Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 88487 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 442(@200wpm)___ 354(@250wpm)___ 295(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88487 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 442(@200wpm)___ 354(@250wpm)___ 295(@300wpm)
After another minute of mad typing, Qin lowered his phone and stared at Jin. “I set everything up for tomorrow.”
Jin surged to his feet, and the other two rose at the same time. Jin placed a hand on Qin’s shoulder and ushered him toward the door. Yes, that was enough interrupting for one night. He wanted to see if there was even the slightest chance he and West could return to what they were doing only moments ago.
“Good. Thank you. Now go get some rest.”
“Yes. Wait! Where is he sleeping?” Qin demanded on a gasp while digging his heels into the ornate rug to keep Jin from removing him from the apartment. “He can’t sleep in here!”
Jin rolled his eyes. He thanked the heavens that Qin hadn’t been his assistant during his university years or he’d have never gotten laid. Not that he was sure that was going to happen now. Definitely not with Qin’s help.
“There’s an empty bedroom right next to mine. I’ll put him in there. My chastity will be safe for another night,” Jin muttered. Lies. He prayed it was all lies.
Qin snorted, but at least he allowed himself to be moved. “As if. Fine. I’m returning to my apartment. And I’m warning you, I’m drinking the second I get there. I will be hung over tomorrow. Just be grateful that your only meetings are with Prince Jin Ming Tao and the emperor.” Qin gasped and turned wide, laughing eyes on Jin. “I can’t wait to see how you explain all this to the prince.”
Groaning, Jin opened the door and shoved a giggling Qin into the hall. “Good night, Qin. Drink water before falling asleep.”
As he shut the door, soft chuckles filling the room. He glanced over his shoulder to see West’s body shaking.
“Sorry about that,” Jin murmured as he crossed to where West was standing.
“Don’t be. I like him. He takes watching out for you seriously.”
“He does.” Jin hesitated, wondering if he could wrap his arms around West’s waist and settle back into his body the same way he had been prior to the interruption. West, thankfully, answered that question by grabbing his hip and pulling him in closer. Jin smiled and cuddled into his embrace with a happy sigh. “Qin isn’t usually so…”
“Blunt?” West finished for him, amusement still coloring his tone.
“Yes. That.”
“It shows how much we shocked him.”
Jin closed his eyes. “Yes, very much.” He hadn’t felt sleepy minutes ago, but now that he was being held in West’s arms, his head on his shoulder, he was pretty sure he could fall asleep standing like this.
“Fake boyfriend, huh?”
Now he was awake again.
Jin’s head popped up, and he met West’s eyes. He didn’t appear annoyed, just questioning. “Yes. Fake boyfriend.” Jin tried to infuse confidence into those three words. “It makes the most sense. You wanted to remain close to make sure the threat was gone. But you couldn’t appear as my assistant since I already have one of those. And you couldn’t be security because we’d have to explain everything to security. Boyfriend makes the most sense.”
“But I was planning to watch you for just a day or two. The threat should be over by then. Won’t it be weird if you pass me off as a boyfriend only to have me disappear in so short a time span?”
Time for the big guns. No, he wasn’t above this.
Jin lifted wide, pathetic eyes to West. “Well, you could stay a little longer, couldn’t you?” he asked in a small voice. He topped it off with a tiny jut of his bottom lip in a pout.
No, not his proudest moment, but West had already seen him at his lowest and he wanted this man to stay for as long as he could keep him.
“What about your father? Won’t it be in poor taste if you’re parading about a boyfriend?”
Oh.
That was a fantastic point.
Something he hadn’t considered at all.
Was it disrespectful of him to be seen happily dating when his father was sick in the hospital?
This was bad. Very bad.
West tightened his arms around him and pressed a kiss to his forehead. “Enough. Don’t think about that. We’ll play it very low key. Be respectful. I’ll be your silent shadow. If anyone asks, you’ll say that I’ve been an emotional support for you in these trying times. We won’t put on any crazy displays of affection where people can see us.”
Jin nodded, but he couldn’t shake the gnawing guilt that was growing in his stomach. This was wrong. His father was gravely ill and could die in the coming days or weeks. And yet, here he was in West’s arms, smiling and laughing as if he had no problems at all. Not to mention that his country was in dire financial straits.
Pinching his chin between his thumb and forefinger, West forced Jin to raise his head and meet his stony stare. “Stop, Dianxia. Do you believe your father would want you to eschew any kind of happiness for him?”