GRACE“Okay Ruby,” I leaned closer to ensure that eye contact was maintained, “you have to come clean.” I have to remain stern and show her my seriousness. “Did you eat out of the chocolates?” With puppy eyes, Ruby shook her head. I glanced at the brown smudge on the side of her lips and scoffed in disbelief.“You did not eat out of it,” I uttered, the tone of my voice barely carrying a whiff of inquiry.And she sharply responded with, “No.”“How do you explain this then?” I slammed two wrappers of Snickers chocolate onto the kitchen counter and stared squarely at the little girl whose eyes widened in shock. She started to struggle with finding an explanation but I continued my questioning.“And how do you explain this?” I pulled out a little mirror and placed it in front of her so that she could see that I had irrevocable evidence against her. “So, tell me, Ruby, did you eat the chocolates or not?”“Uh...” Her voice became timid and her eyes evaded mine while I cocked a brow and I aw
GRACEOnce I ended the call, I tucked my phone into the front pocket of my grey joggers and approached the man who was back from a long day at the office.“Mr. Powers,” I called the man who stood still after a few steps up the stairs, his full attention on his phone. “Mr. Powers?” I raised my voice.The man ignored me. And I scoffed in disbelief as he maintained his focus on his phone.Once I took a few more steps closer to the end of the staircase, I called him again. “Mr. Powers?”I am sure this man can hear me, so why isn’t he responding? “Mr. Powers? Dominic?”“Grace.” He swiftly faced me, a grand smile on his lips. “There you are.” He finally responded and I just had to roll my eyes at his silliness.The man began to walk towards me. As he moved, I admired his exceptional dressing. The light tones of his clothes blended with his skin and I found him more alluring.Once his feet were barely inches away from mine, he asked, “Did you just roll your eyes at me?”“Uh...” I looked up a
GRACE “Are you and Mr. Powers dating?” I sent a pointed look at the figure that eased his way into the penthouse. “I have seen the tabloids.” “Jeremy, I don’t know what you are talking about.” I chose to deny it because it would be weird for me to talk about my dating life with a man who never ceases to show signs that keeps saying; I am interested in you! “Just hurry, you are late. Ruby doesn’t like it when people waste her time.” “I just wanted to know.” I glared at the complaining man as I pulled his arm and directed him towards Ruby. “Please, I want to know.” Jeremy tilted his head and a small pout grew on his lips. When I stopped moving him, I asked, “Will you stop stylishly trying to hit on me if I answer you?” “Uh... What are you talking about? I don’t hit on you.” I rolled my eyes and resumed pulling him. “Okay, okay!” After three nudges, he swiftly turned to face me. A little crease formed on his forehead and he said, “I will go and teach Ruby.” “And?” I crossed my arms
GRACE Once our kiss was paused, our foreheads met and our eyes dived into each other’s. While we remained in that position, Dominic reached for my hand which was still resting against his face. He brought it to his lips and began to kiss each finger, the hotness of the contact sending bliss down my spine. His kisses made my heart grow fonder and they spoke his emotions to me. As I interpreted the softness of his kisses in my head, I counted myself lucky that I was the one he chose to create beautiful memories with. “I am still working on getting rid of the tabloids. The articles have become a virus that might take some time to contain.” He kissed my palm then dropped my hand gently while he made our eyes meet again. “What about the guy that came over? He got pictures of me.” “I will have the security team look into it. Enough of all that.” He closed the space between us. His lips brushed mine lightly, I jolted slightly in reaction. “I am going to miss watching you react to my tou
GRACEAfter fulfilling Ruby’s request to read her one of her favourite stories, I tucked her in and made for the living room when it was certain that she was deeply asleep.As I walked, my eyes flickered to Dominic’s door and my earlier thought of dialing his number flashed in my mind again. I was kind of desperate to hear his deep, thrilling voice. But I halted my thoughts.If anything, Mr... Dominic is quite serious when it comes to his business. So, even if I never understand the whole dealings of the stock market, what I have read online is enough to know that Dominic was not slowing down in his race of getting to the top of the game.Seconds later, I was downstairs and my phone’s ringtone filled the dimmed atmosphere.With the thought that it was Dominic’s call, my heart rushed, so did my feet.I must say, not only does Dominic fill my life with warmth, he makes my heart yearn even when I recall his sensuous words.I picked up my phone from the couch and saw David’s name on the s
GRACEI barged into her room and my frightened self became more scared when my sight fell on the irregular rising and falling of the girl’s chest, her breathing crazily filling the room with loud, struggling sounds.“Ruby! Ruby! Wake up!” She responded to my call with a sleepy voice but her hard breathing still wouldn’t stop. As I made her sit up, David’s concerned words blared from the call. “Ruby, you need to wake up. Open your eyes, Ruby.” My worry grew by the second as I tapped her cheeks lightly to wake her up.“David, she won’t stop breathing hard.” My voice shivered with distress. “What should I do?”His voice echoed from the phone. ‘Hmm. Okay. Sit her up first. Sit her up.’“She is sitting up. She is.” I hugged the girl to my chest and adjusted her position after I grabbed her pillow to support her back.Amid my attempt to get her in the most comfortable position, my skin came in contact with hers and my fear grew.“David, she is hot. Her body is...”’Calm down, Grace. To deal
GRACE‘Grace.’ I stirred when a voice reached me in my sleepy state. ‘Grace.’I felt a tap on my shoulder but I shrugged it off.“Go away,” I grudgingly replied to the small voice that was distracting my sleep from God knows where.“Grace. It’s me, Dominic.” My shoulders felt another tap and my eyes snapped open without delay. Indeed, Dominic was by my side, his worried gaze piercing my worried, slumber-filled eyes.I sat up, let out a loud yawn, and asked, “You are back already? Uhm... I thought your trip was for a week.”He reached for my hair and swept a strand away from my face. My heavy eyes followed his every movement as he stood straight.“I hurried my plans and came back as soon as possible.”“Oh, you shouldn’t have bothered. Ruby is fine now.” I carefully got off the little bed and reached for the covered plate on the table that was not so far from Ruby’s bed.As my mouth began to munch on the cake that was earlier hidden from plain sight, my gaze fell on Dominic who kept his
GRACE“Did you notice anything out of the ordinary while I was away?” Dominic’s question brought me out of my bewilderment.I adjusted my stance. “Well, I did hear a door close suddenly. I thought it was Ruby, but when I got upstairs, she was still sleeping. Then, I noticed that your door was a bit ajar. But before I could investigate, Ruby started-”He nodded to indicate that he understood my unfinished sentence and my eyes went back to the demeaning word.“Hmm,” Dominic hummed.And I asked, “Who do you think could have done this?”He let out a slow exhale and replied, “I do not know.”My hands grasped the thickness of his arm as I recalled the message I got earlier. “Do you know what’s funny? I got a threatening text message earlier.”With a short frown on his face, he swiftly faced me. “What message?”“The person threatened to kill me if I do not leave you.”Dominic’s free hand swiftly cupped my cheek. His fingers trailed my skin and his eyes told me that he was determined to be th