Free Web NovelChapter 162: Chapter 162: I Want to Kiss You
A red supercar cruised down the road, flanked by a security detail in cars ahead and behind.
Inside the car, Preston Chase was at the wheel.
Alaric Blackwood and Sophie Shaw were in the back seat. From the moment she left the Kane residence to the moment she got into the car, her hands had been clutching his arm tightly.
He thought Sophie was still panicked and scared. He squeezed her hand, his large palm completely enveloping hers. "It’s okay now," he said. "Just relax."
"I want to kiss you."
Alaric Blackwood froze.
Sophie looked up at him, her gaze firm. "Alaric Blackwood, I want to kiss you right now."
’Could happiness come so suddenly?’
Alaric’s Adam’s apple bobbed. Without a second thought, he blurted out, "Pull over."
The supercar had no partition between the front and back seats, offering little privacy. Pulling over was the only option.
Preston Chase, who had been pretending he couldn’t hear a thing, immediately complied, turning the steering wheel and pulling the car over to the curb.
When the bodyguards in the other cars saw their boss’s vehicle stop, they all followed suit and pulled over.
Preston Chase, ever tactful, unbuckled his seatbelt, got out, and walked a little distance away before silently lighting a cigarette.
"Didn’t you say you wanted to kiss me?"
Alaric Blackwood wrapped his hands around Sophie’s waist, lifting her onto his lap.
Sophie didn’t know what had come over her; she just had an overwhelming urge to kiss him.
She knelt on the seat between his legs, leaned down, and cupped his face with her slender, pale hands, giving his lips a gentle peck.
"Kiss me properly."
She laughed, a little embarrassed. "Don’t you move."
"I’m not moving."
Alaric leaned back against the seat, his hands resting on her waist. He truly didn’t move an inch, waiting for her kiss.
She gave his lips another quick peck, and he almost laughed in frustration.
"Kissing... that’s not how you do it."
"Let me teach you."
He raised a hand to cup the back of her head, and just as he was about to kiss her, his phone rang at the most inopportune time.
The call was from an unfamiliar number, but he recognized it as Joseph Shaw’s.
He hung up immediately. A moment later, a text arrived: "I’ll have someone deliver Sophie’s bag directly to your company."
After reading the message, he put his phone away and prepared to resume their kiss.
Just as their lips were about to meet, he saw two trickles of blood run from Sophie’s nose. He immediately pulled a handkerchief from his suit pocket and began dabbing at the blood.
"Let’s go to the hospital."
Sophie shook her head. "No, it’s fine."
"But you have a nosebleed."
"I think it’s from my dad... He hit me pretty hard."
A sudden, nameless rage surged through Alaric. He felt the slap he’d given Joseph Shaw hadn’t been nearly hard enough.
"Can you take me back to my office?"
Sophie took the handkerchief, pressed it to her nose, and shifted off Alaric’s lap to sit properly beside him.
It was only a little blood, and it stopped quickly.
Alaric called for Preston Chase, told him to head to the company, and the car was soon back on the road.
Before long, the supercar pulled up in front of Blackwood Tower.
Sophie was surprised. "Why are we here?"
"You’re coming up with me."
Alaric Blackwood pushed the car door open and pulled her out.
"But my office..."
"You’re the boss. You don’t have to be at your desk around the clock. Let your subordinates handle any decisions or instructions."
Alaric said, slinging an arm around her shoulder. He led her into Blackwood Tower and up the express elevator to the CEO’s office.
"Someone will bring your bag over in a bit."
Alaric guided her to the sofa. "What would you like to drink?"
"Herbal tea. To cool down."
"Alright."
Alaric walked to his desk. Just as he was about to use the intercom to ask his secretary for tea, a knock sounded at the door.
Before he could respond, the door was pushed open, and Lydia Wynn came in carrying a cup of coffee.
"Mr. Blackwood, your coffee."
She had seen Alaric bring Sophie out of the elevator and had deliberately brought him a coffee, completely ignoring the other woman on the sofa.
Alaric’s expression grew chilly. "I’m having herbal tea today."
Lydia Wynn seized the chance to play the victim. "Mr. Blackwood, must you make things so difficult for me?"
"I’m making things difficult for you?"
"You’re always so fickle. If I bring tea, you want coffee. If I bring coffee, you want tea..."
"Perhaps things wouldn’t be so complicated if you had asked what I wanted beforehand, instead of just bringing me tea or coffee on your own initiative."
Lydia Wynn looked perplexed. "But Mr. Blackwood, I have all your preferences and your coffee order memorized."
"Get out."
"Mr. Blackwood..."
"Take the rest of the day off. Get out."
Lydia Wynn’s chest heaved in anger. When she saw Alaric pick up his desk phone and ask Secretary Golding to prepare herbal tea, she spun around resentfully. She shot a glare at Sophie on the sofa, then yanked the door open and stormed out.
Before long, Secretary Golding brought in the herbal tea and set it on the coffee table.
Alaric glanced at Sophie, who was looking around the office from the sofa. After the secretary left, he called out to her, "Sophie, come here."
Sophie’s back stiffened, and she instinctively looked toward the man behind the desk.
This was the first time Alaric Blackwood had called her Sophie.
His names for her had evolved from the formal "Sophie Shaw" and "Miss Shaw" to the more intimate "little thing" and "my wife," and now, finally, "Sophie."
"Come."
The man held out a hand to her.
She stood up and walked toward him.
He gently wrapped an arm around her waist, and with a light tug, she found herself sitting on his lap.
"Isn’t this a little inappropriate at the office?"
"No one barges into my office unannounced." ’Except for that disobedient, mule-headed Assistant Wynn,’ he thought.
He picked up the teapot and poured the herbal tea, all while gently pressing the back of her head, guiding it to rest on his shoulder. "Tell me everything that happened today."
Sophie leaned on his shoulder, looking at the steaming tea in the cup, and recounted the entire story from beginning to end.
This included what had happened between Vianne Kane and Conor Sullivan that night four years ago.
Alaric listened, nodding thoughtfully. Then he lifted the cup of herbal tea to her lips.
She took a small sip. She didn’t want to distract Alaric from his work and was about to get up, but the hand on her waist held her fast.
"Just stay here with me."
"This will distract you from your work too much."
"Trust me, it’s not a distraction at all."
After a moment’s hesitation, Sophie relented.
Once Alaric was focused on his work, she borrowed his phone to call Heart of the Ocean and make sure everything was running smoothly.
"We’ve had a few designers apply recently," Hannah Sutton reported. "One of them just returned from overseas and has a very impressive resume. The HR manager likes her and wants to hire her."
"Then hire her."
"Also, the lawyer position... we’ve only had one applicant."
"Have HR schedule an interview."
"Okay."
Shortly after she hung up, Preston Chase knocked on the office door. Receiving permission to enter, he walked in carrying Sophie’s bag.
"Mr. Blackwood, your wife’s bag has arrived."
Sophie quickly reached out, took the bag, and opened it to check. Her phone, her car keys—everything was there.
She breathed a sigh of relief. After thanking Preston, she tried to get up again, only for Alaric to press her back onto his lap, his hand firm on her waist.
Preston, ever perceptive, tactfully excused himself, refusing to be a third wheel.
The office fell silent, the only sound the soft rustle of Alaric flipping through documents.
Unable to get up, Sophie put her bag on the desk and rested her head on his shoulder, watching him work.
Joseph Shaw’s slap really had been a heavy one. Even now, she was still experiencing a faint, intermittent ringing in her ears.
