CHAPTER 5

She moved slowly to the edge of the bathroom glass, sliding the door open, "The clothes, Julian?" Her voice came out like a whisper. her eyes locked on his while biting her lower lip.

“Right h… h… here.” He stuttered. 

She didn’t look at the clothes as her eyes were still piercing through him. Bringing her face closer,

“Thank you.” her voice was a low vibration, her hot breath fanning his face, and that seemed to hum right against his skin. gauging the exact moment his resolve snapped.

“Uhmmm” he let out a deep breath. 

Thalia smiled, her gaze roaming over his naked body, before settling down on his lower region. 

While julian still remained rooted to the spot. 

But his eyes followed her every move until it landed on her pointed boobs. his brain screamed at him to turn around, but the goddess in front of him had his body reacting differently. He felt like a man standing on the edge of a cliff, and she was right there ready to push him over.

He stepped closer. his voice low, “I know you’re intentionally doing this,”

Thalia's lips curved into a slow, knowing smirk, bringing her gaze back to his face, She saw the war inside of him… the regret and his hunger for her. 

“Nahhh, I’m just doing my job.” She replied softly and slowly reached for the clothes in his hands and turned her back on him, swaying her ass as she walked back into the bathroom. 

Julian stood outside the bathroom door for a few more minutes before he turned away, his jaw tight, and mumbling a prayer or a curse he wasn't sure which anymore. 

He retreated back to the bed, his knuckles turned white as he gripped the sheets, his body still very hard and aching. 

“I hate her.” he mumbled, his pride screaming at him. 

He looked up just as Thalia stepped out of the bathroom. Now swallowed by his oversized t-shirt that stopped right before her knees. She looked soft and almost too innocent as she sat on the edge of the bed to dry her hair. 

He watched her for a moment, as silence settled between them until his voice broke in. 

"You know," Julian said with a calm voice. "I’m not always like this… I built my company on the idea that men are defined by their choices and not urges. Five years ago…” 

He stopped when Thalia stopped drying her hair. She let out a long, dramatic yawn, with her arms stretched wide, “I’m hungry.” 

Julian blinked, “Is that all you’ve got to say?” 

She patted her flat stomach as it let out a faint, cry. “Your backstory isn't going to fill my empty stomach. I'm hungry.” 

Julian let out a frustrated huff, running a hand through his hair. "I have a private kitchen in here. But the staff are locked out, and there’s no room service now. 

"A private kitchen? Even better," she purred, getting on the bed.

“Better?”

"I've always wondered if billionaires know how to crack an egg, or if you all just buy your way through it as usual. Anyways go make something for me.”

Julian looked at her with his eyes almost bulging out, watching the grumpy curve of her shoulders in bed. "I'm a billionaire, Tee. I don't cook.”

"And I don't either." her voice muffled by the duvet. She was sprawled out flat on her stomach on the bed, "My cooking skills begin and end with me peeling a banana, Julian. If I dare touch a pan, we’d just die like chickens in here."

Julian went quiet staring at her on the bed.

Then her stomach made a loud pathetic growl and she grumbled. "Please figure out something quick or I'm going to start eating the pillows."

Julian let out a sharp, defensive huff. "Fine. How hard can it even be? It's just cooking right? heat up some proteins."

He stood up from the bed headed for the kitchen.

"Please I like my proteins well seasoned and spicy.” She screamed after him.

Julian narrowed his eyes, a spark of genuine amusement fighting through his irritation.

Julian stood over the stove in the kitchen, everything looking foreign.

“Where do I start from now?”

He brought out his phone and started scrolling through a simple scrambled eggs tutorial, his face pinched in a deep concentration.

"Heat up your pan," he muttered to himself, placing the pan on top of the stove.

“Heat up the eggs,” he muttered to himself again, gripping a carton meant for eggs.

“Oops… just two eggs left.”

He cracked the first egg and a piece of the shell fell inside the pan.

"Everything okay in there,Billionaire chef?"

Thalia called out, her voice dripping with mockery. "Or should I start looking for a side of ranch for these pillows?"

His jaw tightened. "It’s under control, don’t bother.”

The suite was quiet after that, save for the sound of Julian muttering things like medium-high heat and non-stick surface and flip it over… all to himself.

Until a sound came in

BOOM. WHOOSH.

"DAMN IT! FUCK!" Julian's scream followed next as it echoed through the suite, followed by the frantic flapping of the dish towel.

Thalia jerked off the bed alarmed, she scrambled off the bed and ran toward the kitchen.

She skidded to a halt at the kitchen’s entrance and froze.

"What the fuck?"