Chapter 28: Chapter 28

“WHAT brings you here?” I asked Marcus when he suddenly entered my office. "I thought you had a meeting outside?"

Marcus took a seat in front of my desk. "Well, I have some news to tell you."

"What news?" I looked at him.

“Mico's back from France...”

That finally got my attention. "Really? That's great." Mico was one of my high school friends. He was Marcus' best friend, but he was also close with me and Ciarra.

“He called me and invited me to dinner tonight. He asked me to bring you."

I pursed my lips. "Tonight? I'm sorry I can't go with you two tonight. I need to go home early.”

"Come on, Claire. It'll only be for two hours." Marcus said. "You know, I'll take you home after that."

"I'm sorry, Marcus. I really can't. Adam and I will watch a movie later tonight."

Marcus raised his brows. "Oh, you have a date with him?"

I pursed my lips. "It's not a date. We're just going to watch at home. While eating dinner, you know. Just tell Mico that I'll meet him next time."

Marcus still had that annoying grin on his face. "Hmm, that sounds like a date to me."

I rolled my eyes at him. "Shut up and just leave me alone here."

Marcus ignored me and picked up something from my table. “Oh. What's this?” he said, looking at the book. “101 facts about pregnancy?”

I grabbed the book from him and put it back beside my laptop.

"How's Adam, by the way? Isn't he going to compete again?"

"No, he said he'll take a break from motocross," I said, pursing my lips. "He's busy with another business he was planning with Arthur."

Adam told me he was planning to open up a tattoo shop with Arthur.

Marcus arched his brow. "Oh, finally putting that five million to use, huh?"

I gave him a sharp look before I glanced at my wristwatch. "If you have nothing to say, go back to your office now, Marcus. I have a meeting in thirty minutes."

Marcus just chuckled before he stood up from his seat. "You're always annoyed with me, Claire. I'm sure your baby will look like me."

"Shut up." I gave him another sharp look before he turned his back.

It was already six o'clock when I arrived home. Well, I left work at five, but I got stuck in traffic. s was doing that he didn't even realize I was already at home. There was a small frown on his face as if he was concentrating so hard. He was cooking carbonara on the pan.

I couldn't understand that warm feeling that enveloped my chest while watching Adam. It took me another few minutes before Adam finally noticed my presence.

“Claire, you're already here!" he said, looking a bit shocked.

I grinned as I made my way to him." Yup. I just got home." I pursed my lips. "You cooking something?" I asked, despite the fact that I could see what he was doing.

He turned to me and smiled. "Well, you texted me earlier that you wanted pasta for dinner, right?"

I pursed my lips and nodded. Adam asked me earlier what I wanted for dinner. So I told him pasta.

"You still want pasta, though?"

"Of course. That looks delicious." I said, looking at the carbonara on the pan.

"Come on. Taste it." He took a forkful of pasta from the pan and raised it to my face. "Come on. Open your mouth."

I opened my mouth for him.

"What do you think?" Adam asked as he watched me chew on the food.

“It’s delicious.” My face automatically formed a satisfied smile. "You're really good at this, Adam.”

He smirked. "There's something else I wanted to taste."

Before I could react, he had already captured my lips in a searing kiss.

"Adam, the food!" I remembered saying in the middle of the kiss. "Turn off the stove."

Adam was forced to let go of my lips. “Nothing beats the taste of your lips, Claire." He planted a kiss on my nose before he moved away from me.

I pursed my lips to stifle a smile. "I'll prepare the plates."

"No." He gently held my arm. "I'll do it. Just sit here and relax. I know you're tired from work."

I continued to pout my lips. "Come on. Preparing the plates won't tire me out."

He just slightly shook his head. "Just sit there. I've got this."

"Fine," I said. "I'll just go to my room and change."

I left Adam in the kitchen and went to my room to change. I wore a comfortable oversize shirt and cotton shorts. When I got back to the kitchen, the table was already set up for dinner.

“Let's eat?” I said excitedly to him. I pulled out a chair for myself.

"Yeah." Adam chuckled as he put some pasta on my plate. Aside from the pasta that he cooked, there was also a fresh vegetable and fruit salad on the table.

“Adam, this is too much!" I pouted my lips when he urged me to eat more salad.

He just cocked his eyebrows at me. "Remember what the doctor said, Claire? You need to eat more healthy foods." He smiled at me. "If mommy's healthy, then our baby's also going to be healthy."

I just pursed my lips as I picked up a slice of apple and stuffed it in my mouth.

"THANKS for the dinner again, Adam." I told him after we finished eating dinner. We had strawberry cheesecake for dessert.

I stood up from the seat and started picking up the empty plates on the table.

"What are you doing, Claire?" Adam asked when he saw what I was doing.

I slightly raised my brows. "Well, since you cooked for our dinner, then I'll be the one washing the dishes."

Adam shook his head. "No, Claire. Let me take care of this.” He went to me and took the empty plate from me. "We're going to watch a movie, right? Just go there on the couch and choose a movie."

I pursed my lips. “Are you sure? You're going to wash the dishes?” I looked at the empty plate in his hand.

He chuckled. “Don’t worry, Chin. I do know how to wash the dishes. I'm used to living independently, so I'm also used to doing household chores."

"Alright," I said, nodding my head. "I'll wait for you on the couch," I said before leaving Adam in the kitchen.

I opened the TV and browsed some channels. I had only been waiting for a few minutes when Adam joined me there. He was even holding a bucket of popcorn.

"What movie do you want to watch?" he asked me as he settled into the space beside me.

I pursed my lips. "Do you watch romcoms?"

"Romcoms? Nah," he said, looking at me. "But if that's what you want to watch, then it's fine with me."

"Really?" I asked, sounding a little surprised.

"Yup," he smiled. "Whatever you want, Claire." He picked up the remote and navigated the TV on the movie streaming site. "What movie, Claire?"

I told him the movie that I wanted to watch. It was an action comedy. I picked up a throw pillow and hugged it to my chest.

"I thought you said romcom?" Adam turned his head to me.

I pursed my lips. "Well, I don't want to bore you."

He just chuckled. "I won't get bored, Claire."

"Really?"

He remained looking at me. "How can I get bored when I'm with you?"

I felt like something had tugged at my heart. I just chose to chuckle before rolling my eyes at him. "Come on. Just play the movie."

We were both silent at the start of the movie. I looked at Adam, who was focused on the screen. I was aware that Adam was starting to have an effect on me. Every time he stared at me, my heart started to beat crazily inside my chest.

Adam had started to affect me, and I couldn't let that happen. I couldn't fall in love with him. No matter how kind and sweet he was, I couldn't let myself fall for his charms.

From the very start, Adam had already made it clear to me that he didn't fall in love. Besides, we were both clear that everything would end between us. We were only bound by a contract.

"Claire, are you okay?" Adam asked when he noticed that I was looking at him.

I cleared my throat. "Yup." I smiled before returning my eyes to the wide screen in front of us.

I tried to focus on the movie. I couldn't stop myself from tearing up when a dramatic scene played. It was when the main lead was having a breakdown because she felt that she wasn't enough for the people around her.

I suddenly remembered all the sacrifices I had made for my family. How I chose to let go of my dreams and instead study business to please my parents.

"Claire, what's wrong?" I didn't notice that Adam's attention was already on me. He was looking at me with a worried face.

“Why... are you crying?" he asked. "Did something upset you?"

I shook my head as I tried to wipe the tears from my face. "Nothing. I'm just being emotional. You know, pregnancy hormones."

I sniffed and tried to smile at Adam. "You have nothing to worry about."

But Adam's eyes didn't leave mine. Instead, he put the bowl of popcorn on the coffee table and came closer to me.

"No. Please tell me what's bothering you," he said in a very gentle voice. I felt like my heart was melting. "Come on, Claire. You can tell me."

I bit my lower lip. "I just teared up when I remembered how I sacrificed my dreams before. That's all, Adam."

He gently smiled at me. "But it's still not too late, Claire. You can still be a painter."

I looked at him. Then smiled a bit. "Nah. My priorities have already changed, Adam. I'm busy with work. And I'm going to be a parent soon. Besides, I don't think I still know how to paint."

Adam looked at me with his serious eyes. I didn't know what he was thinking. I felt like he was trying to read my soul.

I managed to give him a smile. "Don't worry, I'm not really upset, Adam. I'm just really emotional because of pregnancy hormones. I couldn't believe pregnancy could really make women this emotional. I don't usually cry over pretty things, you know."

He carefully touched my face and wiped the traces of tears from my cheek. "Stop crying now. You don't want our baby to get ugly, do you?" he joked.

I pursed my lips. "Shut up, Adam. How can our baby get ugly when he has a very handsome daddy?"

A playful grin formed on Adam's face. “Really? You find me handsome?”

I felt my cheeks heat up. But I tried to hide it from him by rolling my eyes. "Of course! As if you don't know that, Adam."

His laughter filled the air. "It was nice to hear that from you, Claire."

I pursed my lips. "Come on. Give me some popcorn and let's just focus on the movie."

He grabbed the bucket of popcorn and handed it to me. Then, to my surprise, Adam winked. "Just so you know, I also find you very beautiful, Claire."