The Billion Dollar Contract

Chapter Three

Mia

When we went back to the office after lunch, I couldn’t focus on my work. I kept glancing at Adam’s office every few minutes and all I could see was him pacing back and forth with files in his hands, as well as constantly checking his laptop.

We didn’t speak in the car. He didn’t even utter a single word and I had chosen to remain quiet.

My fingers were frozen on the keyboard as I stared at my monitor, completely numbed. There were a lot of pending emails and I knew I had to get them done as soon as possible, but I couldn’t stop thinking about what had happened at the restaurant.

The whole hour was spent lying to Jean’s face. Adam did a perfect job in playing it all out—if I were his mother, I could easily fall for it too.

“Oh god damn it,” I muttered under my breath before groaning, wanting this day to end.

As soon as my working hours were over, I packed my bags and went straight to the elevator. I did glance at Adam for the last time and he was still busy with his work—that was his usual self.

Even the whole drive home was making me anxious because I knew Adam was going to come over later to discuss it. I didn’t even understand what we were going to discuss but I needed to hear his whole explanation. I needed him to clear it out.

I didn’t even realise I had been sitting on the sofa for the past thirty minutes, staring at my television which wasn’t even turned on.

Just the black screen.

I could even see my reflection.

The doorbell rang, and my eyes widened immediately before making my way to the door. I took a few deep breaths as I reached for the door, pulling it open to reveal Adam standing in the same attire he was wearing from work with his lawyer by his side.

His lawyer, James, smiled as soon as our eyes met.

I had met him a few times whenever he came to stop by the office. He was always discussing business and personal matters with Adam—there was this one time when I called him to stop by, and he was a real gentleman when I first met him. He had introduced himself as he shook my hand.

Please don’t let me get started on how blue his eyes were. I could easily mistake them for the clear sky.

I smiled back, moving to the side as I let them in.

“Do you want anything to drink?” I asked, closing the door behind me.

Adam and James were standing in the middle of the living room as if the house was lack of chairs. For the first time ever since I moved in here, the house seemed to appear small and the two men in front of me looked like giants.

I rarely had visitors and whenever I did, it was always just my little sister, Lily.

“Water would be fine,” James replied as he took a seat on my sofa. Adam on the other hand, decided it was best to stand near the window, looking out at the busy street of New York.

I grabbed two glasses of water before placing them on the coffee table and taking a seat from the opposite of James. He was eyeing my every move but it wasn’t making me feel comfortable; as a matter of fact, it was making me feel shy. My cheeks were heating up and I knew as much as I wanted to play it cool, I was being awkward.

“Thank you, Ms. Madden.” He said, taking a sip of his water.

I nodded in response before looking up at him, seeing he was still looking at me. As soon as Adam took a seat, I was back to being anxious and wished James had distracted me for a bit longer.

“This is James, my lawyer. I’m sure two of you have met before so any formal introduction isn’t necessary,” Adam said, leaning back on the sofa as he stared at me. His hazel eyes were somehow dark and I knew better than to get lost in them.

“Of course. We just haven’t spoken much,” I replied.

“That wouldn’t be necessary either. James is just here to draft the contract before he comes out with the real one.”

“Contract? What do you mean by contract?” I raised an eyebrow, looking back at James and Adam. “Does this have something to do with what happened at the restaurant earlier today, Mr. Auclair?”

“Yes. You’re catching up quickly,”

“I’d still appreciate it if you could explain to me.”

Adam hadn’t stopped looking at me ever since he sat down and it was never unnoticed. He was slightly different—he never paid much attention to me at the office nor did he care to look at my face whenever we talked, he was too busy anyway. There was something strange about him today and I couldn’t figure out what.

He stayed still, thoughts wandering as he sighed.

“How well do you know my mother, Ms. Madden?”

“Your mother is a lovely woman, Mr. Auclair.”

“Don’t you think she bothers me a bit too much?”

I blinked a few times, trying to find the right answer. As far as I could tell, Jean was a great mother. Adam didn’t seem like a people pleaser but his mother was way more talkative and friendly which made me wonder if something had happened along the way, if he had lost interest in a few things. I also understood why he asked me if I thought his mother bothered him a bit too much.

“It’s okay. You can be honest,” he added.

“Why are you asking me this?”

“I just want to hear what you have to say.”

I sighed, “Like I said Mr. Auclair, your mother is a lovely woman.”

“Really?” He raised an eyebrow, a bit displeased. “Because for the past three years, she hasn’t been a lovely woman. She has been a pushy mother who can’t seem to stop asking me to marry someone. The first year was the worst, always set me up on dates. When I stopped going to those dates and began ignoring her requests, she couldn’t stop coming to New York City once in a while just to check up on me.”

It was the longest he had ever said in a sentence. What surprised me most was how easily he let out what he wanted to say instead of holding himself back.

“You just dropped the bomb on me,”

“Let’s just say you were there when I needed you.”

“It doesn’t work like that.”

“I just want you to pretend to be my fiancée but you don’t have to worry, she won’t always be in New York. When she goes back to Chicago, I will never bother you. I’d leave you alone. You’re still just my employee,” he spoke.

I didn’t realise I had begun fidgeting. My eyes were still focusing on my boss while also constantly glancing at James who had been paying attention to every word uttered.

“Why me?”

“You don’t bother. You don’t pry. You’ve known me for a long time.” He took a sip of water from his glass, “Simply because you won’t fall in love with me.”

My heart was beating fast as if it could thump out of my chest when he spoke those words. I had never fallen in love with Adam Auclair—that was beyond insane but I had admired his beauty. It would be a lie if I said I never felt attracted to him, by the way he moved, by the way he carried himself and by the way he smelled. He was the kind of man I wanted in my life but I also knew boundaries.

To stay the f**k away from my boss.

He was always out of my league.

Even though he was a perfect specimen, he was never going to be mine. I never knew a perfect human existed until I met him. His gorgeous features, soft and tousled hair, strong build and mysterious aura. He was a man waiting to be discovered yet he managed to hide it all very well.

It wasn’t that I wanted him to be mine. No, he just seemed to fit into the category of men I like.

“This involves my personal life.”

“It doesn’t have to,”

“Excuse me? I think for this whole thing to work out, I’m not supposed to go out and meet other people.”

“Other men?”

“Yes.”

He nodded, “Of course.”

“How does that not affect my personal life?”

It seemed to have caught him off guard as he sighed, gesturing for James to draft a contract. He was already writing away the small details on his tablet, making me wonder if anything he wrote was fair enough for the both of us.

“For the past five years, you haven’t been dating anyone. I don’t think you would randomly go out and date someone after today.” He said, hitting me right where I didn’t expect—how could he know exactly what to say? He wasn’t letting me go that easily.

“What makes you so sure that I’m single?”

He smirked, leaning forward. “Those late nights at the office. You never asked for a day off. You were at my beck and call. If you were dating someone, I’m pretty sure he wasn’t going to let you spend that much time with me. At this point, you’ve married your job.”

“You’re too confident, Mr. Auclair.”

“Are you trying to say I’m wrong?”

“No, I just didn’t expect you to—“

He cut me off, “Accurately list them out?”

I frowned, “You’re not giving me a chance to say anything.”

Adam's hazel eyes were staring straight into my light brown ones and for once in my life, I felt intimidated by him. I had always respected him as my boss, and never once did I forget my place as his assistant but after what happened at the restaurant, after feeling his hand on my thigh and how he had smiled at me, I was intrigued to figure out that side of him. I knew there was more to him.

"Tell me, Ms. Madden. Is there another man in your life that I have to worry about before you're my fiancée?"