Chapter 15

She woke with a start as usual and turned on the bedside lamp. She didn't need to check the time as she knew it was 5am sharp. She yawned and sat up on the bed, looking down to where Ayo laid.

If he was sleeping, she wasn't sure as it was dark down there. The AC in her room made her want to switch it off. Although he was laying on some blankets, she worried if it was enough. Definitely the floor was cold and so was her room. She wouldn't want him to fall sick without them getting this job done and dusted.

" Why are you up by this time?". His voice was filled with tiredness.

" What can I say? I'm an early riser". Her voice held no humour.

" 5am". He said after checking his phone. " I'm also an early riser. I wake at 9am".

She furrowed her brows " how is that early?".

" What can I say, I sleep till I'm tired of it, right from my hearts content. You? Nah".

She rolled her eyes " Are you fully awake?".

" yea I am". He sighed.

Was he cold down there? Maybe she should turn off the AC. She had two in her room because she liked the cold. It kept her skin fresh and prevented her from her arch enemy- sweat. But now that they were going to the beach, she prepared herself for the heat of her life.

Nigeria was hot on it's own. Sometimes, it was as if she went out of Earth and moved closer to Mercury. Ivonne had never experienced it so much as she was always under AC in her office, car and house.

Ivonne shook her head, trying to get rid of the thoughts. Why was she thinking about him? She had enough problems on her own.

She eased out of bed and turned on the lights in her room. Not even batting an eye at him because she would immediately be smitten by his looks, Ivonne strode into her wardrobe. Switching on the lights, she stood there debating whether to call her designer to do a quick shopping for her.

" What are you doing?". She heard the rustle of the blankets on the floor and knew he was getting up.

"Nothing that concerns you". She shut the door behind her and strode in. She wasn't too far away to hear him say ' I'm pretty sure it does '.

Eye roll. Right now, her wardrobe was a mess. She didn't see anything she could wear to the beach. Time to call her designer.

She made the phone call and moved to the bathroom to take a shower. Ayo wasn't in the room when she got back and the time was 6am. She hurried downstairs and stopped midway when she perceived something… burning.

Uh oh.

She dashed to the kitchen and saw Ayo coughing out his guts.

" what are you doing?". At the sound of her voice, he jerked putting whatever he was holding behind him.

" oh hey there Ivy. When did you get down here?".

" what are you hiding?". She moved closer to him and he backed away.

"nothing that concerns you".

"actually it does seeing how this is my house and you're in it".

He shrugged " fine". His hands came in view. One was holding a frying pan. In it was something so black she could not even recognize the... Whatever that was. The second was holding a phone.

"explain".

He sighed " I wanted to cook you something to eat. You know, breakfast in bed so I used my phone to get the recipes... And as you can see it turned out to be a disaster".

He wanted to give her breakfast in bed. Aww, isn't that sweet?! When had she ever gotten that? Oh yeah, never.

Ivonne laughed. So hard that her eyes watered. She wiped them with back of her hands and looked up to see Ayo's confused face.

" what's so funny?". He asked dumping the pan in the sink.

" The fact that you can't cook, yet you want to serve me breakfast in bed. How stupid". She tipped her head back and laughed even harder. She glanced at him and stopped immediately. Her heart sank and butterflies filled her tummy.

He was staring at the floor and after a while, he raised his head, looking at everywhere except her.

" Ayo... ". She started to speak not sure of what she was going to say but he stopped her by walking away.

" I'm gonna go take a shower". He was out of the kitchen in a blink of an eye.

Ok, what just happened? Did she say something wrong? She had just said what was on her mind, nothing wrong with that. Some people still find it hard to accept the truth. She was used to speaking her mind about everything. No one and not even him could stop that.

Rolling her hair up, she got busy. Washing off the burnt... Food from the pan. He made quite a mess in her kitchen and all for what? A chance to woo her and sweep her of her feet?As she began cooking, she let her mind wonder someplace else. Like what's going on inside her company, she'd forgotten to check her IPad for the updates that Patricia left her. Just to satisfy her subconscious actions, she let her mind stray to Ayo and concluded that whatever was wrong with him would clear sooner.

" you're a great cook". He said with a pout and avoided her gaze.

She almost giggled at the sight " and you're not". When he scoffed, she continued "why would you try to cook when you know you can't?".

" isn't it obvious?". He asked with a sly smile tugging at his lips.

She paused and crooked her head to one side while holding his gaze " the fact that you're a terribly cook even with google by your side?". She nodded " yeah it's pretty obvious".

He stood and took his plate to the sink, with a sigh he said " well I apologize for trying to be Romantic and making you feel special ". There was an ounce of hurt in his voice and she turned to stare at his back.

" What are you? A specialist? Did I ask that you make me feel special? Don't apologize to me like that if you don't mean it". Well that came out so cold she was surprised. Why was she getting mad at him?

" Why are you getting mad? I should be the one upset not you. I cut myself so many times dicing that garden egg ". He faced her with a brow raised and folded his arms.

Her face was void as she spoke " if I don't tell you to do things and you do them,  whatever happens to you is your problem not mine. But I will not let you burn down my house as an attempt to what? Win me over? Like that would ever happen". She rolled her eyes as she made her way to the sink.

She ignored the warmth radiating from his body, washed her plate and sat back on the stool.

" I was cooking. For you". He said it slowly like he could not believe his words and as if he wanted something to register in her head.

" so?". She held his gaze and for a minute, his face fell but was gone as quickly as it came. Trying to mask his emotions? Still has a lot to work on.

" Are you purposely trying to make me mad? Because if you are, it's working". He was sounding so calm and there was a smile in his lip. She didn't think so.

Ivonne rolled her eyes " well it's not my fault you can't handle the truth. And why would I even want to make you mad? Who are you? I have better things to do than that".

" ok what is your problem? You're acting strange? It's like you've got a grudge against me or something ". He couldn't help but ask. She was being so mean and darn it was hurting him bad. She had no idea how much he was hurting right now. He really cared about her a lot.

She scoffed " As if you don't know what my problem is".

" I don't know. If I knew, do you think I'd be asking?".

" My problem is standing right in front me".

He furrowed his brows and it took a while for that to register " what?".

" uh huh. You, Ayo, are my problem. You think you can just walk in here and do your bidding? Just because I ignored your... Effortless efforts you were mad at me. As if you can win me over".

" I do admit I was mad at first but I was not after I showered. I'm not one to hold on to anger like a life force... ".

" oh so you're trying to say I have anger issues?". She stood and folded her arms and glared at him.

Ayo gaped for while " obviously. Why else would you be getting mad when I'm the one who was hurt?".

She opened her mouth to speak but stopped and shook her head " I have nothing to say to you".

" of course. Another ' I-don't-care ' word". He rolled his eyes and that just did it.

" listen I don't know you and you don't know me so quit acting like you do because it bugs my skin like a million worms are crawling on them. Just stay away from me, keep your 'romance' to yourself because after this job is done, I'll toss you aside like damaged goods. Acting all cute around me won't get you to stay by my side once I'm C. E. O".

Ayo nodded. He understood fully now. He would never be anything more to her than an employee... make that a gold digging employee " ok. From now on, I won't bother you. I won't do anything unless it's work related". He raised his hand in total surrender and walked out of the kitchen and into the living room.

As he sank down on the soft couch, he reached for the remote of the TV and switched it on. Not that he was even interested in watching TV after all that just happened. With the way he was hurt, he so badly wanted to pack his things and walk out of her house and life forever. But that would hurt him more because she made him promise that he'd stay.

Ivonne cupped his face, her eyes flicking between his eyes and his lips. When he did the same, she grinned.

" are you going to kiss me now Mister?". She said with a pout in her voice.

As Ayo looked down at the young woman he'd followed from the club and spent hours with already, he still couldn't believe someone so gorgeous existed.

They talked for a very long time, well she did most of the talking as he was busy making sure that her clothes stayed on her body. Even though the dress she was putting on was seductive, he preferred that to seeing her naked.

" Hey, don't drift off on me". She whined and posed her lips.

" sorry. What is it that you wanted?". He asked and leaned into her touch.

" a kiss from my lover". She grinned.

" your lover?".

She nodded " mm you're mine now, I'm not letting you go anywhere".

He arced a brow at her possessive statement " really? And how exactly do you intend to get me to stay?".

She furrowed her brows and was silent for a while. " You know everything about me already and I warned you that I wouldn't let you go if I told you everything".

" point of correction, you said to listen to you".

" same thing. You said it yourself not to leave me". She accused.

" I'm pretty sure you won't remember this when you're sober, and you said it yourself, you can be a real bitch when you're sober".

" mm. I have an idea". She raised her hand and wiggled. The action made Ayo glance down to her breast. Wrong Move. Her breasts jiggled and he felt chocked. He coughed out his guts and after a while, he held her gaze.

" sorry, what was the idea again?".

She laughed and he revealed In the moment. If she told the truth about herself, then that means he had to savor the moment of her being all happy. She reached out and held his hand in hers as her eyes held his.

" let's sign a contract".

A/n: gasps I see what happened now. Ivonne's going to flip when she finds out what really happened. :D

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