Chapter 4

“Mm…” Audrey slowly opened her eyes when she felt something wrapping her. A toned chest welcomed her after adjusting her eyes to the bright sunlight reflecting on the glass window. ‘What the…?’ Warm sweats were dripping from her face down her neck, making her uncomfortable. She remembered not turning on the air condition before going to bed the previous night and thanks to the man who was hugging her like a koala, she felt hotter.

“Right,” she muttered when she recalled what happened. Shane came in the middle of the night and slept on her bed only to kick her after he found out she was there too. She was too exhausted to argue with the man, and he thought the same, so they ended up going back to sleep without further ado. “But hugging me like this isn’t part of the deal,” she softly said, trying to get off his hold.

Audrey rolled her eyes when she failed to remove Shane’s arm. His grip actually went tighter whenever she tried to move. “Ha…” she placed her palm in front of her mouth before exhaling, checking her morning breath. It didn’t smell too bad, and she thought it was fine. She quirked her brows up before calling out for his name, waking him up while pushing his chest away from her face. “Shane… wake up. You need to get off of me,” she started.

The man didn’t seem to hear what she said and was still sleeping. “Shane, do you have any idea of what you are doing right now?” she said in a louder voice. She was relieved for a sec when he moved his leg a little, expecting him to let go of her, but was disappointed once again when he wrapped it around her waist, caging her tightly within his hold. His bare skin was touching hers. “Oh gosh,” she whimpered when she felt a hard thing poking at her torso. She wasn’t that clueless not to know what that thing was.

Her brain cells seemed to halt for a moment when the door swung open, revealing the familiar blonde man, wearing nothing on top but the kitchen apron. “Morning…” Nathan greeted in his usual jolly tone though his eyes were locked at the man beside her. “Oh, sorry to interrupt you guys. I wasn’t informed that you’ll catch up with the honeymoon you missed a few years ago,” he said before closing the door gently.

The heat gathered on her cheeks and Audrey was quite glad that Shane was asleep, or she wouldn’t know how to handle his reaction after what Nathan said. ‘Nate, how dare you treat your boss like this!’ She was cursing him inside her head when her body bounced on the floor. If not for the thick blanket draped around her, she’d definitely ended up with broken bones. “Ah!” she glared at Shane who glared back at her.

“You can’t just throw me off the bed like that,” she said calmly. “You should know it hurts. If you’re not aware of that then try tumbling from the bed to the floor,” she added, going on her feet and stretching. Her eyes landed on his well-built body, and she was trying not to get distracted. He was basically in his boxers and nothing else.“Did you just wake up or…”

“You were throwing yourself at me and when I opened my eyes your ugly face surprised me,” he noted, interrupting her. “Don’t worry, I won’t be kicking you off the bed again. I mean, we won’t be sharing the same bed ever for the second time.” What he said pricked her heart for the nth time. The weight of each word coming out of his mouth caused her rapid heartbeat to slow down and soon, she knew, would definitely be the same reason for it to stop beating. 

‘Seriously? You were the one who was hugging me. That’s why I need to stop this foolishness right away,’ she thought.

“Right. In fact, I’m not sure why you came to sleep in this room. You even mentioned something last night about ‘using this bed for years’…” she drew a quotation mark in the air for the last phrase she said.

“…even after knowing that this is my bed,” she added. Audrey raised her head to stare at him, squinting her eyes. “You may be wondering why I’m here, well. We’re going to talk about it after having breakfast,” she continued. She removed the blanket before going out of the room, leaving the man speechless.

“That’s right, Audrey. You can’t fall for the same man who couldn’t even attend his own wedding. Enough being stupid,” she thought to herself and walked downstairs.

The smell of freshly boiled rice and fried chicken made her stomach growl. With a wide smile on her face, she sauntered towards Nathan who was busy preparing the table, and gently slapped his shoulder. “This is the first time you successfully cooked the rice. I’m so proud of you,” she muttered before heading to the sink to gargle water. ‘Shoot, I forgot my toothbrush.’

“Here.” Just like superheroes in the movies who appeared whenever someone’s in need, Nathan handed her the toothbrush. “I know you’ll forget it, so I took it from your bag when you were still asleep. Brush your teeth and eat. I have to check out the flat I bought. Call me if you need something,” he said.

“Aw… what would I do without you?” Audrey giggled and started brushing her teeth. “Wait for me. I’m coming with you.”

“Excuse me, I’m not doing it for free. Just don’t forget to raise my salary after you get together with your husband,” Nathan smirked at her and took off the apron. “Sure Bella, just eat your breakfast first. We need to come up with a new recipe for the restaurant as well. We can discuss it later after you settle your affairs,” he added. Nathan isn’t just Audrey’s personal assistant but actually a sous chef as well.

Oh, she may not look like it, but she’s actually a renowned chef in Italy. Another reason for her return is to open her very own restaurant in her homeland.

Audrey dabbed her mouth with a towel he handed to her when she was finally done brushing. “Hep! I came back to properly split up with him, nothing else,” she pointed out. “Our marriage has always been hopeless.” She smiled and pulled a chair to sit. “And I’ll take care of the new recipes. I have something in mind I want to try.”

“What did you say?”