As the scent of food tickled her senses, lanie rubbed her forehead, frowning slightly. Had she left the window open? The delicious aroma made her stomach twist with hunger, reminding her that she had skipped lunch.Sigh. She needed to finish quickly and get ho.
Just as she was about to push the thought aside and decisively work, a light knock sounded on her open door, pulling her from her thoughts. She looked up in irritation but then lifted her brows in surprise. "What are you doing here?"
Her gaze dropped to the takeaway boxes in his hands, and she let out a quiet sigh as realization dawned. "So, this is where the scent was coming from?"
The man standing before her raised his hands in mock surrender, and grinned widely at her. "Yep. I wasn't sure what you'd like, so I got a variety of local snacks. Figured you might be hungry." He glanced at her desk, then back at her. "As for what I'm doing here—well, I work here, rember?"
lanie shook her head, and sent him an amused look as she gestured for him to co inside. "I ant, your working hours are over. So why are you still here?"
Ben Harris stepped forward, placed the containers on the small side table before turning to face her. His grin widened as he spread his arms. "How can I leave early when my boss is still here? As your assistant, I have to do my best to assist you, don't I, boss?"
lanie sighed and shook her head. She'd rather finish reading the reports first and then get ho and eat. "Well, since you're here, make yourself useful and go through these reports."
Ben huffed dramatically, as he ca around to her side of the table, pulling a chair along with him so that they were side by side. "No 'thank you, Ben, for the food'? No 'Ben, you're so thoughtful'?"
lanie gave him a flat look before turning her attention back to her work. "Thank you, Ben, for the food. Though, you just said it was part of your work. Now get to work."
Ben rolled his eyes, picked up the file as he sent a look her way and muttered," Next ti, I will let you starve, boss."
lanie barely spared Ben a glance as she flipped through the next page of her report, her mind fully occupied with the numbers in front of her. She was vaguely aware of him shifting in his seat, but she didn't think much of it—until she felt his elbow lightly brush against hers.
She frowned but didn't look up as she muttered,"Move your chair, Harris."
The man moved his chair aside a bit while muttering sorry but even so, he continued to be too close to her.
lanie humd in vague acceptance and was then already back to scanning the data.
But soon, the man was moving and before she could ask him what he was upto, he'd opened one of the takeaway boxes and taken out a dumpling, which he now picked up and held it to her lips," Here, boss.Eat sothing."
lanie blinked at the dumpling hovering near her mouth before leaning back slightly, her gaze shifting to Ben with mild disbelief. "Mr. Harris, aren't you taking your assistant job a little too seriously? You are not my nanny." She crossed her arms. "Please put that on a plate. I'll take it soon."
Ben's lips twitched, "But it'll get cold..."
She gave him a deadpan stare. "Then I guess I'll eat a cold dumpling."
"Why eat a cold dumpling when you can eat a hot one?" lanie finally gave her full attention to the man sitting next to her. For a mont, he reminded her of Adam who was just as pushy. But then she shook her head. That guy would have not tried to reason...
"Ben Harris? If you are going to disrupt my work, get out of the office." She finally told him, while pushing the chopsticks away with her finger.
Finally, Ben placed the dumpling back into the box, but he could not help and turn back to her to mutter," You work too hard, boss."
lanie was about to snap at Ben, for continuously distracting her, when a sharp knock sounded on her door—again. She inhaled deeply, closed her eyes for a brief mont as she tried to summon what little patience she had left. Another interruption. Could she not have a single mont of peace? This was the last report dam* it! Then she could go ho and sleep for the next two days of the weekend!
She exhaled slowly, forcing herself to mask her frustration before finally looking up as her eyes widened in surprise. "What are you doing here?"
Adam didn't answer right away. Instead, his gaze flicked over the scattered reports on her desk before shifting to the man seated a little too close to her. His eyes lingered for a fraction longer than necessary, before he stepped inside slowly.
"I ca here for you. You've been skipping dinner and I was worried you might try to starve yourself to death." His lips quirked slightly, but his words carried an edge as he continued. "But I can see I was mistaken."
lanie, like the utterly oblivious woman she was, missed the slight inflection in his voice and the faint questioning note beneath the seemingly offhand remark. To her, it was just Adam being Adam. But the scene before Adam seed to tell him a different story.
A single open box of dumplings sat on the small side table between her and another man. Only one pair of chopsticks resting inside. It was a small detail. But it seed so speak volus.
Ben Harris, on the other hand, did not miss the pointed look Adam sent his way. He bristled and straightened in his seat. His expression was carefully neutral, but his voice carried an unmistakably hostile as he asked, "And who are you?"
Adam gave him a smile then as he continued to walk closer," The husband, of course."
Ben stiffened.
His gaze flicked to lanie, as if expecting so kind of reaction from her—so denial, so shift in deanor. But she remained utterly focused on her work, flipping through reports with the sa unwavering attention she had given them earlier.
But before Ben could say anything, Adam did what he did best. Make his claim without having to say a word.
Casually, he leaned over lanie, picked up a dumpling from the box with his hands and brought it to her lips.
Ben's eyes widened and he was about to snap at Adam for disturbing her when, lanie opened her mouth and took a bite, all the while, her eyes glued to the docunts in front of her.
Ben's mouth opened in shock and he watched as Adam then brought his thumb to his lips and rubbed the little left-over oil over them before shifting his gaze back to Ben. There was no challenge in his expression, no gloating, no hostility. Just quiet amusent. As if he knew exactly Ben wanted but did not even consider the man a threat.
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