I totally forgot about our boss-employee relationship and where we were.
All I cared about was that warm, crazy joy Sophia gave me.
There’s nothing more beautiful than the bashfulness of a woman after love.
The wild side was gone, replaced with a kind of soft charm I don’t see in her usually.
It took Sophia a moment to recover.
She quickly reached for her clothes.
“You’re such a troublemaker.
We went too far again.”
“I got reckless, couldn’t help it,” I said.
“That’s what happens when you sneakily look at that stuff.
Got me all distracted.”
“Must be the computer got a virus.
I’ll install some antivirus tomorrow and clean it up.”
“You’re always messing with me.
I don’t even know what to do with you.”
“I’d never bully you, Sophia.
I just want you to be happy.”
“Excuses.
You’re seriously like my little trouble magnet.”
“Sophia, maybe fate just sent me to this city to be with you.
It’s destiny.”
“You and your sweet talk.
Hurry up and get dressed.”
“Yeah, I better.
I’m all over the place right now.”
“Turn the computer off, will you?
Why’s it still playing?
And seriously, don’t ever watch that stuff in the office again.
Way too inappropriate.”
“If you say so, I’ll listen.
Honestly, I didn’t mean to play anything weird.
That site just popped up and I, uh, clicked it out of curiosity.”
“And then couldn’t stop watching, huh?”
“You got me.
Guys my age are just…
kinda wired like that.”
“Cut back on it.
It’s bad for your health.”
“With you around, why would I need it?”
“Keep talking like that and I’ll stop talking to you.
I’m going to fix my hair in the restroom.
Wait here, and we’ll head out after.”
“Sophia, is the person we’re meeting a guy?”
“You’ll see when we get there.”
On the way to dinner with Sophia, I couldn’t help wondering what kind of man we were meeting.
What exactly was his connection with her?
And why invite her to dinner tonight of all nights?
I was driving while Sophia gave directions.
We eventually pulled up in front of this super fancy hotel in my BMW.
The ground floor had some posh car showrooms, second level was restaurants, and above that—guest rooms.
Just from the exterior, I could tell this place wasn’t cheap.
A front desk hostess led us to a private dining room and said to Sophia, “Ms.
Smith, Director Miller is already waiting for you inside.”
“Thanks, you can go now,” Sophia replied.
From that title “Director,” I figured the guy must work in the government.
A bureau-level director at least.
Sophia opened the door and I followed close behind.
“Director Miller, sorry for making you wait.”
The man who stood up had to be in his forties, a pretty obvious beer belly, and definitely gave off a sleazy vibe.
He was just about to speak when he noticed me standing behind Sophia, clearly not planning to leave.
He gave me a sharp look, like my being there ruined his plans.
“Ms.
Smith, and this is…?”
“He’s my cousin,” Sophia said smoothly.
“I injured my hand a bit, so he helped drive me over.”
“Oh, your cousin?” Director Miller said, not even hiding his dislike.
“Well, cousin, since you’ve dropped Ms.
Smith off, maybe you can head out now.
We’ve got some things to talk about in private.”Who are you calling cousin?
Please, like you ever had good intentions.
I can see straight through you—you’re eyeing Sophia, aren’t you?
Dream on.
The way Samuel was looking at her…
seriously, I almost walked over there and kicked him in the ass.
Tell me to leave?
No way. Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
You’re not getting anything from Sophia tonight, not even a whiff.
“Mr.
Miller, Sophia’s not feeling well today.
I’m staying by her side.”
“That might not be convenient.
We still have some important matters to discuss.”
“If it’s work-related, feel free.
I don’t know much about your business, and honestly, I don’t care.
You don’t need to worry about me interfering.”
“Miss Smith, don’t you think…”
“Andrew, why don’t you head back first and come pick me up later?” Sophia said with a tight smile.
Her eyes told me everything—she was trying to brush Samuel off without making him angry.
She clearly wanted me to stay.
“Sophia, you all go ahead and talk.
Just pretend I’m not even here.” I said it like it was nothing and sat down, brushing off whatever Samuel thought he was going to say.
“Well…”
“Mr.
Miller, my cousin’s just a bit stubborn, but he’s harmless.
I usually avoid ticking him off too.
Hope you don’t mind.
Let’s just let him stay—he still needs to drive me later.”
“Young man, eat and then head back to drive, alright?”
Samuel had nothing to say anymore.
With a forced smile and plenty of frustration, he sat down.
He called the waiter, started ordering dishes, and kept trying to please Sophia by asking what she wanted.
Me?
He acted like I didn’t even exist.
After ordering, the waiter took the menu and left.
Sophia started the intros.
“Andrew, this is Mr.
Miller from the Business Bureau.”
I got up and offered a handshake.
He was reluctant but didn’t want to lose face with Sophia around, so he finally reached out, stiff and annoyed.
I gripped his hand firmly, quietly putting a little pressure on.
He must’ve felt it—his face twisted, teeth clenched.
Not a good look.
“Pleasure to meet you, Mr.
Miller.”
“Mm.”
“Please, go ahead and talk about whatever.
Don’t mind me—I’m not listening.”
Clearly still in pain, Samuel’s expression soured, and he subtly rubbed his hand under the table.
“You mentioned a few friends were supposed to come?” Sophia asked.
“They just called and said something came up.
They won’t make it.”
Yeah, right.
My gut told me he never invited anyone else.
This whole setup was just an excuse to get Sophia alone.
Like that trick could fool her.
Still, the guy’s got status.
Sophia couldn’t afford to tick him off, so she went along with it.
“Oh, is that so?
Then I’m honored to have dinner with you alone, Mr.
Miller.”
Samuel shifted his chair closer to her.
“Sophia, I’m really glad to have this dinner with you.
I’ve been meaning to ask you out for a while now, but I didn’t have the nerve.
I was afraid you’d turn me down.”
Ugh.
Didn’t even finish his sentence before his hand started wandering.
While he talked, he placed it right over Sophia’s.
She flinched, and even though she tried to pull away, he gripped pretty tight.
Time to step in.
“Sophia, can I borrow your phone real quick?”
She caught on immediately—I was trying to give her an out.
She turned to Samuel.
“Sorry, Mr.
Miller, I need to get something for Andrew.”Director Miller had no choice but to let go of Sophia.
Right then, the food arrived.
Obviously, he was trying to get Sophia drunk.
“Sophia, your business seems to be doing pretty well lately.
Come on, let me toast to you,” he said, already pouring the wine.
Sophia picked up her glass, smiling politely.
“That’s all thanks to your support, Director Miller.
I should be the one to thank you.”
He chuckled.
“Doesn’t matter who’s toasting who—just drink with me.”
And with that, he kept pouring drinks for Sophia, one after another.
Watching that made me feel sick.
Honestly, I was this close to grabbing the wine bottle and smashing it over his head.
When he raised his glass at her again, I quickly stepped in, picking up Sophia’s glass before he could.
“Director Miller, let me drink this one for her.
She’s had enough.”
“She’s not drunk.
She can still drink,” he pushed back.
“I really mean this toast, Director.
Cheers.” I slammed the wine back in one go, not giving him a chance to respond.
He hesitated, then forced himself to drink as well.
“Thanks, Director,” I said, smiling while watching him closely.
But instead of backing off, he just ignored me and turned toward Sophia again, all smiles.
“Sophia, I got us a room upstairs.
If you drink too much, you can go rest up there.”
There it was.
The truth slipped out.
This sleazy old guy thought he could score with someone like Sophia?
Please.
My stomach churned just thinking about what could’ve happened if I hadn’t come along.
He had this all planned out—booking the room ahead of time, hoping to take advantage of her.
If Sophia weren’t there, I’d probably have dragged him out and made him crawl home.
He really thought he could mess with her?
Not on my watch.
Sophia looked a bit awkward after hearing that.
She tried to play it off.
“Thanks, Director, but I’m alright.”
“That’s good,” he grinned.
“It’s not often we get to hang out like this.
As long as Andrew wants to drink, I’m in.
I’m not going home tonight anyway—got some things I still want to chat about with him.”
“Won’t your wife say something if you don’t go back?”
“It’s fine.
She’s on a work trip.”
Now it made sense—his wife wasn’t around, so he thought he had free rein to mess around.
I decided to play a little card to spook him.
On the way over, Sophia had mentioned that his wife’s last name was Ellis, and she was a department head—the overbearing kind.
If he dared to cross the line and she found out, he’d be in serious trouble.
Time to rattle him a bit.
“Director Miller, isn’t your wife’s surname Ellis?” I asked, pretending I just remembered.
He looked surprised.
“Yeah…
you know her?”
“I know a Ms.
Ellis.
She once mentioned her husband’s a deputy director.
Feels like too much of a coincidence.
I guess that means she’s your wife?”
His expression stiffened, but he hadn’t quite figured out what I was playing at.
“Yeah, that’s her.
Didn’t expect you two to know each other,” he said, sounding clearly tense.
“We’ve known each other for a while.
She’s always treated me well.
Actually, she’s even mentioned you a couple of times.”
“Really?
She never told me about you,” he said, frowning.
“Oh, we mostly run into each other at work.
Not often enough for her to bring me up at home, I guess,” I said casually.