Chapter 43
Zachary returned within ten minutes, and Jessica met him at the doorway.
His face was flushed from the wind and snow, while faint wisps still curled from his lips. His hair was damp with melted snow, and his hands, gripping a black plastic bag, had gone stiff
from the cold.
She gently brushed the snow from his hair, then cupped his icy cheeks with both hands.
Taking the bag from him and setting it aside, she brought his frozen hands into hers, breathing warm air onto them.
“You ran out like that without even putting on an extra layer,” she scolded softly.
At five–foot–five, she had to tiptoe just to reach his chin.
Zachary’s face turned red, and he instinctively bent down a little to meet her halfway. His body
began to warm up almost instantly.
Jessica reached up again, brushing his face, wiping the tiny droplets clinging to his lashes. Her hands, warm and gentle, kept moving across his skin, cupping his face like she didn’t want to
let go.
He couldn’t bear the unintentional intimacy, so he turned his face away, trying to escape her
touch.
“You should do your thing.”
“Okay.”
Worried he might catch a cold, Jessica had him take another hot shower after she cleaned herself up.
After all the commotion that night, the two of them finally ended up in the same bed.
Both lay stiffly under the covers, arms neatly resting above the blanket like well–behaved kids. They were so in check that it felt… odd.
Perhaps it was the jet lag, but neither of them could sleep restfully that night.
It wasn’t until after 10:00 am the next day that they finally awoke,
Zachary was still lying as straight as a board. Even in his sleep, he carried that quiet, composed air around him. The only difference was that his head had tilted toward Jessica slightly, his chin resting just above her head.
As usual, she had clung to him sometime in the night. Her arms were wrapped around his
Chapter 43
chest, her head tucked against the crook of his neck.
At some point, his hand had found its way to her waist, pulling her close.
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Though he was awake, he didn’t move. Instead, he stayed there quietly, breathing in the scent of her hair while gently rubbing circles on her waist.
Suddenly, the phone on the nightstand vibrated.
In her sleep, Jessica let out a soft sigh and slowly turned over. Still half–asleep, she reached for the phone and slid her thumb across the screen purely by muscle memory.
“Hello…” she answered groggily.
The caller was silent.
“Huh? Did they call the wrong number?” she mumbled, pulling the phone away from her ear to squint at the caller ID. “Pops?”
That was the contact name on the screen.
Jessica froze. She didn’t have anyone by that name in her contacts, and this definitely wasn’t her phone…
Jessica slowly looked up at Zachary, who was already staring at her. She awkwardly handed the phone back to him.
His slender fingers brushed against hers as he took it from her. With just the lightest touch, it sparked a fire between them.
“Hey, Dad.”
As soon as Zachary spoke, the caller hung up. Zachary chortled, a smirk hanging on his lips.
Feeling yet another wave of awkwardness, Jessica climbed out of bed and left the bedroom.
After they finished getting ready, Zachary had breakfast delivered to their room. It was simple yet hearty–sandwiches and warm milk.
Around 11:00 am, they set out after texting Hazel. They rented another car, but this time, it felt a lot more comfortable than the last one.
Before getting in, Zachary disappeared somewhere without saying a word. Jessica sat in the car waiting for nearly ten minutes.
When he finally came back, he was slightly out of breath. As he shut the door behind him, a rush of cold air slipped inside with him.
“Where did you go?” she asked, frowning slightly.
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Sure, he was an all–important CEO, but he ran off without a word in a foreign city, not knowing the local language. What if he got abducted or something? That would’ve been her responsibility to take.
She looked at him, and he pulled out a few heat patches from his pocket in the next second.
“Are you that cold?” Jennifer asked innocently.
Zachary passed one to her. “It’s for your belly.”
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Chapter 44
