As the end of the month arrived the busy season for Elle also arrived. This day in particular, meetings were scheduled sporadically throughout the entire day. She would manage to get in an hour or so of work before rushing off to another meeting and then another. For once, however, she didn"t mind. Her entire department was in high spirits with the arrival of an exciting new project.Elle worked tirelessly that day, stopping only when Adam arrived to take her out to dinner. She packed up her things and rushed out to his car. When they arrived at the restaurant the waitress led them to a waiting area while she confirmed their private room was available. Adam took a seat in a chair while Elle simply stood beside him.
Throughout the ride, and even now as they waited at the restaurant, Elle barely spoke. She wore a polite smile but she was obviously distracted. Her eyes seemed to be looking into the distance as the back of her mind was still brainstorming all sorts of ideas for the project.
"You seem to be in a good mood." Adam commented.
"I have a new project at work." Elle said, a huge grin spreading across her face.
"You"re that pleased about work?" Adam asked, clearly amused.
"It"s a very exciting project." Elle said in her defence. "I basically have free reign to do whatever I want to boost online sales over the next month. At the end of the period they"ll a.s.sign our department a bonus based on the results. Everyone spent all day excitedly coming up with ideas. I have a feeling we"ll have a lot of material to use."
"You seem very confident."
"I wouldn"t say I"m overly confident, but I am very excited. It"s been a long time since I"ve had a project with this much freedom in it. It"s also a lot of fun to see my department this engrossed with their work."
Adam smiled, happy to see her so animated. "Why don"t we make it more interesting, shall we make a bet on the results?"
"What kind of bet?" Elle asked, her eyes glittering with enthusiasm and curiosity.
"How about this, if you exceed 80,000 sales I will fulfil any one request of yours."
"Any request?" Elle asked excitedly. 80,000 was a high number, especially to sell in only one month, but Valentine"s day was coming up. She didn"t think is was impossible. She also couldn"t deny that she wasn"t intrigued.
"Anything."
"Are you sure? I can ask you for anything?"
"Yes, yes." Adam said with a laugh.
"What will you do if I ask you for MK?"
Adam pulled her closer, so she stood between his legs. One hand firmly encircled her waist while the other gently took her hand and placed it on his chest, over his heart.
"If you ask for MK I will give it to you. My life is now yours to ruin."
When she was standing so close to him Elle could see the glimmer of mischief in his eyes. The corner of his lips was pulled up in a crooked smile.
"You"re too cunning." She murmured, slowly leaning further towards him.
Adam got the hint. He closed the gap between them and pressed his lips to hers. Once again Elle lost herself to the soft and gentle feeling of his lips against hers. The kiss was slow and intoxicating. Adam"s strong arms wrapped tighter around her, gathering her against him.
It wasn"t until a waitress came back in, clearing her throat awkwardly, that the two parted. As they were led them to their table Elle kept her head down, thoroughly embarra.s.sed. Adam walked normally however, her reaction only seemed to amuse him more. He even brazenly held her hand, confident that the waitress wouldn"t dare tell a soul what she saw.
The two spent the rest of the night talking about nothing in particular. When she returned home that night Elle felt energized, not at all like she had spent the whole day in meetings. With even more incentive now that she and Adam had a bet, Elle excitedly planned the project late into the night.