My words didn't inspire confidence in the room, despite being spoken with my most polite, beautiful smile.
Instead, it worsens their suspicion
"He even sends his assistant to speak to us!" One man sneers, as if I were a servant instead of an employee like them.
I ignored his condescending tone and picked out Mr. Baldwin with my eyes. The older man still looks defeated.
"What does Mr. Blackwell want?" He asks, speaking softly, like someone who has lost the fight inside him and doesn't even have the strength to speak.
My heart went out to him. I was eager to bring back hope into his grey eyes, but his stupid suits wouldn't let me talk.
"Maybe he is backing out."
The man's words throw the room into chaos, and they begin arguing.
"Do we need him?!" One man speaks loudly, looking across the room for supporters.
Mr. Baldwin drops his head onto his fingers, looking like the weight of the world is on his shoulders.
"He is the only one offering something reasonable," a woman counters the man's words.
"Which he has now slashed!" Another yelled angrily.
With them arguing like chickens, I couldn't get a word out, so I screamed it.
"He is topping his offering price by 20%!"
It was like magic.
The room immediately goes quiet, all eyes turned in my direction, their jaws slackened.
Mr. Baldwin picks it up first. "What?"
I smiled at his faint whisper as I repeated myself in a more level tone. Leaving them afterward to ponder what happened and why my boss suddenly changed his mind.
Instead of driving back to the office like I had believed we would, Ryan took a detour to the shopping mall.
"What are we doing here? I asked as we walked into the huge lobby with a very high ceiling.
"To shop," he answers, walking with his hand crossed behind him. I glared at him for his sarcastic answer, which he pretends not to notice.
I noticed the appreciative glances he was getting as we walked along the glittering floors of the mall.
I looked at him to see if he noticed, but he seemed oblivious.
Somehow, I felt slightly proud walking beside him. I felt like this is my man, you all can want him, but at the end of the day, he belongs to me.
The shift of my thoughts shocks me. Since when did I become territorial where Ryan was concerned?
I pushed back the ridiculous thought as we wandered into a perfume shop. Immediately, we were assaulted by different competing fragrances.
"What perfume do you wear?" Ryan asked as we walked past their threshold, his attention already on the fragrances lining the shelves. I like it, he adds, causing my heart to tremble and a blush to color my cheeks.
"Zara, Fashionably London," I answer with a hint of shyness. Without missing a beat, he walks up to one of the ladies behind the counter and says.
"I want ten bottles of Zara, Fashionably London."
What! My eyes widened. I tugged at his suit to get his attention. "What are you doing?" I whispered.
"Getting you a perfume," he answers with a frown between his brow as if to say, shouldn't that be obvious.
"I know that," I snapped, glaring at him softly. "But why? I can buy my perfume, you know."
"Never had any doubts, but you are my woman, and it pleases me to buy something for you."
"I am not your woman," I argued, leveling him with a glare. What is with him and this constant need to claim me?
"We are going to agree to disagree, honey," he says with a sexy, annoying smirk that makes me want to smack him and kiss him at the same time.
I stopped arguing, knowing he was going to do whatever he wanted anyway.
I turn back to the lady attending to us to find her staring at us with a fond smile on her face. "You two make a cute couple," she says.
And I nearly passed out on the floor. I gaped at her with wide eyes while shaking my head vigorously, but before I could deny her words, Ryan answered her.
"Thank you, darling. My girlfriend here is a little shy to admit we are together," he says with a sweet smile on his face while pulling me into his side.
I am going to kill him.
"I don't know why she should be shy, you are a very gorgeous man. She should be proud. Anyway, if she doesn't appreciate what she has got, here is my number."
She slips a card toward Ryan, and he has the guts to take it.
I am going to kill him again.
I withdrew from his pressing hold and glared at the woman behind the counter. How dare she make a play for my man in front of me?
"Does your manager know that you flirt shamelessly with your customers?" I demanded, my voice so frosty that it could turn a room into a cooling room.
She shoots me a nervous look and then looks at Ryan as if asking for his help. I snapped my fingers in front of her face to get her attention.
"Look at me, not him."
When she does as I ask, I lean in to make sure she hears every word that leaves my lips. "He belongs to me, and I do not intend to give him up, so keep your little digits to yourself."
I snatched the number from Ryan's unresisting hand and slammed it onto the table in front of the woman.
"Now, please do your job before I report you!"
"Yes, ma," she answers, her voice a little terrified, before she hurries off to get our purchase.
I feel Ryan looking at me and look up to his face to find him watching me with an amused grin on his face.
"What?!" I demand with attitude, still pissed at him for taking a number from another girl in front of me.
"You look hot when you are jealous. And that violent streak of yours that peeped out a few seconds ago is a total turn-on."
I blushed and then shrugged like I didn't care. "It is her fault for trying to flirt with a man that she knows is taken," I say defensively.
Honestly, I am also amazed at my possessiveness. I have never acted like that before in my life. In the past, the idea of confrontation used to make me break out in hives.
I guess I have changed.
"Maybe I should take ladies' numbers more to make you jealous," Ryan teased, and I whirled around on him with a heavy glare on my face. "Don't you dare," I growl with my fingers pointed at his face.
He laughed, his blue eyes shining with excitement. The sound of his laughter mesmerized me to the point that I forgot my anger and stared dazed at his sexy as fuck dimples.
I have never heard him laugh so openly.
"Don't worry, honey, you are still the hottest woman I've ever met, and as long as you are still alive, I will never look at another woman."
His heavy words, though spoken with humor, freeze me in a spot, and I could only gawk at him. Why does he always have to say shit that makes my heart melt and makes me fall deeper for him?
He leans in and whispers something into my ear.
"Your eyes are begging me to kiss you."
I flinched away from and then replied with a snap in my voice. "Then don't listen," I say, glaring at him, but he only smiled harder.
Before he could do something ridiculous, like kiss me in front of all these people, the lady attending to us walked back in with our package, which she extended toward me without looking me in the eyes.
"Glad you have learned your place," I muttered in my mind as I took the shopping bag from her.
Ryan paid, and we left.
Next was the jewelry shop.
We combed through the room filled with glittering, expensive jewelry, with Ryan asking which ones I liked.
Without knowing why he was asking, I answered honestly, and as we were leaving without making a purchase, I was surprised to be stopped by an employee and handed a bag. When I looked inside, it was all the jewelry I had pointed at.
I looked at him, dumbfounded, unable to speak. No one has ever treated me this way.
Ryan smirked at me and walked off. I quickly caught up with him after I found my voice. "Thank you," I said softly when I fell in beside him.
"You are welcome," he answered.
Next, we walked into a clothing stall. And not just any clothing stall, an expensive designer outlet. On a good day, I could never afford to shop here. These are places you only shop from the windows, and never inside.
I couldn't believe I was inside.
This time, Ryan didn't hide that we were here for me. He told the madame of the place to bring out their most recent goods, and he combed through them, picking out clothes he believed suited me. I must confess he has a good eye for clothes, because everything he picked looked amazing on me.
We left with my hands heavy with shopping bags. After putting everything in the boot, I told Ryan I'd forgotten something and ran off before he could stop me.