5

                                    

                                          
Taehyung wasn't a man to hedge his bets. You either faced your problems head–on or you risked losing. That approach had never failed him in business. It wouldn't fail him with Jennie either.
The problem was simple. He was ready to take their relationship to the next level. She wasn't ready to commit yet.
She claimed gossip at work would impair her ability to do her job, but he knew the truth. She was afraid. Her natural caution was making her second–guess her feelings.
He'd never been in a relationship that moved this fast before either. But then, he'd never felt this way about another woman. This bone–deep certainty that she was the one woman in the world for him. That she belonged to him.
His total conviction spurred him to action. By sending out the e–mail, he'd issued a challenge she wouldn't be able to ignore. So he wasn't surprised when his secretary notified him that Jennie had requested a meeting. What did surprise him was the cool indifference of her attitude when she entered his office.
She held her laptop in front of her chest like a shield. But instead of launching into the diatribe he expected, she immediately began discussing a complete rewrite of the employee handbook.
He let her get a few sentences in before stopping her. "I trust you to handle that on your own. I'd assumed you scheduled this appointment to discuss something more personal." "Oh, really?" She kept her expression perfectly blank. As if his assumptions were of no interest to her. As if she hadn't been naked in his arms on the very floor of this office only a few days before. "Why would you think that?"
He rose from his chair and rounded his desk to stand before the wingback chair where she sat, stiff and unwelcoming. He refused to dignify her feigned disinterest with a response.
After a long minute, she finally met his gaze, keeping her own steely and cool. After another few beats of silence, she began to fidget. Then, abruptly, passion lit her eyes. Albeit passionate anger, but at least he could read some emotion in her face.
"So now I'm supposed to schedule romantic rendezvous with your secretary?"
Her indignation amused him, even as his body responded automatically to the implication of her words. "That's not what I meant by more personal."
She stiffened. "Then I don't know what you mean."
"I thought you'd have an opinion about the memo I sent out revising the company's dating policy."
It took her a moment to school her features. "As head of human resources, I certainly wish you'd conferred with me before making such a sweeping change to company policy. But given the rumors, it sounds like you had good reason to act fast." "There are rumors already?" He knew in an office of this size, rumors would be inevitable. After all, he was counting on the rumors to push her toward a decision.
"Yes, there are quite a few of them buzzing around the office." Her mouth, which was normally so wide and smiling, pinched into a sour frown. "The most interesting one involves you dating Bae Irene."
"Bae Irene?" He nearly laughed out loud. Until he noticed her fierce scowl.
She gave a tight little nod. "Most people are basing it on how much time you spent talking to her at the party on Friday evening."
"Don't tell me you believe these rumors."
"You're not denying them."
He felt a fissure of anger crack through his reserve. "I spent time talking to Irene because you insisted I not spend the evening with you."
For an instant there was doubt in her eyes. Then it vanished. "Minho in R&D mentioned seeing you together at brunch on Sunday."
That tiny fissure of anger began to widen, zigzagging across his emotions. "Irene and I are old friends. Our mothers went to Brown together. I've never made a secret of that. And, yes, she and I meet for brunch occasionally. With our families. Did Minho from R&D happen to mention that?"He expected her expression to at least soften. He waited for the flood of relief. Instead she crossed her arms over her chest, her chin jutting out at a belligerent angle.
"No, he didn't mention that. Probably couldn't get a word in edgewise, what with everyone else speculating about what a great couple the two of you made."
"You can't seriously believe that I'd date Irene."
"Why not? We never agreed to be exclusive."
"It was implied," he bit out. "You think I'm the kind of man to date two women at once?"
"Who am I to say what kind of man you are? Most people think that you've just been waiting for the policy change to drop down on one knee and propose to her."
"I'm not sleeping with most people."
"Exactly."
He straightened, wishing he could take her by the shoulders and shake her soundly. "You are the one who insisted we keep our affair a secret."
She leaped from the chair, her unopened laptop still clutched to her chest. "But you never argued, did you? Because it worked to your advantage."
"What exactly do you mean by that?" he asked through gritted teeth.As angry as he was, he half expected her to back down and scurry out the door. It's what any sane woman would do. Instead she bumped her chin up and glared at him.
"As long as our relationship was a secret, you could continue to woo the perfect Ms. Bae. Whereas if she'd known you were sleeping with me, she might not have been so willing to wait around for you."
"I can't believe this," he muttered. He'd sent the damn e–mail to maneuver her into dating him publicly. He'd thought his high–handed techniques might annoy her, but he never dreamed she'd freak out over something like this. "I'm not dating Irene. If I'd ever had even the slightest interest in her I'd have pursued her years ago."
Jennie opened her mouth to protest.
He didn't give her the chance. "Your father may have been a lying, cheating bastard, but I'm not your father."
The second he saw her stricken expression, he wished he'd softened his words. Great, now he felt like a total ass.
But instead of ripping him a new one, like he deserved, she quickly mastered her emotions and glared at him. "Well, I'm not my mother either. I refuse to be hidden away like a dirty secret merely for the sake of convenience."
"Trust me, there is nothing convenient about you." "Fine." She hurled the word like an insult, spun her heel and was halfway to the door before he stopped her with a hand on her arm.
"If you don't want to be hidden away anymore, that's fine with me. I'm more than ready to go public." He didn't know what reaction he expected, but it was certainly something other than the complete surprise on her face as she blinked up at him.
And if she thought that was a surprise, then she had another think coming, because he was about to lay an even bigger one on her.
"You want people to know we're together," he began. "Fine. Let's get married."