Chapter 31: Chapter 31

Restaurant.

Sophia stood up grinning widely as she picked up her glass of wine and raised it.

"To Sir Lennox, for being the best boss in the world and organizing this awesome dinner. Cheers to Mr. Lennox" she shouted, biting her lips when she noticed him wince as if in pain.

"Cheers," the other yelled, then clicked their glasses together, before drinking.

Sophia sat down hating the fact that she hadn't considered Lennox aversion to loud sounds before making her toast. She glanced at Lennox and noticed that he seemed on edge, it was as if he was uncomfortable and she hated that he was enduring all that for her.

Sophia gasped, her face draining at the direction of her thoughts. What was wrong with her head, she didn't care if Lennox was happy or not, she just needed to get her revenge and that was it, no need to be sympathetic to his plight, he deserved a little payback for what he'd been doing.

Sophia sighed picking at her stake knowing that her little talk wasn't going to stop her from worrying. Lennox just brought out an instinct in her to protect him and no matter how she tried to resist it, it just got stronger and she hadn't been able to stop staring at him. It was so creepy, it felt as if she couldn't get enough of his face, as if she wanted to memorize every angle of his flawless face.

Lennox's gaze darted to hers and Sophia almost jumped out of her seat at the unexpectedness of it. Sophia glanced away quickly, turning to Tzuyu who was filling up a huge glass with vodka, she passed it around until Kyle presented it to Lennox, a wide smile on his face.

"Sir Lennox, a token of our love. We love you so much" he shouted, the others cheering along with him.

Sophia couldn't help but notice Lennox's pained expression and tight-lipped smile, but he took the drink and chugged it down like a pro while the team members yelled and whistled in encouragement, drawing the attention of Andria and her boss who were also on a team dinner. Andria gave her a dirty stare before glancing away, while Jonathan waved at her. Sophia nodded in acknowledgment as she turned her focus back to Lennox. It was an obsession at this point. His shoulders were more relaxed, and the fake smile was gone. Sophia smiled, happy that he was finally having a good time, or maybe it was just the alcohol.

Lennox turned to face her, a smile on his face. Her heart skittered, then dropped Into her stomach at the contact.

"I'm glad I came here. This turned out better than I expected" he confessed, his voice a whisper so only her could hear.

Sophia cleared her throat, licked her lips, and tried to ignore the fact that his gaze had trailed all those movements. Her hand felt clammy as her heart pounded rapidly. "I'm glad that you're enjoying yourself. I was worried that you weren't having a good time because of all the noise" she said and his eyes rose in surprise as if she'd blurted out a confusing secret, or maybe he'd never have anyone worrying over him or taking notice that he wasn't truly happy which was doubtful. Lennox Ray wasn't someone that lacked attention, that much was obvious from his dozens of unread emails.

Sophia turned to her drinks instead, trying to analyze what it was that made Lennox occupy her thoughts all through the day since it was getting kind of annoying.

.....

*****

Mr. Lennox was officially drunk, drunk like a shit-faced drunk. Sophia groaned as she pulled him towards the car he'd brought, his weight almost causing her to faceplant as he swayed in her hold.

"Can you just walk straight please, you're crushing me?"

Lennox nodded muttering some gibberish as he tried to straighten himself, but he just fell back, until half his weight was resting on her.

Sophia clutched at his waist harder, trying hard not to cop a feel of a drunk man who probably didn't even know what was going on around him. She had tried to stop him from drinking a lot, but the others had been glad to pour him drinks and beg him to take them since in their mind, Lennox accepting their drinks automatically made them his favorite people. That was delusional at its finest form because Sophia knew Lennox wouldn't be too happy to have lost control of a situation.

Sophia almost shouted hallelujah as she strapped him into the seat. She pushed her fingers into his pocket to fish out his car keys and he groaned, lifting his waist to get comfortable. Sophia's eyes involuntarily drifted to his crotch, her eyes lingering for a few seconds before she tore them away and berated herself for thinking bad thoughts about her boss while he was drunk.

"You need to snap out of this Sophia" she shouted, and yanked the key out of his pocket.

"Thank you so much. Ugh," she said to the keys, going around to the driver's side of the car and getting in.

Sophia glanced at Lennox, smiling at the picture he presented. He was always so sleek and sophisticated, but now, his hair was messy, his clothes wrinkled, and a permanent blush that made him adorable-cute spanned the length of his face, neck, and ear.

Sophia drove but kept staring at him at intervals, even when she told herself to stop.

Getting him to the mansion was a piece of cake, getting him out of the car to his bedroom was a journey to Pluto and Sophia was exhausted when the room beaconed to her. Her phone rang as she dragged him towards the bed. She answered panting.

"This is not a good time".

"Of course, it isn't. I thought we had plans for tonight, I got wine and stuff" Bianca whined and Sophia wanted to smack herself as she remembered.

"I'm so sorry, but it totally skipped my mind, and Lennox planned a team dinner, I had to attend".

"I know about the dinners taking place tonight, and I'm sure that ended an hour ago, so where the heck are you," she asked, her voice dripping in suspicion.

Sophia staggered with Lennox when he suddenly took a step opposite her. "God damn it, stay still" she groaned.

"Are you with Mr. Lennox? " Bianca gasped. "Oh my goodness, is he drunk, how does he looks like a drunk".

Sophia rolled her eyes. "He looks fucking adorable and that's all you're getting... Now get off the phone, I'm in the middle of a war here".

"Eyyyyy, war with Mr. Lennox and the sheets right," Bianca said and Sophia could almost imagine her waggling her eyebrows. Sophia decided to shock her.

"That's exactly what I'm doing, now stop interrupting me you peasant," she said ending the call, but she'd definitely heard Bianca's grasp, and that meant that she'd been rendered speechless.

Sophia could not exalt in her victory because Lennox tripped, dragging her with him until her back connected with and he lay sprawled out on top of her.

Sophia gasped at the impact, his weight making the bed dip.

Every nerve endings in her body suddenly felt like they were a living entity, all clamoring for a share of the sensations that were sending shockwaves through her system as he buried his nose at the nape of her neck, and his arms wrapped around her as he slept.

Sophia tried to extricate herself and only succeeded because she knew the longer time she spent in his arms, the more her forbidden desires would grow. Yes, she acknowledged that she might, ok, was sexually attracted to Lennox Ray, but would she act on that attraction, hell no! Her revenge came first and foremost. With that in mind, she decided to just rest a little bit before she went home.

******

Sophia woke up to the most delicious warmth wrapped around her. The scent of warm crackling fire invading her nose made her inhale deeply, it was a scent she couldn't get enough of, especially since it had an undertone of sandalwood, something earthy and fresh making her take greedy gulps of air.

Sophia opened her eyes wider, her gaze coming to rest on the man who had such an amazing scent, and he looked so good with the sun casting streaks of light across his face, that she wished to wake up next to him forever. Sophia's gaze darted to his lips, which looked warm, soft, and inviting. Without thinking, she pulled closer to him and pressed her lips against his, her eyes fluttering close as fireworks exploded behind her closed eyes. Her eyes snapped open as Lennox's hand clenched against her waist. Sophia's eyes went round as she stared at a pair of dark coal intense eyes, her lips still on his.