Act Like You Love Me (Jessica) novel Chapter 153

Chapter 153

David’s POV

༥ ཊཱི 87%E

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I watched the color drain from her face in real-time. Her eyes went wide, her mouth falling open as if her heart had simply stopped beating.

“Huh? I’m sorry, Mr. Tyrone,” she stammered, her voice jumping an octave. “I’m not… I’m not ready to get married yet. I mean, I do think you’re handsome-striking, really-and I’d happily say yes in a few years’ time, maybe, but currently…”

I stared at her, stunned into a rare moment of silence before the hilarity of the misunderstanding hit me.

Her cheeks were flaming, a deep, gorgeous red that clashed wonderfully with her dress.

“Miss Moore,” I interjected, clearing my throat to keep from laughing. “I meant a business partner. Specifically, my Executive Technical Partner.”

She blinked, her fingers twisting in her lap as the gears slowly turned.

“Executive… Technical Partner?”

“Correct,” I said, leaning in to sell the fiction I was spinning on the fly.

“I need someone who isn’t just a cog in the machine. I need a direct liaison who can oversee my personal security protocols and audit the high-level encryption on my private servers. Most of the veterans downstairs are too set in their ways; they miss the small, modern vulnerabilities. I need your eyes on the daily operations. You wouldn’t be reporting to a manager. You’d be reporting only to me.”

I watched her process the title. I was essentially describing a role that required her to be by my side for every major meeting and technical audit.

“So… I’d be helping you bridge the gap between the sports logistics and the cybersecurity infrastructure?” she asked, her voice hopeful but cautious.

“Exactly. You’ll be my right hand in every technical decision I make. It’s a high-pressure role, Daphne. It requires… proximity.”

The silence stretched out. To seal the deal, I decided to move the conversation to a different environment.

“Meet me at L’Oiseau on Sunday,” I told her. “We’ll finalize the contract and your salary over dinner.”

Once again, the mumbling started. It was like her brain was a processor over-clocking.

“I can’t afford L’Oiseau, sir,” she whispered, looking down at her lap. “That meal would put me behind on rent for the whole year. I don’t want Lois…..my roommate-to have to bear the financial burden, and honestly, I’ve been saving for a new motherboard..”

“I never asked you to pay, did I?” I’d interrupted gently.

She looked up, a sheepish, lopsided smile breaking through her worry. It was the most genuine thing I’d seen in weeks.

“Oh. Right.” She muttered.

“I’ll pick you up at eight,” I said. It wasn’t a request; it was an appointment.

I could feel her gaze lingering on me as I turned back to my monitor, pretending to be absorbed in an email.

She cleared her throat, the sound small and nervous, and stood up.

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09.57 Thu Feb 19

Chapter 153

“Thank you for hearing me out, Mr. Tyrone,” she whispered.

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I’d barely nodded, keeping my “stern boss” mask firmly in place she retreated, heading for the door with a quiet grace. But just as her hand reached for the handle, an impulse I couldn’t control took over,

“Daphine.”

She stopped and turned. “Yes, sir?”

I looked up, and for a long moment, we just stayed like that.

Her eyes were incredible; a soulful, clear amber that seemed to hold a dozen different questions at once.

They were warm, intelligent, and completely unguarded.

For a second, everything else just faded out: the constant demands of the company, the empty seat Aaron had left behind, and the shadow of my grandfather breathing down my neck…it seemed to vanish, replaced entirely by the woman standing in front of me.

“Have a good day,” I finally managed.

She’d smiled-a real one this time-nodded subtly, and left.

Flashback over.

I was so deep in thought, staring at the ring in my palm, that I didn’t realize the heavy office door had creaked open.

“Are you planning on proposing to the water dispenser, or have you finally lost your mind?”

I jumped slightly, my fingers instinctively curling over the small band of metal as I turned.

Fiona was leaning against the doorframe, her coat draped over her arm and a look on her face that suggested she’d been watching me stand frozen in the middle of the room for far too long.

“I’m fine, Fiona,” I said, straightening my suit jacket and regaining my composure. I quickly slipped the ring into my pocket.

I walked back to my desk, sitting down and pulling a fresh file toward me, trying to look like a man whose pulse wasn’t currently racing.

“I’m just working through a few logistical hurdles. It’s a complex strategy. Not exactly light conversation.”

Fiona didn’t move. She stepped further into the room, her eyes arrowing as they searched mine.

“A strategy? David, you were staring at that palm like it held the secrets to the universe. You look… different. And not the I’ve-had-too-much-espresso’ different.”

“It’s been a long day,” I replied evenly.

“Right,” she said, her voice dripping with skepticism as she turned toward the door.

“Whatever you say. But if you start having full conversations with the furniture, I’m calling your mother and telling her you’ve finally cracked under the Tyrone pressure.”

Before I could respond to the jab, her phone buzzed in her hand She glanced at the screen and sighed.

“Hold that thought. I have to take this, but don’t think you’re off the hook.”

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