It was past four in the afternoon when they finished putting all of Katherine"s stuff inside the small truck.
"I think that"s all of it," Caleb dusted off his hands.
"Yeah… Thanks for the help." Katherine gave them a smile.
Patting his stomach, Damien told everyone, "Let"s go eat. I"m buying."
"But how about my things?" Katherine wondered as she looked at the truck.
"Don"t worry about it. It will be delivered to the penthouse. We need to leave, or we"ll get stuck at traffic." Damien turned to Caleb and nodded, "Let"s go to that place."
"Yes!" Caleb raised his fist, pleased upon hearing his friend while the two women grinned at each other. Katherine rode with Damien while Emma rode with Caleb to give her friend some privacy.
Inside the car, Katherine noticed him touching his tummy. "Are you okay, Boss?"
"I"m fine… Just a little hungry."
Her brows slightly knitted and concern was evident on her face as she checked her watch. "You didn"t eat lunch?"
"I wasn"t hungry earlier," he replied. He got used to eating with Katherine since last week so suddenly eating alone felt like a ch.o.r.e for him.
She studied his face and saw sweat forming on his forehead. "He must be starving," she thought. Biting her bottom lip, she remembered that she had food in her bag. She rummaged through it and found a bar of chocolate.
She tore the wrapper open and handed the chocolate to him, "Here, Boss, you need sugar."
Damien glanced at her hand and then at her face before he focused back on the road; he was touched by the simple gesture. "Thank you, but I can"t eat. I"m driving."
"But you"re hungry… and the restaurant"s quite a distance."
"I know. Then, you have to feed me," he briefly glanced at her and saw her eyes widen.
"Cheeky," she muttered but held the chocolate near his mouth anyway.
She heard him chuckle a little before he took a bite and discovered that watching his mouth and jaw work together was s.e.xy. She had gone crazy. Why was everything about him so attractive to her? She certainly did not find anyone else eating that eye-catching.
Meanwhile, Damien found the chocolate extra sweet but he didn"t mind at all as he happily consumed the whole bar that Katherine was feeding him.
"Thanks," he said with a grin after he swallowed the last bite. It did curb his hunger a bit and was feeling better than earlier. When he thought that she was done, he was surprised when she held out a bottle of water this time.
Just in time, he stepped on the breaks at the stoplight and received the bottle from her.
"No problem." A conservative smile formed on her lips after putting the water away.
Though the two of them hadn"t talked about their feelings, it was pretty obvious that both of them were attracted to each other, yet neither of them was in a hurry to put a label on whatever they had. However, how much longer can the two of them take with this charade?
John Chops Steakhouse
The restaurant was best known for its steaks and this was the go-to place for Damien and his friends whenever they want to dine out.
The four of them were seated at a table and waited for their food to arrive when someone pa.s.sed by and called Damien.
"Oh, look who"s here… Damien." A male"s deep voice caught everyone"s attention.
Even without turning his head, Damien knew whose voice it belonged to. "William," he muttered and sipped his wine.
"I see you"re on a double date. It"s been a while since the last time I heard you were going out with someone."
Katherine looked at the two of them and saw the resemblance but the other man whom Damien called William didn"t look so friendly.
Noticing that someone was looking at him, William extended his hand out to Katherine, "h.e.l.lo, Miss… I don"t think we"ve met before. My name"s William. What"s your name?"
Whatever it was, Katherine could feel the dark aura emitting from this man. Her hand that was resting on the table slightly moved, however, it was immediately covered by Damien"s in a casual manner.
"You don"t need to know." Damien"s voice was low and cold that Katherine could feel the atmosphere suddenly turned gloomy.
Seeing Damien"s reaction, William chuckled, "How protective of you. I"m just making friends."
"Will, sorry, that was my dad." A woman came to his side. "Oh, Damien..."
Katherine"s gaze landed on the woman who arrived and the two of them met each other"s stare. She felt Lexi"s icy glare but she did not waver and maintained a poker face.
Lexi, on the other hand, saw Damien"s hand on Katherine"s and she instantly felt sour.
Caleb snickered to himself as he watched the tensed scene in front of him. How could they run into each other at a time like this? Fate is really hilarious.
Emma did not understand what was going on but when she saw Lexi Jin, her mouth hung open. She recognized the supermodel right away but she was too shy to say hi.
Feeling nervous that Damien might misunderstand her, Lexi tried to explain, "I just ran into William earlier. I didn"t-"
"I don"t really care," Damien immediately cut her off, not wanting to listen to any of their nonsense.
"Let"s go, sweetheart. Let"s not disturb their date." William placed a hand on Lexi"s bottom as he guided her away.
"Don"t touch me there." She slapped his hand and walked ahead of him, her mood was already ruined.
William caught up with Lexi when they came out of the restaurant and he had a smile on his face as he questioned, "Are you still hung up on him?"
"Shut up," she snarked and it made him chuckle.
"That woman… do you know her?" He asked when they got inside his car and Katherine"s figure flashed in his mind.
"She"s his new secretary," Lexi answered in a bitter tone.
"Ah… so your ex is banging secretaries now? Who would have known…" William laughed as he sped off. Imagining Katherine"s appearance, a malicious smirk formed on his face, "I can see why though… I like her already."
"You"re disgusting, Will."
"Am I? Then why are you with me tonight instead of him?" His words only added salt to Lexi"s wounds. "You need to chill, Lexi. Don"t worry, I"ll cheer you up tonight." He placed a hand on her thigh and she slapped it off right away.
"Cut it out. I"m not sleeping with you again. Bring me home." She sneered, turned to the window and closed her eyes.
"You"ll come crawling back to me, Lexi… I"ll just have to wait for that to happen."
"Why would I? You"re nothing like your cousin," she said in her mind.
Royal Penthouse
Damien was unusually quiet throughout the meal and even on the ride going back to the hotel. Katherine couldn"t help but worry about it, "Boss, are you okay?"
"Yeah, I"m fine." He said as he helped arrange her stuff in the penthouse.
She tried so hard not to meddle with his personal life but it looked like he needed someone to talk to so she tried to ask, "That man back at the restaurant… who was he?"
"He"s my cousin," Damien answered in a dry tone. He did not even spare a glance as he continued to put away books on the shelf.
Sensing that it must be something that he did not want to talk about, Katherine decided not to push the subject further. However, looking at his back, she clenched her hands together when she felt sad for him. She remembered him mention before that when his father died, he left the Park"s Estate and rarely talked to his extended families.
She knew how it felt being alone despite having friends. So when she gazed at him, she felt a throbbing pain in her heart.
Before she realized it, she had already strolled towards him and encircled her arms around his torso.
Damien stiffened when he felt her hugging him from behind. Her body was pressed against his back and her arms were wrapped around him. It caught him off guard so he stood there motionless for a good minute before he relaxed and placed a hand over hers.
He couldn"t deny that it felt really good. They didn"t speak but both of them understood what it meant.
A couple of minutes later, Damien finally spoke, "Katherine…"
"Hmmm?"
"Stay as far away as possible from him," he said in a nearly toneless voice. "Can you promise me that?"
Katherine was confused but when she recalled how strange William was earlier, she did not think twice to agree. Nodding her head, she answered as she tightened her embrace in a.s.surance, "I promise."