It had been over a week since Lilac started working with Ryke, six days since she started giving him a cold shoulder.

The blue in his angel’s eyes were icy, almost lifeless every morning she came in to drop off his coffee, like right now, and their fingers brushed as he took it from her, sending sparks flying through them. Ryke would have sold his soul to see those orbs light up again whenever she looked at him.

“It’s good,” Ryke remarked after taking a sip of the hot drink, rushing to get the words out before Lilac could speed out like always.

He didn’t expect a response, this was always the case since she started subtly ignoring him. So Ryke was very shocked when Lilac let out a soft “Hm”.

‘Hm’? That was progress, he supposed. Anyway, Ryke couldn’t stop his eyes from dropping, trailing down her form to her thighs in that skirt. Fuck. That sexy fucking skirt… It sent flashbacks of that night at the club flying through his head, something precious he was never going to get because of their new professional, work relationship.

Or maybe he even had a chance, the opportunity for something secret to kindle between them. But he’d fucked it up. Still, how was it his fault for doing his job as a superior?

Ryke decided he wasn’t going to let this keep going on. “Okay, don’t you think it’s a little immature? This attitude you’re giving me.”

“I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”

Lilac was right. As long as she did her job as she should, she didn’t have to relate closely or amicably with him. But she knew what exactly Ryke was referring to, and Ryke was going to push because of that.

“You’re really mad at me because I scolded you.”

“That’s a very wild claim, sir.” Lilac replied stubbornly and Ryke sighed. He stared at her until she could avoid his gaze no longer, then spoke,

“Do you know what I hate most in the world?” Lilac didn’t respond, but Ryke was having none of that. “Answer me, Miss. Evans.”

“No, sir.”

“Liars. I hate liars, even more than I hate people who cheat. I asked you if you had rested well because you looked visibly tired, and you lied to me that you had, that you’d stayed up all night.”

“So it wasn’t even about my ‘incompetence’, huh?” Lilac’s eyes flared up, full of emotion like it used to before she shut down on Ryke and yes, it was filled with anger directed at him, but it was something. He reveled in it.

She continued, “And why do you even care about my wellbeing?”

Lilac was right. Why did he care so much about her wellbeing? Why did he find himself behaving differently towards her than everyone else? It wasn’t far from the truth to say that he was still heavily attracted to her, that he still felt undeniably romantic emotions towards her.

But Lilac didn’t feel the same in any way, judging by how quickly she promised to keep things professional. She swore that nothing would happen between them again, and so Ryke should have no reason to care about her. Yet just because she wasn’t interested didn’t mean his feelings were going to disappear just like that.

Even then, Ryke respected her. He was neither a creep nor a man who couldn’t take no for an answer. She wanted ‘professional’, he’d give her ‘professional’.

“Miss. Evans, it’s not that I care about your wellbeing, but when you don’t rest well, during the day when you’re supposed to be most efficient, you’re dragged down by tiredness as it was that day during the meeting.”

Lilac’s pretty lips downturned, like something he said didn’t sit right with her. But she didn’t say anything. So he continued, “I believe you understand where my anger came from that day, but I’ll be more respectful when correcting you next time. Is that okay?”

Lilac sighed, “Yes, Mr. Kolynsky. And I’m sorry for the attitude.”

Ryke grinned, “So you admit you were giving me an attitude.”

Lilac frowned cutely, blushing and rolling her eyes. They were back to normal. Thank heavens, Ryke thought.

As Lilac was leaving the office, hand already on the door handle, Ryke spoke again, “Oh, and by the way, if you don’t know how to use Microsoft Excel, just say so. Or if you think you won’t be able to meet a deadline, tell me next time, and ask for an extension. Honestly will get you everywhere.”

Lilac nodded meekly and shut the door behind her. As she did, there it was once again, the feeling of eyes on her body. Every time she left Ryke’s office, she could feel the heat of it, but she never dared to turn back to check if he was looking.

And it puzzled her so much.

That was nothing important though. Ryke’s words played over and over again in her head. ‘It’s not that I care about your wellbeing’.

Lilac sighed. She wished she didn’t have these feelings for him because if it were anyone else, she truly would not give a fuck. But hearing Ryke say that to her, it really felt like a knife in her heart.

***

The rest of the day, work went on smoothly as usual. The tension between employer and employee had dissipated, except that one lingering, heated tension that would draw tight with certain interactions.

When Lilac was handing off a file, the moments when Ryke’s eyes would flit uncontrollably to Lilac’s neck, waist, other parts of her body. The tone he took when speaking with her, almost as if he was… flirting. But, Lilac was probably just reading too much into these small actions.

She would only gain a world of hurt from indulging her wishful thinking.

The work day had drawn to a close but Lilac stayed a little later to finish up something. Ryke had already gone much earlier, leaving her to close up the place. But she was surprised when just as she finished and was shutting down the computer, the door opened and there Ryke was again.

It seemed he didn’t expect Lilac to still be there because he looked surprised.

“You’re still around?” He asked with a frown. “I hope you’re aware that overtime isn’t compensated for.”

“Yep. But don’t worry, I wasn’t intending on staying very late. I just finished as you can see.” Lilac was indeed already packing my things into her tote bag.

“Alright. I left a file I need behind so I’m just going to pick it up.”

By the time Ryke was ready to leave again, so was Lilac. Because of this, walking through the hallway together to the elevator was inevitable.

As the two rode down, a sound growled in the quiet space. It was Lilac’s stomach! Lilac’s face bled into a violent red and she blushed in embarrassment. She tried to maintain her facial expression, acting as though she hadn’t heard the sound. But Ryke chuckled, multiplying her humiliation even further.

“Miss. Evans, are you hungry?”

Lilac’s first instinct was to lie. But Ryke hated lies, and doing so when it would be obvious would be the best way to piss him off again. So Lilac just nodded stiffly, “Yes, Mr. Kolynsky. But that’s why I’m hurrying home to make dinner.”

“You’re leaving later than usual today, meaning you’ll have to be hungry for longer if you do that. Why don’t you come with me? We can grab some food and I’ll drop you off at home.”

“Oh. I… Uh…” How could she say she was too poor to get whatever type of expensive food Ryke was probably thinking of getting, or eat out in general. “I can’t really afford…” Lilac trailed off, hoping Ryke would get the gist of it without her having to complete the sentence.

“That’s okay. I’ll handle it.”

Lilac looked up, watching the side of Ryke’s face gently. Before she could say anything, the door to the elevator opened and both of them stepped off. As they walked through the almost empty officescape, Lilac murmured, “I don’t mean to impose, sir. I’ll be fine, my food at home’s already been prepared, I just need to—”

Ryke didn’t break stride, casting her a sidelong glance with a smirk. “Impose? Don’t flatter yourself, Evans. I’m doing this because I can’t have my assistant collapsing from fatigue on the job because instead of resting once she got home, she spent hours cooking. If you’re useless tomorrow because you’re lightheaded, that’s on me.”

Lilac, not wanting a repeat of the week-long issue they resolved only just today, snapped her mouth shut and nodded. “Alright.”

Ryke led the way to his car which was parked just outside and helped Lilac in the passenger’s side before getting in the driver’s seat. As Lilac was entering, she could’ve sworn she heard a sharp click, like the sound of a camera going off. But when she looked around, she couldn’t see anyone.

Shrugging it off, she got in and soon they were on their way.

“Where to?” Ryke asked, giving her free rein of where they could get dinner. Lilac panicked. Should she suggest somewhere expensive? No, that might give Ryke the wrong idea that she was trying to freeload, but she also didn’t want to suggest anything below his caliber.

Wait!

“GoldenSpoon Cafe.” Lilac suggested, recalling that he’d mentioned having patronized my former place of work.

“I expected that. Alright, let’s go.”

And that was how Ryke and Lilac found themselves looking forward to spending an evening together. In Lilac's mind, she remembered her friend’s suggestion to try to seduce Ryke. Maybe this was a good opportunity. Even as ridiculous as it sounded.

Still, she wasn’t going to let this evening go without trying something.

Lilac’s POV

Once Ryke and I arrived at GoldenSpoon and he’d parked the car, he pulled out a pair of sunglasses from a compartment and slid it on. He saw me watching him with a puzzled expression on my face and smirked.

“I’m not exactly the kind of person who can walk around in public without a care in the world.” Ryke said.

“Ah, I forgot.”

As soon as we opened the doors, I remembered something immediately. My ex-coworkers. I’d completely forgotten that I might see them. It wasn’t really a problem if I were just at risk of seeing Millie and Jayce. They’d just tease me from afar without ever really approaching.

But the thought of seeing the others I used to work with, or even worse, my ex-boss . I never officially resigned when I quit. I just told Millie to pass on the message I was never coming back, but of course, hilariously, here I was.

I looked at Ryke and his sunglasses sadly, wishing I had one of my own. I guided him to a seat in the far corner and sat with my back facing the rest of the cafe.

“What would you like to eat?” Ryke asked once we were settled and I shrugged.

“Whatever you’re having is okay. Thank you,” I smiled, truly grateful.

Ryke signaled for a waiter and I ducked as inconspicuously as I could. He raised a brow at my actions but I simply acted as if I couldn’t see him and kept my head down. The sound of heels clacking drew near and dread filled me. No, it couldn’t be her. Surely, my luck wasn’t this bad.

But the sound of that bored, high-pitched voice asking us for our order reached my ears and I grimaced. It was Rita, the co-worker I was avoiding the most.

“Good evening, what can I get for you?” She greeted as she set down appetizer drinks from her tray.

“We’ll have two potato soups with garlic bread on the side. Is that okay, Miss. Evans?”

Shit. I cleared my throat in an effort to disguise my voice. “Yes, sir.”

I heard Rita’s confused hum at my weird behavior, but she eventually walked away. For the first time, that lady knew how to mind her business.

“Miss. Evans,” I jumped at the sound of my name in Ryke’s deep voice pulling me from my nervous thoughts. Looking at him once again, I met his concerned green gaze and smiled awkwardly. “Is everything alright?”

“Huh? Oh, yes, Mr. Kolynsky. Everything is perfect.”

Ryke’s lips twisted into a smirk as he leaned back, eyes glinting with amusement. “Miss Evans, hiding from someone, are we?” He gave a slow shake of his head. “How very unlike you to let anyone get under your skin.”

Shit. This man was too observant. But he was wrong. Rita was someone who got under my skin a lot for the months I worked with her. That was precisely why I was avoiding her.

I sighed. “I don’t want my former co-workers to see me, especially that waitress. She’s a headache.”

Ryke raised an eyebrow, a glint of curiosity flashing in his eyes as he took a sip of his drink. This action prompted me to reach for mine unconsciously. “It can’t be that serious that you would feel the need to hide… Or maybe, Miss Evans, you’re hiding more than you’re letting on?”

Shame filled me as my cheeks colored and I hung my head in embarrassment. He’d figured something was up. I didn’t want to tell him why exactly I was hiding from Rita but I didn’t have to. It seemed he saw my anxious demeanor and took the hint, not pressing further.

Now that that was over, I remembered my quest to seduce Ryke. I texted Millie beneath the table as we waited for Ryke to return with my food asking if she was currently handling a shift at the cafe and she responded positively.

Great. Some quick tips from her were absolutely necessary. I let her know she should meet me in the restroom.

“Mr. Kolynsky, I’m going to use the restroom. I’d like to avoid Rita when she returns with our food.”

Ryke raised an eyebrow, “We’re not at work, you don’t need to take permission from me. Anyone listening would think you’re my servant or something.”

I nodded, not bothering to reply to his remark and hurried to where Millie said she’d be waiting for me.

Sure enough, there she was in the female side.

“Lilac!” Millie sprung to hug me as soon as she saw me. I couldn’t stop the grin that formed on my face. “How are you? I haven’t seen you since that day of your interview. You abandoned me.” She smacked my arm lightly and I laughed, feeling that joy I only ever got when I was with my friend.

“I’m good, Millie and I’m sorry. How are you, too?”

Millie sighed and let me go, leaning on the sink. “Better now you’re here. So what’s this I’m hearing about seducing Mr. Charming?” She wiggled her eyebrows and I flushed in embarrassment at her teasing. Gosh, I couldn’t believe I was really about to do this.

“He’s here. Like, in GoldenSpoon, I left him at our table.”

“What?!” Millie shrieked and I winced. I really was forgetting Ryke wasn’t just any normal person evident by Millie’s reaction to him being here and his need to hide himself.

“Yeah…” I continued. “He offered to get me dinner so I don’t have to cook after getting home really tired.”

“Holy shit, what? Baby, are you sure you need to seduce him? This is most definitely a date and by the sounds of it, he likes you.”

I sighed in frustration. “No, he doesn’t.”

“Come on, Lilac. Even you can’t be this blind.”

“I’m serious. The only reason he’s doing this is because he doesn’t want me to be useless at work. According to him, he doesn’t really care about my wellbeing.”

“What?!”

“Okay, Millie, you really need to stop screaming.” I said, resting on the wall beside her. I was tired, I guess.

“I’m sorry,” Millie said, “But that is so callous and rude. What is his problem?”

I raised an eyebrow at her question and she nodded. “Right. He’s exactly like the rumors said — an asshole. Whatever, babe. Don’t ever let his words get to you.” Millie groaned, burying her hands in her face. “Ugh, now I’m even rethinking this entire thing. I’m not sure you should try to get him to fall in love with you anymore. Who wants to be with an assbag like him?”

“I… I want to fight for him. At least this one time, before I let him go. What we had that night in the club was too good if I hadn’t ruined it. I want to believe there’s still some attraction to me, even if it’s just a little.”

“You deserve better than that, Lilac, but it’s fine. It’s your choice and love does make us all a little blind anyways.” I laughed at Millie’s words.

She pushed herself off the sink and came closer to me. “Well, then. Let’s get started!” She slapped her hands together, face lighting up in glee all of a sudden so much that it terrified me. What was I getting myself into?

“First of all, what exactly do you hope to achieve by dressing to work like this? Really, Lilac? A t-shirt and sweatpants? I’m surprised they even let you in the building.”

“I don’t have anything else!” I protested. “Besides, Ryke doesn’t mind so it’s fine.”

As I spoke, Millie started to unbutton her shirt swiftly, eyeing my t-shirt with contempt. “W-what are you doing?!” I asked, voice raising in alarm.

“Take off your t-shirt.”

She apparently wanted us to switch clothes. It was too late to back out so I just did as Millie wanted. She couldn’t be stopped when she had her eyes set on something. We ended up switching tops and Millie buttoned her shirt on me till it reached just below my cleavage so my boobs were showing.

Then, she unfastened her necklace and placed it around my bare neck, adjusting the dangly pendant so it fell right into my chest, obviously intended to draw eyes to that space. At this point, I could definitely see her plan.

Millie was so genius at these things, I was grateful to have her help me.

“There.” She said with a smirk, looking at me analytically. “Nothing we can do about the sweatpants. These weapons you call tits will have to suffice.” I blushed at what she called my boobs. They were big but not that big.

Not wanting to waste any more time, Millie grabbed my shoulders and led me out of the restroom. “Wait,” I started in a panic, “How am I supposed to explain this change of clothes.”

“Just tell him you got it wet by accident and a kind waitress was willing to lend you a change of clothes. You need to up your seduction game, sis, I can’t do everything for you.”

Nodding, I eyed Ryke where he sat across the crowded cafe. He’d taken off his jacket and was scrolling through his phone, arm thrown across the backrest of his side of the chair. He looked so hot in the low lights I wanted to melt. I was certain I was going to implode from his aura before I actually got to do anything

Remembering one last thing, I turned to beg Millie to switch with Rita as our waitress as one more favor, but the spot beside me was empty. She’d left me standing alone in front of the restroom door. Ugh, that traitor.

Deciding it was fine, I made my way back to the table. From the looks of it, our food had already been served and Rita wouldn’t be back till we were done eating. It was fine. I noticed Ryke hadn’t started eating yet. That was good. It meant he’d spend longer here with me.

Clearing my throat, I pulled out my chair and sat in it, mumbling “Hey, I’m back.”

Ryke looked up from his phone at me, and promptly he froze. I watched those green eyes land on my neck, then drop down, trailing heat across my collarbones, and finally to my breasts where they darkened till nothing remained except his pupils.

I watched his lips part, and he licked them. His eyes flitted back up to mine, then down again as if he couldn’t help himself. “Hey… Lilac.”