Convincing her

After another long day at work, Rachel had finally gone back home. She had met up with Jen earlier for lunch, so she was not hungry. That was until she opened the door and the appetizing smell of food bombarded her.

A smile appeared on her lips as she walked further into the house and saw Brian in her kitchen busily cooking. He had his back turned to her, so she assumed he did not know that she was back yet.

"Are you hungry?" he asked her suddenly, startling her into dropping her purse. He turned around when he heard the noise and saw Rachel picking up her purse. 

"What happened?" he asked as he carefully studied her.

"Nothing, I just got surprised," Rachel said as she walked to the kitchen. She placed her purse on the kitchen counter and watched Brian busy himself in fascination.

She always got fascinated whenever he did things like this. She had never experienced something like this in her previous relationships.

"I'll be finished soon, go wash up first," he said to her when he noticed that she had zoned out while looking at him.

"Okay," Rachel said and circled the kitchen counter to go upstairs. Brian smiled as he watched her walk gracefully in her heels before resuming what he was doing. As he had said, he finished not too long after she left and placed the food in the oven to keep it warm until she came back downstairs. 

After seeing she did not come down even after he was done cleaning up, he followed her to their room. He heard the shower running from the moment he opened the door. Rather than go back downstairs, he sat on the bed to wait for her.

He pulled out his phone and checked the emails about his businesses, and soon the bathroom door opened and the smell of Rachel's shower gel rushed out. 

Brian looked up and saw Rachel with her hair wrapped in a towel and another towel wrapped around her body. She was obviously not expecting to see him when she got out of the bathroom, so her eyes were wide in surprise.

"Surprised again?" Brian asked her and placed his phone on the bed before standing up. Rachel nodded in agreement with his statement.

"I got tired of waiting so I came up," Brian said and caught a drop of water that was trailing down her neck to her collarbone with his finger before looking at her face.

"Oh, I got a phone call. I'll hurry up so we can go eat," Rachel said and turned to escape. She was very familiar with that look in his eyes. If she lingered any longer in front of him, they were surely going to have their dinner much later than she wanted.

"Mmmh, I'll wait for you," Brian said and let her go. When she hurriedly closed the door to the closet, Brian smiled at how cute her behaviour was. He was not impatient, he could wait and do it a bit later. He did not mind. So he sat down and continued with what he was doing as he waited.

After another ten minutes, Rachel walked out while wearing her pyjamas and her hair braided down her back. The sleeves were long, the pants also covered her legs entirely. Brian had already gotten used to her habit of wearing clothes that would cover her up.

He had already made guesses based on how she acted. With how she would be fidgety whenever he was in a mood, or how she would get startled easily. But even after all this time, she still hasn't opened up to him about it. 

"Let's go now," Rachel said as she closed the door to the closet. Brian did not wait for her to walk away and instead, pulled her onto his lap. Rachel let out a shriek as she landed on him and grabbed his t-shirt to balance herself. 

"What are you doing?" she asked him and looked up at him, her blue eyes meeting his black ones.

"Were you running away from me earlier?" Brian asked her, and Rachel bit her lip and shook her head to deny it. She was obviously lying. She was so bad at it that Brian found it to be very amusing. 

"I think you are lying to me," Brian said with narrowed eyes. Rachel shook her head even more vigorously in denial. 

"It's okay if you want to lie to me, you look lovely while doing it," Brian said, and Rachel frowned as her innocent gaze turned into her glaring at him. Did she look lovely while lying to him? What was that supposed to mean? Was she being undermined?

Brian who found her irresistible lifted her chin with his index finger and leaned down to kiss her lips. Rachel, who had been trying to figure out what his words meant, was stunned for a second before closing her eyes and savouring the kiss.

She had even forgotten what she was thinking about earlier. Brian did not kiss her for too long before he stopped and looked at the hands that were still tightly holding on to his t-shirt.

"You want to remove it?" he asked her, and Rachel released him before standing up. 

"Let's go eat," she said and darted out of the bedroom. Brian stood up and sauntered out of the room. When he was half-way down the stairs, he could hear her rummaging through the kitchen as she was taking the food out of the oven.

"Drinks?" she asked, knowing that he was watching her.

"Surprise me," Brian answered, and she took out a box of juice and closed the refrigerator. Brian felt a bit disappointed but did not show it on his face. He was hoping she would pick a bottle of wine, but it must be because she still had to go to work the next day. 

Rachel sat next to him and placed the glass of juice next to him and put the other one next to her.

"It smells good," Rachel said and picked up her fork. When she took a bite, her eyes narrowed into slits and a smile bloomed on her face. The underground foodie in her was very satisfied.

"It tastes even better," Rachel said after she swallowed it and almost immediately took another bite of the food. Brian watched her enjoy his food and felt very satisfied in his heart. He would do this for her every day if only his father did not pester him about the military every day. 

"I'm glad, should I just stay home and take care of you?" he joked as he too started eating.

"Can you? I have a company, I'm sure I can afford to take care of you," Rachel said seriously. Brian looked at her in surprise as he was not expecting such a response from her. He would sometimes forget that he was dating a CEO and would only be reminded during moments like this.

"Mmmh, I would do it, once I can persuade my father to leave me alone," Brian said with a chuckle and Rachel deflated. She had been seriously considering it.

Brian smiled to himself and wondered how his lovely girlfriend was around her company. Was she as soft as she normally was with him? Wouldn't she get bullied if that's the case?

Rachel's employees:…

He should take the initiative to visit her one day and see how she was. She might really be getting bullied there.

Rachel's employees again:…

"Is it okay if I visit your workplace sometime?" Brian asked her. He did not want to act presumptuously and anger her, because he knew she would say nothing to him if he did so.

"Sure," she answered without hesitation as she continued to enjoy her food. Maybe he would even bring her lunch when he came to see her. How wonderful would that be? Brian had unknowingly gotten her to fall in love with his cooking. Rachel was also a skilled cook since she secretly loved food so much. But eating someone else's cooking was very different.

The two continued to have their meal with Rachel unconsciously letting out a few hums unconsciously, making Brian smile helplessly. 

After dinner, Rachel went to do the dishes and then went to sit in front of the television to waste time until it was time for bed. Brian had gone upstairs to have his own shower, so she was alone for a short while before he came back to the living room.

He sat next to her, and she snuggled against him as soon as he was settled, her cheek making contact with the skin on his chest. She wrapped her hands around his waist to make herself comfortable, and Brian looked at the top of her head.

"Are you trying to seduce me?" Brian asked her and Rachel bit her lip as she continued to watch tv. Acting as if she had not heard him. Brian smiled knowingly before lifting his eyes to look at what she was watching so attentively, only to see an advertisement for milk. 

"Are you ignoring me?" Brian asked her and felt her shake her head. He was sure she was biting her lip right now, even though he could not see her face.

"Look at me," Brian said, and Rachel looked up at him before a helpless chuckle left his lips. She was really biting her lip!