"Save me" I whisper yelled to my phone, glancing over my shoulder to see if anyone was entering my room.

Lexi groaned on the other end. "Let me sleep"

"It's eleven in the morning. Get out of bed and help me"

Lexi whined. "Just lock your door and stay in your room"

"No, if I stay here Ian won't interact with Emma. He already tried to lure me into his bedroom but I won't fall for that. He needs to fall in love with Emma ASAP. Now get your ass out of bed and meet me at the Prescott's in 30 minutes. Bring Brian too" Then I hung up.

I casted a cautious glance back at the door and tip toed my way there, slowly opening the door. I popped my head out, scanning my surrounding but no one was there.

Ian's door was closed, no sound coming from inside. He probably went back to sleeping after I ran out of his room like a chicken on fire, shouting the word NO at the top of my lungs.

Downstairs was quite too. No sign of Emma. And Emma was not my enemy at the moment so I have no reason to hide from her. So I slowly stepped out of my room and carefully closed the door behind me before scurrying downstairs.

Emma was seated on the couch, staring at the vast city below her. She heaved a sigh in discontent but I have no time to console her. I need to get out of here.

Carefully I plodded my way through living room and was about to reach the door when my foot collided with a plant pot. Pain shot through my fingers and I let out a low groan in agony.

Emma's head spun towards me and her eyes widened in alert. "Are you alright Hailey?" She asked in a not so quiet tone.

"Shh" I shushed her, keeping a finger on my lips. "I'm fine. I'm going somewhere. I'll be back in a few hours. Make lunch for Ian" Before she could pester me with anymore questions I waved her a goodbye and opened the door, quickly slipping through it.

I heaved a huge breath in relief as I closed the door behind me. I'm finally out of the red zone.

I took the elevator downstairs and waited outside the Prescott's for my friends. When I glimpsed Lexi's car approaching a wide smile broke in my face.

I ran towards them. "Mi amigos-"

"Going somewhere?"

I suddenly came to an abrupt halt and spun around to find Ian walking towards me, his hands tucked inside his pockets, a smirk curling in his lips. He had changed into black pants and a black leather jacket over a grey hoodie with white shoes.

"Damn" Lexi gasped next to me, her window rolled down. Both she and Brian were gaping at Ian and I wasn't surprised. They'd never seen him this casual and neither had I until days ago.

"Where are you going?" Ian asked as he reached me.

"S-s-shopping" I stuttered and stumbled a few steps back, blushing furiously as I remembered our last encounter.

Ian cocked a brow seeing my red face, a teasing smile playing on his lips. "I see" He nodded. "Then let's get going"

It took me a moment to comprehend his words. "W-what?"

"Didn't you say you're going shopping? Then let's go"

"B-but I....I-" I searched for words. "I shop for at least 6 hours" I said, emphasizing on the words 'at least'.

"It's alright" Ian shrugged. "I can endure 6 hours"

"Didn't you hear the word at least?"

"I heard it well but I'm still coming" Then he grabbed my arm and started dragging me to the car park.

"Tell your friends to go. We'll come along"

...

"I can endure 6 hours" I mocked Ian as he stood leaning against the wall, his arms folded across his chest and eyes closed as he groaned in frustration.

"It's only been 3 hours and you're already complaining" I said as I picked a red round-neck top.

"It's beautiful. Take it"

I rolled my eyes. "You haven't even opened your eyes to see if it's beautiful or not. I take my time in shopping. You're the one who decided to tag along. Now pay the price"

Ian groaned and looked towards Brian who was akwardly standing next to him.

"How do you do this?" He asked him.

"Umm" Brian was practically sweating. "I've been doing this for four years. I'm used to it now"

Ian gave him a look of sympathy. "Remind me to give you a raise"

Brian face brightened at that, a huge grin curling up in his lips.

I rolled my eyes again and went back to selecting tops. After I was done with picking a few, I turned to Ian. "Let's buy you some colourful clothing. You only wear white, grey and black"

Ian shook his head. "No need"

"I'm paying"

"Then let's go" Ian straightened up and marched towards the men's section while I stood gaping at him.

"Is-is he serious?" I asked my friends in disbelief and they were trying hard not to laugh. "Wow, why is everyone so hell bent on spending my money?" I shook my head in dismay and followed Ian.

We reached the men's section and Ian pointed to a bomber jacket. "That's nice. Let's buy it"

"It's black so no"

"Then the one next to it"

"It's grey. Also no"

Ian shot me a glare and strode towards a different section. He picked a blue denim jacket.

"This one?"

I took the jacket from him and turned it over. "It's good...." I trailed off seeing the price. The store we were in wasn't a cheap one but there's a wide price range. So when I come here I always buy clothes that are both stylish and affordable. But Ian here doesn't seem to be sharing the same idea as me.

"Why are you checking the price? You told me you would buy me colourful clothing"

I glanced up at him and found him looking down at me with a smirk. This asshole-

I took a deep breath. "Fine let's buy it" I said with much reluctancy. My eyes fell on a dark green t-shirt. "That one too. It looks good"

"Nah that looks cheap. I like that red over there"

He selected a few others that would empty my pockets but I remained silent. I would buy him this.

"If you're done go to the fitting room and try them on" I suggested.

Ian nodded. "Come with me"

I blinked. "What? Are you asking me to come with you to the fitting room?"

Ian shrugged. "Why not?"

"Why not?" I repeated his question. "You're not a child"

"Do I have to be a child to ask you that? Why can't you come with me?"

"I'm a woman"

"You're my woman"

"Wow you're really crazy. Go see a doctor-"

"Just come with me" Ignoring my protests Ian dragged me to the fitting room and closed the curtains behind us.

He took off his leather jacket and then pulled the hoodie over his head. Instantly, all my anger faded away seeing his perfectly sculptured body. I sighed. Why am I like this?

"You can stare at my body all you want if you come to sleep in my room. Now, pass me that check shirt please"

I scowled and threw him the shirt.

Ian checked it out and nodded in approval before going to the other clothes. "You know" He said as tried on the denim jacket. "I told the security at Prescott's to kick your housemaid out-" He checked his watch. "In 3 minutes"

"WHAT?" I yelled.

He removed the jacket and took the beige overcoat from my hand. "This will look good with my black turtle neck" He muttered and glanced up at me. "You have 3 minutes to say yes to my offer"

"What offer?" I asked in horror.

"Sleep in my room"

"Are you threatening me?" I asked as anger boiled in my blood.

"No I'm not. Your job is to make me fall in love with another woman but mine is to keep you with me. So I'm just doing my job" He winked. "Now don't blame me for being one step ahead of you"

"I'm going to kill you"

Ian chuckled. "Say yes quickly. The clock is ticking"

I closed my eyes and groaned in frustration. "Fine fine" I can't believe this is happening. "I'll sleep in your room"

Ian smiled. "Wise decision" Then he took out his phone and called the security, informing them to not kick out Emma.

When he tucked the phone back inside his pocket I shot him a glare. "But no touching" I warned.

Ian sighed. "Fine"

"Good. Now let's get out here. I have more things to buy"

We went on shopping for almost half a day getting noisy complaints from Ian. Lexi and I still had a lot to buy but we decided to call it a day because of Ian. Brian and Lexi were still scared of him so they kept a good distance from Ian as much as they could, which left Ian and I alone most of the time. Today was supposed to be a Ian and Emma day but it ended up as Ian and Hailey day.

How annoying.

As we were done we went to the counter and I took my card out to pay but Ian beat me to it.

"What are you doing?" I asked him incredulously.

"Paying for the stuff"

"I told you I'll pay"

"I have more money than you" Ian gave me a pointed look.

I frowned. "So what? I can still pay"

Ian smiled and gently brushed his knuckles against my cheek. "Just let me pay this. I'm the one who bought the most expensive clothes. Spend your money on something else" Then he turned towards Brian and Lexi. "I'll pay for both of you too"

As he said it their lips curled up into a huge grin that I would still remember in my afterlife. Then they shamelessly nodded and gave me a wink.

I let out a sigh and shook my head in dismay.

...

"What are you doing?"

I smiled and knelt down before the bed with a measuring tape in my hand. "Dividing the bed"

Ian scoffed. "Is that necessary?"

I nodded. "Very very necessary"

I measured the length of the bed and marked it's middle. Then I laid pillows along it's center line building a Great Wall of Ian's bed.

"What's that for?" Ian asked in an annoyed tone.

"It's a barrier. I built it so that you won't even accidentally touch me"

"Are you serious right now?"

"Very serious" I flashed him a smile.

Ian took a deep breath, calming himself. "Fine but why didn't you move your stuff to my room?"

"If Emma sees my stuff in your room she'll think we're sleeping together"

"But we are sleeping together"

"We are sleeping together on a divided bed" I exaggerated on the word. "But I don't think Emma will believe that so it's best if she doesn't know that I'm sleeping in your room"

"Why are you going into such length? What if we're meant to be? You know like soulmates"

I straightened up and kept a hand over my heart. "I, Hailey Evans of marketing moon pack, reject you Ian Kingston as my mate"

Ian wrinkled his nose. "What nonsense is that?"

"See, if you don't feel any pain after I rejected you, then that means we're not soulmates"

"You should really join me to see the doctor"

I shot him a glare and jumped on to my side of the bed. "Wow" I closed my eyes and let out a content sigh. "Your bed is so comfortable"

"It'll be more comfortable if you remove the pillows"

I shook my head. "Not happening"

Ian let out a frustrated sigh and slipped under the covers. "Fine. But if you touch me first, there won't be pillows anymore"

I turned to him "That's another reason why I placed the pillows. To keep myself from accidentally touching you"

"Really?" Ian's lips twisted into a sardonic smirk. "We'll see about that"

I frowned. What's he up to?

Then he laid down his head on the pillow and closed his eyes. "Goodnight. May nightmares haunt you"

I scoffed. "Asshole"