The Platonic Trap novel Chapter 153

*Clack—*

A dull, heavy sound.

Alistair frowned slightly, his thin lips pressing into a hard line.

Seeing this, the new manager immediately stepped forward to help him pick it up.

"Don't."

Before the man could even take two steps, Alistair stopped him with a hoarse command.

The manager froze in his tracks, too intimidated to move any closer.

A faint, tingling itch lingered on the pad of Alistair's thumb where she had lightly pinched him.

The girl didn't even seem to realize what she had just done.

*She's probably just too nervous,* Alistair reasoned as he leaned over.

The pen had rolled behind the girl's back.

Celia was wearing a tight pencil skirt today, and as she stayed curled up under the desk, she looked incredibly uncomfortable holding that bent posture.

Leaving his chair, Alistair dropped to one knee beneath the desk, crouching directly in front of Celia.

He reached around her back to retrieve the pen.

As he leaned forward, the distance between them evaporated instantly.

*Thump, thump—*

Someone's heartbeat was echoing deafeningly, though it was impossible to tell whose it was.

Because of her short skirt, Alistair frowned and politely turned his head away, using his free hand to blindly search for the pen behind her lower back.

He didn't find it.

He shifted slightly and felt around again. This time, his hand brushed against something firm.

Assuming it was the tip of his fountain pen, Alistair reached further and grabbed it.

A tiny, muffled gasp escaped the girl's lips.

—It was her fingers.

A dark tide of emotion surged in the depths of the man's eyes.

"Why did you hide?"

He placed one hand on the desk right above her head, and brought his other arm down to grip the side of the desk, effectively boxing her into a tiny, inescapable corner.

"Celia, why did you hide?" the man repeated, his voice dangerously low and ragged.

Acting oblivious to his intense mood, Celia replied softly, "Uncle Alistair, I told you... people will talk."

He stared down at her, his eyes carrying an intensity she couldn't quite decipher.

"I am a close friend of your family. Even if I favor you, it is perfectly justified," Alistair stated.

Celia looked up at him, her eyes curving into a sweet smile. "You sound so bitter right now, like a neglected husband."

Pressing his lips together, Alistair briefly broke eye contact, his voice turning cold. "I just don't see the need to hide from them."

It wasn't as if their relationship was something shameful.

"Honestly, I don't really care about the gossip either," Celia paused, offering him a serious explanation. "The reason I didn't want to make our connection public earlier was because Larry Lambert... he kept harassing me."