(Disclaimer: if u are reading this book, you need to imagine, otherwise you'll feel reading this book boring š)
There was no formal "mission briefing" this time.
A single, knowing look shared between Keifer and Sophia over a burnt pot of morning coffee was enough.
They were siblings; they didn't need words to coordinate the chaos.
The plan was simple: Proximity without Permission. Sophia's job was to create the "normal" house chaos that forced them into small spaces.
She started by "accidentally" leaving a trail of wet towels from the pool across the hallway, and then decided to "organize" the pantry by moving everything to the highest shelves.
"Oops! Jay, honey, could you help me?" Sophia's voice echoed from the kitchen. "I've reached my limit for vertical stretching today!"
Jay, ever the polite and helpful soul, hurried into the kitchen.
She found Sophia perched precariously on a stool, looking at a box of tea on the top shelf.
"I'll get it for you, Sophia," Jay said softly. She reached up, her small frame stretching, her modest linen shirt riding up just a fraction at the waist.
Suddenly, the air behind her shifted. A wall of heat and the scent of expensive sandalwood pressed against her back. She didn't need to turn around to know it was Keifer.
He didn't touch her. He didn't grab her waist or catch her hand. Instead, he stepped in so close that if she breathed in too deeply, her back would brush his chest.
He reached up, his long arm extending right past her ear to grab the box Sophia was pointing at.
Jay froze. Her heart hammered a frantic rhythm against her ribs.
She could feel the warmth radiating from him, the solid presence of his body acting like a cage made of air. The butterflies in her stomach didn't just flutter; they soared.
"You're too short for this, Jay," Keifer muttered, his voice a low, grumpy rumble right against her hair. "Stop trying to play hero and just stay out of the way."
Jay's breath hitched. She lowered her arms, her back almost grazing the buttons of his shirt.
"I... I was just helping. Please, Keifer, move back."
"Why?" he challenged. He still didn't touch her, but he leaned in further, his chest hovering a mere centimeter from her shoulder. "Am I in your way? Or are you just bothered that I'm the only one who can reach what you need?"
He was being a jerkādeliberately difficult and impossibly arrogantābut the way his voice vibrated in the small space made Jay's knees go weak. She kept her head down, her cheeks flushing a deep, dusty pink.
"I'm not bothered," she whispered, her voice trembling with the effort to stay polite. "I just... I need to get to the stove."
"Then move," he dared her, his eyes fixed on the side of her face.
He was staring at the tiny pulse jumping in her neck. He was flushing too, though he hid it behind a scowl. It took everything in him not to just wrap his arms around her.
"Move, Jay. Unless you like being pinned here."
Before she could answer, Sophia "accidentally" dropped a stack of plastic containers on the other side of the island.
CRASH!
"Oh! My clumsiness knows no bounds!" Sophia wailed, hiding a grin. "Keifer, stop bullying her and help me pick these up!"
The spell broke. Keifer stepped back, the loss of his heat feeling like a sudden chill.
Jay immediately scurried to the other side of the kitchen, her hands shaking as she gripped the edge of the counter.
She was doing her best to push him away, to keep the "contract" between them professional, but Keifer was playing a game she didn't know how to win.
He wasn't breaking the rules; he was just stretching them until they were thin enough to see through.
Keifer watched her go, his jaw tight. He picked up a plastic lid and threw it toward Sophia.
"Your acting is terrible," he hissed under his breath.
"And your face is as red as a cherry," Sophia whispered back, winking.
"Success rate: 70%. She's rattled, brother. Keep pushing."
___________________
___________________________
The moon hung low over the ocean, casting sharp, silvery shards of light through the glass walls of the bedroom.
The villa was silent, save for the rhythmic, heavy thrum of the waves outside.
Inside the room, the tension was so thick it felt like a physical weight.
Keifer was already in bed. Deliberately, he had tossed his shirt onto the armchair, lying atop the duvet with his arms folded behind his head.
He knew the sight of his bare chest and shoulders would be a landmine for Jay's composure.
He wasn't just being grumpy; he was being a provocateur.
When Jay emerged from the bathroom, dressed in her usual high-collared, long-sleeved silk pajamas, she stopped dead.
The sight of himābronzed skin glowing in the moonlight, looking rugged and far too large for the bedāmade her heart lurch.
"Keifer," she whispered, her voice tight with polite protest. "Your... your shirt."
"It's hot, Jay," he grunted, his voice a deep, gravelly yawn. He didn't look at her, but he could feel her eyes on him. "I'm not putting on a tuxedo just to sleep. If it bothers you, close your eyes."
Jay bit her lip. She looked at the expansive king-sized bed and then at the small, stiff velvet couch in the corner of the room.
Without a word, she grabbed a spare pillow and headed for the sofa.
"Don't even think about it," Keifer's voice cut through the dark. He sat up slightly, the muscles in his back rippling.
"Sophia is staying in the room next door. If she hears you rustling around on a couch because I'm shirtless, she'll never let me hear the end of it. Get in the bed. Now."
"I am perfectly comfortableā"
"I said now, Jay. Stop being difficult."
Reluctantly, Jay climbed into the far edge of the bed. She lay on her side, facing the window, her body curled into a tight ball.
She was barely touching the mattress, trying to make herself as small as possible.
Then, she felt the mattress shift.
Keifer didn't touch her. He didn't reach for her hand or try to pull her close.
Instead, he simply moved. He slid across the sheets until he was lying directly behind her.
He was so close that she could feel the intense, radiating heat of his bare chest against the silk of her pajama top.
He was close enough that his steady, warm breath stirred the loose hairs at the nape of her neck.
Jay's eyes flew open in the dark. Every nerve ending in her body was screaming.
The butterflies in her stomach had turned into a full-scale riot. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to focus on the sound of the ocean, but all she could hear was the heavy, rhythmic thud of his heartāor was it hers?
Jay was a wire pulled taut. She was lying on the absolute edge of the mattress, her eyes squeezed shut, trying to count the sounds of the waves to distract herself from the radiating heat behind her.
He's too close, she thought, her heart drumming a frantic rhythm against her ribs. He's so close I can feel his heartbeat through the air.
She felt the mattress dip slightly as he shifted. The scent of his soapāsomething masculine, like cedar and raināwrapped around her senses.
It was overwhelming. She felt like she couldn't breathe.
In a moment of restless frustration, needing to find a more comfortable position to escape the tension, Jay started to turn over.
She moved slowly, intending to face the other side of the room, but she had underestimated exactly how close he had crawled.
As she rolled onto her other side, she stopped dead.
Her face was barely an inch away from his bare chest.
She froze. The world seemed to stop spinning. In the dim light, she could see the slow, steady rise and fall of his chest.
She could feel the heat pouring off his skin, hitting her face like a physical wave.
Her gaze involuntarily traveled upāpast the hollow of his throat, his sharp jawline, and finally to his eyes.
Keifer wasn't sleeping. He was looking right at her, his dark eyes hooded and intense.
He didn't move. He didn't reach out to touch her. He just stayed there, a silent, powerful presence that seemed to swallow her whole.
The butterflies in Jay's stomach didn't just flutter; they felt like an electric current.
For three seconds, she was paralyzed by the proximity, her breath hitching in her throat.
She could see the slight flush on his own cheeks, the way his pupils were blown wide.
Then, the panic kicked in.
With a sharp, stifled gasp, Jay instantly whipped around, turning her back to him so fast she almost rolled off the bed.
She pulled the duvet up to her chin, her entire body trembling with the force of the blush spreading across her skin.
"Jay," he whispered. His voice was a low, vibrating growl in the darkness, filled with that frustrating, grumpy amusement.
"Go to sleep, Keifer," she managed to say, though her voice was small and shaky. "Please... just go to sleep."
"I told you," he murmured, leaning in just a fraction more so his breath stirred the hair by her ear. "You're too aware of me. You can turn your back all you want, but you still know I'm right here."
He didn't move back. He stayed in that agonizing inch of space, watching her back.
He was blushing just as hard as she was, his heart racing at the memory of her eyes looking at his bare skin, but he wouldn't let her win.
Jay lay there, staring at the wall with wide eyes. She had tried so hard to keep him away, to keep her heart safe behind her polite mask, but that one inch of space had felt more intimate than a thousand words.
A/n : Hey buddies, here's the new chapter, I hope you'll like it . š ā¤ļø