Chapter 55 Earnest Rejection
Then again, Tessa reminded herself sharply that his perfection and his hordes of admirers had nothing to do with her.
Her awkwardness was maintained throughout the massage, although there was no denying that her skills were comparable to those of a professional masseuse’s.
Presently, a pregnant and strange silence filled the room while there was something odd about the atmosphere. At some point, and without her even noticing, the tips of her ears began to heat up.
Nicholas, however, seemed unaffected, and he only thought of her massage as a professional one. He had to admit that the pain in his bones and muscle had been significantly soothed as she continued to work on them.
At that moment, his dark gaze fell and lingered upon her. She had her head bowed, and her face was serious and focused under the warm lights.
She had neither a heart-stopping beauty nor the delicate elegance that seemed innate to socilaties, but there was something refreshing and enigmatic about her that somehow drew him in.
Her porcelain hands were nimble as they swiftly found and worked on the aching spots in his legs, effectively putting his discomfort to rest.
All the staring must have led him into a trance, for after a while, Nicholas started to feel a surge of something like desire rush through him, and it wasn’t ebbing away any time soon.
In fact, the impulse to push Tessa down and have his way with her suddenly felt genuine and overwhelming.
He forced himself to avert his gaze. Pinching the space between his brows, he tried to keep calm as he suppressed the strange urge that had welled up out of nowhere.
Around ten minutes later, Tessa looked up at him and asked softly, “Does it feel better now?”
Nicholas nodded and said, “Much better.”
She let out an awkward dry cough and hummed in response, muttering, “Well, glad to be of help.”
Following that, she quickly placed his legs down once more and created some distance between them rather intentionally.
At the sight of this, the corners of Nicholas’ lips twitched with the beginnings of a smile, and he thought that there were still some things that he might have to go over with her.
His deep voice pierced through the veil of silence between them as he abruptly said, “Miss Reinhart, I hope you will reconsider what we talked about earlier today. I’m sure you can tell that Greg truly is enamored with you, and I hope that you will continue to stay and tutor him.”
After he paused, he added as an afterthought, “If you’re worried about my family picking a bone with you, though, I promise that I won’t let any one of them affect your duties. Naturally, I’ll take care of your wellbeing for as long as you teach Greg.”
Tessa felt her heart give a heavy thump at this. The only person in this world who had sworn to protect her was Timothy, and now Nicholas was the second man to have told her something along the lines of that.
For some reason, the reassurance behind his promise warmed her, but she still rejected his offer nonetheless.
Parting her lips, she replied sensibly, “There’s no need for that, President Sawyer, because I’ve already thought about this. I’m grateful for your kind offer, but regardless of how things might turn out, I don’t think I can continue teaching Gregory.”
Upon meeting Nicholas’ curious gaze, she explained steadily, “You’ve seen how Gregory has taken an unexpected liking to me, and while I’m extremely flattered by this, there is no promise that he wouldn’t grow overly attached to me. What will happen then?”
Tessa eyed him seriously, as though quietly asking him to consider this possibility. “Also, President Sawyer, I’m acutely aware of who I am and where I stand in society. I never belonged in the same world as you and Gregory. The both of you come from the most elite family in the entire country; you stand at the top of the social pyramid and everyone respects you. I, on the other hand, am just an ordinary woman who’s trying to get through life day by day.
Besides, you’ll have to start a family someday, won’t you? Don’t you think your future wife—Gregory’s future mommy—would have something to say about my constant presence in your lives? I have no wish of becoming an eyesore to someone else. That said, I think it would be much better for us to stop Gregory from pursuing this matter any further while he’s still oblivious than to drag things out. It’ll save us from plenty of trouble in the future, don’t you think?”
