MasukFor several seconds after Grayson left, Tessa remained exactly where she was. Her cheeks burned. Her pulse still racing wildly beneath her skin. She pressed both hands against her face and let out a muffled groan. "That man would be the death of me.” And the worst part? It was the smug look on his face before he walked out. As though he had accomplished exactly what he came to do. Which, unfortunately, he had. She started taking in a few deep breaths and then forced herself to straighten. "Focus, Tessa." She glanced around the storage room, the shelves, the boxes, and the work she had completely forgotten about. Slowly, she bent down to pick up a carton. Before she could lift it, the door suddenly opened. Her heart jumped. Miles peeped into the room. “ Tessa?” She nearly jumped out of her skin upon hearing Miles' voice. “ Miles?” “ Come on out, you've been pardoned.” “ What?!” She straightened. “ Yeah…someone's husband made use of some authority that no boss can
“ Wh. What are you doing here?” She asked, blinking. Already feeling nervous. He looked around casually. “ There aren't many boxes, you should be done in due time.” She scoffed in disbelief and all nervousness vanished. She looked around, frowning. “ I can remember that any small thing, he would say.. you have a husband…your husband is the CEO, and here I am… now that I need my husband, what?” She stretched out her palms and raised her shoulders as she looked back at him and scoffed again. “ Now, he's arriving with gloves.” Her shoulder slumped. ‘ This is ridiculous.’ she said in her mind. Grayson chuckled. “ I've come to help, I figured we'd need this.” He threw her a pair of gloves which she caught in the air. “ Well, at least, he shows up with something.” He giggled and grabbed a box effortlessly, putting it on the shelf. Tessa stood standing, staring at him. “ I think I'll need my sleeves rolled up.” “ I can help with that.” She stepped forward and helped him roll up
Tessa walked into the office first, she had refused to enter with Grayson even though he wanted to. “ We have to keep a low profile, remember?” She had said to him. “ I want a normal working moment till my IT is over.” Even though he grunted and groaned, he had no other choice but to accept her wish, only that, before stepping out of her car, she noticed that her phone was still feeling hot and brought it to Grayson’s notice. “ It's probably just acting up, I'll get you a new one.” “ No, no, no, that's not necessary, it's probably only for now, I'll observe it till lunch time, won't make use of it till then.” “ And if by then it's still acting up?” “ Hmmm, take it for repairing.” “ Isn't that stressful?” “ Well, it's better to at least know what's wrong with it so as to avoid it next time.” “ Whatever you say, princess.” Walking into the office now, she touched the phone in her bag again and it was only getting hotter. “ Just don't burn my bag, this is my favorite.” She m
His ears had immediately turned red, shutting his eyes and biting his lower lip. Then he cleared his throat, trying to remain unaffected. But she saw it all. ‘ Was he… blushing?’ Her eyes widened a little in surprise. “ Grayson?” “ What?” He looked at her with arched brows. A smile slowly spread across her lips. “ Are you blushing?” “ No.” "You are." "I'm not." "You definitely are. You were smiling.” He batted his lashes. “ I was smiling, not blushing, and you just announced what we did in private, in a public parking lot.” Tessa gasped. “ I did not!” "You did." "I only said…” she paused. "Exactly." Her face instantly heated. "Oh my God." She palmed her face. Grayson chuckled, shaking his head. ‘ God, she's so cute.’ "I hate you." She said still palming her face. He leaned closer to her and whispered. “No, you don't." A smile tugged at his lips as he gently pulled her hands away from her face. "No, I definitely do." "Liar." Their eyes met, and for a second, nei
| THE NEXT MORNING | Tessa walked through the hospital hallway, firmly holding her handbag in her hand, officially dressed for work even though Grayson protested against it. She walked towards Tyler's room to check up on him and to grab her phone, she even tried to persuade Grayson into following her to check on his brother. “ Are you even sure he broke a leg?” That was his response while he remained seated in his car. She's not sure if he'd ever be on good terms with his parents again, but she sure wants him to get along well with Tyler. She pushed the door open, walked in, and met him sitting on the bed, with his leg hanging while staring out of the window. “ Tyler.” She called, with a soft smile on her lips. He glanced at her, his eyes —cold and sharp, and he simply looked away again. “ How are you feeling now? How's the leg? Is it getting better?” She asked, genuinely concerned. Now standing by the bed, she checked his temperature and it was normal, but he was still r
By the time they headed back inside, their food was already cold, and rain had begun to fall again outside. Tessa followed him in quietly, different thoughts racing through her mind. No matter how many minutes had passed, it wouldn't stop the coldness and tightness forming in her chest. She couldn't stop imagining what he must have gone through, why did nobody help him? He said they were friends then, if she knew, did she also not try to do anything? To help? Those questions made her want to seek answers even more. “ I'm missing the chatty you already.” His voice snapped her out of her thoughts. Her lashes flipped up to see him standing by the counter already, dropping the plates into the kitchen sink. “ Should we get some dessert and…” She didn't let him finish before hurrying to grab him from behind, circling her arms around him. “ I'm sorry.” His brows wrinkled, he tried glancing back at her. “ Sorry for what?” At the verge of tears again, she swallowed hard. “ For
With the intention of trailing after Tessa and finding out what she was up to, Corrine headed towards the door when one of her bosses called her. “ Hey, Corrine.” She turned with an arched brow. “ Here, get me ten copies for each of these files.” A task was handed over to her. “ And do it n
After Corrine left the office, she had been smiling to herself. Even though her interactions with Grayson were minimal, as he was more interested in the solution she offered, she felt elated to have gained his attention and even earned a thumbs-up from him. But it's been minutes since she came
| THE NEXT MORNING— ITALY | The vibration of phone stirred Tessa awake. She moaned as she stretched on the bed, dawn bleeding through the curtains. She fluttered her eyes open slowly. Her body felt stiff from sleeping too close to the edge of the bed, a careful distance maintained between her an
“ You're shaking, Tess. And I haven't even done anything.” Her breath hitched, face reddened with embarrassment. Her brow creased in anger and confusion at how hard her chest was pounding, and why her body was trembling like that. But she cared not about any answer at the point, she just wanted







