Chapter 302 Liars

Chapter 302 Liars　　"What are you doing here?" Harry asked very slowly so as not to stutter. 

"Good morning to you too, uncle Harry. I slept very well. I hope you did too," Jade greeted in her usual cheerful tone as she remained seated on his seat, watching him with concealed amusement.

She observed that he did not make any move to shut the office door behind him or walk further into his office. He just stood by the door staring at her like he was scared to move closer to her or was set bolt if she so much as made any advances at him. 

Harry looked at her, trying to read her expression to determine what she was thinking, but he couldn't get anything. She looked normal. For some unknown reason, he felt some sort of resentment towards her for being more normal than he was. Was it possible that she really didn't remember what had happened? He wondered hopefully.

"Is everything okay?" Jade asked as she watched him, and Harry raised a brow.

"Is everything not supposed to be okay? I was waiting for you to answer my question. What are you doing in my office?" Harry repeated, changing the subject quickly in his attempt to sound like everything was fine. 

"I stopped by to see the company I might be working at soon. Your job offer is still open, isn't it? Or have you changed your mind?" She asked, still watching him.

Now he was feeling conflicted. He didn't know whether or not to just withdraw the job offer. Maybe if he hadn't already told Tom about it, he would have withdrawn it, but now there was little or nothing he could do to stop her from getting the job if she wanted to take him up on the offer.

Harry cleared his throat, "The offer is still open if you want it. But you didn't have to come to my office. It isn't my office that you'll be working in after all," Harry pointed out, and she flashed him a smile.

"Oh, yeah! About that... I was hoping you would show me around."

"Oh! I'm sorry I'm busy. You can just ask Tom to show you around. I'm sure he will be very willing to do so," Harry suggested.

"Why Tom?" Jade asked with narrowed eyes. 

"Why me?" Harry retorted.

"Because you're the one who offered me the job. And it's the least you can do for me after turning down my offer to hang out with me last night," Jade said, making Harry, who had opened his mouth to object, shut it as he looked at her questioningly.

What was she talking about? Did she really not remember him coming to the club to meet her? Harry mused as he tried to figure out the best way to ask her about it.

Jade, on the other hand, raised a hand to her head, "My head hurts. I must have really had too much to drink last night. I have no idea how I got home. I guess I must be pretty smart to have found my way back to your place, huh?" Jade asked, answering his unspoken question, and she almost giggled when she watched his shoulders drop in relief. 

She wasn't really a fan of telling lies, but she didn't know how else she could make him relax around her long enough for them to have a proper conversation. And she knew that the moment he realized that she remembered the kiss, he was going to go all defensive. If she had known that he was going to start acting this way after the kiss, she most likely would not have kissed him... Or maybe she would still have kissed him regardless.

"You don't remember how you got home?" Harry asked hopefully.

"That is your fault. If you had tagged along with me as I wanted you to, none of these would have happened," Jade said accusingly, and Harry looked away guiltily.

He couldn't believe that he had taken advantage of her and kissed her when she was drunk and incapable of making a logical decision. Of course, she was not in her senses when she asked for the kiss, and he should have known better than to do that. 

"Oh, c'mon! I was just pulling your leg. It's not your fault that I had too much to drink," Jade hurried to assure him when she noticed his guilt-ridden expression. What was she going to do with this guy?

Perhaps he should tell her about the kiss? That was the responsible and decent thing to do. She had a right to know that he had kissed her when she was drunk. Or did she not? He swallowed. What if she refused to believe that she had asked him for the kiss? What if she denied kissing him and just assumed that he was a pervert who had taken advantage of her? How was he going to deal with that?

Although he had been hoping that she wouldn't remember anything about it, now that he was faced with it, and it was clear that she didn't remember the details of the previous night, he seemed to be in a different dilemma altogether. 

He couldn't believe that the person who had stolen his first kiss had no memories of the kiss that was haunting him. Maybe what he needed was to talk to someone about it. That way, he will know whether or not to tell her about the kiss.

"Is something bothering you?" She asked, wishing she could read his mind and find out what he was thinking.

"No. I'm... I'm busy right now, so I can't show you around the company," Harry said, hoping that she would leave, but Jade remained in his seat.

"I'm not busy," she said leisurely as she swiveled the chair around.

"Jade, I don't have the time to..."

"I can wait until you're less busy. I will just wait here if you don't mind," Jade offered with a bright smile.

"Why wait when you can just go to Tom..."

"Because it's not fun if my brother shows me around. I can call him to ask him if you can show me around, but I'm pretty sure that he wouldn't mind me waiting for you. Besides, he placed me in your care. So until I return to his house later in the day, you're to babysit me," she reminded him with a grin as she stood up and went around the desk while Harry just watched her wearily.

"I'm curious about something, though. You don't happen to know how I got home last night, do you?" Jade asked as she sat on the edge of the desk, drawing his eyes to the slit on her knee-length blue dress, which revealed some part of her right thigh.

"Uhm I..." Harry paused to clear his throat, "I picked you up from the club," he confessed, and Jade raised a brow.

"Oh, you did? When? How did you know where I was? I hope I didn't do anything to embarrass either of us?" Jade asked, looking genuinely confused and concerned, and Harry waved off her concerns as he took another step into the office now.

Thinking that it was probably best he at least told her part of the truth since her phone's call log would back his story, he shrugged, "I called. You missed my call, and then you called back. I asked where you were, and you told me where to find you. I got there, picked you, and brought you back home," Harry surmised, and Jade's lips curved in a smile. At least they were both guilty of telling lies now.

"How drunk was I?" She asked, giving him another chance to tell her about the kiss.

"Drunk enough to not remember anything now, I suppose?" Harry said with a shrug, and she gave him a nod.

"Did I walk or did you carry me?" 

"You walked to the car, but you were knocked out by the time we got to the house so I carried you inside. I hope you don't mind?" Harry asked, and she shrugged.

"Seeing how cool you are about it, I guess I didn't do anything awful then. Thanks for picking me up," Jade said, and Harry gave her a stiff nod, feeling like a dirty liar for leaving out the important details of all that transpired between them. Or, maybe the details were only important to him, but not her. 

"Go on with your work then, and don't mind me. I'll just sit here quietly and let you do your thing. I promise not to distract you," Jade assured him with a smile.

He wished he could tell her that her mere presence there was already a huge distraction seeing as his eyes seemed to be moving of their own volition and kept shuffling between her lips and her exposed thigh. And what was worse? He was trying not to breathe too much because of her scent. How was he supposed to do any work like this? He had escaped from Tom's office and had come to his office to have a reprieve from thoughts of her, only to be tormented even more. 

"I'll hate to waste your time. Why don't I just show you around the company right now so you can leave, and then I can focus on my work?" Harry offered instead, and Jade flashed him a smile.

"That will be very much appreciated, uncle Harry," she said as she stepped away from the desk and approached him. If he thought that she was going to let him dismiss her so easily, then he had another thought coming. 

Once she stopped in front of him, she smiled once again, "Thank you so much for coming to get me last night and for being a gentleman," she said as she leaned forward and embraced him.

Harry's heart almost exploded from his chest, and he stood stiffly in her embrace, holding his breath as she lifted herself on tiptoes, and with her arms placed around his shoulders, she kissed his cheek.

'Oh, God! What did this woman want from me?' Harry mused as he held his breath waiting for her to pull away from him as her breath on his cheek was making him feel hot all over. 

Jade's heart fluttered when she pulled away from him and saw how flushed his face was. This grown-up man was just too cute and innocent for both their good. 

"Let's run along then, so you can get back to your work quickly," Jade said, flashing him a smile as she linked arms with him. 

Harry didn't trust himself to speak, so he swallowed hard as he let her pull him out of his office, reminding himself once again that he shouldn't have kissed her.