CHAPTER TWO: HOSTILE ARRIVAL

EMMA

I got to the Swiss estate before Adrian which was perfect for me.

I grabbed my bags before the driver could help and headed straight inside where a woman in her fifties was waiting.

"Ms. Ashford, welcome. I'm Helen, the estate manager," she said with a smile. "Let me show you to your room."

"The master suite," I said, following her up the grand staircase because if Adrian thought he was going to waltz in here and take the best room he had another thing coming.

Helen hesitated on the landing. "Actually, about the master suite, there's something you should know..."

"I'm taking it," I cut her off and kept walking down the hallway until I found the double doors at the end. "Have someone bring up the rest of my luggage."

Helen cleared her throat behind me. "Ms. Ashford, the will specifically states that you and Mr. Adrian must share living quarters to ensure you're working together as required."

I spun around. "Share as in the same house, not the same room."

"The same room," Helen confirmed, looking uncomfortable. "Your father's lawyers were very explicit about the terms and they'll be checking in regularly to ensure compliance."

"You're joking."

"I'm afraid not. The master suite has been prepared with separate closets and bathroom areas, but you'll both be staying here."

I stared at her in disbelief. "There are seven bedrooms in this house."

"And you're required to share one of them," Helen said firmly. "Those are the terms."

I wanted to argue but the look on her face told me it wouldn't change anything, so I just nodded tightly and watched her leave.

An hour later I was unpacking my clothes into one side of the massive walk-in closet when I heard voices downstairs, and unmistakably Adrian.

Footsteps echoed up the stairs and I braced myself, still standing in the closet when the bedroom door open.

"What are you doing in here?" Adrian asked.

I stepped out of the closet. "Unpacking. What does it look like?"

"In my room," he said, dropping his bags on the floor.

"Our room actually," I corrected, crossing my arms. "Apparently daddy's will requires us to share living quarters and Helen made it very clear that means the same bedroom."

Adrian went completely still. "You're lying."

"Call her and ask," I said, gesturing to his phone. "I already tried arguing and got nowhere."

He pulled out his phone and I watched his face darken as he presumably got the same answer I had.

"Fine," Adrian said after he hung up. "You take the left side, I'll take the right, and we stay out of each other's way."

"Gladly," I said, turning back to my unpacking.

Twenty minutes later I walked out of the closet to grab another suitcase and stopped short because Adrian had stripped off his shirt and was heading toward the bathroom, all broad shoulders and defined muscles that I absolutely did not want to notice.

He caught me staring and smirked. "See something you like?"

"Please," I said, rolling my eyes and grabbing my suitcase. "Don't flatter yourself."

"You were staring," Adrian pointed out, leaning against the doorframe in a way that made his abs more visible and I hated that I noticed.

"I was making sure you knew which side of the room was yours," I lied, dragging my suitcase toward the closet. "You seem confused about boundaries."

"Says the woman who claimed my room," Adrian shot back, but there was something almost playful in his tone now.

"Our room," I corrected again. "And I got here first so I'm taking the left side of the bed."

"The bed is in the middle of the room so technically we're both taking the middle," Adrian said, and I could hear the amusement even though I refused to look at him.

"Then I guess we'll just have to learn to share," I said, disappearing into the closet before he could respond.

I heard the shower turn on and tried very hard not to think about Adrian naked on the other side of that wall.

ADRIAN

The hot water did nothing to improve my mood but I bathed all the same.

I got dressed and went back into the bedroom to find Emma sitting on her side of the massive bed with her laptop.

"We need ground rules," I said, sitting on my side and putting as much distance between us as the bed allowed.

Emma didn't look up from her screen. "Rule one, stay on your side." she said.

"Rule two, no going through my things," I added.

"Rule three, knock before entering if the other person is in here," Emma said, finally glancing over at me.

"Rule four, we maintain separate schedules and only interact when required," I said.

"Perfect," Emma agreed. "Anything else?"

"Yeah, one more thing," I said, standing up. "Try not to snore."

"I don't snore," Emma said, glaring at me. "But I'll be sure to invest in earplugs when you do."

I grabbed my phone and headed for the door. "I'm going to check out the office space downstairs."

"Running away already?" Emma called after me.

"Just putting distance between us before I say something we'll both regret," I threw back, closing the door behind me.

Helen was waiting in the hallway and she looked relieved that we hadn't killed each other yet.

"Mr. Adrian, just a reminder that dinner is at seven and per the will's requirements, you and Ms. Ashford must dine together every evening."

I closed my eyes briefly. "Every night?"

"Every night," Helen confirmed. "It's one of the terms."

EMMA

Dinner was exactly as uncomfortable as I'd imagined.

I took one end of the long dining table and Adrian took the other end, with enough space between us to fit an entire dinner party but still it felt too close.

The staff served the first course and retreated quickly, probably sensing the hostility radiating off both of us.

"So this is our life now," Adrian said, stabbing his food as if it offended him. "Forced meals and shared bedrooms."

"Don't sound so thrilled," I said, pushing food around my plate. "I'm not exactly celebrating either."

"I had business to handle," Adrian said, finally looking up. "Some of us actually work instead of just showing up when convenient."

"Some of us don't need to prove ourselves every second of every day," I said sweetly. "Must be exhausting being you."

Adrian set down his fork. "Let's get something straight right now. I don't want to be here any more than you do, but we're stuck together so we might as well make the best of it."

"The best of it?" I repeated. "We can barely stand being in the same room."

"Same bedroom," Adrian corrected. "Which is going to make things very interesting."

"There's nothing interesting about it."

"Keep telling yourself that," Adrian said, standing up and tossing his napkin on the table. "I'm going to bed."

"It's barely eight," I pointed out.

"Then I guess you'll have to be quiet when you come up," Adrian said, heading for the door. "Unless you want to wake me and deal with the consequences."