Page 118 of Assistant to the Billionaire CEO

“Oh, I remember. Ace!”

He chuckled. “It’s been living rent free in my head for a very long time.”

His laughter made me laugh. “I thought you didn’t see anything.”

“I saweverything.”

“Oh, my God.” I paused, thinking. “Back then I thought you had negative feelings towards me, that you hated me, but the reason you avoided me wasn’t because of that…”

“Not at all, Stella.”

“Are you telling me I can’t be mad at Damon anymore for splashing me with all that water?”

“I guess you have to be thankful to him.” His lip tipped up into a half-smile. “By the way, Damon knows about us. I just talked to him.”

“You did? So, I’m reallynotyour little dirty secret?”

“Woman. You werenevermy dirty secret. Maybe my dirty girl,” he brushed some of the flour off my cheeks, “but never a dirty secret. You know, I’ll scale the highest building for you and declare my love for you from its peak if that’s what you need me to do to prove that I’m serious about you.”

I leaned my shoulder against the wall and stared into his eyes. “If you’re so serious about me, why didn’t you ever invite me to your apartment? I’ve never even seen the inside of it.” I crossed my arms.

“Because that’s where my sister, her baby, and I live. That’s why I never invite anyone to my place. Baby Teddy sleeps most of the day, and I simply didn’t want to disturb him or my sister.”

“You know what’s funny?”

“What?”

“I met them in the elevator. I thought she was your girl, and the baby was yours.”

He laughed. “I guess Damon told you they weren’t?”

“Yeah.” I grinned.

He stepped closer to me and cupped my face in his hands, his expression serious again. “It was never, ever my intention to keep our relationship secret forever. I want to spend my life with you. I want to laugh at all your jokes until we’re wrinkly and old. Please, baby. Are you finally believing me?”

“And what about Damon?”

“He showed up at my apartment, and we made peace.”

“Really? How? How did you convince him?”

“I threw the acquisition papers into the fire. He fished them back out.”

That made me speechless for a moment. “Really? You were ready to give up the merger, for me?” Tears started streaming down my cheeks. “But that was the most important thing to you!”

“I know, right? You must be pretty special,” he teased. “I love you more than any man has ever loved a woman. You are the most important thing to me. You’re everything to me. And you always will be.” He kissed my forehead, and then wrapped his arms around me. “Woman, just tell me you love me too. You’re making me tense with all of these questions.”

“Of course I love you, you silly man,” I replied. More tears dripped onto Ace’s chest, staining his white shirt with dark mascara-filled droplets. “I love you so much that it hurts.”

“I hope it’s a good hurt.” He chuckled.

“Oh, shhh. Yes,” I said, pulling away and smiling at him through my tears. “But…I…things are different now.”

He took both of my hands into his own and squeezed them. “Because you’re expecting?” he asked mischievously.

I gasped.

“How do you know about that?” I could feel the blood draining from my face. Goosebumps covered every inch of my skin. “Is it that obvious?”

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