We Are Partners

Patricia's POV

"I don't see why you would be cooking though. It's a big mansion and you should have helpers to do all of this for you, plus I don't even understand why you're cooking for me. We are partners."

"I love my space a lot, Trisha. It calms me and yes, I cook for my partners." His boyish smile threatened to make me go crazy but I fought what I was feeling.

"Hmm, all of them?" I asked, acting serious with a raised brow.

"Absolutely. So, tell me. How did the divorce go?" He was straining what looked like Thai rice and the nice scent of vegetable sauce cut through the air before I even spotted it lying gracefully at one part, on top of the gas burner.

Well, back to serious mode. Henry crossed through my mind as soon as he asked and I felt a sour taste on my tongue.

"Oh, that prick. He refused to sign it." I rolled my eyes, trying my best to hide my anger.

"What?" He stopped to look at me abruptly like he couldn't believe a word that was coming out of my mouth.

"Yeah, he refused to sign it. He said he won't give me the satisfaction of getting divorced. Now I don't know what to do about that, but I guess I'll figure something out–"

"Should I force him to?" He cut me short, his penetrating gaze on me as he asked me with all seriousness. Honestly, it scared me a bit.

"What?" I paused, then blinked.

"Should I make him sign it?" He asked again, but this time I guess he noticed the charged air between us so he went back to straining as if nothing happened.

"How?" I carefully inquired.

"I have my ways." He shrugged his shoulders like it was nothing and began to dish out our meal.

"Well, your way sounds unethical so no thank you. You don't have to help me do anything, really."

"Okay. Forget I ever asked." He said plainly and stretched out a full place towards my direction. I took it from him and damn, it was so colorful. The splash of colors were so inviting and the sudden rumbling of my stomach did nothing to hide how excited I was about trying out the food.

"Thank you so much."

"It's nothing." Then he walked around to join me and sat beside me. We dug in immediately, quietly, until I broke the silence because what the hell?

"What am I doing here, Mr Colloway? Why weren't you at work either? Is this what you do?" It made no sense to me. He stared at me like I was crazy for a second before he spoke.

"Just call me Liam. Well, I was occupied. I don't do this often. Infact, I've never done it before, but I had things to do. I felt bad about disappointing you so I called you here. After breakfast, I have something I would like to show you."

"Something like what?" I squeezed my face a bit, the close proximity bothering me so it served as a distraction. Clearly, my countenance amused him, so he chuckled a little before pushing his plate away. He even ate gracefully and he downed his glass of orange juice in one go. I watched as he swallowed the drink and the way it hit the back of his truth. Gosh, I needed to leave. I needed to.

"Why are you so bossy and rigid?" He turned to face me and this time around, shamelessly ran his eyes through the length of me. His eyes lingered on my chest a bit longer before his gaze went back to my face.

"That's Patricia Lynn for you." I shrugged, as stubborn as ever.

"Yeah but why?"

"I've always been this way." I actually didn't have a suitable comeback. I couldn't think of a reason why I was such a bitch but I couldn't just change overnight anyway.

"So you've always been a tigress." He stated like he was mocking me but I overlooked his sorry ass.

"That's about right." I replied back rather sneakily and his laugh dissolved my anger like salt.

"Okay, tigress, you're done right?" He asked since I had also pushed my food away at one point but I almost finished it. I didn't take much of the orange juice either but it was all delicious.

"Yes."

"Come with me."

He acted so proper, placing my hands on his as he led me out of the kitchen to a deeper end of his house.

We soon got to a door and a shirt, obviously his was hanging on the handle, i guess he dropped it there earlier.

He hastily put it on before opening the door.

"Welcome. This is my home office, and you can come here at any time if you want to and we can brainstorm. We need to get your company back and I'm worried about your safety too, so yes, we'll be working from the office but my home office is fine too."

He reeked of aftershave and so much soap as he stood beside me. If I didn't know him better, I would've thought he just finished fucking his mind off but he wasn't that type of guy.

His home office was comfy, dark and modest but grand. It even smelled like him. I liked the way he put the furniture and even the positions of everything was mind-blowing. It would truly be fun to work here and that was the only reason why I agreed, not because of his aftershave smell.

"It would be an honor, thank you for offering." I replied gracefully as my eyes continued to scan the full room, dipping and rising where necessary.

"Are you mocking me?" His question startled me, and I hastily picked offense.

"What? No. Why would I?"

"I would've sworn on my life that you would never agree but I guess this is good, we are making progress after all." His stupid smile reached his eyes.

"We sure are, but no more meals. We are professionals and that's all there is to it."

"Yes tigress. I mean, ma'am."