“I have to admit that I never thought things would turn out like this when he called you over to help him,” Richard confessed to me softly.

I looked up from my computer screen to see him looking at me with passive eyes. Life had returned to normal on the surface, at least for me. Working in the office with my team on my project with Richard became the expected norm; however, that wasn’t all that I had to handle.

“Yeah..it’s still very surprising for everyone..I think..” I replied before forcing myself to smile.

“Hang in there. Don’t worry too much about this project,” he said while sounding quite bored.

I wasn’t sure if I misheard him at first, but it sounded like he was trying to comfort me and cover for me at work. While staring at Richard, I couldn’t help but recall Ace’s words when he told me that he had decided to staff me on the same project as Richard. Although it seemed impossible and unbelievable at first, I was starting to think that maybe Ace was right, and that Richard might not be as bad as he seemed. I had to admit that despite his cold and sometimes sarcastic attitude, when it came to work Richard was very dependable and he always made me feel like everything would turn out fine in the end.

“Thank you..so much..” I said in just above a whisper.

Richard did not bother to reply to me as he shifted his attention right back to his work. I wanted to focus more on the project at hand, but it was impossible to do so with the many tasks that I had to get done as Ace’s personal secretary. Maintaining the public fa?ade of his fake relationship with Elizabeth required quite a lot of effort from the both of them and as a result, I had more work cut out for me as well.

For the past week, I had to attend various public events with Ace and Elizabeth. While the two of them acted as the perfect couple in front of the public eyes and the cameras, I was stuck paired up with Helen. Thankfully, she was an angel to work with but that did not make me enjoy seeing Ace and Elizabeth getting so close.

“Are you heading out already?” Richard asked when I started gathering my things.

“Yes..I’m sorry for this..” I apologized sincerely.

He watched in silence as I got up from my seat and shoved a few items into my handbag. Today was another day where I had to accompany Ace to an event that Elizabeth would be attending as well. I fully understood that this was necessary to hammer the point home to everyone that the two of them were really dating, but sometimes, I felt like it was a bit much.

“What are you apologizing for? This is part of your work too,” he said emotionlessly. historical

“Right..” I murmured in agreement.

Richard was right that this was part of my job too and I had to do my best at it. After smiling a little his way, I headed for the door. Ever since the press conference, Ace and I had to be ultra-careful of keeping our relationship under wraps. For the first time ever, Ace seemed serious about protecting our secret and it all made sense. This time, it wasn’t just about me getting in trouble because of the no-dating rule, the merger of the two companies and our future was at stake. ραпdαs `n?ν?| сom

I pushed the door to Ace’s personal office open without knocking because I knew that he was expecting me. So far, we have managed to keep our interactions in the office strictly professional. That was at least strictly true during working hours and before sunset.

“Are you ready to go?” I asked without much enthusiasm.

Ace was sitting on his usual chair behind his large work desk, and I could tell that he wasn’t at all looking forward to the event. He looked bored and the pristine grey suit outfit that he had on seemed to be the only thing ready for the upcoming event.

“Yes, because I have to be..” he replied before heaving a soft sigh.

“Should I call and tell them that you’re sick and unable to make it?” I suggested with what I hoped was a sweet and healing smile.

“No need for that. We all have our roles to play. I’ll do my job and you’ll do yours..” Ace replied before grinning my way.

“Let’s both hang in there..” I said as I reached out a hand to him.

Ace stared at my open palm for a moment as if he was at a loss as to what he should do. All I wanted to do was help pull him up from his seat since he looked so tired, so I didn’t quite understand why he had such a thoughtful look on his face.

“Ace..” I called his name softly.

Instead of pulling me up, I found that I was the one being pulled down. I let out a small cry of surprise when he turned me around and pulled me down onto his lap. Immediately his strong arms were around my waist as if preventing my escape.

“Wait..Ace..” I protested softly when I felt the heat of his breath against my ear.

My back was pressed so snuggly against his chest that I could feel his body heat. Ace did not respond to me and soon I felt the heat of his lips against my earlobe as he began kissing me softly yet extremely seductively there. All my senses seemed to snap to life, and it took a lot of self-control to stop myself from moaning out loud. Ace kissed my earlobe repeatedly as the sounds of his kissing evaded my senses. Although I knew very well that it wasn’t the time to be doing something like this, I couldn’t deny that I enjoyed his seductive kisses and caresses as his hand moved tantalizingly all over my waist before moving up to grope my breast.

--To be continued..