Femme Fatale: The King's Deadly Temptress

A couple of days later and it was already Friday. The day that Katherine had been waiting for her bonus to arrive.

After getting dressed, she grabbed her cell phone from the nightstand, opened an online banking application and logged in. The loading screen flashed for a few seconds before the account balance appeared. Her face was full of anticipation and it glowed as soon as she saw the money on her account. 

"Ahhh! Thank God!" She kissed the screen of her phone and a bright smile plastered on her face as she went out of the bedroom skipping. 

On her way down the stairs, she saw Damien who was about to make some breakfast in the kitchen. She skipped towards him excitedly and offered, "Boss, let me make breakfast today."

Damien raised a brow when he saw the gleeful look on her face. "You seem to be in a good mood this morning. Did something happen?" he asked as he stepped aside and allowed her to work on the scrambled eggs.

Katherine turned to face him and her smile became even brighter as she replied, "I got my signing bonus today!"

"Wow. Congratulations, Ms. Miller! So you're going to buy me dinner tonight then?" he crossed his arms and leaned on the counter.

"Hmmm… Maybe I can if there's still money left afterwards. But don't be picky, okay?" 

"You're going to spend it on something right away?"

Katherine put an apron on and started cooking while she talked to him. "Well, yeah… I need to pay some bills and my rent. After that, I'll probably still have enough left... Speaking of which, Boss, if I finish my tasks before clock out later, can I leave early?"

"Is there somewhere that you need to go?" 

She nodded without turning to him as she continued to cook on their food. "Yes, I need to pay the landlady and ask her if I can go back to my apartment since I'm going to pay what I owed and hopefully she'll be okay to wait for advance payments once I get my first salary at the end of the month–"

"Wait… you're going back?"

Katherine glanced at him and answered, "Of course… I mean, I can't stay here forever. I've already lived off you for a week now. I don't want to stay as a freeloader."

Damien became quiet. He knew that this day would come but he wasn't ready to let her move out of his place so soon. Heck–he wasn't ready for her to move out at all. 

"Can't you stay? I don't mind if you continue to live off me. By all means, Katherine… take advantage of me all you want."

Katherine threw her head back laughing at his words. "Who says that? You're being silly, President Park. You shouldn't make jokes like that or I might really do it."

"I'm not joking." He loved her laughter but he wasn't in the mood to enjoy it when she thought he was kidding. "I'm serious. Stay here."

Katherine turned off the heat and plated the food before she turned to face him. "Even if you don't mind me staying here, I do. This is your place, so I can't keep sleeping on your bed while you stay on the sofa. There's only one bathroom and it's been tough that we have to take our turns for privacy. You've already helped me a lot these past few days… I don't want to keep burdening you."

Damien could only look at her. No matter what he wanted to say, she was right. And although they have gotten close, they didn't exactly have that kind of relationship where they could live together. Not yet, at least. 

Brushing off the awkward silence, Katherine placed the plates on the breakfast nook and called him over, "Come on, Boss. Let's eat."

Sighing, Damien lightly smiled as he strolled over and received a cup of coffee that she prepared for him. The only thing he was happy with was – at least, she was now more comfortable around him.

…

Four in the afternoon on the same day.

Katherine knocked at Damien's office door and entered after seeing him wave through the glass – signaling for her to come in.

He was on the phone so she walked towards his desk quietly, placed a few folders on it and waited for him to finish.

"What else hasn't been taken care of?" He spoke through the earpiece as he got up from his chair and walked around his desk until he was facing her. 

Katherine stood there avoiding his gaze as she thought it was rude to look at him while he was on the phone. But since she wasn't looking at him, she didn't see how deep his gaze was at her.

"You still have a week to do that but I expect everything to be ready at least three days before the opening." He raised his hand and tucked her hair behind her ear. His little gesture caused the hair on her neck to stand when his finger grazed her skin. She clutched her hands together and looked up at him, meeting his stare. 

"Good job. Keep me updated." He spoke before pressing a button on the earpiece. 

"You need something?" he asked.

"Oh, um… I have finished what I needed to do today, Boss. So, if there's nothing else that I can do for you, can I leave early? I still need to ride the bus for an hour." She pressed her lips together after asking for permission.

Damien checked his watch and grabbed his coat from the hanger. Though he was reluctant to let her move out of his place, he still wanted to help her. "Let's go, I'll drive you there."

"You don't have to, I can go by myself." 

"I know that, but I want to go with you. Besides, my car is faster." He was already by the door urging for her to move.

Nodding, Katherine made a small smile as she walked out of the office with him.

The bus would usually take her an hour to get to her stop. And another ten minutes on foot from the bus stop going to her apartment. However, since they were using Damien's car, they arrived outside her apartment building in less than thirty minutes.

Damien parked right in front of the landlady's unit and stood next to his car while Katherine went to knock on the landlady's door. Mrs. Qin opened the door and stared at Katherine with knitted brows. She caught sight of Damien who was a few meters away, scanned him and his car before she looked back at Katherine and asked, "What do you want?"

With a polite tone, Katherine handed a white envelope to her, "Mrs. Qin, this is the rent that I owed you."

Mrs. Qin's expression didn't change as she received the envelope and counted the money inside. As she did, Katherine took the chance to ask for a favor.

"Mrs. Qin, since I have paid you like I promised… Can I go back to my room? I will get my first paycheck at the end of this month… I can pay my rent then and even two months in advance." She clutched her fingers, hoping for her landlady to agree.

Mrs. Qin glanced at Damien who was giving her an icy glare, so she softened her expression but she still refused Katherine's request. "Even if I want to, I can't do that. There's already someone occupying the unit you stayed in and they paid for a whole year. There's no more vacancy in this building."

Katherine bit her lip and did not know what to do. Seeing her reaction, Mrs. Qin sighed and told her, "You can collect your things from the garage until Sunday." She nodded towards Damien's direction and continued, " Why don't you stay with your boyfriend in the meantime? I'm sure he can afford to let you stay with him while you find your own place."

"Ah, he's not my–"

Mrs. Qin closed the door and left Katherine blushing as she stood awkwardly, not wanting to look at Damien in the eyes. The landlady's voice was loud enough for him to hear. A teasing grin formed on his lips as he placed his hands in his pockets. Katherine finally had the guts to turn and face him, giving him a small smile despite her embarrassment.

'Yes, my dear Katherine. Why don't you just stay with me?' he said in his thought.