Chapter 320 Smart Girl

Chapter 320 Smart Girl　　Once it was closing hours, Lucy exited her office, glad that she had been able to accomplish all her tasks for the day, and grateful that she could leave for the day. 

As she stepped into the elevator she couldn't help thinking how much she had changed within the last couple of weeks. She never would have thought that she was the type to be excited about the end of a work day, or about not taking any work home, but here she was, looking forward to spending the evening with Tom, Sonia and the rest of both her family and Tom's family. 

Thinking about family, her thoughts drifted to her conversation with Sonia that morning, and she let out a sigh as she walked out of the elevator. This didn't change anything. Loving them and wanting to spend time with them didn't mean she wanted to get married. She was just going to have to find a way to communicate this to Tom soon, so that he wouldn't get his hopes up. 

As she stepped out of the company building, her heart fluttered when she saw Tom standing beside his car without his coat, while he waited for her to join him. She lips curved in a smile when he winked at her, and she walked over to the car. 

"Did I keep you waiting?" She asked as he walked towards her to meet her halfway.

"You didn't. I was early, ma'am," he said as he stopped in front of her.

"Ma'am?"

"You haven't asked me to stop being your driver yet, have you? I think I have my roles mixed up," Tom said, and Lucy giggled. 

"Why were you early? Are we going somewhere?" She asked curiously.

"No. I was worried about you. I wanted to come down to your office to check on you and spend some time with you, but knowing whom I'm dating, I wasn't sure you would be comfortable with that, so I had to wait," Tom said as he embraced her.

"Tom..." She protested, knowing that people were probably watching them. 

"Everyone knows that we are in a relationship already, and even if they didn't know already, I'd like them to know now," Tom murmured as he held her in place.

"But this is work environment," Lucy said weakly.

"I knew you'd say that, and that is the only reason I'm doing this outside the company building after work hours. I'm not your boss right now, I'm just being your boyfriend. So embrace me or I'm going to have to grab your arse," Tom warned, and Lucy's lips curved as let herself relax. 

It was difficult to argue with the man when he was being this way, especially when she really wanted to bury her face in his chest and let his scent calm her. 

From the corner of her eyes Lucy saw Cora standing by her car and watching them, so she grabbed Tom's ass, surprising him, "How does that feel?" Lucy asked in amusement when Tom broke the hug to look into her face.

"You want to know?" Tom asked, wanting to return the favor, but she moved away with a giggle. 

"No, thanks. I was just putting what you taught me into practice," she whispered to him, and Tom looked to the side and saw Cora who was getting into her car.

"Smart girl," Tom said with a grin as they both returned to the car. 

Once they were both seated inside, Tom turned to her, "So how do you feel now?"

"Much better," she said with a warm smile as she took off her glasses and looked into his eyes. 

"I'm glad. We will be stopping by our apartments to join the others before heading to my house, I hope you don't mind?" Tom asked as he turned on the car's ignition.

As much as she was enjoying his company and that of the others, she also missed her apartment and her personal space, "I don't."

"Alright. This morning you mentioned something about wanting to stop by a department store later in the day, should we stop there before going home?" Tom asked, and Lucy nodded when she remembered what she needed to get.

"Yes. Let's stop by a department store. I need to get my shower gel," Lucy said, and Tom gave her a nod as he drove out of the parking lot. 

They were both silent for a while until Tom turned to spare her a glance, "What are you thinking about?"

Lucy smiled, "Your dad's reaction when he sees Jade. I think he's going to be very happy," Lucy said, and Tom grinned. 

"Your dad asked you and Sonia to remind us about our dad's birthday, didn't he?" Tom asked, and Lucy shrugged. 

"Don't tell anyone I told you that."

"Thanks. I'm glad he did," Tom said, and Lucy turned to look at him.

"Do you always forget his birthday?"

"Not always. Although, Harry reminds me most of the time. I'm not exactly good with dates. Harry helps me keep track of things like that. But don't worry, I won't need him to remind me of your birthday. I can't forget it anyway, it's the first time I met you," Tom said, and Lucy shook her head. 

"You should set reminders on your phone. It is one thing to not be good with dates, but it is irresponsible to completely assign that duty to Harry. So how do you remember Harry's birthday? He reminds you too? Or you have someone else to do that?" Lucy asked, and Tom shook his head. 

"It's not intentional. Before I met you I used to be so busy that I hardly remember my birthday until either Harry, my parents or siblings reach out to me," Tom said defensively, "Harry's birthday is two days after mine, so I try not to forget it," Tom added, and Lucy nodded. 

"So I'm making you not work as hard as you used to?" Lucy asked, and Tom shrugged. 

"Not exactly. Harry has always asked me to slow down or take a break, so I'm taking his advise now that I have you. Talking about work, have you made up your mind about the job offer?" Tom asked as he turned to spare her a glance.

"I thought about what you said, I decided not to accept it," Lucy said, and although Tom was glad that she had listened to him, he now had to think of a way to get her to accept it. 

"Are you sure? You don't have to reject it if you want it," Tom assured her. 

"I'm okay, don't worry about me," Lucy assured him, and Tom sighed inwardly.

Why was he feeling hesitant to tell her about his discussion with Harry? It wasn't like she was going to scold him or beat him for anything, yet he just couldn't bring himself to say it. 

"So I was thinking about something," Lucy said, and Tom spared her a curious glance.

"What?"

"I have to tell my family about Rachel," Lucy said, and Tom nodded.

"Sure. You should do so if you want to," he encouraged.

"If I do so I might have to tell them about Anita" Lucy explained, and watched him closely to see if he understood what she was trying to say. 

"You can do that too," Tom said, and Lucy raised a brow.

"You are not worried that my parents might overreact if they find out about Anita and your past relationship with her?"

"Overreact in what way?"

Lucy bit her lower lip, "What if they start trying to make us break up?"

"I'm glad that you are this concerned about our relationship, but I don't think your parents will do that. Besides, I already have plans in place to make sure Anita and her family doesn't cause any more problems for us. Don't overthink it and just tell them everything if you want to," Tom encouraged, and Lucy sighed. 

"I will tell them tonight after the party," Lucy said as Tom drove into the parking lot of a mall. 

"Do you remember where this is?" Tom asked as he turned off the car's ignition, and got out of the car, and Lucy smiled as she opened her door and got out too.

It was the mall where they had come grocery shopping the last time, "Of course, I do."

"You said I wasn't your type then," Lucy reminded him as they both walked towards the entrance.

"You also said I wasn't your type," Tom reminded her. 

"No, I said I didn't have a type. Now you are soooo my type," Lucy said with a grin, and Tom laughed softly.

"That seems like such a long time ago," Tom said, and Lucy nodded in agreement as she recalled their conversation that day. 

"You really told me a lot of lies. I can't believe you made me beg you not to quit your job, after also threatening to fire me if my driver quits. You were a jerk, you know?" Lucy asked, turning to glare at him. 

"Yes, I know. I was trying to be a bad boy, I'm sorry," Tom said, and Lucy shook her head. 

"And where did you get that idea from?" Lucy asked, and Tom squirmed not wanting to mention that his siblings had said being a bad boy would help him get her. 

"Can you forget about all the nasty things I did, please?" Tom pleaded as they walked into the department store.

"Yeah, let's do that. I will only think of you as the gentleman Tom that took care of me on our first night and didn't take advantage of me despite taking me home for a fling, and the one that bought cranberry juice because of my ulcer, and also made sure I had always had lunch. Those were your actual selling points," Lucy said, and Tom smiled.

"Thanks. Let's go get your shower gel then," Tom offered, but Lucy quickly shook her head.

"No. Don't worry, I can get it alone. Just go and do other stuff," she suggested with an embarassed smile, and Tom looked at her closely.

"Why?"

"Because I want to get it alone. You can window shop or do whatever you want. I will be right back," Lucy said as she quickly walked away from him.