A beat or two later, Ren drawled grimly, “I’ll give Victoria a stern warning. You can go back to the Translation Department anytime you want.”
Shaking her head, Ruka said, “I don’t want to go back. I want to try out other departments. I’m thinking of Public Relations, so I can work with my parents.” It was not as if she had taken up the internship at the Translation Department without a backup, and she thought Public Relations was not too shabby of a choice.
However, Ren’s eyes darkened when he heard this. I’m afraid I can’t let you.” She blinked. “Why?”
“I don’t want you any further away from me than necessary,” he bit out in an almost demanding manner.
She gazed into his depthless eyes and felt her heart melt. There was something about him that made her want to give up everything, including her good sense, just for him. He only needed to ask and she would have said yes regardless of what his request might be.
That was how Ruka ended up saying, “Okay. I guess I’ll consider something else then.”
“You don’t have to work, you know,” he said hoarsely. “I make more than enough for the both of us.”
She blushed at his sentimental tone, but she stood her ground and gave a firm shake of her head as she said, “No, I can’t just have you bankroll me. I want to make something of myself; I don’t want to stay idle.”
A small smile curled on his lips as he asked teasingly, “Is it that embarrassing to be a housewife?”
“It’s not embarrassing,” Ruka countered in a flustered manner. “I just want to accomplish something and have a career of my own, you know? I don’t want to be one of those ladies of leisure.”
Ren’s brows furrowed at this and he scolded, “You’ll still be precious to me no matter what you become.”
She felt her heart somersault happily in her chest, but her mind scrambled to veer away from this topic of her becoming a lady of leisure. She cleared her throat and said evasively, “What did you ask Elijah to do? Is it something personal?”
He was tight-lipped about it as he answered, “You could say that.”
Feeling awkward, she took a sip of the tea he had given her earlier and pursed her lips, then asked, “What do you want for your birthday? Let me know so I can get it ready in time.”
Ren tapped his knuckles against her forehead and said huffily, “Where’s the meaning in that? You’ll have to figure out what I want all by yourself if you want to give me a gift.
“But you have everything you could possibly need, and you only use the best. Come on, help a girl out!” she argued, pouting. She just wanted him to point her in the right direction so that she would not mess up his gift.
“I don’t have everything I need,” he said devilishly as he fixed his dark, hungry gaze on her. “I still need a woman.”
To think, she had just steered the conversation away from romance, only to be roped back into yet another heart racing situation. She had to give it to him. Who would have thought that underneath the affable-but-stern vice president exterior hid a smooth talker?
Ruka pursed her lips to keep from laughing, but she flushed as she pointed out, “You can have any woman you want. Just say the word and any girl would throw herself at you.”
