Chapter 32

“MA’AM…”
She raised her head and turned in the direction of the door. Prudence saw her secretary peeking inside her office.
“Yes?”
“A certain Julian Whitewoods called. He wants to talk to you,” Macy informed her.
Her brows furrowed. What was wrong with him? Why was he calling on the company phone instead of her personal number? Prudence picked up the phone and found out that it already ran out of charge.
“Please connect his call now,” she told her secretary afterward.
She picked up the receiver when the intercom rang.
“What are you doing?” Julian asked on the other line. His voice sounded a little annoyed.
She leaned against her seat and sighed.
“I’m sorry. I’m quite busy with paperwork today, and I just found out that my phone is dead.” She never thought a day would come that she would explain such a thing to Julian.
“Ah… of course you are busy,” he said nonchalantly.
Her gaze reverted to the digital clock above her table. It was past four in the afternoon, she usually got off from work at six, and they always had dinner at seven. Was he feeling excited to see her now? Prudence shook her head immediately to erase that thought. Ah, she must stop overthinking and assuming things about her relationship with Julian. She would only get hurt in the end once her job was done.
“Julian, are you still there?” she asked after a few moments of silence from the other line.
“I am.” She heard him let out a sigh. “I’m wondering if you could get off work earlier than six. Well, I mean right now.”
Prudence couldn’t help but raise a brow at what he said. Good thing Julian wasn’t in front of her at that moment.
“Why?”
“It’s my mother’s birthday, and she wants to celebrate her birthday with an intimate dinner with family. She usually throws a birthday ball, but she can't do it this year because of that incident with my brother. And, of course, you are expected to be there because you are my fiancée.”
“You should’ve told me earlier. I need to buy her a gift—”
“I tried to, but I couldn’t reach you on your phone. Anyway, don’t worry about the gift because I already bought her the latest bag design from her favorite brand. Just hand it over to her and tell my mother it’s your gift.”
“Julian, that is—”
“No more buts, Prudence. You don’t have enough time to shop for a gift.” She heard consecutive loud honks in the background. “And you should be preparing to leave by now.”
“Wait. What?”
“I’m coming to pick you up.” There was a sound of screeching wheels. “I just got into the parking lot.”
“Ah, Julian! Ah!”
She heard him laugh at her before the call ended.
Groaning, Prudence slammed the receiver back into the cradle and started to fix her things. She was almost done when her office door suddenly swung open, and Julian came in with his hands propped on his sides.
“Still not done yet?”
She rolled her eyes.
“Do you really have to sound impatient?”
“It’s your fault anyway.”
She also propped her hands to her sides and looked at him with narrowed eyes.
“You are at fault, too, for not telling me beforehand. I was with you last night, yet you didn’t mention anything,” Prudence countered. There was no way she would let him win that argument.
“Well… I… uh…” She knew she had won when Julian dropped his arms to his sides and heaved a sigh. “Fine, I’m so sorry that I forgot to tell you about it. I was too occupied last night.”
His expression suddenly changed. Now he looked like someone who was really stressed out with life and work. Well, there was no need to ask why. Of course, Julian would be stressed with work and pressured by his family.
Prudence grabbed her bag and went to his side. Smiling, she caressed his arm and gave him a light tap afterward. Her gesture was genuine, and she knew that he felt her sincerity. Julian smiled back, linked her arm around his, and then they walked out of her office.
“Do we have spare time left before dinner?” She gave him a side-way glance.
“Why?”
They stood in front of the elevator, waiting for its door to open with their arms still linked.
“Well, I’m hoping we can still drop by my place. I want to change.”
“We will drop by then. They will wait for us anyway.”
“Minutes ago, you are rushing me, and now you are telling me it’s okay for us to be late?” Her mouth dropped open. “Really, Julian?”
He turned to her with a wide grin plastered on his face.
“Well… I’m Julian Whitewood, Prudence. I break the rules when I want to.”
A smile curved on her lips. Now that was a side of him that she didn’t know about, and she was suddenly fascinated. Perhaps it was one of many reasons he was far different from Chase.

PRUDENCE left Julian in the living room, and she went straight to her walk-in closet to change into a dress fit for his mother’s birthday dinner. She wanted to look regal and classy, someone who was fit to join the Whitewood family.
She chose a pleated green-midi dress that best fitted the personality she was portraying in front of the Whitewoods. However, she found it difficult to wear because she couldn’t reach its zipper at the back.
“Do you mind if I help?”
She felt a jolt of electricity traveling through her system when she heard Julian’s voice inside her room. When she turned her gaze in his direction, she saw him leaning against the door frame with his arms folded across his chest.
“Y-yes, please.”
She straightened her back the moment Julian held the tab. He slid it up so slowly, and she could feel his fingers gently caressing her skin at the back as his hands traveled up. It felt very, very sensual, but she tried to ignore the sensation building within her. Prudence promised herself that she would hold back any feelings that could manifest while spying on them.
She gasped when he finally stopped.
There… it was done.
But no one of them dared to move. They just stood there, looking at each other through their reflections in the full-length mirror.
“W-we must leave now, right?” she said afterward.
Darn, the sound of her voice was close to a whisper. Why did she have to sound like that? She was scared it might have given Julian the wrong impression.
She slowly turned to face him, and to her surprise, Julian wrapped his arms around her body and pulled her for a kiss.
That one was fiery, and she couldn’t do anything about it. Those kisses made her knees weak. Prudence wasn’t sure how long she could manage to stand on her feet. However, the kiss didn’t last long. It was Julian who cut it first.
“I-I think I ruined your makeup,” he said breathily as his fingers brushed the corner of her mouth.
She chuckled and shook her head afterward.
“It’s fine. I can touch up,” she countered under her breath.
“Ah… right.”
Julian continued looking at her with a heated gaze. And the only thing she could read in his eyes was that… he wanted to feel her… skin to skin. And she must commend him for not forcing himself on her despite feeling such strong desire. Perhaps there was still this gentle persona inside of him that no one knew about…
Prudence was about to say what was on her mind when his phone suddenly rang. He then freed her and answered his call.
“I will be there, I promise.” He looked at her. “Yes, of course, Prudence is coming with me.”
Julian ended the call and pocketed his phone.
“Is that your mother?”
“It’s my sister. She said my mother is starting to panic because we haven’t arrived there yet.”
She grabbed a tissue and wiped off the smudges.
“We should really hurry now. I don’t want to give your mother or the whole family a bad impression about me.”
“Hm. I will wait for you at the car,” Julian said before sauntering out of the room.
Prudence let out a sigh when she was finally left alone. That kiss left her burning, and her emotions hadn’t subsided yet.
She crumpled the tissue in her hand.
“Damn it,” she muttered.