After that, Jace made a contract that was ridiculously long.

No physical contact without permission. No standing too close without permission. Any contact during emergencies had to stay "reasonable."

Honestly, it was hilarious. Did he seriously think a contract could stop me?

...Unfortunately, yes. It totally could.

The guy clearly had no idea how shameless I could get.

I had to find other ways to stay in his face. I pulled every trick I could think of and practically worked myself to death for half a month before finally feeling like we'd gotten a little closer.

Then, right when I started getting comfortable, Jace worked himself sick.

Ten minutes into an international video meeting, I realized something was off.

His reactions were slower than usual. His voice sounded rough, and there was sweat on his forehead.

"Boss, are you—"

"I'm fine." He cut me off, grabbed his coffee, took a long drink, then rubbed his temples.

"Mr. Jensen?" someone on the screen asked uncertainly.

Jace swayed a little and had to grab the desk to steady himself.

"Ten-minute break," I said into the mic before cutting the video feed.

"Boss, you have a fever. Let me check."

I reached for his forehead, but he stopped me immediately.

"No touching me without permission." His voice was weak, but he still sounded stubborn. "Continue the meeting."

"Okay, okay. I won't touch you." I lifted my hands. "But you can barely sit upright right now. Let me take you to the hospital."

"No." He dropped back into his chair and shut his eyes.

I stared at him while those ten properties flashed through my head.

Whatever. Taking care of a sick boss definitely counted as 'reasonable.'

"Fine. No hospital." I gave in. "Then at least go lie down in the lounge. I'll get you something for the fever."

He opened his eyes and looked at me, his gaze a little unfocused. He was probably burning up badly enough that he didn't bother arguing this time.

After getting him onto the bed in the lounge, I searched through the medicine cabinet. Luckily, there was a thermometer and fever medicine inside.

"Open your mouth."

I slipped the thermometer under his tongue.

He frowned but still kept it there obediently.

Five minutes later, I checked the thermometer. 102.5.

"Take these." I handed him the fever medicine and some water.

He swallowed everything without complaining.

I pressed a cold towel against his forehead.

He stiffened a little but didn't pull away.

"There. Go to sleep."

"Don't even think about—" he started weakly.

I cut him off immediately. "Relax. I'm not gonna take advantage of you while you're passed out."

He choked on my words, let out a cold huff, then passed out anyway.

I sat on the small couch nearby to keep an eye on him. After God knows how long, he suddenly shifted and grabbed my hand by the bed.

"Don't go..." he mumbled weakly, brows pulled tight together. His damp hair made him look weirdly vulnerable.

Oh my God. How was anyone supposed to deal with this?

This was the same man who could crush an entire boardroom without blinking, and now he was lying here burning up with a fever, holding my hand and asking me not to leave.

Any girl would fold seeing this.

I pressed a hand to my chest and forced myself to calm down.

'Ten properties. Ten properties. Ten properties. If I screw this up by crossing the line, I'm dead.'

After a while, he finally calmed down, and his grip loosened a little.

I carefully slipped my hand free and changed the towel on his forehead.

***

When I opened my eyes again, it was already dark outside.

I'd somehow fallen asleep on the couch.

I stood up and noticed Jace starting to wake, so I leaned over to tuck the blanket around him tighter.

And casually touched his face while I was at it.

My hands were cold, and the second they brushed his forehead, his eyes flew open.

"What are you doing?" He jerked away from my hand, his voice still rough from the fever.

"Tucking you in. Checking if your fever went down too." I looked at him with the most innocent expression I could fake.

He stared at me for a second before quietly saying, "...Thanks."

I grinned and made sure to emphasize, "You're welcome, Boss. Your health is directly connected to my ten properties, remember?"

He looked like he wanted to say something else, but in the end, he just let out another annoyed huff.

"You hungry? I ordered soup. It should be here soon." I pointed at my phone.

He looked at me again.

And wow, that look seriously did something to me.

A second later, he looked away and muttered, "...Don't stay here taking care of me next time."

"That's not happening." I sounded completely reasonable. "What if your fever gets worse and you roll off the bed or something? There go my ten properties."

"You—" He got choked up again, his ears turning red all over. "All you care about are those ten properties."

"What else would I care about?"

Watching him get flustered was seriously addicting. Suddenly, I wanted to push him a little more.

I leaned closer, looked straight into his eyes, and smiled.

"Don't tell me you want me to care about you instead?"

The second I saw Jace's breathing catch and panic flash across his face, I felt completely satisfied and leaned back right away.

"That wouldn't be good, though." I smiled innocently. "I'm very professional."

But before I could pull out of his space completely, he suddenly grabbed my wrist.

"Sherlyn, what exactly does 'professional' mean to you?"

He looked straight into my eyes.

"Does it mean flirting with me and then running away every time?"

Now it was my turn to panic.

"Boss..." I tried to pull my hand back. "Um. You're crossing a line here."

To my surprise, he pulled me even closer instead.

"And what if I am?" he shot back. "I made the rules. I decide what counts."

'Okay, the fever seriously got to his brain. What is he doing right now?'

Fine. If he wanted to play, I could play better.

I gritted my teeth, shut my eyes for half a second, then let him pull me closer.

"You're not actually falling for me, are you? I wasn't even gonna tell you this, but while you were out, you grabbed my hand and told me not to leave." I sighed. "You know, people should really confess their feelings out loud."

Jace instantly short-circuited. His ears went bright red again as he shoved me away.

"Hmph! I was testing you!" he snapped. "Testing whether you were really trying to seduce me. Don't get the wrong idea."

"Oh really?" I grinned. "Then why are your ears so red, Boss?"

Jace froze halfway out of bed.

"I-I have a fever! Isn't it normal for them to be red?"

"Ohhh." I dragged the word out on purpose. "Then why won't you look at me? Is that because of the fever too? Or are you shy?"

"Sherlyn Shay! Get out!"

I figured it out. Whenever Jace got embarrassed, his ears turned red.

I had him pegged. He acted cold and sarcastic, but under all that attitude, he was just a sweet guy trying way too hard to look tough.

And after he got sick, something changed. He kept finding excuses to boss me around.

"Sherlyn, coffee."

"Sherlyn, the files."

"Sherlyn, switch afternoon tea to the toffee pudding from that spot in South Bayford. Go get it."

"Sherlyn..."

I was only supposed to be his fake assistant. Did that fever scramble his brain or what?

I was exhausted, and he only seemed to enjoy it more. His eyes followed me everywhere too. But the second I looked at him, he'd glance away.

"Boss." I finally hit my limit and dropped the pudding onto his desk with zero manners left. "Are you in love with me or something?"

Jace froze. "What kind of nonsense are you—"

"Then why do you keep making me run around nonstop?" I cut in. "Just admit it. If you wanna see me that badly, I can move my desk in here—"

His ears got redder by the second until he finally snapped.

"Sherlyn!" He glared at me, ears burning while he tried to act calm. "Aren't I paying you to be my personal assistant?"

"Well, yeah." I grinned. "But we're just pretending, right? You don't have to commit this hard."

"Hmph!" He instantly latched onto that excuse and straightened up. "I pay you, so you do whatever I say!"

Then he pointed at a paper bag on the coffee table.

"Take your stuff and get out."

I walked over and peeked inside.

It was from that viral shake spot in West Bayford.

My favorite too. Chocolate pistachio. No whipped cream, no extra sugar.

I blinked at him.

He lowered his head and kept eating his pudding. "A supplier sent it over. It tasted terrible. Throwing it out would've been a waste."

Yeah, sure. That place didn't even deliver, let alone send supplier samples.

"Okayyy. Thanks, Boss. You really spoil me."

I didn't call him out. That would've killed the fun.

I'd barely turned around when he spoke again.

"Wait."

I looked back at him. His eyes darted away for a second before he awkwardly cleared his throat.

"We're working late tonight. Order my dinner too... that chicken soup from when I was sick."

The second he said that, he lowered his head again, the tips of his ears turning red.

Who would've guessed Bayford's golden boy was this innocent?

When was this assignment supposed to end already?

At this rate, Jace was gonna win me over instead.

This man was ridiculously flirty without even realizing it.

By eight that night, we were the only two people left on the entire floor.

I'd already ordered dinner, so when it arrived, I unpacked everything and carried it into his office.

"Sit." He didn't look up. "Eat with me."

"Hm?" That was exactly what I wanted, but I didn't expect Jace to ask first.

I instantly switched tactics. "Is this part of the act too?"

He glanced at me, then awkwardly looked away again.

"Mm... my mom has people watching the company."

When I saw his ears turning red again, I kept going. "Ah... but what if your mom thinks I'm getting close to you on purpose to seduce you? Then my ten prop—"

"Are you?"

He looked straight at me.

"Sherlyn, are you trying to seduce me?"

Holy shit. My brain completely short-circuited.

If he was testing me, that would've been one thing—

But the look in his eyes didn't seem like a test at all. He looked exactly like a puppy waiting to be taken home from a pet store.

Damn it. I seriously underestimated him.

When I went quiet, he continued, "If you are, then I don't—"

I cut him off immediately.

"Do you want me to seduce you?"

Even though I was panicking inside, attack was the best defense.

"I..." Jace instantly froze from the counterattack.

I quietly sighed in relief.

Looks like I was still the better player here.

The mood turned weirdly awkward, so I quickly laughed it off.

"I'm not trying to seduce you, okay? Don't say scary stuff like that again... If your mom finds out, I'll lose my ten properties, and I probably won't survive in Bayford either... You know I had a rough life growing up—"

"Enough!" Jace finally snapped out of my nonsense and put his cold expression back on. "Are you eating or not? If not, get out."

Great. The golden boy had reactivated cactus mode.

Too bad I was absolutely messing with him tonight.

"Ah... so you really want me to leave?"

I turned and walked off, silently counting in my head.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1...

"Get back here!"

Heh. Training successful.

I turned around instantly. The annoyed look on his face was still there.

The second he realized I'd turned around way too fast on purpose, his ears went red again.

"You did that on purpose!"

I looked completely innocent. "How can you say that? I was just following your orders."

Jace got choked up again.

Before he could combust from embarrassment, I quickly changed the subject.

"That chicken soup you picked is way too bland. I want a spicy beef burrito."

Jace froze. "That kind of junk food—"

I immediately pulled open the office door.

"Then I'll go eat by myself."

Jace instantly panicked. "When did I say I wasn't eating it!?"