Chapter 42
Chapter 42 Let Me Stay The Night
He had her fingers tightly wrapped within the palm of his hand while he gently caressed them as if he was playing with a cute kitten.
Christina knew that she should pull her hand back as they were standing in a public area. Though the spot they were at was inconspicuous, they were still surrounded by people.
Staff and crew members would pass them by from time to time, so it was possible that someone would notice them standing next to each other.
The lighting in the area was dim, but people could still notice them holding hands if they looked closely.
Despite so, Christina was enjoying the warmth of his touch so much that she just stood there and stared dreamily at him.
Her heart was beating rapidly as though she were a high school student falling in love for the first time. It was an incredibly thrilling sensation to sneakily do something she shouldn't have while at risk of being caught.
It wasn't until the fashion show was coming to an end that Christina quickly pulled her hand back. "I need to head backstage now."
Nathaniel flashed her a smile and watched as she ran off.
Because the fashion show was very successful. Zachary wanted to reward the staff by treating them to a barbecue. He then proceeded to make the reservations and told them to head over to the restaurant shortly after.
As Zachary had offered to treat them himself, the staff would have to go even if they didn't want to.
It was about eleven by the time they were done cleaning up. Christina saw Nathaniel waiting for her next to his car the moment she stepped outside.
The moonlight cast a faint silver glow over his slender figure and gave him an air of mystery,
There was, however, a hint of exhaustion on his handsome face, which was probably the result of his overworking.
Christina made her way over and asked worriedly, "Are you tired? Let's go home, okay?"
That was when Gina called and urged her to head over to the barbecue place. As her design was the spotlight of the fashion show, everyone wanted to have a chat with her about it.
Oh, well... There goes my plan to head home early... If I don't go, everyone's going to be upset with me for being a killjoy. I suppose this is just something you have to deal with when you're in the corporate world. There are bound to be social gatherings that you simply have to attend.
With that in mind, Christina flashed him a sweet smile and said. "How about you head on back without me? I'll just go there and hang out for a bit. It won't be long."
Nathaniel patted her on the head and tousled her hair. "I'll go with you. Come on," he replied while opening the car door for her.
He then got into the car and drove straight toward the barbecue place.
Dozens of staff from two departments attended the gathering, so the entire restaurant was filled with Radiant Corporation's employees.
The atmosphere was merry as the staff chatted away happily with each other. However, the entire place fell completely silent the moment Christina and Nathaniel entered the restaurant together. After all, they were not expecting to see their boss at the restaurant, especially with Christina by his
side.
Realizing that the atmosphere had become tense because of his presence, Nathaniel waved at them and said. "No need to be so tense, you guys. Just relax and eat to your hearts content." Having received the green light from Nathaniel, the staff slowly reverted to their relaxed and merry state from earlier.
As the two continued making their way inside the restaurant, Zachary called out to them from a table with lots of pretty women. "Come join us!"
Nathaniel and Christina then sat down next to Zachary with Nathaniel sitting in between them. As Nathaniel wasn't hungry, he just sat there with a solemn look on his face.
The women at the table were all team leaders in the company. Their hearts were racing like crazy because it was their first time being this up close and personal with Nathaniel.
Some of them tried to build a closer relationship with him by raising their glasses at him, but he declined their toasts with the excuse of having to drive later.
As such, they decided to shift their attention toward Christina instead. Since she was a junior at work, it would be rude for her to decline their toasts.
Christina had no choice but to take small sips for every toast. Fortunately, they didn't deliberately. make things difficult for her, but even so, she still ended up downing a few glasses of wine after several
rounds.
Being a lightweight, that was all it took for her to start getting dizzy.
Nathaniel seized the opportunity to carry her in his arms and told them, "She's drunk, so we'll be heading back now."
Although Christina was a little tipsy, she was still conscious and aware of what was going on around her.
Why did Nathaniel have to carry me like this in front of everyone? What would the other colleagues think of us? As if that isn't bad enough, he even mentioned that we'll be heading back together! That's pretty much hinting to
that we're staying under the same roof? There's no way I'll be able to lie my way out of this one!
everyone
With that in mind, she pretended to be unconscious to avoid meeting her colleagues nosy and curious. gazes while Nathaniel carried her out of the restaurant.
The cold night wind outside helped clear her head up a lot.
"How are you feeling? Does your head hurt? Would you like to drink some water?" Nathaniel asked as he carefully placed her in the passenger seat before caressing her forehead.
Apart from slight dizziness, Christina did not feel any other discomfort. "No, let's go home. I'm tired." she replied while shaking her head.
Nathaniel nodded and made his way over to the driver's seat. He then rolled down her car window by a little to let some fresh air into the car.
Christina's long hair fluttered in the wind while the light from the street lamps flashed past her beautiful face, casting shadows under her long eyelashes which gave her an air of vague sexiness.
She was so tired that she dozed off after a few minutes. Seeing as she was still asleep when they arrived. home, Nathaniel parked the car outside the house and waited patiently. By the time she woke up, it was already one in the morning.
"Why didn't you wake me up?" she asked while unbuckling her seat belt.
Nathaniel was tired too, but he chose not to wake her up because he wanted to gaze at her for a little while longer. "Because you looked really tired."
Christina felt a warm sensation in her heart when she heard that. It felt as soothing as snuggling against a heater in winter.
While glancing shyly at him, she noticed that Nathaniel looked even more tired than before. The dark. circles under his eyes were obvious. "It's really late. You should hurry up and head home." She was about to open the car door when she felt something press down on her shoulder.
Upon turning around, Christina saw Nathaniel leaning against her with his head on her shoulder. "It is indeed really late, and I am really tired. Would you let me stay the night?" he asked while nuzzling against her neck.
"Huh?" It took Christina a good few seconds to realize what he was saying
Nathaniel wants to stay over at my house?
Her face burned bright red as she stammered nervously, "B-But I don't have any clothes for you to change into, a-and it'd probably be uncomfortable for you to sleep in those slacks."
Nathaniel deliberately rubbed his lips against the delicate skin of her neck as he replied, "I go on business trips often, so I have some spare clothes in the trunk."
Christina tensed up like a frightened animal. "I only have one bed, though."
"We'll just cuddle in bed. It's really late, and I have been working all day without getting any rest. My
Nathaniel head is all woozy now. You wouldn't want me to drive home in my current state, would you?" said lazily.
Sure enough, playing the sympathy card worked really well against Christina. As she was unable to think of a reason to refuse his request, she had no choice but to let him stay. "A-All right, then..." They had to be very quiet when making their way through the living room as Evelyn was already asleep when Christina led Nathaniel into the house.
A faint feminine fragrance greeted Nathaniel's nose the moment he entered her bedroom.