The Royal Contract

"What are you doing here?" Dani asked, surprised to see Alex standing by the door.

It was already an hour past her official working time, but she was still reviewing the case that Gerald gave him. She was hoping to stay a little longer, so she could give him the answer regarding his offer by tomorrow.

She was halfway through the report, but she would need probably another hour or two to grasp the essence of the case. But so far, she found it intriguing.

"I was waiting for your call. I texted you about thirty minutes ago, but you did not answer.." Alex said as he walked further inside her office, not waiting for her to invite him inside.

He went straight ahead to her table and grabbed the phone on the corner, looking neglected. As he suspected, his messages, calls, and several ones from other people remained untouched. 

He also noticed that it was in silent mode again. He knew that Dani was not intentionally ignoring his call, but she had this bad habit of turning her ringing tone off.

"You did." This time, she felt guilty that she had disregarded her phone again. She placed it temporarily in silent mode while she reviewed some of her files earlier but forgot again to set it back to ring tone.

She did not like to lose her concentration when she was working on several depositions. Usually, Jacky informed her of her calls if it was an emergency. But Jacky already left earlier because she had a date.

"Yeah!" He placed the phone back on the table and faced her. "But anyway, aren't you finished yet?" He glanced at the stack of papers still scattered on her desk.

"I was planning to work overtime on this because you told me earlier that you will be late." She did remember talking to him about getting a late dinner instead. He had a last-minute conference call from an important client.

"I was, but we finished earlier. That was why I was calling." He tapped his fingers on the phone for emphasis. "What is this?" He curiously asked since Dani was working on it. 

He started picking up a few files and stumbled on something that caught his eyes, noticing a name on the list. He wondered why it looked familiar, but he was unsure where he had seen or heard it before.

He never liked snooping around other people's work unless it involved his business. But this one had intrigued him for an unknown reason. But he placed the idea at the back of his mind, classifying it as insignificant.

"Just a new file that I am reviewing for Mr. Brown." She said, shrugging her shoulders as if it was no big deal. She gathered the papers and closed the file, seeing that Alex was more appealing than her work.

She would have told him more, but she had to abide by their confidentiality clause with most of her cases. She could only share a few facts that were already public knowledge.

"Well, then, can I sweep you off of your feet and whisk you away into my chariot." He took her hand and pulled her until she stood up in front of him, almost leaning close to him.

He could not let her work herself to death. If he had his way, she never had to work a day in her life. But he knew that would never make her happy. 

So, he would settle to stealing her once in a while from her precious job. He believed that was the only way to get his fair share of her time. For now, he would be content with that.

"Do you mean your pumpkin carriage?" She teased him as she leaned forward to touch his nose with her finger, loving the way he stared at her. She always found herself lost in those eyes of his.

She appreciated that Alex always tried to be patient with her. It was rare to find a man who could put up with her shortcomings. She believed that men like him were an exception. 

"I stand corrected. Well, as you can see, there is a time limit before fairy godmother reverts us all to a mouse, so I suggest we start moving before it strikes twelve." He answered her back, wearing that boyish smile that she loved so much.

He could see that she already forgot about work. Well, it was indeed his intention. He believed that one of them should remind the other when they were both overworking themselves.

"Oh, is that so? We should hurry then." She extracted herself away from him to arrange her things. 

Before she could move away, he grabbed her by the waist. In one swift movement, she was back in his arms again, with his mouth covering hers in one sweet kiss.

The kiss started innocent, slow, and tender, but as a few seconds passed, it gradually escalated, increasing in its intensity until both of them were left panting for air.

"I thought we were in a hurry." She asked him, still catching her breath in the process. 

She was not complaining as she remained enveloped in his warm embrace. She was suddenly in no rush to get away from him as she longed for the kiss to continue.

"Well, I thought that we should kiss first before we run out of time." He teased her as he gave her a light peck on her lips once again.

"Well, if you keep doing that, then both of us won't be going anywhere. Your pumpkin carriage would turn into soup, and we..." She tapped on her lips, pretending to think.

"We have to go." He finished for her. He finally said the magic word as he held her shoulder and turned her around before spanking her lightly on the butt to make her move. "Go get your things."

"No, you did not just spank me." She slightly twisted her head to him and gave him a hard stare. "I'll get you next time." She warned him.

Instead of retaliating, she started fixing her things and gathering the papers on her desk. She still planned to take the files and reviewed them later or early in the morning before work.

Well, she had until tomorrow to give Gerald an answer, she thought as she dropped the file in her bag and walked back towards her man, who patiently waited.

He only gave her his boyish grin, charming her with his smile. "Come on. You can spank me all you want if you hurry up." He pulled her towards the door, not giving her time to answer him back.

"What are your plans for tonight, my prince?" She suddenly asked, wondering why they were in a hurry. "Should I be wearing my glass slipper?" But knowing him, she would never get an answer. 

Her mind still occasionally went back to her work, but she quickly shoved it at the back of her consciousness. In the meantime, she promised that her time should be solely for her man. 

She learned that they both enjoyed their little banters, referring to old fairy tales and royalties altogether. It was funny and adorable at the same time, a game of words they love to play.