Chapter 398: Mixed Signals

After the divorce, at least she could finally rest without being worked to exhaustion. She wasn’t going to think about that anymore. She had no idea how long she tossed and turned, but eventually, Ellis drifted back to sleep—though it wasn’t exactly restful. The next morning, she woke up looking tired and out of it. So much so that Maxwell asked the second he saw her, “Didn’t sleep well last night, Ms. Harper?”

She nodded honestly. “No, I didn’t.”

“Then get a little more sleep. I don’t need you right now,” he said, his tone softer than usual. “I’ll call you when I do.”

That unexpected kindness from her boss threw her off a little. Then again, she might be quitting soon anyway. Whatever. If the boss said sleep, she’d go sleep.

“Alright, thank you, Mr. Maxwell.”

She headed back to her room immediately. Maxwell watched her go, a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. Just because she didn’t sleep well didn’t mean she’d nap the whole day away. Ellis ended up sleeping less than an hour before waking up feeling much better. She stayed in bed, lazily scrolling her phone while waiting for Maxwell to call.

Before he could, her phone rang with a call from Maya.

“Hey, Maya.”

Maya was calling to ask if Ellis remembered where she’d left something. Ellis thought for a second, told her where it probably was, and was about to hang up—until Maya brought up Easton. He’d shown up looking for her again. Maya told him Ellis was out of town on a business trip and wouldn’t be back for a few days.

Ellis wasn’t mad. She didn’t care whether Maya told him or not. If Maya hadn’t, Easton would’ve just looked into it himself anyway. The man had no boundaries. She’d known for a long time that Easton liked to investigate where she went anytime she didn’t pick up his calls.

Maybe it was that dream she’d had last night. Wait—no. That wasn’t a dream. That was her brain randomly replaying old memories of them hooking up. And now, for some insane reason, a tiny part of her was feeling that itch again.

Have I just gotten too comfortable? Is that why I’m going nuts like this? What the hell was she thinking? Wanting to sleep with Easton again? Not a chance in hell. She didn’t care how much her body missed sex—she wasn’t going anywhere near her ex-husband. The guy was used goods. And he’d slept with someone she absolutely couldn’t stand. Just thinking about it made her stomach churn. If she really wanted someone, she’d find a man who was actually clean.

After hanging up, Ellis got out of bed and sat down at her laptop. Even though she was out of town, there was still work to take care of from the main office. Since Maxwell hadn’t called for her yet, she knocked out as much as she could.

It didn’t last long, though. Maxwell reached out before she could finish. She changed out of her sleepwear and went to meet him. And maybe it was just her imagination, but he seemed…off. Not in a bad way. More like…shy? Was that even possible? He wasn’t making eye contact. He looked kind of like a guy being awkward around his crush.

No way. I’m definitely reading too much into this. Maxwell was her boss. There was zero reason for him to feel shy around her. If anything, she should be the one feeling weird. He was the one who could fire her whenever he wanted. But as the trip went on, Ellis was fully convinced she’d imagined it. Maxwell acted totally normal—professional, calm, nothing weird at all.

When the trip finally ended, they boarded the flight back to Stonebridge. Ellis fell asleep almost immediately. Maxwell, on the other hand, was wide awake. And his head was nowhere near anything work-related. He couldn’t stop thinking about how much he enjoyed spending time with Ellis—even if most of it was technically work.

The past few days had been packed and exhausting. But now that the plane was landing and they didn’t need to go straight to the office, Ellis pulled out her phone to call an Uber home.

“What, your driver didn’t come pick you up?” Maxwell asked. He was clearly talking about his own personal driver.

She responded right away. “He’s already waiting outside the airport for you, Mr. Maxwell.”

“Then why are you calling an Uber?” he asked, glancing at her screen with visible confusion.

“...I need a ride,” Ellis said, unsure why he was asking like it wasn’t obvious. She didn’t live anywhere near him. It’s not like she could just hop into the car with her boss and get dropped off.

“You live where?” Maxwell asked. Her address was technically in her employee file, but she was sure he hadn’t read it—definitely didn’t remember it. So she answered honestly. “Serenity Estate.”

“You…” Maxwell opened his mouth to say something, then stopped himself. He’d been about to offer her a ride home, but since she’d already called the Uber, it’d come off forced now. She noticed he was acting hesitant, maybe even a little awkward—but he was still the boss. No way she was going to say that to his face. So she just waited.