The next morning, Zara woke with a pounding headache and a pit in her stomach. She had barely slept, visions of Adrian's piercing blue eyes and that smug, infuriating smile playing over and over in her mind.
Every time she closed her eyes, she could see him leaning back in his desk chair, calm and untouchable, and it made her blood boil. She had agreed to the contract, yes, but the reality of what she'd signed into was starting to settle like a heavy, suffocating weight.
Stepping into the boardroom, she froze. Adrian was already there, reviewing documents with that same unshakable poise. His tailored suit emphasized his broad shoulders, and his movements were precise, deliberate, everything about him screamed control. Even the faint scent of his cologne seemed to cling to the air, and Zara's pulse betrayed her, thumping erratically as she tried to steady herself.
"Good morning," he said smoothly, glancing up just enough to meet her gaze. There was no warmth in his voice, only that familiar edge that made her stomach clench.
"Good morning," she replied, her tone clipped. She didn't trust herself to say anything else without her composure cracking entirely.
Her hands itched to fold over the papers she was carrying, but she held them tightly, as though grasping them could somehow anchor her fraying nerves.
Adrian's eyes flicked to the files in her hands. "You seem tense."
"I'm not tense," Zara said quickly, though her voice betrayed the lie. Her throat was dry, and she could feel the flush creeping up her neck, but she refused to let him see how rattled she was.
He leaned back, smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. "You'll need to get used to it, you know. Living and working with me… it's not exactly easy on the nerves."
Zara's hands tightened around the files. "Easy for you to say," she muttered under her breath, though he heard it. His smirk widened.
"I heard that," he said, voice low and deliberate. There was a dangerous amusement in his eyes, and it made her stomach flip in a way she hated, and yet, she couldn't stop herself from noticing it.
The day dragged on, every encounter with Adrian a careful dance of words, glances, and suppressed emotions. Even mundane tasks like reviewing contracts or walking past him in the hallway felt like a test, each moment layered with tension that neither of them fully acknowledged. She hated that he affected her this way, hated that her mind couldn't stop analyzing every smirk, every casual tilt of his head.
By the time the afternoon sun dipped behind the skyscrapers, Zara found herself sitting alone in the lounge, trying to focus on her phone. But even here, the world felt smaller, the shadows longer, because she knew Adrian could appear at any moment... and when he did, nothing would be simple.
A soft knock interrupted her thoughts. "Mind if I join you?" His voice was calm, casual, yet carried that undeniable edge that made her stomach knot.
Zara glanced up. "I… I guess not," she said cautiously, shifting slightly in her seat. Her fingers drummed nervously against her notebook as she tried to appear calm, though her heart betrayed her with every beat.
He took the chair across from her, leaning slightly forward. "We'll need to discuss the upcoming presentations," he said, but his eyes weren't on the documents, they were on her.
The intensity of his gaze made her chest tighten, and she had to remind herself to breathe.
"Yes, of course," she replied, forcing her tone steady. Inside, a storm of frustration, curiosity, and something dangerously close to… anticipation raged. She hated that he could elicit these feelings with just a look, a tone, a subtle movement, yet she also couldn't deny the undeniable pull he had over her thoughts and emotions.
By the time the meeting ended, Zara left feeling both exhausted and exhilarated. This contract, this forced proximity, was already changing her, forcing her to confront feelings she had carefully locked away, and to navigate a man who seemed impossible to read yet impossible to ignore.