When Jinhai left the room, he leaned against the door for a bit to catch his breath and to relax. He hadn't meant to kiss her. But he couldn't help himself. He wasn't sure how she felt about him, but he took the fact that he didn't get slapped as a good sign.
He recalled the exact moment she responded to the kiss and a slow smile spread across his face. It had taken everything he had to stop that kiss before he pushed her too far. The fact that she kissed him back meant she at least enjoyed the kiss. It didn't matter whether or not she had meant to. He would use this knowledge to his advantage.
When he finally relaxed, he went down to his car to grab his things before coming back up. He took a breath before he knocked on the door. He willed himself to remain calm. He knew she was a long way from thinking of him on a more romantic level, but he would wait. After a moment she opened the door for him.
She saw his duffle bag but didn't say anything. She turned and walked into the room to let him in. He closed the door behind him.
"I'm going to grab a shower." He said. She nodded. He went up the stairs to the bathroom and closed the door behind him.
Evelyn ruffled through her bags for something more appropriate to wear. She pulled out a pair of burgundy cotton shorts, with white stripes on the side, and a brown long sleeved shirt. When she heard the water running she quickly changed her clothing. When she finished she grabbed a bottle of water for him and brought it up the stairs. She set it on the nightstand on the other side of the bed.
She then climbed onto bed and fluffed the pillows so that she could sit up leaning against the headboard. She pulled the comforter up and hugged it. She couldn't believe she let him kiss her. She couldn't believe that she kissed him back. She even moaned, she squeezed her eyes shut mortified.
While Jinhai cleaned up in the bathroom, she warred with herself. Was she really going to let him back into her life? Was she going to let him be here for her like this? Would she accept him romantically? She shook her head. He seemed so serious though. Aside from leaving her, he had never let her down. In the end she decided that she would let him try. Her heart felt suddenly happy at the thought that he would stay by her but she quickly dislodged the feeling. It was too soon to feel this happy.
He stepped out of the bathroom in a pair of navy blue flannel pants and a grey t-shirt that showed his toned biceps. Evelyn admired him for one second before she hopped up and rushed passed him to get into the bathroom. She closed the door behind and went to the sink to brush her teeth. She brushed quickly then she stood in front of the mirror. Her hair was a little out of place from his hand, she smoothed it down with her fingers. When she stepped back out he was leaning against the headboard with his phone in his hand.
She walked to the other side and crawled into the bed. He set his phone down and turned to his side to look at her. He rested his weight on his right arm.
"How was your day?" He asked. She turned her head toward him.
"It was fine, how was yours?" She asked.
"It was okay. Read reports, gave autographs." He said. She laughed. Laughing helped her relax a little bit.
"I'm going to work at Wei's World Organization," she told him. He reacted with interest.
"That's great! You used to say that's what you wanted." He said. She gave a small smile.
"That was a long time ago." She said. His brows furrowed.
"What do you mean?" He asked her, sitting up a little bit.
"I used to want to run WWO. But now, I actually want to open a medical facility." She said bring her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. He sat up with sudden interest.
"Oh? Any specific purpose?" He asked. She leaned her head down on her arms looking at him.
"Just a place for women who want to start a family but are experiencing difficulties. A place designed to give them every opportunity with the help of advanced medicine to have a baby." She said.
"Li Corp, could help with that." He suggested. She pouted.
"I know. I had a proposal all drawn up when I was with Cheng's." She said dejectedly. He frowned and looked at his phone.
"Did you have a meeting scheduled for two weeks from now, to discuss it?" He must have been looking at the calendar section of his phone.
"Yes," she nodded.
"How do you know?" She asked.
"My assistant must have put it on my calendar." He said setting his phone down against his stomach. No doubt this proposal came across Zain or Xin and either of them ensured to put it on his calendar so he would avoid the office that day. But he didn't tell her that.
"You could still pitch it to me." He suggested.
"No I can't. I'm not employed by Cheng's Global Corp. anymore." She sighed.
"We could have you have you both come in to pitch it." He said. She shook her head.
"I don't have enough time or resources to put it together," she said.
"You have the resources, you would just have to pitch it to your father first. If you get his backing then you could do it," Jinhai said. Evelyn thought about it. She could do this. She picked up her phone to call her father. It was about 11 o'clock, he might not be sleeping yet. He picked up on the third ring.
"Xiaoli, what's wrong?" Deming's voice came through the phone. He didn't sound groggy, so he wasn't sleeping.
"Ba, do you have time tomorrow morning?" She asked him.
"Why," he asked her.
"I want to pitch an idea to you." She said trying to hide her enthusiasm.
"What kind of idea?" He asked suspiciously.
"Half an hour. All I need is half an hour of your time." She pressed not answering his question. He didn't answer her, she presumed he was looking at his calendar.
"Tomorrow, 10 o'clock." He finally said.
"Thank you, Ba! Good night!" Evelyn said.
"Good night," he responded then hung up. She turned to Jinhai with a huge grin.
"He's meeting with me tomorrow at 10!" She squealed. He smiled back at her clearly enjoying her excitement.
"That's excellent. Do you have your proposal?" He asked her. She tilted her head questioning him.
"Yes, why?" She asked.
"I can go over it with you and help you with any changes," he said.
"Really?" She hopped off the bed to go to the safe. She went through her stuff taking things out until she found the document.
Jinhai's eyes zeroed in on the jewelry box as soon as she took it out. He stared at it in recognition. Wasn't that the box that held the necklace he gave her all those years ago? Before he could ask, she grabbed the box and placed it back inside the safe.
"Here it is! Why does it feel like I'm back in school and you're helping me look over my homework?" She pouted. He lifted his eyes to meet hers as if coming out of a daze. She bounded onto the bed and handed him the portfolio. They spent the next hour going through her ideas and he helped her refine them. When they finished, he closed the portfolio and handed it back to her.
She took it from him and hugged him.
"Thank you!" She said. He hugged her back, pulling her closer to him. She pulled back and went to set her portfolio on the table.
"Alright, get some sleep. You have a big day tomorrow." He said, reaching out to gently pinch her cheek.
"Jinhai," she whined pushing his hand away. He released his grip on her cheek.
"I'm not a kid anymore, you know?" She said with a pout.
"Trust me, I'm well aware of that." He said in a low tone. She was both outraged and excited by his flirting.
"Let's just go to sleep. Good night." She said then slid under the covers turning her back to him. She reached an arm out to turn off the lamp on her nightstand.
She didn't see his warm smile behind her.
"Good night, Evelyn." He reached over to turn his light off before he laid on his back. It wasn't long before they both drifted off to sleep.