Chapter 63

Richard looked down at the breathless girl in his arms. Her eyes were still red at the corners from laughing, and he brushed away a lingering tear with his thumb.

Even now, she was still trying to annoy him.

A quiet laugh escaped him as his hand settled around her waist. The slight roughness of his palm made Elena squirm.

“That’s really the best you can come up with?”

“If you don’t like those,” Elena said, trying not to laugh, “I’ve still got your phone number. Your license plate—”

Richard kissed her before she could finish.

Apparently, he’d decided that was the easiest way to stop her from talking nonsense.

Elena instinctively leaned back, only to find herself already against the pillows with nowhere else to go. The kiss quickly deepened, and her hands, which had been resting against his chest, gradually relaxed before moving up around his shoulders.

By the time Richard finally let her breathe again, Elena’s thoughts were scattered and both of them were breathing harder than before.

He stayed close, his nose brushing hers as they caught their breath. His usual composure had slipped noticeably, and Elena couldn’t help staring.

His hair had fallen slightly out of place, several buttons at his collar had come undone, and even his usually composed expression looked different. His lips were slightly red from kissing her, his breathing wasn’t quite steady, and there was color in his face that Elena almost never saw.

There was something deeply satisfying about knowing she’d done that to him.

Richard ran his thumb lightly along her chin. “Think carefully this time.”

His eyes stayed on hers. “What are you going to call me?”

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Elena tried to recover enough of her senses to think. She raised a hand to his face, her thumb brushing his cheekbone.

“Hmm…” She hesitated. “…Richard?”

Richard paused.

Most people around him called him Mr. Sterling or Chairman Sterling. Even people who knew him well tended to keep a certain formality around him. Hearing Elena simply call him Richard shouldn’t have felt unusual.

Somehow, it did.

But apparently, that still wasn’t enough for him.

“That’s it?”

Elena stared at him.

“You had plenty of imagination five minutes ago,” Richard said. “Now all you can come up with is my name?”

She gave him an incredulous look. “I gave you an entire list of options and you rejected every single one. Phone number, license plate, passport number—did you already forget?”

Richard looked at the mischievous smile on her face and kissed her again.

This time, the kiss was slower, less like an attempt to silence her and more like deliberate persuasion. One hand rested behind her head while the other stayed around her waist, keeping her close.

When Elena finally managed to turn her face away, she was laughing and breathless at the same time.

“Stop kissing me… You’re heavy.”

Richard shifted some of his weight off her but didn’t go far. He kissed the corner of her mouth, then her cheek, clearly in no hurry to let the subject go.

“What else?” he murmured. “Keep thinking.”

Elena’s brain was rapidly becoming useless.

She’d already tried Mr. Sterling, Uncle Richard, Chairman, his actual name, and practically every identifying number a human being could possess. What exactly did this man want from her?

“I don’t know,” she muttered.

“You’ll think of something.”

“I really won’t.”

Richard seemed completely unconvinced. Instead, he stayed close, watching her struggle for an answer with far too much patience.

Elena narrowed her eyes at him. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

“A little.”

“At least you’re honest.”

Richard laughed softly. For once, he stopped pressing her for an answer and leaned closer, brushing a light kiss against her temple.

“Ellie…”

Elena stilled.

She’d heard that nickname countless times before. Loved one used it all the time.

But Richard never had.

Hearing it from him felt unexpectedly different.

Elena looked up at him. The teasing answer she’d been about to give disappeared somewhere along the way, and her heartbeat picked up again for an entirely different reason.

Richard seemed to notice.

“What?” he asked.

“Nothing.”

“That didn’t look like nothing.”

Elena tightened her arms around his shoulders. “I just wasn’t expecting you to call me that.”

“Don’t like it?”

She hesitated for barely a second.

“…I didn’t say that.”

A faint smile appeared on Richard’s face.

“Then we’re making progress.”

Elena immediately realized where this was going.

“No.”

“I haven’t even said anything.”

“You were about to.”

Richard laughed again and kissed her lightly. “Then you already know what I’m going to ask.”

Elena groaned and closed her eyes. “I really don’t know what else you want me to call you.”

“Ellie.”

There it was again.

This time, the nickname sounded even more natural coming from him, and somehow that made it worse.

Elena opened her eyes and found him watching her.

“All right, fine.”

Richard waited.

She took a breath, suddenly feeling far more embarrassed than she had when she’d been calling him Uncle Richard five minutes earlier.

“…Honey?”

Richard’s breathing stopped for a second.