Date The CEO.com

Chapter 247: Sweet, Sweet PDA

"Either I carry you like this or I wouldn't be able to stop from tasting this aromatic wine on you."

Eve hitched her breath. While her consciousness died, it seemed like her wits hadn't. Her mouth moved slowly and said, "Then..., how are you going to drive?"

She internally scolded herself for the comeback. A trip to the shower later would give her a better one. Just when she became used to Ambryan's advances, he had taken it to another level. This would have raised panic in her in the past. Then, guilt would start to eat her up.

But he knew that she had a dual identity.

Although he didn't know it yet, she trusted in his words that he'd accept her when the time came for the reveal. There wasn't much left to do but that. It was the decision he made and she would not hinder it by doubting him when she hadn't given him the chance yet.

Thank goodness she dropped a hint in the fake letters. 

Then, she could claim that she did in fact tell him.

"I don't need to," Ambryan shot back. He stood beside the hood of the car and nudged his head towards the security team. "Wen can drive for us."

He circled around the vehicle without another word. Eve snapped her head from left to right over and over again, trying to figure out which direction he was going. She did so fast that her sight became a blur. 

Her ears picked up on a car door opening. The meaning behind Ambryan's words suddenly dawned on her. "Wait, no!"

She sat inside the car and looked forward. The sun shone from the other side of the windshield. Cale watched the fiasco from a distance, waving his hand when he met her eyes. The makeup artist walked to his side and said something too far for Eve to hear.

But her modelling manager was more than happy to converse with her.

Eve relaxed and closed her eyes, finally realizing she was in the passenger seat. 

Ambryan propped his arm on top of the door and leaned down. 

"Did you think I really was going to do it?" He whispered close to her ear. "Did I disappoint you by any chance?"

Her eyes flew wide open and widened further from seeing how close he was. Pure mischief glowed in his face, tugging the corners of his lips into a grin. 

"You!"

Ambryan cut her off with a kiss. Eve raised her hand to shove him playfully but remembered that they were out in public. To hide the awkward mistake, she rested her hand on the side of his neck and made the scene seem sweet.

She felt him smile against her lips. 

It was like a switch. 

Just when she melted into the kiss, Ambryan pulled back and licked his lips.

"I think I have a new way of tasting wine." 

News articles and social media went into a frenzy the next day. The one person who filmed the exchange as a livestream ran to the other side of the car when Ambryan walked over to the passenger seat. With the angle taken from the back of the vehicle, the video instantly became viral for that perfect view.

Twitter went on full blast until #Ambeevan became the number one topic.

.

``A doting Ambryan Hathaway! I thought I'd never see this day!``

``You can tell Evangeline didn't even know he was coming. Then, he just swept her off her feet! AAAHHH, I'm in love with this couple!``

``This PDA is getting a little out of hand. They'll probably break up.``

``Were they in a vineyard? Was Evangeline red from the kiss or the wine? :P``

``I did not just see two grown adults acting like teenagers in love! There is hope for humanity!``

.

Jane tossed her phone away.

It landed near the edge of her mattress. 

She had cooped up in the house since Avery visited her. Her birthday party was coming up and she needed to be mentally prepared. It had been a mistake to open her phone. It had a feature that notified her of articles that might pique her interestwhich the algorithm noticed easily as anything related to Ambryan.

And his love life had taken over the storm.

"She doesn't even do anything for him!" Jane yelled, throwing her hands in the air and pacing in her room. "All the news is just about Ambryan did this and Ambryan did that. She's got him wrapped up around her finger and doesn't give anything in return. Then, she boasts about their relationship in her social media accounts Agh! I can't stand her!"

Her journey ended with a face plant on the bed.

Should she play her next cards?

But which ones?

Rolling to her side, she brushed off her hair from her face. Elias had something on Evangeline when they collaborated. At the time, he tried to get her as his model but couldn't with the restrictions surrounding her. Hearing that also made Jane suspicious but then, it could have been because of her relationship with Ambryan.

There was always something blocking them every time they tried to dig. She and Ambryan just started dating. He couldn't have cared for her that much already. Unlike others, Jane also knew that their relationship started because of a contract he had with his mother.

That led Jane to believe that those blockages were Evangeline's doing.

She had something to hide. Something maybe Ambryan also didn't know based on what the madam had explained about the conditions she set for the contract. 

Jane reached for her phone, crawling her fingers to get it. She scrolled through the contact list and found who she was looking for. The call rang three times before the recipient picked up.

"Hello?"

"Did you miss me?" She cooed into the microphone.

Elias Walker stiffened on his chair. The mouse in his hand also stopped moving. Slowly, frown lines creased between his eyebrows. His chocolate brown eyes glared at his computer screen. 

"You changed numbers."

"And so did you." Jane chuckled. She sat up and leaned her back on the headboard, twirling a piece of her hair. "It took some time but I'm glad to be hearing from you again."

"You won't be hearing anything from me again," he corrected her with a sneer.

"Aw, don't be like that. Haven't I done anything for you?"

"And I already did my part in exchange. This negotiation ends now."

Jane clicked her tongue, tugging the corner of her lip upwards. "Really?"

"Yes. Goodbye now."

"Nothing else you need? I see." She hopped off the bed and walked over to her laptop on the desk. "But is there also nothing for you to lose?"

Elias fiddled with his computer, starting to record the conversation. 

"What are you trying to imply?" He asked. 

"That humans are never satisfied and always seek more. They lose sight of what they have until it's gone," Jane replied in nonchalance. She turned on her laptop and typed with one hand. "And it's so easy to arrange too. Just a few clicks here and there."

Wanting to finish this soon, Elias went straight to the point. "What do you want?"

"It's nothing much," she assured him and chuckled to herself. "I just want to know what dirt you had on Evangeline. Come on. There has to be something that she used over you. Did she pay for you to keep quiet? You wouldn't even tell me when I offered to double the reward."

Elias bit his tongue. It was true. He hadn't told her that the reason for the blockages was because her namesake had no past. It was a messy disguise as expected of someone who wasn't rich. The suspicious part came from the existence of those blockages.

It would have cost a fortune to be that consistent and heavy.

"Weren't you able to threaten her in exchange that she'd work with you?" Jane reminded him. 

"And that one is also over. I do keep my end of the bargain you know."

She gritted her teeth. "Until something better came and you cut me off! You didn't even finish your end of the bargain! You were supposed to take her away from Ambryan!"

"He was in the photoshoot!" Elias defended. "So was his entire security team! The plan was useless the moment that happened. It wasn't my fault that he acted the way he did. You said he was only pretending to care about her and so I didn't take extra precaution!"

He heaved a sigh after the rant.

"Then, tell me what dirt you have on her as compensation." Jane was quick to try turning the tables around. "I know you found something. Tell me or I can do something worse than a phone call."

Elias sucked in a breath, gnashing his teeth. "Give me a week to think about. That should be plenty of time for you to come up with your own plan instead of impulsively threatening me."

She scoffed. "And how sure are you that this is on impulse?"

"The timing of your call coincides with the media's sudden addiction to the Ambeevan relationship. In the span of two days, they had been spotted going to each other's apartments. Ambryan showed up in her photoshoot which wasn't anything new but he made a grand exit."

The other line went silent but Elias continued the list.

"Suddenly, a magazine jumped into the bandwagon and released behind the scenes footage of his visit during their winter theme shoot. Then, people reposted old candid shots from their cellphones and created a timeline of their public appearances. They're becoming their own brand."

"So really are you still trying to say you're not acting rashly?" He concluded. "You do know how well it went last time, didn't you? Sent a secretary back to her hometown?"

Jane's hand clenched into a fist on her lap. He was right. Things were only escalating as time passed by. The last time she tried to interfere on her own, her new ally ran away.

"Fine. Three days. That's all."