37

She had just arrived at the office when she saw the young man sitting on the sofa with his legs crossed before noticing the stunning bouquet of red roses on her desk.




 Seeing all that, she didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry.

“Young Master Nigel, why are you here so early in the morning?” Nicole asked helplessly.




“I’m here to see your working environment. This office is too small. Do you want me to ask my cousin to change it for you?” Nigel asked with a raised eyebrow.




“No, I like it here a lot.” She didn’t want to enjoy any extra privileges.




“I’ll accompany you at work and we can have lunch together at noon.” He seemed extraordinarily free.




Nicole smiled. “You don’t have to work?”




“Although I came back this time to take over the family business, I had already asked my dad for a two-week vacation.” Nigel’s lips curled into a smile.




During the period of his vacation, he didn’t want to go anywhere; he just wanted to stay by her side.




“Why don’t you wait for me at the café? You will affect my mood for wood.”




“What? Am I so handsome that you can’t concentrate?” Nigel narrowed his beautiful eyes. This man had all the right to be this confident.




Nicole was amused by him and snorted. “Yes, that’s why.”




“Okay, then I’ll wait for you at my cousin’s office.” After speaking, he picked up the bunch of roses and handed it to her. “These are for you; do you like them?”




“Why are you giving me flowers?” She still reached out and took the flowers.




"If you like, I will send you a bunch of flowers every day in the future.".




“No, thank you.” Nicole politely rejected him.




Hearing that, Nigel simply gazed deeply at her with affection. “See you at noon.” After speaking, he reluctantly left.




As soon as he left, an excited Grace knocked on the door and came in. “Nicole, wow! He’s so handsome! Is he your boyfriend?”




Without raising her head, Nicole tidied up her office. “He’s just a friend.”




“I don’t believe it. He’s clearly interested in you. Look at these roses.”




Nicole was too lazy to explain, so she said to Grace, “Just get me a cup of coffee!”




.........




At the president’s office, Drake Butler had arrived late today, but he had already decided to permanently work from here. Compared to the office at Butler Corporation, the working conditions here were not that great.




Before he entered the office, his femaleassistant informed him that a guest had arrived. He stepped into the office and stared at a slender, handsome figure without much surprise.




“Why are you here?” he asked lightly.




“Drake, I’m here to pass the time. I’ll wait for Nicole to get off work and invite her to lunch at noon.” Nigel didn’t hide his intention.




Drake sat in his place and turned on the computer to manage his emails while a bored Nigel played games on his phone.




The two cousins tacitly agreed not to disturb each other.




At this time, Drake's landline rang, so he reached out to answer the call. "Hello!".




“President Butler, do you wish to attend today’s departmental meeting?” Felicia’s voice sounded on the other end.




Drake said that as long as it was a routine meeting of the design department, he had to be notified, so Felicia would ask him in advance every time.




“Yes. I’ll get off work in a while,” he responded.




Nicole was also notified that she needed to attend the meeting. She gathered the meeting materials and went out. However, she had just turned a corner when she suddenly bumped into someone along the corridor. Fortunately, she quickly responded and came to a sudden stop inches away from a man’s chest.




Raising her head, she saw the man's clean and dust-free shirt, then looked over at the man's sexy collarbone, Adam's apple, and perfect jawline..




Before she could finish her admiration of the man, he had passed her by and walked indifferently toward the meeting room. So, Nicole could only follow his footsteps in awkwardness and walked to the meeting room as well.




As soon as the door opened, Drake sat in his seat while her position today was next to him..




Noticing that, Alice looked at Nicole with some jealousy.

 She felt that Nicole was merely too lucky. Even though Nicole had made a few mistakes, she still got to remain in the company with no other punishment either. Thus, Alice deeply suspected that Nicole had a secret relationship with Drake.










“The subject of today’s meeting is that each person will submit a market research report and regular design works at the end of this month. Nicole and Alice should get ready to participate in the jewelry competition at the end of the month,” Felicia announced.




“Felicia, isn’t there a rule in the company that outsiders are not allowed to come in and out of the company at will? Why do Nicole's family members, friends and boyfriends get to come in? It’s not in line with the rules!” Alice immediately spoke up.




Felicia was also a little awkward at this. She looked at Nicole and mentioned, “Nicole, tell your boyfriend not to come to the company often. By sending flowers to the company, it will affect other employees in our company.”




Nicole's face was slightly hot when she heard that. Does everyone regard Nigel as my boyfriend?




Then, she felt a deep and probing gaze on her as well.




“That’s right! Seeing that bunch of roses makes me jealous! Nicole, your boyfriend is so handsome. How could you dare to bring him to the company? Aren’t you afraid that someone will steal him away?” another female designer joked.




“Okay, I’ll talk to him.” Nicole simply admitted that Nigel was her boyfriend since it would be more troublesome to explain otherwise anyway.




Drake's gaze became a little more complicated at that. Thinking of the time when Nigel and Nicole had hugged each other at the airport, he remembered that the woman did not refuse the man’s advances either. Now, she was even openly admitting that Nigel was her boyfriend.




**

After the boring regular meeting was over, Drake said with a sullen face, “Nicole stays while the others may leave.”




Everyone in the room felt the surliness of the big boss, so they quickly rose and left for fear of being taken out upon by his anger.




Nicole was also speechless. Why does he have such an ugly expression?.




When the door of the meeting room was closed, he turned in his chair and an oppressive aura swept over her. Looking

at her with cold eyes, he said, "You should be aware of my relationship with Nigel"




She nodded. "I do. What's wrong?"




Drake's face became uglier. “Remember that you owe me something?” He locked eyes with her deeply, exuding inexplicable danger.




Nicole thought for a while, but couldn't remember what she owed him, so she asked, "Do I owe you anything?".




“You’ve forgotten?” He flew into a rage all of a sudden because the woman had really forgotten.




“Give me a hint.” How could I have time to remember unimportant things?




The man stood up abruptly before clasping her wrist with his long arms. Pushing Nicole's waist against the table, he pressed down upon her with his body raging with hormones. 




As she instinctively leaned back, the man’s hand held the back of her head. Then, he pinched her chin and raised it coldly before his lips came to cover hers with a strong sense of fury.




And so, the kiss fell on the woman's soft lips without any advance notice. It was domineering, rough, and full of aggression as if it was some kind of punishment..




Nicole's beautiful eyes widened in shock; she couldn’t believe that this man would do this to her in public.




His breath swept through her without her consent, causing her mind to go blank. As such, her first reaction was to be annoyed. She pushed him with all her strength and shouted, “Drake, what are you doing?”




"Didn't you ask me to remind you? This is what you owe me." The man's voice was hoarse, while his eyes were dark, and his words were full of mockery.




Taking a deep breath, Nicole then lifted her hand and wiped her lips with disgust. When she thought that Amelia was in a relationship with this man, and that he had touched Amelia before kissing her, she felt extremely disgusted.




“Don’t kiss me!” she shouted angrily. “If you do this again, I will sue you.”




Drake stared at her eyes; she was like a flaming rose. Her lips were incredibly soft, which made him unable to detach himself from her. It even reminded him of the touch of that night 5 years ago. In fact, it was indeed such a delicate feeling that made him go under. Why does this woman make me feel this way? She’s obviously a stranger.