In the kitchen, he kept guessing what Emily Blair's reaction might be-would she feel a flutter of excitement, or just awkward embarrassment?

He ran through all sorts of scenarios, but it had never occurred to him that Emily Blair, with her sense of boundaries, wouldn't even open the folder.

He gave a rueful laugh, realizing how foolish and impulsive he'd been-acting like some green kid who didn't know any better.

While he was over here caught up in his own little drama, Emily Blair hadn't noticed

a thing.

He was in deep, no question about it.

His fingers tapped a few keys, closing the folder. The computer returned to normal.

Meanwhile, Emily Blair had eaten several dumplings and still hadn't seen Tristan Davis come in. She turned and called out, "What's taking you so long? They're getting cold."

Tristan Davis shut his laptop and stood. "I'm coming."

After a few more bites, Tristan told Emily that he'd be working at his family's company for a while.

Emily raised an eyebrow. "That's great. Guess I'll have to start calling you Mr. Davis now."

Tristan glanced at her and said, "The office is pretty far from here. Once I start, I'll probably only be able to come back on weekends."

Emily misinterpreted and said, "I'm sure your family will set you up with a place to stay over there, right?"

Tristan stared at her for a long moment, long enough that Emily started to feel confused.

After a pause, Tristan finally dropped his gaze to his bowl and gave a wry smile. "I wouldn't expect you to understand."

Emily frowned. "Understand what?"

Tristan shook his head. "Never mind. Just eat. My family took care of it."

Emily chewed her dumpling and muttered under her breath, “Why the cryptic talk?"

For days, Emily and Tristan had been commuting to work together, waiting for each other every morning.

The next morning, after getting ready, Emily went to Tristan's door to knock.

She knocked a few times and waited for about five minutes, but Tristan didn't answer.

She was about to call him when she suddenly remembered-Tristan had to head out early today to report to his family's company, which was far away.

The abrupt change left Emily feeling a little out of sorts, but she shrugged it off, pocketed her phone, and left.

She wasn't the only one who felt the shift.

When Elizabeth Wilson walked into Emily's office and didn't see Tristan, she asked offhandedly, "Where's Tristan? Isn't he usually wherever you are?”

Emily explained the situation. “His family's office is nowhere near here or Vertex International. He probably won't be back all week."

Elizabeth thought for a second, then grinned. "For a minute there, I thought he was mad you secretly went on that blind date."

Emily looked horrified. "No way."

Elizabeth just laughed and said nothing more.

A while later, Elizabeth sighed, leaning her arms on the desk. "You know, after spending so much time with Tristan, I almost forget he's one of those trust fund kids. But he's not like any of the ones I've met-most of them are spoiled and idle, but Tristan's actually disciplined. And smart."

Emily nodded in agreement.

Elizabeth drummed her fingers on the table and sighed again. "Their company gains a smart guy, and ours loses one."

Emily said, "We've had him working for free long enough. It's time to let him go."

Elizabeth looked at her and teased, "Emily, Ms. Blair-now that Tristan's gone, won't you feel a little lonely?"

Emily grabbed a signed file and tossed it at Elizabeth. "Would you cut it out?"