Chapter 113: I like you.
She practically jumped out of her skin, her heart leaping into her throat.
"How is he here so fast?"
’It’s been less than two minutes. He couldn’t have been waiting at the door this whole time, could he?’
The doorbell rang again.
She felt as if Adrian Grant hadn’t come to talk romance, but was a chainsaw-wielding killer at her door, here to claim her life.
Caroline Whitman didn’t even have time to change her clothes. She could only grab the ring from its box and hastily slip it onto her index finger. It was a little too big, so she had to curl her finger to keep it from falling off.
By the time the doorbell rang for a third time, Caroline Whitman had already reached the entryway, her heart racing as she gripped the doorknob.
She opened the door.
She pulled the door open a crack. Her gaze shot through the narrow gap, and the first thing to meet her eyes was a set of sharp, well-defined features.
A pair of gold-rimmed glasses rested on the bridge of his nose, but the gaze behind the lenses was tinged with an inscrutable meaning.
His gaze carried a subtle, almost imperceptible pressure, piercing straight through the crack in the door.
Unerringly, it met her gaze head-on.
Caroline Whitman let go of the doorknob. Hiding the hand wearing the ring behind her back, she took two steps back to gesture for him to enter, all while asking with feigned nonchalance:
"How did you know the code for the lobby door?"
"Ryan told me the first time I brought him over to see you."
Caroline Whitman pressed her lips together. ’I knew it. How could a villain not have a photographic memory?’
"If Ryan told you, he probably told you the code for this door, too. Why didn’t you just let yourself in?"
"I was hoping you would open the door to welcome me."
Adrian Grant’s gentle voice entered the room along with the man himself.
Only then did Caroline Whitman notice the bouquet of vibrant red roses he held in his hand, which was hanging by his side.
He lifted the bouquet, offering it to her.
Caroline Whitman didn’t take them.
She lowered her eyes, staring at the bouquet in his hand.
"Are these for my flower arrangements, too?"
Adrian Grant smiled. "This time, they’re for you. No flower arranging."
Caroline Whitman’s heart, which had been racing since the moment he arrived, hadn’t slowed down one bit.
If she couldn’t grasp the meaning behind those words, she might as well retake a reading comprehension class.
Her hand, still hidden behind her back, unconsciously fiddled with the ring.
As if realizing he had been holding the bouquet for too long, Caroline Whitman reached out and took the flowers. Without another word, she turned and walked over to the sofa, placing the bouquet on the coffee table.
By the time she sat on the sofa and turned to look, Adrian Grant had already changed into slippers and walked in.
"Why did you come to see me today? Isn’t Ryan at your family’s estate?"
For the past two days, Ryan Grant had, unexpectedly, not been checking up on her.
Probably at the behest of a certain adult.
Caroline Whitman knew she was asking a question to which she already knew the answer.
Adrian Grant sat down beside her, their bodies extremely close.
She could feel his breath near her ear as he spoke, along with a near-silent chuckle. "Is there no reason for me to see you alone, other than for things related to Ryan?"
"..."
His advance was too obvious.
A little unused to this, Caroline Whitman grabbed a throw pillow from the sofa, hugged it to her chest, and shuffled over, putting a little more space between them.
Seeing her so tense and guarded, Adrian Grant gave a helpless smile.
He hadn’t wanted to lay his cards on the table so soon, but he couldn’t stand her not understanding his intentions.
He had been trying the "boil the frog" approach, slowly revealing his feelings, and had only just started turning up the heat these past few days.
But then Caroline Whitman had gone and played a trump card of her own.
He hadn’t even said anything, and she had already scared herself into running away.
Sometimes, Adrian Grant admired her audacity, but he was also in awe of the speed at which she would then chicken out.
With that thought, he said casually, "I’ve already given you five days to cool off."
Caroline Whitman instinctively retorted in a low voice, "We agreed on a week. This is only the fifth day."
Adrian Grant’s eyes crinkled into a smile. "If I hadn’t come early, were you planning to use another business trip as an excuse on Monday?"
"..."
’He even thought of that?’
Caroline Whitman had, in fact, considered it, but she wouldn’t have actually gone through with it.
After all, she could run, but she couldn’t hide forever.
Case in point: today.
"I think you know why I’ve come to see you today."
Caroline Whitman finally turned her head, a look of profound understanding in her eyes for the first time.
To be honest, she hadn’t really known why Adrian Grant was here at first.
Initially, she’d been fifty percent sure and fifty percent uncertain.
But when Adrian Grant came in holding the flowers, that fifty percent jumped to eighty.
"What do you mean?" Even so, she wanted to hear the real answer from the man himself.
She was done with reading between the lines.
Adrian Grant watched her calmly. "Then what did you mean by suddenly kissing me the other night?"
She’d avoided this question for a week, but in the end, she still had to face the music.
The memory flashed through Caroline Whitman’s mind, and her cheeks instantly flushed crimson.
She frantically averted her gaze, unwilling to meet his invasive eyes.
"I wanted to know if you disliked me."
"That’s it?"
The answer was unexpected.
Adrian Grant gazed at her profile as she deliberately avoided his eyes. He stood, walked around in front of her, and leaned down to meet her gaze, his lips parting as he spoke:
"Do you use this method to test if everyone dislikes you?"
Caroline Whitman froze for a moment, then her brow furrowed.
This baseless misunderstanding instantly dispelled most of her shyness, replacing it with indignant anger.
She retorted hotly, "Of course not."
She squeezed her eyes shut, refusing to look at him, and blurted it all out in one go:
"Fine, since we’re here, I’ll just say it! You can laugh if you want.
"I like you! It’s because I like you that I wanted to know if you hated me, if you were disgusted by me! And the flowers you gave me with those flimsy excuses, and taking me to movies and concerts out of the blue... and why you didn’t pull away when I grabbed your hand... All of it made me desperate to know if you felt the same way I did..."
She said it all in a rush, but before she could get to the most crucial part, a soft pressure on her lips stopped her words.
Then, she felt herself being enveloped in an embrace.
Caroline Whitman froze. ’I think... I have my answer now.’
She slowly opened her eyes, and Adrian Grant’s features filled her vision, magnified in her dark pupils.
Suddenly, she felt a cool sensation on her neck.
She quickly dismissed the strange sensation.
The gentle kiss on her lips wasn’t a lingering one. It lasted only a few seconds before Adrian Grant slowly pulled away, as if waiting for her to come back to her senses.
Once she recovered, Caroline Whitman had a chance to look down. A necklace with a brilliant, translucent red diamond was now resting quietly around her neck.
At the same time, Adrian Grant’s deep, distinct voice came from above her.
"It is the same."
Caroline Whitman started slightly, looking up at him.
The next second, his warm hand gently cupped her cheek. His thumb, both gentle and firm, slowly caressed her soft, rosy lips.
Adrian Grant’s lips parted slightly as he spoke again:
"My feelings for you are the same."
"I like you, Caroline Whitman."
"If I’d known how you felt, I wouldn’t have needed to take such a roundabout path.
"Initially, I was worried that confessing directly would scare you away.
"I didn’t want you to start avoiding me.
"That’s why, in the beginning, I could only use flower arranging as an excuse to give you flowers and go to the movies with you and Ryan.
"Even though we didn’t make much progress then, I still think it was a wonderful time we spent together.
"Then, a few days ago, I started to change my approach, intentionally asking you to have dinner, see movies, and attend concerts alone with me."
One could only say that they were both too good at hiding their feelings.
Adrian Grant recalled those days, a smile in his voice as if he’d remembered something amusing.
"At the movie theater, when you took my hand while you were wide awake... to be honest, I was a little surprised. That was when I started to confirm some of my suspicions.
"Looking back now, I suppose we were both fools. We were clearly interested in each other, yet we resorted to such clumsy probing.
"I just didn’t expect you to make a move faster than I did."
Hearing him say this, the shyness that had just begun to fade from Caroline Whitman came rushing back.
She lowered her lashes bashfully. Beneath the throw pillow, her fingers began to turn the ring on her finger, around and around.