6

I work until late afternoon when I hear the elevator open again.

I've made good headway – refiled everything he showed me yesterday, got his calendar transferred, and even started sorting out some spare drawers I found in the office, other papers, older ones, that seem like they could use re-organization.

But when the elevator sounds, I push back from the desk, give the babies a quick pat – they've been so well-behaved and calm all day – and head into the hallway.

"Jungkook?"

"Good afternoon."

He's still got his formal face on, suit and all. He meets me in the hall, not quite willing to meet my eye.

"How have you been getting along?"

"Fine. I finished the filing. But I need to catch the bus home in half an hour, so –"

"No need to inconvenience yourself. I'll have my driver take you whenever and wherever you need to go."

I blink. "I take the bus every day, it's not a problem. I just need to pack up the twins."

"Public transit with children cannot be easy," he counters.

My face flushes a little. "Well, no. But I'm used to it."

"So why not take my driver?" he asks, seeming genuinely puzzled.

"I didn't – I just don't want to be an inconvenience," I mumble.

He watches me for another long moment, studying me. Then he starts to walk away, beckoning over his shoulder for me to follow.

"I have an idea."

"What do you mean?" I frown, following him.

Ugh.

One moment he's being overly kind, the next he's acting like I should obey his every whim.

s it his alpha instincts kicking in?

What is with him?

"Get the twins' things," he says, waiting beside the elevator. "I'll explain downstairs."

Rich guys, I decide, resisting the urge to roll my eyes.

But hey, he is paying me.

So I grab the kids' diaper bag, pack up the room I stayed in last night, and then I follow him to the elevator. He hits the lowest floor, below the first.

I watch him out of the corner of my eye, confused.

For his part, he's still avoiding me.

This time, though, he avoids me by staring at the kids instead. He sticks his tongue out and Areum giggles then he crosses his eyes and manages to get Haru smiling too.

If he acted like this all the time, I think I'd be doomed.

It's too sweet, the way he plays with them.

We reach the bottom floor, and he waves me out first, I push the stroller into an underground garage.

There are a few dozen cars parked here, but he passes them all, walks right toward a separate garage, partitioned off from the rest with a locked door. He opens it, and I swallow a gasp as we step inside.

There are about ten cars in here, all sparkling clean. They range from a few vintage models – iconic cars like a Thunderbird that even I recognize, and I know nothing about cars.

But he passes those and walks straight to a brand new BMW. It looks like it hasn't been driven at all yet, it's cherry red, with a roll-down top, and a surprisingly roomy set of seats.

"This will probably work best," he's saying, tapping the hood before he strides past the car to a storage locker on the far side of the room.

"Work best for what?" I ask. Then he opens the locker, and my mouth does drop open.

He pulls out not just one, but two car seats – rear-facing, designed for the twins' age, and tucks one under each arm, carrying them back toward the car.

"Seriously," I say, almost laughing now. "The bus seems easier at this point."

"Once we have this setup, it won't be any inconvenience at all," he points out.

He fastens one car seat into the back, and I give up and cross the garage to join and help him buckle in the other.

"But you'll have to take these in and out all the time. What a pain."

He catches my eye. "No, I won't. This car will be yours."

He pats the seats again, and my eyes just pop out of my head like a cartoon's.

"Jungkook, I cannot accept a car from you."

"It's a loan. As for tonight, you can drive home and fetch what you need – it should all fit in the trunk, this one has a surprisingly roomy trunk. Just come back this evening and we'll get you settled into the spare room."

"I can't move in with you," I reply instinctively.

"Why not?"

He blinks, then frowns a little.

The coldness from earlier is gone; he's warm and open again, his expression concerned.

"Oh, do you have a partner? My mistake –"

I'm shaking my head hard, interrupting him. "No, of course not."

I bite my tongue – I almost referenced our moment in the kitchen earlier. But he must be avoiding talking about it for a reason – he probably doesn't want to think about it just now. So fine. I shake my head again.

"Nothing like that, I just… I have an apartment, I live there already –"

"Do you like it?" he asks.

"No!" I exclaim, then laugh a little. I can't help it. "That's not the point, Jungkook."

"What is the point? It seems simple enough for you to stay here. I have a spare room. The twins are all right in that crib, yes? Or should I buy a second one."

"They're fine." I let out a huge sigh. "It's just… Why are you doing all this for me?"

"I want to," he replies simply.

We stare at one another for a long moment, over the roof of the car.

The tension we felt earlier in the kitchen is back again, palpable.

His eyes dilate, and I'm sure my face is flushed, what with how much heat is flooding to it right now.

I swallow hard, to try and wake myself up.

"Are you looking for a live-in assistant?" I finally ask. "You didn't mention that in the ad…"

He seems to shake himself, too. "It's the only way to make sure you can get enough work done to justify hiring you."

He sets the keys on the hood of the car and walks out of the garage.

I stare after him, my mouth wide open once more. I feel like I keep doing that around him, but I can't help it.

He confuses the shit out of me.

What now?

He's hot and cold, warm and frigid.

I can't keep track of these mood swings, much less figure out what on earth I've done to cause them.

Worse, he didn't give me a chance to decline this invitation.

I can't lie, the thought of staying with him another night, in this gorgeous, cosy apartment, with my twins close by, and a huge stocked kitchen full of food just outside, is tempting.

When you factor in the ridiculously sexy man just down the hall, sleeping in his bed, probably naked, his muscular body twined in the sheets, his handsome face relaxed…

Yeah, okay, I do want to stay here.

Especially if it means another moment like we had in the kitchen.

Or finding out what would happen if we kissed and the twins didn't start to cry…

A shiver runs down my spine, and another pulse of desire throbs in my stomach, twining down through me until my puckering hole clenches with it.

Fine.

He wins this round.

I buckle the twins into their car seats, climb behind the wheel, and enjoy the crazy smooth drive out of the garage, toward my shitty apartment, and the old life I want badly to just leave behind.