Chapter 13

The moment Alexander realized where his hand had landed, an unfamiliar heat crept up his body.

What the hell was happening to him?

Annoyed and clearly not in the mood to figure it out, he tossed the woman in his arms right onto the bed.

"Ah!" Evelyn let out a muffled cry of pain—he'd thrown her without the slightest bit of care.

He didn't even blink. After shooting a quick glance at his son, he walked right out without looking back.

Was this guy bipolar or what? One second he seemed normal, the next minute he was a completely different person. Evelyn stared at the closed door, thoroughly confused.

Whatever, who cares?

She let out a sigh and lay back down.

But there was no way she could fall asleep now. Her mind kept replaying what just happened, and her skin still tingled from where he'd touched her—like the warmth lingered.

This is insane. She shook her head hard, trying to erase the memory.

But sleep just wouldn't come. Alexander probably thought she'd tried to seduce him. That thought alone made her want to bury herself alive. I mean, come on—if she really had that kind of ambition, she definitely didn't have the guts to pull it off. He was the freaking president of Solandia, and she was just, well, nobody.

Her throat getting dry, she grabbed a jacket and decided to go down to the kitchen for some water.

The elevator dinged softly when she reached the first floor. To her surprise, the lights in the living room were still on.

Weird. Even the house staff had gone to bed by now. Who could still be up?

She swore all she wanted was a quick peek, but the moment her eyes locked onto the man on the couch, she wanted to slap herself.

"Curiosity killed the cat. Curiosity killed the freaking cat," she muttered, giving herself two light smacks on the cheeks. She quickly turned, hoping to sneak off before he noticed.

Only she spun too fast and her head smacked straight into a column.

Ow. Just great.

She bit back the pain and peeked toward the living room—yep, she'd definitely been spotted.

Alexander was lounging on the couch, fresh out of the shower, dressed in a dark silk robe that made him look both dangerously elegant and completely unapproachable. A half-full glass of wine dangled lazily from one hand, but his eyes—cold and sharp—were fixed right on her.

"I swear, I wasn't trying to seduce you!" Evelyn blurted out, panic rising instantly. That comment he made earlier in Ethan's room stuck with her. She waved her hands in a flustered attempt to explain. "If I'd known you were here, I would've never come in. I was just getting water, that's it!"

"So according to you, I'm some kind of monster now?" Alexander swirled the liquid in his glass.

"No, no! That's not what I meant!" Evelyn hurried to explain, and only then did she realize she hadn't put a bra on. She tugged her clothes tighter, trying to cover up. Even though she'd thrown on a jacket, it didn't really do much if someone looked closely.

Alexander didn't respond. He just stared at her from across the room, his gaze intense enough to make her scalp tingle.

"I was just thirsty and wanted to get some water from the kitchen. You go ahead with whatever you're thinking about, I won't get in your way." Evelyn quickly tried to retreat after speaking.

"Come here," he said from behind her.

It wasn't a request—it was clearly a command.

Even though his tone rubbed her the wrong way, Evelyn had no choice but to stiffen up and walk into the living room.

"Mr. President, did you need to talk to me?" She stopped about ten feet away from him.

"Can't I call you over if I don't have anything to say?" Alexander shot back.

"Of course you can. But you're a busy man—what time do you even have to waste chatting with me?" She blurted it out without thinking.

And sure enough, the man sitting on the couch suddenly didn't look too pleased. He stared at her, the kind of look that made it impossible to guess what he was thinking.

Did she say something wrong again? Evelyn genuinely didn't know how she was supposed to deal with this President guy.

"Mr. President, are you drinking wine?" Out of things to talk about, she picked the safest topic that came to mind.

"Just trying to sort through some thoughts."

"Figure anything out yet?"

"Almost did, thanks to you, but you ruined that. Now I'm back to square one."

"..."

So basically, he was saying it was her fault again? Evelyn felt a little guilty. She really hadn't meant to mess up his thoughts.

"Mr. President, it's really late. Aren't you tired at all?"

What she really wanted to say was: It's the middle of the night, if you're not going to bed, at least let me go. Even if I can't sleep, hanging out in the living room with you at this hour feels... weird.

Honestly, it was all her fault things turned out like this.

Alexander couldn't stop thinking about how easily she'd stirred something in him earlier.

Even after a cold shower, the heat she triggered hadn't completely gone away. That soft touch—just the memory of it left him restless.

So when he couldn't sleep, he came downstairs to pour himself a drink.

Honestly, before this, he never felt anything even close to this for a woman. His family actually thought something was wrong with him physically at one point. They kept slipping traditional medicine into his drinks, hoping it'd help, but it did nothing. It wasn't until Ethan was born that they finally let it go.

Even that incident felt more like an accident than anything else. He couldn't even recall what really happened back then. After that, he just threw himself into work like his feelings got switched off, and he didn't care about romantic stuff at all. So now, he really couldn't figure out why this woman in front of him could stir something in him so easily.

"Jet lag," he finally muttered as an explanation.

This trip had been way too tight on schedule—supposed to be a week, and it turned into two. He'd barely been getting four hours of sleep each night. Truth be told, jet lag wasn't even the real issue.

"Oh," Evelyn responded, feeling kind of stupid for asking. Given the time difference, it was probably still afternoon over in Avaria, so he shouldn't be sleepy at all.

After saying that, though, she really didn't know what else to add.

Alexander rested his glass in one hand, sitting under the warm yellow light that cast a soft, blurry glow around him. Even though his face showed signs of exhaustion from two weeks of non-stop work, that refined air about him still came through effortlessly.

Weird... She hadn't touched a drop of alcohol, but somehow, she felt tipsy just looking at him.

Evelyn kept her eyes on him. Out of nowhere, a light-headed feeling crept up on her.

"Ahem... then I'll leave you to your thoughts," she said, letting out a couple dry coughs and getting ready to slip out.

"You really can't stand being in the same room with me for more than a few minutes?" Alexander cut in, his tone low, with a slight edge of annoyance.

They'd barely had a short conversation and she was already trying to bounce again—for the second time. Did she really think he was that boring?

"Haha, no, of course not! I just didn't wanna disturb you," she said, giving a slightly awkward laugh.

He glanced down at her legs, then said, "If that's true, then sit down."

"No need, I'm fine just standing here," Evelyn glanced at the space beside him. No way was she about to sit there on her own.

Alexander wasn't the kind to waste energy arguing when he could just act.

He leaned forward slightly, reached out, and pulled her right down next to him in one smooth move.

"Ah!" Evelyn yelped, totally caught off guard.

What the hell was that supposed to mean? It was late, just the two of them here, and now he physically pulled her to sit next to him. Plus, he wouldn't stop staring at her legs...

She tugged her clothes tight around herself again, eyes wary as she glanced over at him.