satisfactorily, too, I might add. You now know that I understand the economy, I know enough about the banking infrastructure, and I’m also well up on my politics.
“Can I please just enjoy the rest of this shopping trip in peace? I know it isn’t supposed to be a fun thing, but this is an awesome place with the best dresses that I’ve ever seen and you’re running it by being so boring.”
Boring? First not nice, now boring. I really was learning a lot about myself. If anyone else had said that to me I might have been incredibly pissed off, but as Lindsey stood there with her blonde hair spilling down her back, her dark eyes glaring at me, and her hands on her hips while the black dress cascaded around her, it was hard to be angry.
“I’m sorry.” I held my hands up in a defeated gesture. “I’m just trying to prepare you for the sorts of questions my dad might ask you.”
She rolled her eyes and grunted angrily at me. “I told you already that I’m intelligent. Just because I act doesn’t mean I’m stupid. I know what I’m talking about, okay?”
“Right.” I felt chastened, and for someone who spent the majority of his life getting his own way, especially with women, it was kind of nice. I liked the fight back, it was fun and made things more interesting. I also liked the fact that Lindsey didn’t want to impress me, despite my name. “Sure, you keep trying on gowns. I like that one.”
She glanced down at herself critically. “It’s okay, but too much cleavage, I think. We want your family to think I’m a long term thing, right? Not just a floozy. I need to look classier.”
I couldn’t stop my eyes from reaching her chest which made a thick ball lodge into my throat. It definitely wasn’t too much cleavage, high society girls liked to flash the flesh all the time, but maybe it was a good idea for her to cover up. I didn’t need the distraction. The last thing I wanted was to accidently trip up because I was too focused on her breasts.
“Right, okay. I think I liked that midnight blue one better, anyway.”
She nodded seriously and swished back into the changing room. “I just have one more to try on, and then I’ll be back.”
I pulled the paper out of my pocket while I waited and went to unfold it to learn the details that Lindsey had given me. It wasn’t much, but I hoped it would be enough. I was sure that we’d just find a way to blow past stuff anyway, not that much was likely to crop up too complicated…or so I hoped.
“Are you okay, Sir?” a voice purred before I could see the page. I stuffed it back into my pocket and turned my head to see the red-haired assistant that I had only just managed to get rid of. At Oscar de la Renta it was all about customer service, even if you didn’t want it. “Is there anything else I can do for you?”
“No.” I shook my head fervently. “We’re fine, thank you.”
She didn’t seem to take the hint as she shook her hips and moved herself closer to me. As she bent down to whisper in my ear I got a fully shot at her breasts – she certainly wasn’t trying to hide them from me! “Are you sure?” she hissed, allowing her breath to tickle my cheek. “Because I will do anything you want. I’m sure there’s even an empty dressing room around here somewhere.”
I rolled my eyes to myself before I answered. This was exactly the sort of woman who only wanted to impress me because of my name. Maybe once upon a time I would have liked that, but now I didn’t care so much. “No, we’re- Woah.”
Before I could finish my sentence, Lindsey pushed back the changing room curtain to reveal herself. She looked shocked to see me in such a compromising position with the sales assistant, before quickly regaining herself. I didn’t care about the redhead at all, even less so now, which was a hint she seemed to take because she slunk away quickly.
I barely even noticed her as she melted away – my eyes were fixed on the beauty in front of me. The red, sparkly material clung to Lindsey tightly, splaying out at her hips and hitting the floor at exactly the right length. The high neckline kept her covered up, yet somehow made me think more inappropriate thoughts than all the more revealing ones that came before it.
It fit Lindsey perfectly, as if it had been made just for her.
“What do you think?” she asked, sounding a little unsure. “Does it look okay?”
“Yes,” I rasped. “It looks great on you. I think that’s the one.”
She smiled at me and did a playful twirl which did something funny to my insides. I wasn’t sure what it was that caused it, but in that moment, the little sweet firecracker became almost unbearably sexy. I didn’t know what to do with myself. If this had happened in any other lifetime, I would have scooped her up in my arms and kissed her by now.
But it wasn’t, and I couldn’t. I needed to behave.
“That’s perfect,” I tried to sound commanding, but I didn’t think I pulled it off too well. “I think that will look wonderful tomorrow night.”
“Great, thank you. I’ll go and take it off now.”
Oh God, don’t tell me that…