Billionaire Lawyer's Secretary - Chapter 140: Chapter 140

Jade shouted, "Lucas, what are you doing? I'm not wearing it!"
Adrian and Elara were goofing around like a couple of kids—she kept covering his eyes with her hand, he'd pull her hand away, and she'd just cover his eyes again. They went back and forth, playing this silly little game.
Adrian's eyes stayed glued to Elara the whole time. It wasn't until they heard Jade shouting that these two childish people finally turned their heads to look.
Lucas had taken off his shirt and bundled Jade up tightly, covering her from head to toe. He buttoned it up one by one, all the way up, hiding even her neck.
The shirt was so long on her that it looked like a dress, and all that showed were her smooth, slender legs.
"Wearing this, you might as well be streaking," Lucas grumbled. His expression was as sour as ever, but his eyes held a strange emotion, which only ever appeared when he was looking at Jade.
Elara thought, 'Oh, so Lucas has feelings for Jade.' It was only at that moment that Elara realized what was going on.
"You don't get to tell me what to do. Who the hell do you think you are?" Jade shot back.
Lucas stood there shirtless. His tall, muscular frame and tanned skin gave off a wild, dangerous kind of appeal. Next to him, even at 5.6 feet, Jade looked almost dainty.
"Aren't you embarrassed with all these people watching?" Lucas said.
"You know nothing. If I don't wear a bikini at the beach, then when am I supposed to wear one?" Jade retorted.
Jade started unbuttoning the shirt, and Lucas kept buttoning it back up. They kept doing it again and again.
Justin had had enough of these two couples. He shook his head and headed over to the edge of the beach to chat with some girls. Adrian, meanwhile, took Elara's hand and slipped away with her to somewhere more private.
With Justin out of the picture and Jade now tangled up with Lucas, the two of them finally got a rare moment alone together.
Adrian and Elara walked side by side along the shore. The crystal-clear blue sea stretched endlessly beneath a sky dotted with drifting white clouds.
The sea breeze, tinged with the salty dampness of the ocean, brushed past them. It was perfectly comfortable.
Elara, wearing sandals, stepped into the water for a bit. The waves, carrying fine sand, surged up and submerged her fair ankles. As the tide receded, it left behind delicate ribbons of foam on the sand.
Elara hadn't felt this relaxed in ages. She slipped off her sandals, held them in her hand, and let her bare feet sink into the soft, wet sand.
She idly traced random shapes in the sand with her toes. Then she just let the waves come in and wash them away without a trace.
Every now and then, a few tiny crabs would scuttle out from nowhere, and Elara would crouch down to mess around with them for a while.
Adrian stood not too far away and watched Elara walk over with her hands hidden behind her back, looking all secretive and playful.
"Give me your hand," she said.
Adrian lifted his hand and opened his palm. Then Elara placed a tiny red crab right in the center of his hand. It was so small—just a baby crab, totally clueless about how dangerous the world could be.
It didn't even try to scuttle away, just sat there all clueless, blowing little bubbles from its mouth.
Elara poked it with her finger, and only then did it start lazily wandering around in circles on Adrian's big palm.
Adrian felt a tickle in his hand and glanced up at Elara, who was totally absorbed in teasing the little crab. A gentle smile played at her lips, and her eyes curved with laughter. She looked completely overjoyed.
It was just a simple, ordinary thing they were sharing, but Adrian couldn't help it—his heart was pounding like a drum, impossible to calm down.
"Adrian, this little crab is so silly. I've been teasing it for ages, and it still doesn't even try to run away," Elara giggled.
"It's the first time it's ever wandered so far from home. Can't it be a little lost for a while?" Adrian replied.
Elara couldn't stop laughing. "Then let's send it back home. If it goes too far, its mom will get worried."
Adrian thought of this morning, when Justin had been joking around with her about angels and wings, and he hadn't gotten to join in. Now, he decided to roll with Elara's childish banter and keep the playful mood going.
He said, "Then let's have our little crab take the Palm Express back home. Ms. Langton, please buy the ticket."
Elara hadn't expected Adrian to play along with her silliness. She clutched her belly as she burst out laughing. "Adrian, that's totally out of character for you!"
Adrian thought, 'Sure enough, acting silly with her really does the trick. Justin actually is something.'
After they let the little crab go home, the two of them kept strolling along the beach. Adrian reached out, took her sandals to carry for her, and then took her hand in his.
After a while, they started to feel a bit too warm under the sunlight, so they moved over to walk in the shade of the trees. The dry sand got between Elara's toes, tickled her and made her squirm a little.
Beneath the tall coconut trees, their figures stretched across the sand in the afternoon sunlight—one tall and one shorter. They walked hand in hand, looking every bit the lovestruck couple.
"Did you just talk to Alex alone?" Adrian asked.
Elara didn't bother hiding it. "Yeah."
Since Elara didn't say anything more, Adrian couldn't help but press, "So, what did you two talk about?"
"I told him you'd have someone get in touch with him to handle the house transfer," she said.
Adrian looked genuinely surprised. "You're really letting me handle it? So you've made up your mind? Not planning to get back together with him?"
"Do you really want me to get back together with him, Mr. Hartley?" Elara asked.
"That's what you want, not me," Adrian replied.
Elara was starting to feel a bit thirsty after all that walking. She spotted a vendor selling coconuts nearby and pointed over. "I want some coconut water."
"Wait here," Adrian said. He turned and went to buy the coconut, while Elara settled into a wicker chair under the coconut tree to rest.
As soon as Adrian handed her a giant green coconut, he went right back to his earlier question. "So, are you two getting back together or not?"
Elara was speechless. She thought, 'Does he really have to make me spell everything out for him? It's not like we're in court, where everything has to be so black and white.'
She took a sip of coconut water, and its sweet, refreshing taste instantly quenched her thirst. Leaning back in the comfy wicker chair, she gazed out at the wide, beautiful stretch of ocean.
Then she said, "Alex makes this really great eggplant dish. I've loved it since high school, and for years, I never got tired of it. I always thought it was my absolute favorite.
"Just now at the restaurant, I had eggplant again, and it was still delicious. But this time, I tried every other dish on the table, and honestly, they were all really good. They even tasted better than the eggplant.
"I've been eating that eggplant for six years. Now, I just don't want it anymore. I'm honestly kind of put off by it. I want to try more dishes and see what else I might like."
Adrian got the message, but he added, "You can switch to a different dish if you want, but don't even think about trying a whole bunch of new ones."
Elara had just been using a metaphor, but seeing how serious Adrian was, she took another sip of coconut water and asked with a smile, "So, Mr. Hartley, what kind of dish are you?"
Adrian actually thought about it for a second. Then he remembered the dish she'd insisted on having today. "Shrimp?"
Elara burst out laughing. "Did you forget? I just told you I'm allergic to shrimp."
Adrian replied, "I know you're not."
"Alright," Elara said.
"Elara, if you're going to try new dishes, you have to try me first. After all, I was the first one on your menu," he teased.
Hearing that, Elara paused with the straw still between her teeth, feeling as if something warm and soft had just brushed across her heart. She thought, 'This man is really getting the hang of this.'
She set the coconut down on her lap and looked over at Adrian, who was standing a few steps away. He was leaning casually against a coconut tree, and his black shirt fluttered in the sea breeze. His short, neat hair danced along with it.
His usual sharp, serious expression was gone, and his strong nose and defined jawline made his face look even more striking.
Above him, the leaves rustled in the wind, letting sunlight filter through in shifting patterns, so he seemed to flicker in and out of the light.
"Adrian, come here," Elara called softly.
Adrian walked over, sensing she had something to say. He bent down, leaning in so she could whisper in his ear.
Elara's breath was light as a feather, brushing against his ear and making it tingle. She said, "Adrian, once you call off your engagement, let's give it a shot."