"Care to explain what happened?"

He heaved a deep sigh and without releasing her hands from his grasp, he explained how Antonio misunderstood his note, - and also his fault because of the way he wrote when he asked him to take care of her.

"Why would he misunderstand such a simple note?"

He pushed Jess's coffee away from her, same with the slice of chocolate cake and the pineapple tart, and he sat down on the edge of the coffee table to be closer to her.

"Uhm, you see, before I met you — I - I…" he tucked the strand of her hair that stuck on her cheek. He brushed his knuckles on her flushed cheeks and smiled awkwardly. "This is long before you...I would ask Antonio to take care of ---" he sighed. He couldn't say the words he wanted to say.

Jess raised an eyebrow at Noah who was fumbling with his words, "So what you are trying to say — before you met me, you were an asshole that let your secretary break up with your women by buying them jewelry."

Heat crept up from the base of Noah's neck to his ears, he grinned sheepishly at Jess. "I'm not proud of it, but yes.

"And, am I just one of those women --"

"Hell, no!" he stopped her in the middle of her sentence, shaking his head. "No. You are different."

"...from your past," she whispered those last three words for her stupid heart somersaulted in her ribcage from what Noah said.

"Miss Zimmerman, you are different." When he saw a shadow of doubt in her eyes, he added, "Why do you think Antonio was so scared and kneel down to apologize? And I have no problem, dropping on my knees for you…" he smirked and leaned forward, "I would love to kneel for you, minx."

Jess's face heated up for she clearly understood that Noah's idea of kneeling for her has nothing to do with asking for an apology. She pressed her thighs together for heat started to burn in between her legs.

"Don't think that I would forgive you that easily, Tiefenbacher," she huffed, pulling her hands away from his grasp.

"I know. I would gladly accept all the punishment you have in mind," he wiggled his eyebrows at her, skimming the shape of her mouth with his tongue.

She swallowed her saliva audibly when some vivid pictures flashed in front of her eyes.

A chuckle escaped from Noah's lips upon hearing Jess sucking some air with the mention of punishment.

He slid his hand at the back of her neck, pulled her to him, and caught her parted lips into a deep and demanding kiss. He misses her a lot.

Jess went soft inside his arms and kissed him back. Her palm was on his chest and she could feel the wild beating of his heart as well as the firm muscle of his chest. She would love to unbutton his shirt and ran her tongue on those muscles and not just her hands.

Instead, she pushed Noah away from her and inhale a deep breath. His kisses always take her breath away, literally and figuratively.

She scanned her eyes on the sitting area, where one of the couches was covered with small mountains of documents.

"You were quite busy," she said, as she circled her arms around him and rested her chin on his shoulder.

"Hmm, but I can make you dinner. I mean, if you are free later."

"Make me dinner, huh?" she chuckled. "Tiefenbacher, you are asking me to come to your house?"

"Yes. And the previous offer still stands, by the way," he hugged her tighter and buried his face in her hair. Inhaling her now so familiar scent. "I miss you so much, baby."

"Hmm, dinner sounds fun," she said, gazing at his desk littered with so many papers. "But then, do you have time to make me dinner."

"I'll make time. I won't repeat the mistake I just made."

"Saying it like that, you are making it difficult for me to stay mad at you."

"I like that." He gathered some of her hair in his hands and held the back of her head gently away from him. He dropped a kiss on the tip of her nose, and murmured, "I don't like it when you are mad at me."

"Then, don't make me mad. That's simple."

He laughed. "Yes ma'am."

Jess pouted when Noah heard calling her ma'am. "Not gonna ask what that ma'am means. But, as much as I would love to stay here with you, I need to go back to the lab. Dr. Sison's office looks like yours," she said, gazing over the scattered documents all over the office.

"As much as I want to keep you here, I am needed at work but dinner is on me later, so, I would look forward to that," he cupped her face and rain kisses all over her it.

She couldn't help but let out a giggle at what Noah was doing. "Laters then," she stood up from the armchair to put distance between them because if not, there are tons of things she wanted to do with him too.

While she was standing next to the armchair, she longingly gazed at that slice of chocolate cake and the plate of mini pineapple tart - individually wrapped in clear plastic.

"You can bring them back to the lab," he pressed the buzzer at the edge of the coffee table, and Antonio barged inside the room, ready to take an order from his boss.

"Can you put the chocolate cake in a Tupperware for Jess?"

Antonio quickly did what he was asked and Jess chuckled when he finished packing the chocolate cake and the pineapple tart for her in no time.

"You don't really have to act around me like this, Antonio. I mean, it wasn't your fault that your boss is such a manwhore."

"Hey!"

Jess laughed some more when Noah pretended to be offended when she called him manwhore.

"Well, it is true."

Jess turned around and saw Markus behind her.

"I'm Markus by the way."

"Jess," she extended her hand to accept the handshake he offered, but Noah grabbed her shoulder and put the paper bag of chocolate cake and pineapple tart in her hand.

"Let's go. I take you back to the lab."

They heard Markus roaring laugher as they walked out of Noah's office.

"Seriously, Noah," she said when they were inside the elevator.

"You are mine, Miss Zimmerman, and I don't like to share."