Getting under my skin

Once I collected all the pieces of my lost rationality, my eyes shifted to the counter, and I slowly made my way there. As I glanced at Marco, I saw his eyes tracing the handsome and shameless guy taking his seat at the table upstairs. Monique shot him a look and chuckled.

"You're drooling," she said, smugly pointing at the corner of his lips.

I smiled awkwardly and hurried to put the dishes into the sink, wishing to erase the last two minutes of my memory. I had never been the type of fangirl who would easily let some handsome guy sweep her off her feet. That black-haired man in a suit was bad news, and I could feel it in my gut. After a brief inward debate, I decided that my temporal insanity was caused by a shock. My brain had become vulnerable due to exhaustion, which allowed me to be affected by the suit's good looks. As soon as I found this explanation, I felt better. With that figured out, I knew that I wouldn't let it happen again, and I had the best possible strategy to keep it that way: I was going to avoid the guy.

"So…" Monique grinned teasingly while tangling the strands of her hair around her finger. "What are you waiting for? Grab the menu and go upstairs," she said, smirking at me.

I almost choked on the air I breathed. "Not a chance. I'm not going. Marco should do it," I claimed decisively.

"Girl, my radar says it clearly. Guy's straight. There's no fun for me going there." He shook his head while crossing his arms over his broad chest.

I wanted to argue more, but before I could open my mouth again, I was holding menus and was pushed up to the middle of the stairs. The black-haired sex-on-the-legs noticed me coming their way in an instant. I did my best not to look at him directly, but I could feel his gaze on me the entire time I was climbing the stairs. I had never needed to concentrate that much on walking.

"Hello." I activated my professional tone and handed them menus. "What can I get you?"

The two nervous men immediately turned their eyes on the black-haired. "Mr. Lan?" one of them muttered.

My eyes reluctantly shifted from the other two "safe" businessmen to my black-haired trouble just to find him looking straight at me. "Espresso," his answer came.

His deep and smooth voice almost cost me my balance. I shifted at my feet and focused on writing down the order I was highly unlikely to forget… ever.

"We'll have two americanos," one of the restless businessmen added.

I nodded, giving him a polite smile that I was unable to give to Mr. Lan… or whatever my trouble's name was. I excused myself and dashed downstairs just so I could breathe again. I didn't know why this guy made me worked up so badly. I had seen many handsome men in suits before, for God's sake!

My hands were shaking to the point where only Marco's reflexes saved me from breaking a cup.

"Hey! You're OK?" he asked, gently patting my shoulder.

I gave him a wry smile. "I can't explain, why I act like this."

"Oh, I see why," Monique interjected, "the guy is super-hot... and he was checking you out. That's enough to make your panties wet."

I chuckled and smirked. "Correction. That's enough to make your panties wet. That's enough to make me awkwardly flustered."

She waved me off with her hand. "Semantics."

Somehow I felt a little more confident after knowing I wasn't the only one finding this Lan guy irresistibly attractive. It made my previous reaction more forgivable. Shrugging off my awkwardness, I finished preparing coffee and started climbing the stairs again. As I took another cautious step, I noticed that Mr. Lan had gone somewhere while the two other guys nervously shifted in their seats, waiting for him to return. Once I reached the top, I saw the black-haired hottie standing in the narrow passage between the tables. He was talking on the phone and efficiently blocking my way to his table. The tone of his voice seemed harsh and cold, completely different from the smooth velvet I heard when he ordered coffee. His words carried the pitch of authority and an unmistakably dangerous charge. He was facing the window, focusing on some distant point, but I could easily imagine that his eyes were pointed at the one he was talking to, and I felt sorry for him or her. He was so absorbed by the call that he didn't notice me standing right next to him… or he simply ignored me.

"Excuse me…" My weak voice hardly reached his ears. I cleared my throat and repeated. "Excuse me, could you let me pass?"

Without sparing me a glance, he shifted on his feet, giving me a tiny space to walk past him with a tray. I clenched my teeth, trying to navigate my way while carrying coffee when suddenly he pushed me away with a violent stretch of his hand.

"Shit!" I cursed, making an ungraceful swirl on my heels.

My tray became unbalanced, and I could see the hot fluid bouncing inside the coffee cups. I found myself inches away from catastrophe! My eyes swiftly roamed the area, and thankfully, there was no one upstairs aside from the three businessmen. As my last resort, I chose to throw the tray away from their table for a split second before I fell on the floor face forward, sticking out my butt.

I shut my eyes closed, hissing from pain as more than a few hot drops landed on my forearm. Yet, I took a deep breath and slowly got myself up from the floor. As I turned around, I found the three businessmen observing me in silence. I could ignore the two sitting by the table, but what pissed me off was the indifferent attitude Mr. Lan showed me. He was at least partially responsible for that mess, and he wasn't going to say anything?!

The blood in my veins boiled. I was three seconds from exploding. Two. One.

"Cora?!"

Christine's squeaky voice made me turn my attention away from the black-haired arrogant for a second. She would have never done anything to help, but at least she might have saved me from making this situation even worse. I entered my semi-polite mode by gluing a mask of kindness to my face.

"I apologize," I squeezed through my teeth while faking a smile. "I will clean this up and bring your coffees in a minute."

As I stepped toward Mr. Lan, I noticed a few small coffee drops on his suit jacket. Shit. His eyes followed mine to those tiny stains. His lips curved into a cold smile.

"I… I will pay for the dry cleaning, Sir!" I stated nervously.

His smile widened but still didn't reach his eyes. "Don't bother. This piece needs a special treatment, the one you cannot afford." The mockery perfectly coated his every word.

I stepped back, looking at him in disbelief. My hands fisted, revealing my white knuckles. The adrenalin fueled my blood pressure, instinctively preparing me for an attack. As my muscles tensed, I used every ounce of strength I had to prevent myself from slapping him or throwing multiple objects in his direction. Yes, I had my body under control. Too bad it didn't work the same way for my mouth...

"Look, I get that you are my customer, and I am an employee here, but I am also a human being! Do you think that you inherited some special right to treat people like dirt just because you have money?! I was trying to pass you by while holding a heavy tray! Not only that you didn't make room enough for me to put the tray on your table, but you pushed me and didn't even apologize for that!" I spat out in fury.

He leaned his head back, his eyes widened as if he had only now noticed me. He straightened, making me painfully realize how easily he towered over my 5.3-foot body. I swallowed hard, watching as his lips formed into a smug smirk. I took a cautious step back.

"Cora! How dare you raise your voice at a customer!" Christine yelled, running up to the floor and stopping in front of Mr. Smug-face. "I'm so sorry, Mr. Lan… I will fire this rude girl right away!" She nodded, putting on an ass-kisser grin.

I didn't know what surprised me more: the fact that Christine knew who that guy was, or that she managed to piss me off beyond the level he did. Fine, I acted irrationally, but he crossed the line! Just as I was ready to draw my sword and stand up for a battle against those two, something unexpected happened...

Mr. Lan raised his hand in a halt gesture towards Christine, then granted her a beaming smile that put her mind on reboot. "Just as… Miss Cora said. It was partially my fault."

I raised my eyebrows at him, trying not to focus on how amazing my name sounded coming out of his lips.

His eyes shifted to me. "I'm willing to forget about the whole thing if I hear Miss Cora's apology."

I clenched my teeth, feeling my temple vein throb, but at the same time shivers ran down my spine, so intensively I squeezed my thighs to control my rising arousal. This guy was making my emotions run from one extreme to the other! He took a step closer, completely ignoring Christine and his business partners. His perfume attacked my senses mercilessly, madly increasing the humidity between my legs. His eyes were locked on me, scanning my face with the utmost care. My heart pounded erratically as my excitement won against my anger. He leaned over my ear.

"Well? I'm waiting," he whispered, making me gasp.

Only when he leaned back did I break from bewilderment. His eyes were still on me, but I quickly realized that he wasn't the only one waiting for me to speak... everyone else was! Why did I feel like a child being punished for breaking a neighbor's window?! I sincerely, wholeheartedly hated this situation... but I knew I was already standing against the wall.

I stretched my lips into a thin smile as I locked my unsmiling eyes on Mr. Lan. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have raised my voice like that."

Christine wanted to add something, but he just waved her off, and she disappeared quicker than I could register her going down. I thought that it was a good cue for me to come down to get something to clean up the mess I'd made. I turned around ready to dart away, but as I grabbed the stair railing, Mr. Lan's hand gently landed on mine. I stopped still, sensing him standing an inch from leaning against my back.

"Good girl," he breathed against my ear, before stepping back towards his two companions.

I ran down the stairs, feeling I might do something even more irrational this time. I needed to get far away from this guy. I couldn't think straight around him… or rather I wasn't able to think at all!