CHAPTER 107

“Didn’t the studio give you some time off?” Brian retorted, his gaze challenging.

Natalie couldn’t help but frown, lifting her eyes to meet his.

So, he knew Natalie didn’t want him around, so what was the point of insisting?

“I have my dignity, you know. I have plans for the future, like getting married someday,” Natalie replied.

Her voice was barely above a whisper as she inhaled deeply.

“And don’t forget we’re at a preschool where a hundred judgmental parents are watching. What would

they think of you, Brian, a man of your stature, being with someone like me? Nate would be the target

of every gossip.”

“You think they’d dare say anything?” Brian’s expression was unreadable as he locked eyes

with her.

“You have no idea. Some of the kids in the class have been taunting Nate. What makes you

think they wouldn’t?” Natalie’s mouth twisted in disdain.

Before she could say another word, Brian suddenly bent down, grabbed a nearby kiddie stool, and

firmly grasped Natalie’s right hand, striding toward Nate’s classroom.

Natalie struggled to pull away but to no avail.

Brian dropped the stool at the back of Nate’s class, grabbed another unoccupied stool set it beside the

first, and gave Natalie a look.

The other parents were stealing glances, trying to make sense of the spectacle unfolding before them.

Humiliated but with no other option, Natalie reluctantly sat down. Only after Natalie was seated did

Brian turn around to fetch his son and sit beside her.

They were so close that Natalie could smell his cologne, adding to her irritation. She tried to move her

stool away, but when her bottom lifted a few inches off the seat, Brian’s hand was there, pushing her

and the stool back into place.

They were even closer, their legs pressed together. This is property © .

Natalie stared at their conjoined legs for a few seconds, contemplating a move, when Brian lifted Nate

into his arms and placed him on their laps, preventing her from going anywhere.

Nate seemed thrilled, sitting atop their legs, swinging his little feet, grinning like a cherub.

Natalie could feel the heat from Brian’s leg through the thin fabric of their clothes, and her mind

inadvertently replayed the image of his large hands on her waist and thighs from a night not long ago.

She turned her face away, looking elsewhere, when Nate’s voice brought her back, “Here, Natalie,

have a lollipop,” Nate offered, pulling a strawberry–milk–flavored lollipop from his

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2082h. Enty yourself, she replied with a forced smile, her voice soft.

Set you ke Sreby mik Nate persisted, unwrapping the candy and bringing it to her lips.

How she was fond of strawberry milk? Natalie hesitated.

It’s warming Nissedashing the lollipop into her mouth with a beaming smile.

The set use ht her tongue, and though it made her uncomfortable, she couldn’t bring best to dampen

his sorts.

Vacle bed Sentery milkshakes and desserts, but she never cared for candy.

stood Nate sted eager.

TS… she began but the lollipop was plucked from her mouth before she could finish.

Both Natale and Nate turned in surprise to find Brian beside them.

“She doesn’t like candy. Remember that,” Brian said to Nate, his face stern. With that, he calmly

cooped Warale’s half–eaten lollipop into his mouth.

“Got it.” Mate replied, nodding earnestly as if the exchange of this new information was a sacred rival

between father and son.

However, Natalie was fixated on Brian’s mouth, silent. Brian, the man with a mild obsession for

deanliness, had just casually taken a candy she had licked.