Must Date The Chef

|| 15.

"You can change into this," she murmurs, her eyes darting between me and the folded shorts she laid out on the armrest of her couch. Pointing to my trousers, she says, "I assume your royal stubbornness must be uncomfortable in those." I know it's meant to be a joke but I don't laugh or act like I heard it.

She is right, I am more than uncomfortable. The jean is sticking to my skin, restricting the blood supply to my legs. I am angry, wet to the bone and in no mood for her second-hand jokes. Grumbling a response, I begin to unbuckle my belt without notice, causing her to yelp and cover her eyes.

"You should give a warning first," she says, her hands coming to rest by her sides.

I tilt my head to the side, collect the short she offers me. "Why? It's nothing you haven't seen on King," comes my response and after one final tug on my jeans, it comes off.

The smile on her face morphs into a scowl, her hands go to her waist. I smirk, that's more like it, no need to act like a nun who hasn't seen men naked or in their boxers.

"It's new," she volunteers when I lift the boxer I found in the middle of the shorts to my nose. It has no smell but the shorts smell like her. She has used it before and a part of me is strangely comfortable with knowing that fact.

"Do you go about buying boxers in hopes to give it out to random guys?" I ask with a hint of sarcasm but she doesn't laugh.

Pauline turns away from me and I take that chance to change into her clothes.

"I am done, you can turn around," I tell her. She comes to stand in front of me with a smile playing on her lips and a hand on her waist. Her clothes are not bad on me; the shirt is a bit tight but I can manage it.

My eyes lower to her cleavage, her nipples poke through her singlet and she folds her arms over her chest. She bites her lips, looks at me once, then at her slender feet.

"You are not random," she suddenly says and her hands drop to her side, "but you are an asshole." I raise an eyebrow. "I like to wear boxers to sleep, they are freer. It just happens that I have not used that one yet."

Pauline's foot circles the floor while she continues avoiding my gaze. She wraps her hands around my wrists, lifts her eyes to mine. "Paul. There is no list. I don't have a thing for the male staff, only you." Her words warm me over but I refuse to fall for it. "King just happened, it wasn't planned. Nothing is going on between him and me. Believe me, it was a one time thing."

Nodding as if I believe her, I point to the chocolate on the table. "This isn't nothing, the flowers in the kitchen isn't nothing." I withdraw my hands and frown. "I know when a man wants a woman, King wants you and I won't compete with him for you."

"But I don't want him. I want you, Paul."

"For how long?" I ask, "long enough for you to find my replacement among the staff?" My finger juts in the direction of the chocolate. "If nothing is going on between the two of you, why did you accept it?"

Her lips part open to speak but not a single word departs from it. "Throw it away," I state with a note of finality. I don't want her accepting any gifts from that man. "Throw them away, the flowers and the chocolate."

"What?"

"You heard me."

"No," she says and I nod. That's exactly what I expected to hear yet she claims it's nothing. What kind of woman accepts gifts from a man she doesn't like, a man she slept with? I shake my head; I will not be fooled twice. "I love chocolates; I can't throw it away."

"Is that your excuse?" I throw my hands up then pull on my beards. "Of course you can't throw it away. You love chocolate so much and since you can't afford to get it yourself, you must have the one from King, your boss." When I notice her lips quiver, I relent. "Please throw it away, I'll replace it."