Chapter 37 - I Got You #3
I unbuckled my seat belt.
"Thanks for the ride."
He nodded.
But he didn't say anything.
I reached for the door.
Then stopped.
Adrian was looking at me.
That same look.
The one he'd been giving me all day.
Like some part of him still needed to make sure I was actually there.
I let go of the door handle.
"Adrian."
"What?"
"I'm okay."
"I know."
"You've been saying that all day."
His eyes stayed on mine.
"I know you're okay."
"Then why do you still look like that?"
He didn't answer.
I waited.
For once, I didn't make a joke.
Didn't tease him.
Just waited.
Finally, he looked through the windshield.
"I almost didn't get to you."
My chest tightened.
"Adrian-"
"I saw it falling."
His voice was quiet.
"I saw where you were standing."
He stopped.
His jaw tightened.
"And for a second, I didn't know if I'd get there in time."
Oh.
There it was.
Not the accident.
Not the anger.
The part he'd been carrying around all day.
I looked at his hand resting near the center console.
Then I reached for it.
And took it.
Adrian went still.
His eyes dropped to our hands.
So did mine.
I'd touched his hand before.
Caught his wrist.
Rested my hand over his.
Slipped my fingers between his after he'd already reached for me.
But I'd never simply reached for his hand because I wanted to hold it.
Because he needed it.
Until now.
I threaded my fingers through his.
His hand closed around mine.
I squeezed gently.
"But you did."
He looked at me.
"You got to me."
His thumb moved across my fingers.
"You pulled me away."
I squeezed his hand again.
"You held me."
His eyes stayed on mine.
"And I'm here."
Something moved in his face.
Small.
Painful.
I leaned a little closer.
"Don't worry anymore. Okay?"
He didn't answer immediately.
So I tightened my fingers around his.
"I'm okay."
His hand tightened around mine too.
"I know."
His voice was quieter now.
I smiled.
"Do you?"
A pause.
Then-
"I'm trying."
That one hurt a little.
I looked down at our hands.
His thumb was still moving slowly over my fingers.
Neither of us seemed particularly interested in letting go.
After a while, Adrian spoke.
"I'll pick you up tomorrow."
I smiled.
"Seven?"
"Seven."
Another few seconds passed.
Then I slowly loosened my fingers.
Adrian did the same.
"Goodnight, Adrian."
"Goodnight, Angelica."
I opened the door and got out.
When I reached the entrance, I looked back.
His car was still there.
Of course it was.
I went inside.
Only then did he leave.
That night, I made myself a cup of hot tea and curled up on the sofa.
A blanket covered my legs.
The apartment was quiet.
Candy was spending the night at Vale Architecture because apparently her owner was no longer allowed to make her own transportation decisions after almost being crushed by construction materials.
I took a sip of tea.
And thought about today.
About hearing my name screamed across the site.
Not called.
Not shouted.
Screamed.
ANGELICA.
I'd never heard Adrian sound like that.
I thought about the force of his hand catching me.
The way he'd pulled me into him so fast I hadn't even understood what was happening until I was already against his chest.
His arms around me.
One hand at the back of my head.
Holding me so tightly I could barely move.
And then-
The trembling.
That was the part I couldn't stop thinking about.
Adrian had been trembling.
For five minutes.
Maybe six.
He'd held me in the middle of a construction site, in front of Maya, Ethan, Ben, Emma, Claire, Nicole, Daniel-
Everyone.
And he hadn't cared.
This was Adrian.
The man who guarded every emotion like someone might steal it.
The man who used to panic if people noticed anything unusual between us.
Today, he hadn't even looked around.
He'd just held me.
Because for one horrible second, he'd thought that thing was going to hit me.
I wrapped both hands around my tea.
Then I thought about the rest of the day.
You okay?
Again.
You okay?
Again.
You're still shaking.
Again.
Every hour.
Every time he walked past my desk.
Every time his eyes landed on me like he needed to confirm that I was still sitting there.
And the anger.
God, the anger.
I'd seen Adrian angry plenty of times.
I'd been responsible for it often enough.
But today had been different.
He hadn't been angry because someone made a mistake on a drawing.
He hadn't been angry because someone challenged him.
He'd been furious because I could've been hurt.
I stared into my tea.
Half of Vale Architecture had been there today.
People who knew Adrian Vale as their terrifying CEO.
Cold.
Controlled.
Impossible to read.
And today they'd watched that same man scream my name across a construction site.
They'd watched him pull me into his arms.
They'd watched him hold me for minutes without caring who saw.
They'd watched his hands shake.
I swallowed.
They'd seen their terrifying CEO terrified.
Because for one second-
He thought he was about to lose someone.