Ethan's confession came with half his face shadowed in darkness.
The candlelight traced sharp contours along the other half.
Yet his voice was deliberately soft.
"Afraid of the dark. Would Miss Sullivan mind letting me stay?"
He realized he'd fallen into Sophia's hands yet again.
"Fine. Then Mr. Sullivan will have to make do with the floor."
Sophia didn't press him further.
She'd never seen Ethan show vulnerability before.
It was oddly fascinating.
She pulled spare bedding from the closet.
The floor was hard, the quilt thin.
But since the CEO had volunteered as her protector,
he'd have to endure some discomfort.
Ethan silently arranged the makeshift bed.
"Goodnight, Miss Sullivan."
"Goodnight."
Thirty minutes later, Sophia still tossed and turned.
Exhaustion had weighed her eyelids down in the lab,
but now she was wide awake.
She stared at the sliver of light between the curtains.
Lightning occasionally split the night sky.
The rain should have been perfect white noise.
But Ethan's steady breathing betrayed his wakefulness.
"Don't you have meetings tomorrow? Shouldn't you be sleeping?"
She turned to see his rigid back.
Apparently, candlelight hadn't eased his tension.
"A busy CEO like you should learn to relax."
Ethan opened his eyes, his voice low.
"Not interested. Though I wonder why a fox like you insists on playing the rabbit."
Sophia arched an innocent brow. "If you see through me, why keep me around?"
For once, Ethan was at a loss.
Naturally suspicious, he made an exception only for her.
This inexplicable trust unsettled him.
He deflected with a quiet laugh. "Better to keep you where I can see you, before your schemes catch me off guard."
"So the mighty CEO is clingy."
Sophia slipped out of bed and retrieved a ribbon from the drawer.
"Since you insist."
Before Ethan could react, her cool fingers encircled his wrist.
The silk ribbon coiled slowly,
ending in an elegant bow.
In the flickering light, he could trace the delicate curve of her collarbone
and the porcelain smoothness of her skin.
His pulse stuttered.
"You—"
Meeting his unreadable gaze, she tied the ribbon's other end around her own wrist.
"Now you can watch me properly. We're inseparable."
Her whisper brushed his ear.
"Better stay alert, or you might stumble into my trap."