Adrienette Love Story

Chalter 21

She genuinely felt sorry for him. "I wish I could do something more. I just can't afford to have any more of a target on my back. The last thing I need is a blackmark within the industry."

"I understand." He chuckled, standing up and brushing the almost certainly non-existent dust off his pants. "Well, there is one way to ensure that doesn't happen." He kept eye contact as he offered her hand and pulled her up.

"I'm listening."

When she was finally back on her feet, he promptly managed to knock her off them.

Figuratively, of course.

His hands gently cupped her cheeks as he leaned down and kissed her.

Marinette froze. The gentle pressure on her lips warmed her through and through. This was... Unexpected. Surprising. Rather nice? But very much not how this was supposed to go!

She jumped as her brain finally caught up to what was happening, but Adrien was already pulling away. Marinette put a hand up to her lips.

"What- what are you doing?" She asked breathlessly, bracing her other hand against his upper arm.

"Hiring," Adrien said, giving her an amused smile. He glanced down at her hand on his sleeve for a moment.

"H-hiring- you- uh," she gulped. "I don't think HR would approve of your methods. Also, I already work here."

Adrien burst out laughing but quickly regained control. "Marinette Dupain-Cheng, would you be my wife?"

Marinette stared at him. "...What?"

He smiled. "I need a fake fiance to keep my father off my back while Nathalie recovers, and you need to stay working here until you're ready to strike out on your own. So...?"

"Still..." Marinette's mind struggled to keep up. "That's seriously sudden."

"My father is going to pressure me to get married..." He scowled, "If meeting with Kagami earlier taught me anything, then he's not going to stop until he gets what he wants."

"Wait," she hissed. "You talked with Kagami?"

"She told me the truth at lunch today, and it made me realize we were in the same boat." He smiled. "I just needed to figure out if I was right to trust you."

She leaned against him. "And what did you decide?"

"I wouldn't have asked you what I did if I didn't think I could trust you, Marinette."

Marinette's eyes searched the ceiling tiles. She understood that far more than she could ever admit. She shook her head. "What about your friend?"

"Father's actions mean I no longer have the time to wait." He squeezed her hand. "Besides, I enjoyed that date. Even if you were trying to tank it."

"Honestly," she murmured, trying to quash the whole kaleidoscope of butterflies flitting around in her stomach. "It was probably the best date I'd been on in five years. Which I think just says something sad about me."

"You're a hard worker, Marinette. You have a lot of talent and ambition. That doesn't mean you have to work on a particular timetable." Adrien's voice was soothing. Maybe it was because he reminded her of her Chat Noir. "I...well, I have one project I'm insanely proud of. Everyone thinks I've had the world handed to me because of my father, but this was one thing I have done entirely without his help. Nathalie helped me get started and because of that I met the people who helped me to become the person I am today."

"They sound like good people, then."

"Thank you."

"If I decide to help you," Marinette countered, turning around to face him head-on. "I would need to know what gave it away."

"It was a few things." He admitted. "By the way, how is your cat doing?"

"What?" she gasped.

"I found out that Kagami Tsurugi didn't have a pet. Her mother wouldn't allow it." Adrien mentioned. "So I assumed it had to be yours."

"The cat," Marinette sighed, glancing down at her phone, "is sadly not real."

"Okay... The more I dug, a few other things didn't make sense. One part of Kagami's bio mentioned that she was a fencing champion."

"Okay?"

"I did fencing for years... And your hand." He blushed. "Well, I could tell you didn't have the right calluses."

"I told her it was a bad idea." Her hand clasped over her mouth. "I should have known something small would have given it all away. That someone else would be looking that closely."

"Marinette..." he soothed, steadying her shoulders.

"This could have gone so badly!"

"I don't know." He murmured, as a crooked grin took hold. "I didn't think it went so badly."

Her breath caught in her throat as she peered over at him.

"If we're going to convince other people..." Adrien murmured, clasping both of her hands in his. "We will need to convince ourselves."

As her brain kept screaming about the warmth of his hands, she bit her lip, trying to focus. This couldn't possibly be real, but Marinette was surprised to realize that she didn't mind it at all. "A fake date?"

He hesitated, clearly surprised by her words, nodding after a little while. "To kick off our fake engagement."

Marinette sighed. She was sure that Gabriel Agreste wasn't about to let his son date one of the rabbles within his employees. But it would never be a waste of her time getting to know Adrien better.

If he wasn't the son of her employer, he'd honestly be perfect.

"We should get our stories straight."

By the time the elevator doors parted, neither one had noticed they had never stopped holding hands.