Chapter 59: Sue Me

Dorian’s expression changed just as quickly. "Mr Sterling." His face hardened. He still couldn’t fully explain why Sterling irritated him so much.

Granted, he was a son of a bitch. But still... It was none of Dorian’s business, was it?

Callum’s gaze lingered on him. Dorian could practically feel the hostility. He had clients to deal with. There was no reason to stand on a sidewalk trading territorial looks with a spoiled heir over a woman neither of them technically had any right to claim.

Except Dorian was her husband.

Dorian walked around him as Callum turned to stare at him.

"You know people apologise when they bump into people," Callum said.

Dorian had every intention of ignoring him. Technically, he hadn’t even bumped into the man. He had stopped before actual contact, which meant no one had been knocked over.

Under normal circumstances, Dorian wasn’t so much of a bastard that he couldn’t offer a simple apology anyway.

This was not a normal circumstance. This was Callum. And for some reason Dorian suddenly felt an intense, childish need to be petty.

It had absolutely nothing to do with Naomi. Nothing at all. Dorian slid his sunglasses onto his face.

"Sue me." He walked the remaining distance to his Mercedes, opened the driver’s door and slid behind the wheel. He shut the door and immediately looked at his phone again. He frowned at the screen.

Still no response from Naomi. He opened their conversation and stared at his last message.

Hmmm?

What the fuck kind of reply was that? Who did that? Maybe she thought he wasn’t interested. That was ridiculous.

Surely she knew he was interested. Painfully interested, actually.

His family was right. He was terrible at texting.

What exactly was she going to do to him on Saturday?

Dorian’s mind immediately supplied several possibilities. He shut that down before he ended up sitting outside the DA’s office with an erection. "Oh God," he muttered to himself. "You’re pathetic." He started the Mercedes.

As he pulled away from the curb, he caught sight of Callum in the mirror. The man was still standing there, glaring after him.

Dorian chuckled. He shouldn’t have enjoyed that nearly as much as he did. Once again, what the fuck had Naomi seen in the guy in the first place? He faced forward and drove away, deciding that Callum Sterling did not deserve another minute of his Monday morning.

Naomi’s message, on the other hand, continued to deserve far too many.

*****

Naomi was sliding a tray of beautifully risen bread dough into the oven when one of the front staff appeared at the kitchen doorway.

"There’s someone from Heathcliffe and Associates here to see you."

Naomi straightened. Oh, if it isn’t Mr Hmmm. She smiled to herself. So he had cracked. Maybe next time he would learn that when a woman sent a message promising sexual activities, hmmm was not an acceptable contribution to the conversation.

Honestly, what kind of reply had that been? The bakery wasn’t especially busy yet, and the dough still needed time in the oven, so Naomi figured she could spare a couple of minutes.

She wiped her hands on a kitchen towel, checked that everything was in order with the other staff and headed toward the service area. Naomi pushed through the door. Then stopped.

Adrian was standing near one of the tables. Her smile dropped.

"Adrian?"

There was enough disappointment in her voice that Adrian noticed immediately.

"Mrs Heathcliffe." He gave her a small, polite nod.

Naomi looked past him toward the entrance as though Dorian might still appear. Adrian’s expression remained perfectly professional, although something in his eyes suggested he had already registered the fact that she had expected someone else.

Naomi didn’t particularly care. If Dorian had sent his assistant to deal with whatever this was, then she was allowed to be annoyed. She stepped closer. "What? Your boss cannot apologise himself so he sent you?"

Adrian raised a brow. "Apologise?"

Had he missed something? The Heathcliffe marriage had survived approximately three weeks. Surely even Dorian could manage longer than that before creating a crisis.

Then again, this was Dorian.

Naomi waved the question away almost immediately. "Never mind. What can I help you with?"

"I just wanted to run through some things regarding the contract with you."

Naomi’s face changed. "The contract?"

"Yes."

"He gave you the contract to draft?" Her stomach dropped so fast she could have sworn it landed somewhere near her shoes.

Dorian had promised. He had specifically said he would handle that one himself.

"Yes, of course," Adrian said. "Who else would he give it to?"

Naomi stared at him. "He said he would do it himself!"

Adrian gave a small smile. "I’d love to see the day."

That was all the confirmation Naomi needed. Her eyes widened.

"Oh my God."

Before Adrian could ask what exactly was wrong, Naomi grabbed his arm and dragged him several steps away from the service counter.

"Mrs Heathcliffe?"

"So he told you about the Saturday sex?"

His brows slowly pulled together. "Excuse me?"

Naomi lowered her voice even further. "You know, we agreed on sex on Saturdays..."

"Mrs Heathcliffe, I have no idea what you are talking about."

Naomi’s face immediately lost color. Adrian continued before she could make the situation worse.

"I am here to discuss the business contract for your client, Miss Genevieve Heathcliffe, and any future clients you may have."

Naomi froze. Ginny’s catering contract. "Oh! Oh my God! Oh shit!" She squeezed her eyes shut and winced so hard she nearly folded into herself.

Why?

Why did she have a mouth? Of all the organs she could have been born with, why had God decided she needed one that operated several minutes ahead of her brain?

She slowly opened her eyes. Adrian was still there.

Unfortunately.

Naomi considered running back into the kitchen and locking herself inside the walk-in refrigerator until he left.

Instead, she forced a smile.

"Uhm... could we forget the last five minutes existed?"