?


    Mason quickly pushed his confusion aside when he saw his favorite barbecue ribs and focused on eating.


    After finishing dinner, N was just about to head back to her bedroom when Damon walked up to her and effortlessly picked her up. Seeing Lydia cover her mouth and chuckle, N felt her cheeks flush. She quickly whispered in Damon''s ear, "I can walk on my own."


    "You walk too slowly. I''m carrying you," Damon insisted.


    N couldn''t argue with him, so she went along with it.


    Instead of taking N to the bedroom, Damon carried her to his study.


    "Aren''t you supposed to be in a meeting soon? Why are you taking me to your study?" she asked.


    "You can rest on the sofa in my study and read. I''ll take you upstairs after the meeting," he replied.


    N frowned. "Will it disturb your meeting?"


    Damon smiled. "No."


    Their rtionship had finally made substantial progress that day, and with N''s foot injured, Damon wanted to seize the opportunity to move into her room. He wasn''t sure when he''d have another chance.


    Despite his calcted n, he maintained a calm exterior.


    N, eager to spend more time with Damon, nodded. "Okay, then."


    After settling N on the sofa, Damon found her a book and covered her with a thin nket.


    "I''ll go to my meeting now. If you feel tiredter, just sleep here for a bit," he said softly.


    "Okay," she replied.


    Once Damon returned to his desk, he turned on hisptop and gathered the shareholders to begin the meeting.


    ...


    Itsted over three hours before wrapping up. He instructed Spencer to organize the minutes and email them to him, then closed theptop.


    Rising from his desk, he walked over


    to the sofa and saw that N had already fallen asleep, holding the book foosely in her hands as if it might slip to the floor at anyo moment.


    Gently, Damon took the book from her hands and ced it on the table, gazing lovingly at her peaceful face.


    Though N hadn''t been asleep for long, she didn''t sleep deeply. Feeling a shadow fall over her, she slowly opened her eyes.


    "Did you finish your meeting?" she asked, her voice hoarse andced with sleepiness,pletely unaware of how cute she looked. Damon nodded. "Yeah, I''ll carry you upstairs to sleep."


    "Okay," N replied.


    When Damon carried her back to the bedroom and didn''t leave, she finally sensed something was off. "Why haven''t you left yet?"


    Damon pulled back the covers and


    naturally day on the other side of her bed. "You hurt your foot. It''ll be inconvenient for you to go to the bathroom at night, so I''m staying to take care of you."


    "I''ll be fine. Just hurry back to your own room," N insisted.


    "Nope. You needed my help earlier when you were taking a bath. Even if you don''t need my help, what if you fall at night and no one''s around to notice?" Damon asked.


    No matter how much N protested, Damon refused to leave.


    After exhausting her arguments, he handed her a ss of water. "Drink this and get ready for bed."


    N didn''t take it, ring at him. "You have to sleep here, is that it?"


    Damon nodded.


    "Fine, then you sleep here, and I''ll go sleep with Buddy," N said.


    Just as she pulled back the covers and prepared to get out of bed, Damon grabbed her wrist and pulled her back. His tall figure loomed over her as he suggested, "N, if you really can''t sleep, why don''t we do something interesting?"