CHAPTER FOUR: TOO CLOSE
1230 Words
Sebastian woke up feeling irritated.
Not because of work. Not even because of the restaurant from the night before.
It was because Naomi Reed was still there.
The thought hit him before he even opened his eyes properly. Someone had slept over inside his home. His personal space.
And it wasn’t a guest. Neither was it some random woman he brought home after a party.
Naomi had slept there because the contract allowed her to.
That alone annoyed him more than it should have.
He stayed in bed for a while, staring at the ceiling while memories from the night before kept replaying in his head.
The card machine beeping.
The silence at the restaurant when people realized his card had limits now.
Sebastian could still remember the waiter trying to hide his expression. The fake politeness. The pity hidden behind professionalism.
God.
The embarrassment was enough to keep him awake, but surprisingly, it wasn’t the real reason. People would move on. Another gossip would come up.
What stayed in his head was Naomi sitting calmly in his living room when he got home, like she had already expected the night to end badly.
She hadn’t looked surprised.
She hadn’t looked sorry for him either.
She was calm, like she already knew how this game worked while he was still trying to figure out the rules.
Sebastian groaned softly and finally forced himself out of bed.
The penthouse was quiet when he stepped into the hallway, but he could hear movement coming from the kitchen. A cabinet closing. Water running. A mug touching the counter.
Normal domestic sounds.
Still, hearing them inside his house felt strange.
When he entered the kitchen, Naomi was standing near the counter with a mug in one hand and her tablet beside her.
She was already dressed properly for the day in dark trousers and a fitted grey top. Her hair was tied back neatly like always.
Sebastian was beginning to think she even slept looking organized.
The weird part was that Naomi barely touched anything in the penthouse, but somehow her presence still changed the whole place.
The couch still looked untouched.
The piano near the window was still closed. Not that he even knew whether she played or not, though something about her fingers made it seem possible.
Even the guest room door had been neatly shut when he walked past earlier.
She didn’t leave mess behind.
No clothes lying around. No makeup scattered anywhere.
Nothing.
It was almost like she hadn’t slept there at all.
And yet Sebastian could still feel her presence everywhere.
“You’re awake,” Naomi said without looking up from her tablet.
Sebastian leaned against the doorway. “You sound disappointed.”
“You’re overthinking it, Mr. Vale.”
That almost made him smile.
He walked to the fridge, grabbed a bottle of water, then leaned against the counter across from her.
Up close, he noticed faint shadows under her eyes.
“You didn’t sleep much either,” he said.
Naomi picked up her coffee calmly. “I slept enough. You, on the other hand, clearly didn’t, Mr. Vale.”
“Why do you think so?”
“You paced around half the night.”
Sebastian paused. “You heard that?”
“The walls aren’t soundproof.”
He opened the water bottle slowly. “Feels like something I should’ve known before signing that contract.”
“You didn’t read most of what you signed.”
There it was again.
That calm way she spoke whenever she said something annoying.
Sebastian drank some water just to stop himself from replying immediately.
“You know,” he said after a moment, “most people usually try harder to impress the person paying them.”
Naomi finally looked up at him. “You’re not paying me.”
Right.
Technically, she worked for the trust.
For the contract.
For his mother.
That thought immediately ruined his mood again.
Sebastian walked around the kitchen for no reason, opening cabinets he didn’t need while Naomi kept working quietly.
Most people around him hated silence. They rushed to fill it. Rushed to start conversations just to keep his attention.
Naomi didn’t.
She just let it sit there.
And somehow that made him notice everything.
The way she tapped lightly against her tablet.
The steam rising from her coffee.
The fact that she looked more comfortable in his house than he did.
“You touched my coffee machine,” he said suddenly.
Naomi blinked once. “I made coffee.”
“You used my machine.”
“That’s normally how coffee works.”
Sebastian let out a small laugh before he could stop himself.
Naomi noticed immediately.
For a second, her expression changed slightly.
It wasn’t softer, just less guarded.
Then it disappeared again.
Interesting.
“You know what your problem is?” Sebastian asked.
Naomi sighed quietly. “You’re going to tell me anyway, so go ahead.”
“You act like nobody can read you.”
“And?”
“And you’re not as hard to read as you think.”
That made her look at him properly this time.
Sebastian straightened slightly, suddenly more interested.
“You hide things well,” he continued, “but not perfectly.”
Naomi’s eyes narrowed slightly. “What exactly do you think you’ve figured out?”
Sebastian smiled slowly. “You get nervous when I flirt with you.”
Naomi looked shocked for a moment before bursting into laughter.
“Mr. Vale, I’m so sorry, but were you actually trying to flirt with me?”
She tried gaining composure before continuing.
“Here I was thinking we were having a professional conversation.”
“You looked at my mouth yesterday,” Sebastian said.
Naomi stayed quiet for a second too long.
Tiny reaction.
Still a reaction.
“That says more about you than me, Mr. Vale,” she replied calmly.
“Probably.”
Sebastian expected her to ignore him after that, but instead she closed her tablet and leaned back slightly in her chair.
“You enjoy provoking people, Mr. Vale,” she said.
“I enjoy honest reactions. And you can call me Sebastian, Naomi.”
“I’d rather not, Mr. Vale. That’s a bit too informal.”
That made him pause.
Because she wasn’t wrong.
He moved closer to her then said,
“We slept in the same house. You have control over my money, but calling me by my first name is too informal?”
“Oh please, Naomi.”
Naomi sighed before saying, “Sebastian, it is still Mr. Vale.”
Sebastian looked away briefly toward the large windows overlooking the city.
“You froze my accounts overnight,” he said after a moment.
Naomi stayed calm. “I didn’t freeze them myself.”
“You approved it.”
“Yes.”
“At least you admitted that part.”
Naomi watched him carefully before speaking again.
“You think this is punishment,” she said.
“It isn’t?”
“No.” She shook her head slightly. “Punishment is personal. This is supposed to stop you from making reckless decisions.”
Sebastian laughed softly. “So what? I’m being trained now?”
“No,” Naomi replied. “You’re just finally facing consequences.”
That hit harder than he expected.
And the worst part was that Naomi noticed that too.
- Writer
