I woke up Monday morning with a massive headache and only a vague memory of my birthday weekend. All I know was that Saturday at Camachile Sky was epic and yesterday, even though it was a Sunday, was spent swimming in alcohol with college friends at The Penthouse, a fancy loft on top of a condominium. I don't know how I got to my condo in my drunken state. My pants were nowhere in sight but I wasn't naked, thank god. I still had my shirt and boxers on.

The smell of coffee crept into my room as I desperately racked my foggy brain. Someone was brewing coffee in my kitchen. 

I hope it's the Ethiopian beans she's brewing.

But then I remembered that I lived alone. And that's when it hit me: who the hell did I take home?

This confused me since I had stopped taking women to my condo when Justin started sleeping over. I had re-arranged and refurnished an area to accommodate the kid and I ended up answering so many questions about it. Some found it sweet and cute, others found me disgusting for still sleeping around when I had a child. But explaining shit that did not need to be aired was becoming exhausting. It was not my story to tell. Plus those diabolical Lego pieces were outstanding cockblockers. So I just decided to not take anyone back to my place once and for all.

To answer my question, the bathroom door opened and produced my half-naked guest, baring the huge tattoo on the left side of his chest. My jaw dropped to the floor.

"Nice place you got, Ace, very child-friendly," he said drying his hair. "You have a son?"

"No. It's for Cara's son," I answered, still confused at his presence. "What're you --"

"You have a son with Cara? How is Jaxx taking it?" he almost shouted from shock, the incredulity of it all made me laugh in spite of my headache.

"No, you idiot! Of course, it's not my child with Cara. Are you out of my mind? I would not do that to Jaxx. And with Cara? Really? That's gross. She's like my sister," I shuddered at the thought. "And Brigs? Stop walking around with only a towel, please. It's disconcerting."

"You know, I never quite understood your aversion to half-naked men. It's not a big deal, dude. You see guys without shirts all the time – in the beach, in the locker room, by the pool. But when it's out of the shower, you're 'disconcerted'. What's the deal?"

"It's just unsightly, all right?"

"Does this have something to do with that thing back in college?" he asked as opened my cabinet looking for something. I didn't answer him.

"My shirts won't fit you anymore, you're bulkier than I am," I looked away, afraid he might just strip without warning.

"I'm bigger too," he chuckled which made me roll my eyes.

"That's not what she said," I scoffed, beating him to his punch line. "How did we end up here anyway? I barely remember shit, dude."

"You got really wasted and Jaxx said to take you here because you guys had work today. Told me you'd better not be late, though, from the looks of it, you already are," he smirked. He was right, it was already eight-thirty and I didn't want to move out of the kitchen.

"I can never catch a break with him around," I groaned. "Maybe I should send him back to Philadelphia for a couple more years. Why wasn't he the one who drove me here?"

He looked at me like I had grown a third head, his dark brown almond eyes narrowed. "You didn't want him to."

"What? That's ridiculous! Why would I... was he also drunk?"

"Mmm yeah, a little. But he had to take care of Jay," he replied and walked across the living room in a gray Beavis and Butthead shirt I forgot I had and the jeans he wore last night. He headed right to the door and started putting on his shoes.  

I tilted my head in question. "We don't have a friend named Jay."

"Jaxx has. Jay, or was it Jake? That British guy who works for you, remember him? Or are you still too hungover?"

"What was he doing there? I didn't invite him, why would he – you know what? Never mind. There are just too many questions in my mind right now I don't know where to start. And I'm already late."

"I'll go ahead. I'm also already running late. Thanks for the shirt," he smirked and gave me a casual salute with two fingers. I offered to drop him off but he was already out the door before I could finish my sentence.

♤♢

At the office, I stayed mostly in my room reading proposals and watching videos on how to do animal origami and other crafts during my break. Justin was going to stay with me over the weekend and I wanted to be prepared with toddler activities.

Feeling I had had enough of proposals for the day, I took off my tie and undid the upper buttons on my shirt, and folded my sleeves. I transferred to my couch to take a break. With the laptop on YouTube, I folded some paper on the coffee table, trying to make a lion.

"Mr. Ace, Mr. Kingston is here to see you," Noelle said through the intercom. When Jacob entered, I knew he was in a foul mood. He wasn't smiling and I could feel the anger emanate from him. But I did not miss how he did a double-take when he found me on the couch folding paper.

"Are you okay?" I asked him before asking about anything else and this surprised me a little. Surely it was a polite thing to say, however it felt like there was genuine concern in my question.

 Since when was I concerned with his well-being?

"Yes, just not a good day today, " he replied as he sat on the chair beside my table, facing me. "The Gutierrez app is almost done. I already took this up with Jaxx but he said it was your turn."

"What is?"

"Can you do something about this Lorena woman? I know it was Laura first, but her bloody sister is worse! We can't finish with her constantly bombarding our helpline with almost anything she could think of! Don't be surprised if you get a complaint –"

"You can't go in there, Miss Gutierrez!" Noelle's firm voice came through the open door of my office.

"I will see your CEO as I please!" a woman dressed in a tight, bright magenta dress with a low neckline and very short hem barged in. Despite her curvaceous body, everything about her screamed fake and trying hard.

Her haughty mood temporarily lifted when she saw me but when her eyes landed on Jacob, she lost her composure. It looked like she saw a prize she wanted, undressing my engineer with a sultry gaze, which angered me, feeling protective of my employee. If I'm being honest, it was more than that. I was feeling something more hostile, fierier than just protectiveness. My eyes narrowed and in my head, I'd already cut off her head.

"Hi, I'm Lorena Gutierrez, heiress of the CFG Group of Companies," she batted her eyes at Jacob, placing one of her clawed hands on her chest. "Are you Mr. Acebedo?"

"I'm afraid you will have to wait your turn outside the office, Miss Gutierrez," I said as calmly as I could though I could feel the heat rising to my ears.

"Miss, please come with me," Noelle extended her hand to usher her out but she moved away and attempted to swat it away.

"I'm here to talk to your CEO, not to some... who are you anyway? Are you that rude IT that I spoke to?" she accused, leaving Noelle gaping in shock. Jacob's eyebrows shot up as he slowly covered his mouth with his fingers.

"If you don't know whom you're talking to or who you are looking for, I suggest you step outside before I throw you out. You're testing my patience, woman." I stood up from the couch, crumpling the lion in my fist. 

"I'm going to call Jaxx, you're going to get what's coming to you!"

"Go ahead, see if that gets you anywhere," I seethed. "Noelle, get security and handle this... unrefined cow. I don't want her anywhere near my building, ever!"

"Your building?"

"Yes, Lorena, my building."

"Y-you own this building?" she stammered, immediately growing pale. She started to apologize but Noelle was quick to grab her by the arm and drag her out, shutting the door behind them.

I still must have looked like a raging bull complete with nose flaring and red eyes because Jacob was chuckling before I turned to scowl at him. His blue eyes were bright and he was biting the tip of his designer fountain pen. I have yet to understand his fascination with fountain pens when he uses the computer most of the time.

"What's so funny?" I glared at him. His lips wrapped lightly around the pen before he pulled it away, pressing his pink lips together. Jesus, how does he make biting a pen look so...alluring?

Stop it, Ace! You're talking about a guy! This thought even made me even angrier and more frustrated.

"Do you actually own the building?"

"No. I don't even own the floors we're on. I'm only renting," I snickered, remembering the fear in Lorena's eyes when she thought I owned the building. My temper quickly simmered down and my breathing steadied. All because of one question. And it wasn't even the question per se, it was the person who asked it.

"Tea? Or maybe coffee?" he offered as he turned to the coffeemaker. "How do you like your coffee? Strong? Milk and sugar?"

The mere act of him making my coffee soothed me. I told him my preference with not so many details as he might get overwhelmed. Simple coffee with milk would do for his first time.

His first time? Am I really expecting more instances that he'll be making me coffee? Jesus, help me out here, please!

I sat back down and returned to my origami lessons. As soon as the coffee was done, he brought our cups to where I was. He sat beside me and rested his arm across the back of the couch, settling comfortably. That made me very uncomfortable indeed. My heart beat faster and my hands began to tremble lightly.

"What's with the origami session? Stress release?" his silken voice was sending shivers down my spine I had to close my eyes, begging for strength to repress any involuntary reaction my body had. I cleared my throat before speaking.

"N-no, it's, uh, for that little guy who visits my place every so often. He's coming over this weekend," I explained, stammering a little as I did.

"Is he your son?" he asked tentatively. I could feel his eyes boring the side of my head. This made me smile. I have no idea why. Did it bother him that I might have a love child?

"No, he's our friend's, the surgical resident I mentioned to you. Whenever she's busy, we take turns having Justin over – me, Seb, Chino, and Val."

He nodded and took a paper from the stack on the table. He moved closer to watch the video with me. When our knees touched, I felt my entire body stiffen. He must have felt it too because he immediately inched away.

"Sorry. I forgot about your personal space," he said quietly.

"I-It's quite all right." Why the hell was I stammering?

In truth, he was too close for comfort. I felt the room temperature rise though he seemed oblivious to it as he concentrated on making a lion. In the end, he made the animal while I produced nothing but a folded mess of crumpled paper. I frowned and threw the thing on the table, taking another paper and trying again. After my sixth unsuccessful attempt, I gave up.

"Who wants a lion anyway," I grumbled, slumping back on the sofa with the crumpled paper in my hands.

"Lion? I thought you were aiming for a fluffy sheep or maybe an ostrich egg," he teased as he let his fourth lion stand with the others. He sat back and we were now shoulder to shoulder. I felt his muscle flex as he nudged my arm lightly, "We were making a menagerie, were we not?"

Feeling awkward with our proximity, I could only grunt in response, which earned me another laugh while he was drawing the faces on the lions using his white and gold fountain pen. "I didn't know you were this competitive!"

"I wasn't even competing with you. I'm just frustrated. I was doing quite well when I was alone. Then you and Laura had to ruin my vibe."

"Lorena. But she's already taken care of. Are you sure she's the reason you can't concentrate?" he asked meaningfully, as he turned to lock his eyes with mine.

"W-what do you mean? Of course, she's the reason. She already ruined my mood when she barged in," I tried to reason smoothly returning his gaze defiantly. He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. He was not wearing his spectacles and the blueness of the sky seemed to reflect in his eyes.

"You weren't concentrating on the video, Ace. Your knee was bouncing, your fingers were fumbling, and you were folding the wrong corners in the wrong way. I was watching you the entire time. I could sense you were... uneasy? Tense?" he moved closer and closer as I subconsciously pressed harder against the furniture.

"Do I make you uncomfortable?" he asked in a low voice.

"N-no," I swallowed hard, my voice was losing its conviction like I was.

A war was raging inside me, the logical screamed to punch the guy for his audacity and for encroaching on my space, but there was this part of me that pushed me to stay and see where this was going. This part has been silent for a long time I thought it had actually died. But the first time I locked eyes with Jacob, this dormant part of me suddenly revved to life and it seemed it wasn't going to shut down anytime soon.

"So it doesn't bother you that we're this close," our faces were mere inches away I could smell the coffee, cigarettes, and mint in his breath. His gaze moved down to my slightly parted lips. He licked his lower lip and as a reflex, my tongue darted out to moisten my own. The corner of his mouth rose slightly before his eyes returned to mine. I was surprised to see unambiguous longing and tenderness in them and I almost drowned in their depths.

"Ace," he whispered. I felt his hot breath on my lips, arousing a flame in my chest. I was scared, confused, and yet, I longed for him to close the gap. His mild, fresh scent was relaxing and intoxicating. It reminded me of the clean, calming smell of a pine forest after the rain I find so addicting. My eyes were about to close when Jaxx's growl interrupted us.

"Ace! What just the hell just happened?" 

♤ ♡ ♧ ♢

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