Mr. Hawk.

Stacy gulped silently, her throat constricting as her cheeks heated up.

The air conditioner in the office was cold but Stacy felt her whole body heat up by his proximity.

Her dark lashes fluttered, looking up at him with her innocent amber eyes.

"Do I look like a beast?” Bruce asked calmly, his hands pressed on the wall at both sides of Stacy’s head as he peered coldly down at her.

Stacy gulped slightly, anxiety running shooting through her blood, wondering why he asked that.

"A monster?” She shook her head at him.

"Do I look like I'm gonna bite you?”

Stacy shook her head vigorously, her amber eyes still wide open, feeling the heat between their bodies slowly intensifying.

In a deep, husky voice tinged with a hint of frustration, he calmly questioned her, "Then tell me why you keep running away from me when you see me passing by. You think I don't see you doing so but I always do. I do see you 'cause I have eyes everywhere, Stacy Hills,” Bruce Yates whispered, peering intently at her with his stormy grey eyes.

"You do?” Stacy tilted her head to the side, very surprised that Bruce Yates was aware of the way she always tried to avoid crossing paths with him.

"You hide from me every single time like I'm gonna eat you if you come near me. Why is that so, Stacy?” He demanded, her name effortlessly rolling down his tongue.

"Did he just call me by my name?” Stacy’s lips formed a startled O. It sounded so good, like a sweet melody to her ears.

Bruce's grey eyes shut and opened in an instant, letting out a gruff sigh, and turned away from her, taking large strides back to his desk.

The heat Stacy had previously felt between them was suddenly washed away immediately after he left her and she felt cold all over with goosebumps forming in her skin. She didn't know what she said or did wrong to have made him look drastically different from before.

He usually had an unreadable demeanor around him but now, Stacy could read that he was mad about something and she didn't know if the reason had to do with her or…

Stacy sighed after standing there like a statue for close to a minute with her head bowed and her fingers fiddling with the hem of her high-waist office skirt.

She found her tongue and managed to gather the courage, raising her gaze at Bruce who was solely focused on working on his PC, "Can I take my leave now, Sir?” Stacy whispered.

"Yes, you can,” he stated dismissively, not sparing her a glance…

Stacy hearing his dismissal didn't wait for a second before hurrying out of the office like a headless chicken that was let go by her beheader.

After Stacy departed, Bruce's gaze lingered at the door through which she had disappeared, lost in thought for a prolonged moment.

Eventually, he tore his gaze away and resumed his work on his PC, his mind still preoccupied with everything that had to do with Stacy.

Returning to her department with hurried steps her head hung low timidly. All the scenes and words from her boss replayed in her mind. Her heart was pounding heavily against her ribs.

`You're such a scared kitten, Stacy! Why didn't you accept his proposal immediately? You know how much you admire him but yet you acted like a fool without a tongue!’

She was mad at herself for not accepting his proposal even when she knew how much admiration she had for him. Now, she wondered where she would get the courage to tell him that she agreed to his proposal.

Stacy got to her desk and sat before her PC with her dark silky hair falling over her reddened face with her chest heaving heavily like she had run a milestone.

"Stacy, you need to calm down” she chanted in her mind with her eyes close. "You need to be calm before someone notices. You don't want to make a fool of yourself, do you?” Stacy thought inwardly, trying to maintain a regular composure.

"Stacy? Are you okay? Your phone has been ringing. Are you not going to pick up the call?” A familiar voice next to her asked in concern.

"Shit!” Stacy cussed, knowing that her colleague had figured out her discomposure.

Hearing the concerned words of her colleague, Stacy used her fingers to brush her silky hair backward away from her face and tucked some of it behind her ear. Her face was still slightly pink, her nervousness a little noticeable.

As Stacy's phone continued to ring, she glanced at the screen and noticed her father's name flashing on the caller ID.

"Thank you, Samantha. I'll take this call now," Stacy said with a small smile, to which Samantha nodded in understanding.

"No problem, dear," Samantha replied with a polite smile before returning to her tasks.

Frowning slightly at the unexpected call from her father, Stacy picked up the phone, wondering about the urgency behind his sudden contact. It was out of character for him to call during her work hours, prompting her to question his motives. Despite her skepticism, she answered the call.

"Hello, Dad, you called..."

"Mr. Hawk insists on your presence at his mansion tonight! Don't bother coming home cause I've locked the doors. Head straight to his residence and comply with his instructions no matter what he tells you to do, do you understand?!" her father's voice boomed through the phone, causing Stacy to wince and hold the phone away from her ear to protect her eardrum from exploding.

Her colleagues who sat nearby heard the loud voice from the speaker and could not help but steal a glance at Stacy.

With their eyes all set on her, Stacy shifted on her chair with discomfort. She gave them a tight smile, signaling that all was good before they were able to withdraw their gazes from her and Stacy heaved a deep sigh of relief.

"Stacy?” He hollered out her name to be sure she heard him right.

"Uh-yeah, I heard you but I have a lot of work to do. I'm not sure I'll make it over to his place,”

"Even at night? You know you are a horrible liar so don't bother lying to me, Stacy. I'm not stupid,” He warned. "Just go to his house and heed to all his demands!”

Stacy didn't respond to him and instead remained quiet for a few seconds.

"Hello? Are you still there? Stacy answer me this instant!”

He was yelling at the other end of the line but Stacy ended the call with no warnings and turned off her phone to avoid further disturbance from him.

"I'm not meeting any Hawk or Eagle. He should get a woman from some high-class club if he is looking for a woman to have a night with,” Stacy muttered as she rolled her eyes, using her fingers to brush away the hair strands that fell over her face.

Unknown to her, the CCTV cameras in her department were focused on her.