Vince held her hand; Hailey could not hide when her cheeks flush pink. Sure it hurts her knuckles after she punched Howie’s thick face, but to her surprise, Vince was very concerned about it.

Maybe, for Vince, hands are one of the most precious parts of the body. Even before, she didn’t see Vince punch a man yet.

“What I told you before? Just tell me if someone bothered you, and I will deal with them myself,” said Vince with a soft tone in his voice.

Hailey stared at him with marvel. She often heard Vince saying this. Now she understood what he meant.

Honestly, she is already used to this pampering from the boys. They are like wolves who will hunt those who do wrong to her.

But surprisingly, it has a different effect on her when Vince phrases that and does the beating on her behalf.

She always reminds herself that what Vince is showing to her is the same treatment as her friends. But as days passed, it troubled her heart because she never went through like this before, nor any of her friends make her feel this way.

Is this love?

Meanwhile, as they were lost in their own world, someone speaks.

“Ahem. President Shen…”

Hailey and Vince didn’t realize that they were staring at each other’s eyes. On Vince’s part, he was waiting for Hailey’s reply. But she is only staring at him.

So then, he stared back until he didn’t notice they stayed frozen on the sofa, holding hands and eyes locked at each other.

If it weren’t for the server, who approach them. Who knows what will happen next?

Vince, who came to his senses, slowly let Hailey’s hand go and face the waiter.

He clears his throat, then asked the server coldly. “What is it?”

Bowing his head, the waiter replied with a flush cheek. Actually, he was hesitant to approach the boss when he was in a sweet moment with his rumored mistress. But already finished their job and were now ready to leave if the boss has no more orders.

“We’ve finished setting up the table, President Shen. You can dine now.”

“Okay. You all can leave. Thank you,” he ordered.

The chef and the two servers bowed and left in silence. Meanwhile, the woman next to Vince is still in a trance of what just happens.

Hailey’s face was blushing upon thinking that she was gazing at Vince dreamily. It wasn’t like her at all. Lately, she’d noticed that she started acting like a teenager having a crush on someone.

And it was so hard to hide her feelings when her heart was only betraying her as it flutters and beats crazily every time she sees Vince, or even she’ll just think of him.

Fell on her thoughts, Hailey returned to reality when she heard Vince inviting her to the dining table.

To her carelessness and startling heart, she stood on her feet with hasty but misstep on the carpeted deck, causing her to stumble and almost fell.

Thankfully for Vince’s good reflexes, he catches her, his arm gripped her waist tight. He commented, “I guess you don’t need to kill your feet with those.”

Hailey understood what Vince meant. He was talking about her shoes.

“I will just take them off,” she said while reaching for the stiletto.

“Wait… stay right there.”

It confused her what Vince meant about that. When he came back, a pair of slippers in his hands.

“Better wear this…” he told Hailey.

Vince’s gestures made her speechless. He bent and placed the slippers in front of her. He then kneels on one foot and about to reach for her ankle.

“It’s okay! Let me change my shoes.” She promptly refused, but then disappointment was written on Vince’s face. It made her taken aback to do anything after seeing his sullen look.

Without second thoughts, Hailey placed her hand on Vince’s shoulder. She reached for her left foot and the right one to take off her shoes, then dropped them on the carpet.

Now that her feet were free from the high heels, she slid her foot in the slippers.

“Thanks! Now I feel relaxed!” she told Vince gleefully, a sweet smile tearing her lips. “So, let’s eat?”

“Yes. Come on.”

Nodding, Vince pulls a dining chair and offers it to her.

Hailey felt relieved seeing Vince’s face now brightens. Honestly, she refused him because she was shy, and her heart is acting crazily. But once displeasure exhibits on his face, she gets worried that he will misunderstand why she rejected his gesture halfway.

Besides, Vince didn’t need to do this when they are alone now. He can stop act sweet to her.

Hence, on these passing days, Vince has been extra sweet to her even when they were alone, which seems everything becomes a casual interaction between them.

However, every time she remembers that one day everything will come to an end, it made her sad.

So then, from time to time, she reminds herself why she signed the agreement.

Sighing inwardly, Hailey watches Vince spoon a soup. When the soup bowl was full, he placed it on her plate.

“Which one do you want to eat first?”

Hailey hears Vince queried. She snaps at herself and stops musing. Her eyes swept on the table, and she saw a mouthwatering crab.

“The crab looks tasty,” she told Vince, who immediately picked up a smaller plate and placed two crabs on it, then put it down to the left side, near her plate.

She let him place food in front of her. She was grateful that he was in a good mood now.

What happened earlier at the resort and her refusal with the slipper thing, she got to know more about Vince. And in those situations, she should add that on the List of What Triggers his Mood.

Then, once his future wife is keen to consider these things, there will be no misunderstanding between them. Hailey mused.

She watches Vince continue fixing food on the plate.

‘It’s no doubt. His future wife would be so lucky,’ she thought inwardly, drawing the soup spoon on her lips and leisurely sipping the wonderful beef soup.