Chapter 6 - Occupational Hazard #2
Until Ben ruined my life.
He was standing beside Maya's desk talking about a recruiter who had viewed his LinkedIn profile.
I wasn't listening.
Then he said-
"You can see who's been looking at you."
My fingers stopped typing.
What?
Maya said something.
Ben answered.
I slowly turned around.
"Wait."
They both looked at me.
"What?" Ben asked.
"People can see who viewed their LinkedIn profile?"
"Yeah."
My stomach dropped.
"What do you mean, yeah?"
"I mean..."
He stared at me.
"Yeah."
"Like their actual name?"
"Depends on your privacy settings."
Oh God.
"Which settings?"
Maya's eyes narrowed.
"Angel."
"I'm asking a question."
Ben was smiling now.
"Whose profile did you look at?"
"Nobody's."
"Then why do you look like you're about to throw up?"
"I don't."
"You do."
"I was just curious how LinkedIn works."
Maya slowly turned her entire chair toward me.
"Whose."
"Nobody."
"Profile."
"Stop."
"Did."
"Maya."
"You."
"Don't."
"Look at?"
I stared at her.
She stared at me.
Ben stared at both of us.
Then Maya's eyes widened.
No.
Absolutely not.
She slapped both hands over her mouth.
"NO."
"Shut the fuck up."
Ben's head whipped toward me.
"No fucking way."
"I SAID SHUT UP."
"You looked at Vale's LinkedIn?"
"I did not look at Vale's LinkedIn."
Maya lowered her hands.
"What did you do?"
"I briefly encountered it."
Ben made a choking noise.
"Encountered it?"
"It appeared."
"Where?"
"Google."
"After you searched his name?"
"That is irrelevant."
Maya folded over laughing.
I wanted to die.
"I was looking up professional information!"
"About Adrian Vale."
"He owns the company!"
"The company you've worked at for a year?"
"Circumstances change."
Ben leaned against the divider.
"How long were you on his profile?"
"Like thirty seconds."
Lie.
"Did you click anything?"
"No."
Lie.
"Did you scroll?"
"No."
Lie.
"Did you read his education?"
I hesitated.
Maya screamed.
"Oh my God, you did!"
"Would you two calm down?"
Ben was openly delighted.
"Angelica stalked Vale."
"I did not stalk him."
"Did you look for Instagram first?"
Silence.
That bastard knew me too well.
Ben's mouth dropped open.
Maya stood up.
"You looked for his Instagram?"
"I hate both of you."
"Facebook?"
"Goodbye."
"Angel!"
I turned back to my computer.
My face was hot.
This was fine.
Adrian probably hadn't seen it.
He was busy.
He probably received hundreds of profile views.
He probably didn't check LinkedIn.
Actually, Adrian barely seemed to use social media at all.
Excellent.
Problem solved.
"Do you think he saw it?" Maya whispered.
I closed my eyes.
"I hate you."
At 10:13, Adrian walked toward my desk.
He knew.
Absolutely.
He fucking knew.
His eyes landed on me.
My heart did something stupid.
"Ms. Stone."
"Yes?"
"Conference room in ten minutes."
"Okay."
He walked away.
I watched him.
Nothing.
No weird look.
No raised eyebrow.
No indication whatsoever that he knew I'd spent part of my Monday night reading his professional history.
Maybe he didn't know.
Of course he didn't.
Ridiculous.
At 11:06, he disagreed with me about a fa?ade detail.
Normal.
At 12:40, he passed me in the hallway.
Normal.
At 2:17, he told me one of my drawings needed more development.
Rude.
Normal.
At 3:30, I was standing beside the materials table in the project room when he came up behind me.
I knew it was him before he spoke.
Cedar.
Again.
Oh, come on.
"Where's the stone sample?"
I turned.
Too quickly.
Adrian was closer than expected.
I nearly walked directly into him.
Again.
I stopped.
His hand came up automatically and caught my upper arm.
Warm fingers.
Firm grip.
For one second neither of us moved.
His chest was inches from mine.
I could feel heat coming from him.
Not imagined heat.
Actual human-body heat.
Which should not have been noteworthy.
Humans were warm.
Basic biology.
Adrian's hand was still around my arm.
His eyes dropped briefly to where he was holding me.
Then returned to my face.
"You should consider looking before you move."
My brain restarted.
"You should consider not silently appearing behind people."
"I spoke."
"After appearing."
His mouth tightened.
He released me.
The warmth of his hand remained on my skin for several seconds afterward.
Annoying.
I stepped away and grabbed the sample.
"This one."
He took it.
Our fingers brushed.
Barely.
Nothing.
Still-
I pulled my hand back faster than necessary.
Adrian glanced at me.
I pretended to be extremely interested in limestone.
He said nothing.
Thank God.
Then he walked away.
I stood there.
Cedar lingered in the air.
I stared at the materials.
This was getting stupid.
By five, I'd convinced myself I had imagined the entire problem.
There was no problem.
Adrian was attractive.
That wasn't new.
I'd known that before I'd ever spoken to him.
Standing close to an attractive person made you aware that they were attractive.
Normal.
Recognizing someone's cologne after spending considerable time around them?
Normal.
Looking up your extremely successful CEO online?
Also normal.
Probably.
I had not developed feelings.
There were no feelings.
There was just-
Something.
I didn't know what.
And I didn't particularly want to examine it.
So I didn't.
At 6:18, almost everyone had gone home.
I was finishing a Solara revision when Adrian appeared beside my desk.
"Ms. Stone."
I looked up.
Tie gone.
Sleeves rolled.
Oh, for fuck's sake.
Apparently the universe had decided daytime Adrian wasn't enough punishment.
"My office."
"Can this wait until tomorrow?"
"No."
"Of course not."
His eyes narrowed.
I stood.
His office door remained open while we went over revisions.
Fifteen minutes.
Completely normal.
He was controlled.
Professional.
Annoyingly precise.
No mention of LinkedIn.
Nothing.
By the time we finished, I'd almost forgotten about it.
Almost.
I closed my notebook.
"Anything else?"
"No."
"Great."
I stood and headed toward the door.
Freedom.
"Ms. Stone."
I stopped.
"Yes?"
Adrian was looking at his computer.
"Next time you're curious about my professional history, you can ask."
My entire body stopped.
No.
No no no.
Slowly, I turned around completely.
Adrian lifted his eyes.
Deep blue.
Calm.
Knowing.
Oh God.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Of course not."
"I was researching the company."
One eyebrow lifted.
"You researched the company by reading my profile?"
Fuck.
"Your name is the company."
"Convenient."
"It was professional research."
"I'm sure."
I wanted the floor to open.
Immediately.
Instead, Adrian looked back at his computer.
"Goodnight, Ms. Stone."
I grabbed the door handle.
"I hate you."
"I'm aware."