Just then, the girl in the pink dress stormed over, yelling at me, “Hey, do you even know who he is? How could you hurt his feelings like that? He went all the way to Hachester just for you.”

Ryan immediately clapped a hand over her mouth and pulled her away.

Seeing this, I chalked it up to young people flirting and bickering. I turned around and flagged down a taxi.

Once I got in the car, I shot Melissa a quick text, telling her to stop looking for Ryan.

Melissa messaged back, asking if I was developing feelings for Ryan since I was so worried about him.

I just saw Ryan as an immature kid, even if he was already twenty-two. He was not my type when it came to dating.

I told Melissa I wasn’t into Ryan at all, but she just called me a coward, saying I was too chicken to go for it.

I could only give a bitter smile. Whether Melissa bought it or not, as a boss, I’d never fall for a subordinate—that was just asking for trouble.

When I got back to the hotel, my phone wouldn’t stop buzzing—Ryan kept calling and blowing up my messages. I just ignored him.

The next morning, someone rang my doorbell. I peeked out the peephole, on full alert. When I saw it was Ryan, I was baffled. I wondered how he’d found me here. I swung the door open, still in shock.

Ryan stood outside, guilt written all over his face. He said, “Sorry for coming by so early and disturbing you.”

“How did you even know I was staying here? Were you checking up on me?” I demanded, my anger barely contained.

Ryan said softly, “I asked a friend to help me out. I’m sorry, I just wanted a chance to explain myself.”

My expression turned cold as I stared him down. I said, “If you can use your connections to track me down, then everything you told me before was a lie. Ryan, you’ve been lying to me all along. Why?”

Ryan replied, “I just wanted to get close to you.”

Only now did it dawn on me—Ryan was not some ordinary guy. I asked, “Who are you, really?”

Ryan said, “I’m from Braylin. My family’s loaded. Those guys you saw last time were not debt collectors—they were my family’s bodyguards. And Silas is my family’s steward.”

I was totally stunned. I couldn’t wrap my head around it—he was the pampered heir to a fortune, yet he played poor in front of me and even spent his summer break working at my place just to “earn his stripes.” Talk about manufacturing hardship.

“Why go through all that?” I asked, keeping my cool. He might’ve lied to me, but as long as he was safe, I wasn’t about to make a big deal out of it.

Ryan lowered his head and twisted his fingers. He muttered, “Honestly, it was all just to see you. Victoria, maybe you didn’t fall for me at first sight, but for me, it was love at first sight.”

His words caught me off guard again.

Ryan looked at me, his eyes sincere. He said, “The day I saw you at the hotel, you blew me away. I never thought anyone could make a long dress look good.

“Women in my family wear them all the time, but to me they always seemed a little gaudy. Then I saw you—did a double-take. You made that dress look incredible.”

I crossed my arms, giving him a teasing smile. I shot back, “Thanks. So, you just got interested because of my looks? Too bad for you—I’m not into younger guys, especially ones who try to play me.

“Honestly, after what you pulled, you’re not exactly scoring points with me right now.”

Ryan’s face went beet red, and he dropped his gaze, looking shy. He said, “I know. I did want to tell you the truth, but after working for you, I realized how much you cared about me.

“I liked having you look out for me. I just couldn’t bring myself to mess it up.”