Dakota felt somewhat triumphant.
No girl dislikes the feeling of taming, especially since the man in front of her was always an unruly prince of the capital, whom no one else dared to provoke except herself.
And she not only provoked him,
She sat at the dining table with an air of pride, watching Curtis head back to the kitchen to serve up bowls of creamy oatmeal, then bring out warm cinnamon rolls and freshly baked biscuits from the oven, even throwing in a few verbal commands along the way.
"And forks."
Curtis turned back to the kitchen again, hearing another arrogant voice from behind, "And don't forget the spoon."
He was almost amused by this Mrs. Pineda.
If it were in the past, he would have definitely grabbed Dakota by the nape of her neck and dragged her into the kitchen to get them herself.
But now it was different.
Curtis happily served her, feeling a warm sense of satisfaction and joy.
Even Dakota was surprised, cupping her face with both hands and blinking, "Puppy."
Curtis placed the utensils in front of Dakota, lazily lifting his eyelids to glance at her.
He saw Dakota place her hands back on the table, leaning towards him, "Isn't this obedience unlike you?"
"Need something from me?" she guessed.
Curtis pulled out a chair and sat beside her, picking up the chopsticks and saying leisurely, "No."
"So, you wouldn't happen to like me, would you?"
Dakota spoke lightly, taking a sip of oatmeal, cheerfully throwing out a playful remark without any intention of seriously asking.
But Curtis's hand holding the chopsticks paused.
His heart itched and tightened, a feeling that made him a bit flustered for a moment.
But Curtis was always the best at pretending to be calm.
He slowly put down the utensils, leaned back leisurely, feigning arrogance and nonchalance as he lifted his chin and looked straight into her eyes, "What if it is?"
Dakota's expression turned incredulous.
She looked at Curtis blankly.
Squish—
Then she took a bite of the warm cinnamon roll, and the gooey, sugary filling shot straight onto his clean, neatly pressed shirt.
Curtis: "..."
He lowered his eyes.
There, the once pristine white shirt, which hadn't picked up any grease in the kitchen, was now covered with an odd, unidentifiable sticky substance courtesy of Dakota.
"Um...
Dakota hurriedly put down her fork and the warm cinnamon rolls, quickly shifting the blame, "This is its problem."
Curtis lifted his eyelids to look at her again.
Dakota completely ignored his question at this point, her mind focused solely on defending the cinnamon roll's actions. "It's totally the roll's fault for being too gooey, not me betraying your kindness."
Curtis didn't comment.
He simply undid the buttons of his shirt and took it off right in front of Dakota.
His toned abs were revealed once again, causing hearts to race.
Curtis stood up, carrying the soiled shirt away from the dining room. As Dakota followed him with her gaze, she saw only his broad shoulders and sexy back muscles.
Sigh...
Not only were his abs perfect for drawing, but so was his back!
You might as well lose a few more layers!
The breakfast incident delayed things a bit.
When Dakota arrived at the National Museum, she was only one minute away from being late, fortunately she made it just in time.
As soon as she sat down at her easel to continue her work from yesterday, her colleague Carley came over, "Dakota, was the guy who came to pick you up yesterday your boyfriend?"
All the office colleagues perked up their ears.
Who doesn't love a good piece of gossip?
Who doesn't love gossiping about the handsome CEO boyfriend of a beauty?
"What boyfriend?"
Dakota bent down to pick up her engraving knife, not realizing that her confrontation with Alan had been seen by passing colleagues.
"The one in the suit."
Carley swooned, "Wearing light-colored formal wear, super handsome and refined, looking very gentlemanly and gentle, and wearing a extravagant watch on his wrist."
Dakota frowned slightly.
She finally realized they were talking about Alan, and not the real main character, Curtis. So she smiled easily, "Is my taste that bad?"
"What's wrong with that?" Carley was surprised, "From the looks of his attire and car, he seems pretty rich. The body under that suit must be amazing! Perfect for being a nude model!"
Nude model…
Suddenly, Dakota's mind was filled with the image of Curtis pulling off his shirt this morning in front of her!
She blushed and looked away, muttering quietly, "He's just a hypocritical, clingy pest, not suitable for being a nude model at all…"
Of course, she hadn't seen Alan's body.
And she wasn't interested either.
But having seen Curtis's top-notch physique, compared to what she had seen at the dance show, he had become her number one!
Clearly, he was the most suitable one for drawing nudes!
"Speaking of nude models, I think we, who study relief murals, really can't waste such resources."
"How so?"
Artists are always creative, and her colleagues suddenly branched out into other related topics, actively discussing while working.
"Think about it, aren't abdominal lines all about texture? Relief murals also have a sense of texture, so abs could be done as a relief sculpture."
"My god..." "Wow! That's true..."
"You're not suggesting using the relief method to sculpt abs, right? So you can enjoy them at home for free! Even without a boyfriend, you can still touch abs!"
"Haha, damn! Good idea!"
"Whoever came up with this brilliant idea, find me a picture of abs quick, I'll go home tonight and copy it into a relief version, and keep it by my bed to touch every day!"
"..."
The office was abuzz with enthusiastic discussion.
Dakota quietly carved her flying apsaras and pipa, but listening to everyone chat, she couldn't help but think about Curtis's perfectly sculpted body, full of sexual tension...
Slim waist, muscles without excess.
The perfect state of his abs and the sensuous lines could be carved onto her drawing board...
Dakota swallowed again.
But one shouldn't die socially twice on the same thing, so she controlled herself and didn't say anything.
Hmm.
Top-notch material should be utilized, it seems she needs to schedule the call for a male nude model soon.
But not tonight.
Because Noe, catching them just before they finished work, freaked out like a headless chicken in the 'First to Date is a Loser' group chat.
【Noe】: Aaaaah, drinking! Come out for drinks!
【Noe】: It's Friday again, time to get together and have some fun! Let's hit up the spa and grab some drinks tonight!
【Noe】: @Dakota @Lailah @Curtis @Jasiah
【Jasiah】: 1
【Lailah】: 2
【Curtis】: 3
【Noe】: ??? What a surprise, guys! Curtis is so eager today!
But Dakota had been ignoring the group chat.
Her fingertips were still stained with paint, so she couldn't check her phone, which was buzzing beside her.
A colleague whispered, "Mr. Gardner, is your boyfriend blowing up your phone?"
"He's not my guy."
Dakota prepared to clarify further, "I don't have a boyfriend. The one yesterday was just a suitor, a jerk, and I've explicitly rejected him countless times."
She turned to look at her colleague.
Her haughty expression seemed to convey four words: Stay away.
It was clear that she was extremely repulsed.
The colleagues believed her.
It was rare to see Dakota so serious, she seemed genuinely annoyed by the "extravagant watch."
"I'm going to wash my hands." Dakota smiled gently.
She put down the carving tool, stood up, washed off the paint, and then picked up her phone to see the message from Curtis.
【Puppy】: Are you coming?
Dakota didn't understand why he specifically asked her, but she didn't think too much of it and tapped the screen, sending a voice message as she stretched lazily.
In the president's office of H Group, by the wide floor-to-ceiling windows, a figure dressed in a suit sat casually. Curtis wore a black suit, the collar and tie loose and relaxed.
Perhaps he had just finished some work, or perhaps he had been waiting for a response from Dakota after sending her a message.
Curtis felt a bit agitated.
He lazily got up, leaning against the window with a cigarette, his tall frame contrasting sharply with the high altitude just outside.
Click—
The lighter's wheel was spun, igniting a flame.
Curtis was about to light the cigarette when his phone suddenly vibrated.
The flame nearly went out immediately.
Before the fire had lit the cigarette, Curtis lifted his eyelids to look at his phone, quickly walking back to his desk to pick it up, seeing Dakota's voice message.
He played the message next to his ear.
A soft, sultry voice unexpectedly entered his ear—
