’That makes sense.’
Cecelia Archer was about to close her door and move to the driver’s seat, but Zeke Walton stopped her.
"I’ll drive. You rest. We can switch when I get tired."
Fair enough. The journey was over 800 kilometers, after all. Cecelia Archer sat down next to Damien Vaughn.
The car pulled away smoothly. No one spoke, and the silence in the cabin was dreadful.
Zeke Walton wasn’t used to this kind of quiet; it only amplified the awkwardness between them.
"Cecelia..."
He had wanted to talk to Cecelia and called out her name subconsciously. The moment he said it, he realized his mistake and shot a terrified glance at Damien Vaughn in the rearview mirror.
Thankfully, Damien’s expression hadn’t changed. It was as if he hadn’t heard.
"Lu- Luna. Connect your phone to the Bluetooth and play some music, or I’m going to doze off."
’It was agony, knowing full well she was Cecelia but having to keep up this charade.’
Cecelia was embarrassed, too. With a dry cough, she took out her phone and turned on the Bluetooth.
While waiting for it to pair, she said to Zeke.
"Let’s get you a phone first thing when we arrive. It’s too inconvenient without one."
It wasn’t that Zeke didn’t want one; it was that it would be useless if he did. He didn’t have a SIM card.
"I’ll get you a SIM card. Otherwise, if we get separated, there’d be no way to find you."
"Alright, thanks in advance. Once this deal is closed, I’ll give you a hefty bonus."
Melodious music filled the car, and once again, they lapsed into silence.
The car got on the highway. Watching the unchanging scenery fly past the window, Cecelia started to feel sleepy.
Last night, she had helped Zeke with the project proposal and then arranged some work matters. She’d been so busy she didn’t get to sleep until after one in the morning.
With the business trip on her mind, she had slept fitfully, never truly falling into a deep slumber. Now, however, she could finally relax.
Her eyelids grew heavier and heavier. With nothing else to do, she found a comfortable position, folded her arms, and quickly drifted off to sleep.
Damien Vaughn had his arms folded, his body leaning ramrod straight against the seat. He was staring out the window, lost in thought, when he felt a weight settle on his shoulder.
A familiar, delicate scent drifted to him.
He turned his head. Cecelia’s elegant nose, soft red lips, and the smooth curve of her cheek were right there. She had actually fallen asleep on his shoulder.
He didn’t know if it was intentional or not, but it had been far too long since he’d felt this way. Damien Vaughn’s heart couldn’t help but skip a few beats.
He instinctively glanced at the back of Zeke’s head. Thankfully, Zeke was focused on driving, his eyes fixed on the road, and hadn’t noticed them.
His heart rate slowly returned to normal. Watching Cecelia sleep so peacefully, Damien silently shifted a little closer to her.
Their arms were now touching, their thighs pressed together, their body heat mingling. Cecelia’s faint, steady breaths ghosted across his chin, and gradually, Damien found himself growing drowsy too.
He hadn’t been sleeping well lately, not since he and Cecelia had gone their separate ways.
Zeke drove for over three hours straight, his back aching. When he saw a sign for a rest area 5km ahead, he decided to ask Cecelia if they could stop for a break and have her take over. He called her name twice, but there was no answer.
He glanced back and saw that the two of them had somehow ended up tangled together, leaning against each other, fast asleep.
Anyone who knew their situation would know they had recently become bitter enemies, to the point that their lives had been on the line. They were supposed to be adversaries.
But anyone who didn’t, seeing them like this, would assume they were a couple!
One was young and beautiful, the other tall and handsome. With her head on his shoulder and his cheek practically touching hers, they looked for all the world like an inseparable, love-struck couple.
’Zeke’s mind was a mess just looking at them. What in the world was going on between those two?!’
The two were sleeping so soundly that even though Zeke looked back several times, they showed no sign of waking. He could only bite the bullet and keep driving.
It wasn’t until eight hours later, when the car ran out of gas, that he pulled off the highway. Zeke pulled into a gas station to refuel and needed Cecelia to pay, so he had no choice but to wake them.
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