Chapter 4

I figured it out. Whenever Jace got embarrassed, his ears turned red.

I had him pegged. He acted cold and sarcastic, but under all that attitude, he was just a sweet guy trying way too hard to look tough.

And after he got sick, something changed. He kept finding excuses to boss me around.

"Sherlyn, coffee."

"Sherlyn, the files."

"Sherlyn, switch afternoon tea to the toffee pudding from that spot in South Bayford. Go get it."

"Sherlyn..."

I was only supposed to be his fake assistant. Did that fever scramble his brain or what?

I was exhausted, and he only seemed to enjoy it more. His eyes followed me everywhere too. But the second I looked at him, he'd glance away.

"Boss." I finally hit my limit and dropped the pudding onto his desk with zero manners left. "Are you in love with me or something?"

Jace froze. "What kind of nonsense are you—"

"Then why do you keep making me run around nonstop?" I cut in. "Just admit it. If you wanna see me that badly, I can move my desk in here—"

His ears got redder by the second until he finally snapped.

"Sherlyn!" He glared at me, ears burning while he tried to act calm. "Aren't I paying you to be my personal assistant?"

"Well, yeah." I grinned. "But we're just pretending, right? You don't have to commit this hard."

"Hmph!" He instantly latched onto that excuse and straightened up. "I pay you, so you do whatever I say!"

Then he pointed at a paper bag on the coffee table.

"Take your stuff and get out."

I walked over and peeked inside.

It was from that viral shake spot in West Bayford.

My favorite too. Chocolate pistachio. No whipped cream, no extra sugar.

I blinked at him.

He lowered his head and kept eating his pudding. "A supplier sent it over. It tasted terrible. Throwing it out would've been a waste."

Yeah, sure. That place didn't even deliver, let alone send supplier samples.

"Okayyy. Thanks, Boss. You really spoil me."

I didn't call him out. That would've killed the fun.

I'd barely turned around when he spoke again.

"Wait."

I looked back at him. His eyes darted away for a second before he awkwardly cleared his throat.

"We're working late tonight. Order my dinner too... that chicken soup from when I was sick."

The second he said that, he lowered his head again, the tips of his ears turning red.

Who would've guessed Bayford's golden boy was this innocent?

When was this assignment supposed to end already?

At this rate, Jace was gonna win me over instead.

This man was ridiculously flirty without even realizing it.

By eight that night, we were the only two people left on the entire floor.

I'd already ordered dinner, so when it arrived, I unpacked everything and carried it into his office.

"Sit." He didn't look up. "Eat with me."

"Hm?" That was exactly what I wanted, but I didn't expect Jace to ask first.

I instantly switched tactics. "Is this part of the act too?"

He glanced at me, then awkwardly looked away again.

"Mm... my mom has people watching the company."

When I saw his ears turning red again, I kept going. "Ah... but what if your mom thinks I'm getting close to you on purpose to seduce you? Then my ten prop—"

"Are you?"

He looked straight at me.

"Sherlyn, are you trying to seduce me?"

Holy shit. My brain completely short-circuited.

If he was testing me, that would've been one thing—

But the look in his eyes didn't seem like a test at all. He looked exactly like a puppy waiting to be taken home from a pet store.

Damn it. I seriously underestimated him.

When I went quiet, he continued, "If you are, then I don't—"

I cut him off immediately.

"Do you want me to seduce you?"

Even though I was panicking inside, attack was the best defense.

"I..." Jace instantly froze from the counterattack.

I quietly sighed in relief.

Looks like I was still the better player here.

The mood turned weirdly awkward, so I quickly laughed it off.

"I'm not trying to seduce you, okay? Don't say scary stuff like that again... If your mom finds out, I'll lose my ten properties, and I probably won't survive in Bayford either... You know I had a rough life growing up—"

"Enough!" Jace finally snapped out of my nonsense and put his cold expression back on. "Are you eating or not? If not, get out."

Great. The golden boy had reactivated cactus mode.

Too bad I was absolutely messing with him tonight.

"Ah... so you really want me to leave?"

I turned and walked off, silently counting in my head.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1...

"Get back here!"

Heh. Training successful.

I turned around instantly. The annoyed look on his face was still there.

The second he realized I'd turned around way too fast on purpose, his ears went red again.

"You did that on purpose!"

I looked completely innocent. "How can you say that? I was just following your orders."

Jace got choked up again.

Before he could combust from embarrassment, I quickly changed the subject.

"That chicken soup you picked is way too bland. I want a spicy beef burrito."

Jace froze. "That kind of junk food—"

I immediately pulled open the office door.

"Then I'll go eat by myself."

Jace instantly panicked. "When did I say I wasn't eating it!?"