213 Trading freedom for a relationship 1 (2/2)

Quentin shrugged. ”It's her job.”

Brianna took a sip of the coffee before adding cream.

”What is so interesting?”, she asked while craning her neck to see the tablet. Part of her was irked that Quentin is ignoring her. OK, not ignoring, but he is acting like whatever is there is more interesting than she is, and he is not showing the courtesy of talking to his guest.

”Reports on the effect of our latest marketing campaign.”, Quentin said while allowing her to see a number of graphs with explanations under them.

Brianna had difficulty seeing him as a hardworking guy. ”Do you always work on holidays?”

”I work when it's needed. We acquired a publishing company last week and are expanding our online presence. I am tasked to make sure everything runs smoothly. This is real-time data from my marketing department, and I can't leave this for after the holiday, because if our ads are hitting the wrong customer base, we will lose a lot of money in the next few days. The trend from the last five years shows that people shop from fifteen to twenty-five percent more during the Fourth of July holidays compared to their shopping habits on regular days.”

”Oh…”, a sound escaped Bri's lips.

”You sound surprised.”, Quentin voiced his observation.

”I just thought…”, Brianna was unable to finish her sentence because she realized that it can't end well.

However, Quentin finished it for her: ”You thought that my job is to attend photo shoots and seduce models. As you can see, I do much more than that.”

Brianna kept the coffee mug on the table and looked at him like a child who was wronged. ”Why are you like that?”

Quentin was half-amused while wondering if she is sulking for real or faking it. In either case, he found her little pout adorable. ”I apologize. It was not my intention to be rude. Like most people, I tend to get defensive when others make assumptions about me. Please, enjoy your breakfast.”

Brianna saw that Quentin's attention went back to the tablet and she understood that this is where the chit-chat ends.

She took a toast and applied strawberry jam on it.

Bri ate in silence while her gaze drifted to Quentin often. He had a serious expression on, which went very well with his thin-framed glasses. She found him to be nice to look at. More than nice. Attractive and sexy… and she was back to finding him to be irresistible.

After an unknown measure of time, Quentin kept the tablet on the side, removed his glasses, and refilled his cup with coffee.

”What are your plans for the day?”, Quentin asked.

Brianna blinked, surprised by this question. Why does it sound like she should have plans separate from his? Is he telling her to eat and leave?

”I'm not sure. I thought that I will be at Liz's place and I relied that she will come up with things to do. Even if we don't go anywhere, we spend time chatting. Coming here was unexpected, so I don't have any plans.”, she admitted.

Brianna looked at Quentin who nodded and didn't say anything else while picking a mini-sandwich. Her frustration bubbled. What's with that silence? She had to ask: ”What about you?”

Quentin looked at her and responded flatly: ”There is no right answer to that question. If I tell you what I usually would do, without including you, I will appear rude. And if I come up with something that includes you, you will call me clingy and push me away.”

Bri found him borderline unpleasant. ”Why are you like that?”

”Honest?”

Brianna pressed her lips into a line and thought how this reminds her of their initial interactions. At that time, Quentin said that she is bashing him and hurting his feelings, and she responded how she is only telling the truth. Is it possible that the tables have turned like that?

”Why did you invite me?”, she mustered courage to ask.

Quentin looked at her with amusement apparent in his eyes. ”What do you think?”

After a second of hesitation, Bri decided to tell him what is on her mind: ”I don't know what to think. Last night I thought that you want us to spend the night together, but by now I realized that my assumption was wrong.”

Quentin's eyebrows went up in slow motion. ”What would you do if I came to your room last night?”

Brianna opened her mouth and realized that she is unable to speak. Her heart thumped wildly and with every beat it was traveling higher up her chest, throat, threatening to come out. She closed her mouth and lowered her head.

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