Chapter 7

Jade

Oh no. This was an absolute disaster.

I stood on the counter as I tried to reach the alarm system so I could turn off the blaring noise, coughing through the steam clouding the kitchen.

Smoke was everywhere due to the pan of garlic butter sauce I had forgotten I left to simmer on the stove, now burned to crispy ashes.

The one time I had tried to follow a recipe and cook for myself because I was tired of takeout dishes, and I almost turned the whole place into a fire hazard.

I finally hit the button and the shrill noise ceased, causing my eardrums to stop ringing.

“What the hell is going on here?” A loud voice boomed from the entrance and I almost toppled over at the sudden sound. “Are you trying to burn the fucking house down?”

I turned my head towards the voice to see Julian standing there through the haze of smoke in his signature tailored black suit. My eyes widened at his unexpected presence, and all I could think about was how unfair it was that of all times during this week he could have showed up, it was now he had chosen to.

He immediately moved towards the windows and pushed them open to let the smoke out while I tried to recover from the shock of seeing him.

I had no idea how much I had really missed him until now and I had the strongest urge to fling myself into his strong arms and bury my face in his neck to breathe in his addictive scent.

He was probably going to throw me off him like I had a contagious disease though so I refrained from doing that and quietly ordered my quivering body to remain still.

“I-I just…” I began explaining myself because I knew the situation looked bad. “I was just trying to make dinner and—”

He whirled around and pinned me with an expression of irritation.

“Get down from there first,” he commanded in a harsh voice.

I bit hard on my bottom lip so I wouldn’t cry as I was already feeling the familiar sting in my nose that signaled the tears weren’t far behind.

Turning, I crouched and leaped down onto the chair I had set close before planting both my bare feet on the kitchen floor.

“I’m sorry.” I mumbled, squeezing my hands together in agitation. “It was an accident. I feel awful—”

“What the fuck are you wearing?”

I looked up at him to see his gaze on my body, eyeing it with a look of disgusted disbelief. My head snapped down and that was when I realized I was in bra and panties with just an oversized white button-down shirt as coverage.

But the shirt was currently unbuttoned, making me exposed to him in only my deep purple Victoria’s Secret lingerie set.

Gasping, I pulled both flaps of the shirt together to hide myself then quickly began buttoning up. As I’d been living alone for the past week, I hadn’t really thought much about what I threw on and didn’t know he was going to show up today, so it wasn’t really my fault.

I felt when his gaze left my body to rest on my trembling hands. Then he was suddenly taking a step forward into my personal space and grasping my wrist in his much firmer and warmer grip.

Tingles zapped through my body from the point of contact, causing my knees to buckle slightly and my lips to part on a soft inhale.

“W-what are you…”

His gaze was zeroed in on the fresh blister forming on the skin of my thumb. “You burned yourself.”

I hesitated a little before confirming his statement with a jerky nod of my head, twin spots of red blooming on my heated cheeks.

He let go of me with an irritated sigh before heading towards one of the upper cabinets and taking out a first aid kit.

He then threw the box on the marble island in front of me. “Take care of it. If you’re going to be clumsy enough to hurt yourself at every point, you should also develop the skill of patching those injuries up after.”