Damien and Katherine were on their way back to Pearl Gardens after doing groceries. The ride was quiet as Katherine was texting Emma. She finally decided to tell her about what was happening to her recently. The last time that they saw each other was before the luxury charity gala and that was two weeks ago.
Emma was so excited to hear the juicy details about her idols but she was more interested in Katherine sharing a house with Damien. Katherine"s phone rang and when she saw that it was her friend, she canceled the call and texted her.
[ Not now, I"m in the car with Damien. ]
"Who was that? Why didn"t you pick that up?" Damien glanced at her.
"It"s Emma… I just told her I met Ali this afternoon… and that I moved to another house…" Katherine pressed her lips together, staring at the dashboard as she refused to look at him.
She heard a stifled laugh from the driver"s seat and her head snapped towards him. "What"s so funny?"
A small smile formed on Damien"s face as he reached out to grab her hand and brought it to his lips. "Nothing…" he pressed his lips on the back of her hand and chuckled.
"Actually, you were adorable," he said.
"Adorable?" Katherine raised a brow.
"A little scary when jealous but still… adorable." Damien playfully bit her knuckles before soothing it with his tongue — the little action sent a jolt of shock to her core.
Katherine retracted her hand and cleared her throat as she s.h.i.+fted in her seat, pressing her thighs together. Fully aware of what he just did to her, Damien"s grin grew wider.
"Anyone"s girlfriend would react the same way if they saw what I saw," she muttered under her breath but he was still able to catch it.
"So… you admit that you were jealous?" He glanced at her.
"Maybe…" She bit her tongue. "Just a little… until I knew you were cousins."
Damien laughed at her answer. "Oh, Kitten… A little? I don"t think so. After you crushed that poor ice cream and seeing your reactions, that wasn"t "a little". I could taste the sourness from the ice cream that you shoved to my lips—I could even smell it in the air."
Katherine could not believe he was doing a census of the things that she did this afternoon that her face flushed. "You are having way too much fun, Damien."
He let out another chuckle before he grabbed her hand again and kissed it. "I"m sorry, baby, I"ll stop."
She rolled her eyes at him and looked away as she suppressed a smile. With the way how their Sat.u.r.day went, it certainly wasn"t a quiet one.
A few days later at Crown Resort Group
Katherine was at her desk, working on her tasks when Markus arrived with hangers of Damien"s dry cleaned suits.
The two of them exchanged greetings while she opened the door to Damien"s office for him. "Is he still at the meeting?" she asked.
Hooking the suits on the rack, Markus turned to face her and nodded. "He said he might not be able to make it for dinner, but he"ll call you later."
"Okay, thank you, Markus. You"ve been really helpful," she said.
With a stoic expression, he made a slight bow and replied, "It"s the least I can do for him."
Smiling, Katherine thought that he was doing so much for Damien. "You have a lot on your plate already. I don"t mind to take some responsibilities off you. I can pick up dry cleans next time…"
For the first time, Markus gave her a small smile before he shook his head. "I don"t have any complaints about the workload. Everything I do for the Boss is because I owe him everything."
"You owe him?"
Nodding, he added, "My mother used to work in the Park Mansion as a housemaid. Despite our difference in status, Damien has always been good to me. My mother got sick when I was nineteen and she could have died but he paid for her surgery and hospital bills. So this…" he waved at the suits. "This isn"t a task for me… I take it as a privilege. In exchange for my mother"s life, I will be forever indebted to him."
Katherine felt a slight p.r.i.c.k in her heart upon hearing what he had to say about Damien. She watched as Markus left the office and thought that her man had a golden heart — her admiration and adoration for him grew.
Taking the initiative to help out, she decided to take the suits inside his penthouse. He still had some of his things left there as it was convenient for quick changes rather than going home to Pearl Gardens.
"Ah… home…" she smiled. It was so strange yet so natural to be calling it a "home" for the two of them. For the past few days in their house in Pearl Gardens, Damien respected her need for privacy as she wanted to have a s.p.a.ce of her own. For the five nights that they had spent there, she had slept twice in her own bedroom while the other three were spent cuddling in the master bedroom.
There wasn"t much of a difference because even when she was still staying in the Royal Penthouse, their arrangement had also been the same. There were nights that she would sleep in his place — he would stay at hers — or just sleep separately which happened mostly when he"s out till late in the evening and didn"t want to disturb her. Except this time, the only gap that they have was several meters away.
Katherine breathed in deeply. How nice it would be if they could spend all the nights together. Heat crept up her nape and she shook her head to shake off the thoughts.
She set the suits up the closet and was about to turn away when she saw a Calvin Klein waistband peeking out of a drawer. She swallowed before heading towards it.
Pulling the drawer open, she saw Damien"s boxer briefs in it. The drawer was half empty as the other half were brought to the new house. There were properly organized yet, probably because of the move, it was slightly shuffled. Hesitantly, she picked up that boxer and hurriedly folded it before placing it back into the drawer and pus.h.i.+ng it close.
Katherine felt something fell on her foot and when she lowered her gaze, she saw a familiar-looking dated white envelope. She picked it up and remembered that day when Damien told her about his birth mother. It had been more than a month since and she wondered if he had already read the letter inside as he had not told her anything. Feeling a little sad for him, she contemplated if she should convince him to read it.
After her short trip to Damien"s penthouse, she headed back to the office and just as she entered, she saw a woman sitting on the sofa who looked up with widened eyes when she saw Katherine.
"Oh my G.o.d, this is really serious!" Her mouth hung open.
"Ali…" Katherine"s brows creased. "What do you mean? What are you doing here?"
"Katherine! It"s so good to see you again!" Alianna crossed the room and pulled her in for a hug. "I meant you and Damien! He even let you go inside that cave even when he"s not here — and he doesn"t even allow me to peek." She rolled her eyes. "I"m hurt."
"Oh…" Katherine blushed.
"You are really too cute." Alianna smiled brightly. "I"m just glad he finally found someone he could trust."
Not wanting to blush even more, Katherine changed the subject. "What are you doing here? Damien"s in a meeting so he won"t be—"
"I know, I just saw him a while ago. I"m actually here for you!"
The smile in Alianna"s face was too infectious that Katherine found herself smiling as well. "Me? Why? What can I do for you?"
Alianna checked the time on her phone and looked back at her, "Perfect. It"s four o"clock, we can still avoid the traffic. I"m taking you out for shopping and dinner!" She hooked her arm in Katherine"s and started bringing her out of the office.
"Wait, I"m still on the clock. I still have—"
"Oh shush. You"re dating the Chairman and the CEO, who"s going to scold you? Besides he"s not here right now. Let"s play hooky."
Katherine was too surprised and did not know how to respond to Ali.
"Grab your bag, we need to leave now," she heard her say.
Without much of a choice, Katherine quickly turned off her computer and clutched her bag just before Alianna pulled her towards the elevator.
"Gosh. She really has the blood of the Park family in her veins." Katherine side-glanced at her and softly chuckled.
Seeing the smile on Katherine"s face, Alianna laughed in her head. She was excited to take her out shopping. "So… Katherine, what do you think of lace?"