Semua Bab HIS SECRET DESIRE (MxM): Bab 1 - Bab 10

"Robin's POV" He was there again. I caught him the second I unloaded my supplies, same position near the hallway, same dark suit, same quiet that felt too intentional to be accidental. I told myself not to read into it and got to work. There was a full wall to finish before lunch and I was not going to let some man in an expensive suit throw off my timing. I lasted about four minutes before I looked back. He was still there, watching me with that calm, unhurried attention that had nothing to do with checking on the renovation. I'd worked enough job sites to know the difference between someone monitoring a project and someone watching a person. This was the second one, and it sat with me in a way I didn't entirely know how to shake off. I turned back to the wall and kept my strokes even. The cream paint went on smooth and I focused on that, on the clean line forming at the edge of the trim, on the sound of the roller and nothing else. The thing was, I couldn't call it threatening.

"Christopher's POV" I hadn't put that much thought into a dinner reservation in years. Changed the place twice before landing on one I actually liked, quiet on the east side, no client-impressing bullshit, just somewhere real, no agenda, no performance. James picked Robin up at seven. I sat in the back of the car feeling nerves crawl up my spine, which felt almost ridiculous after handling boardrooms and crises without blinking. Robin climbed in and the nerves melted into something warmer. Dark shirt, hair pushed back, easy in his skin like always. He looked at me, said "hey" like we'd been doing this forever, and something tight in my chest finally loosened. The restaurant was warm, unhurried. Conversation flowed without effort. Robin told a story about a client who demanded a traffic-cone orange wall and fought every alternative. I laughed, real laughter, the kind I couldn't fake or control, deep from somewhere honest. We stayed longer than planned, neither of us mentioned leavin

"Robin's POV"I couldn't stop thinking about that night.No matter how hard I tried to push it away, the memories kept flooding back. The way Christopher had looked at me in the dim light of his bedroom. The way his hands had felt on my skin, reverent and desperate at the same time.I lay in my bed, staring at the ceiling, and let myself remember.His lips had been everywhere. My neck, my collarbone, trailing down my chest with a hunger that made my breath catch. I'd arched into him, fingers digging into his shoulders, needing him closer even though there was no space left between us."Robin," he'd whispered against my skin, and the way he said my name made something in my chest crack open.I'd pulled him up, kissing him hard, tasting the desperation in it. Our bodies moved together like we'd done this a thousand times before, like we were made to fit exactly this way.He'd gripped my hips, fingers pressing bruises into my skin that I'd welcome the next morning. Every thrust was delib

"Robin's POV"Mitchell showed up at my apartment unannounced on a Tuesday evening.I opened the door to find her standing there with Thai takeout and a look that told me I wasn't getting out of this conversation.She pushed past me without waiting for an invitation. Make yourself at home, I guess.I haven't seen you in two weeks, she said, setting the food on my coffee table. You've been dodging my calls, taking jobs on the opposite side of the city, and generally acting like someone who's trying very hard to disappear.I closed the door and leaned against it. I've been busy.Bullshit. She dropped onto my couch and started unpacking containers of pad thai and spring rolls. You've been hiding. There's a difference.I'm not hiding.Then sit down and eat with me.I hesitated, then joined her on the couch. The smell of the food made my stomach growl. I couldn't remember the last time I'd eaten a proper meal.Mitchell handed me a container and chopsticks. So, she said casually, I ran into

"Robin's POV" I texted Christopher from an unknown number three days after reading that article. "It's Robin. We need to talk." His response came within seconds. "Anywhere. Anytime. Just name it." I chose a quiet café on the edge of the city, far from Golden Anchor Homes and anywhere we might be recognized. Neutral ground. Somewhere I could leave if this went badly. I arrived early and claimed a table in the back corner, away from the windows. My leg bounced nervously under the table as I waited. What was I doing? What did I expect him to say that would change anything? But I had to know. Had to hear the story from him, not from overheard conversations and newspaper articles. The door chimed, and Christopher walked in. He looked different. Thinner, maybe. The dark circles under his eyes were more pronounced, and his usually immaculate appearance seemed slightly disheveled. His shirt was wrinkled at the collar, his hair not quite as perfectly styled as usual. He saw me immedi