NovelEnglishThe atmosphere at the table froze for a few seconds until | stood up, grabbed my phone, and walked to the
bedroom to answer it.
“Victoria, | had lunch with the higher-ups from my department today and didn’t get a chance to call you. Do you
have any plans tonight?” Nathan's gentle voice cthrough, sincere and warm.
| thought for a moment and replied, “I was thinking of making ssweet rice balls at htonight.”
“You're making them yourself?” Nathan asked with a smile.
“Yeah, it's been a while since I've made them, so | thought I'd give it a try,” | said, smiling back.
“Can | cover tonight and try your cooking? I'm free tonight,” Nathan asked softly.
| glanced back at the dining room-three pairs of eyes were glued to me, and Melissa's were especially sharp and
full of gossip.
| whispered, “If you want to come, just cover. I'll make sextra for you.”
“Alright, is Mr. Holcomb coming too?” Nathan asked, his voice tinged with emotion.
| laughed. “He's here right now-he brought Yvonne with him.”
Nathan let out a wistful sigh. “Is there really no escaping him in Hachester? Are we seriously going to end up as a
threesome?”
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“Con, Nathan, don’t joke about that,” | said, embarrassed and a little annoyed.
Nathan burst out laughing. “I honestly don’t mind. It’s not like we can avoid him anyway-unless | play
matchmaker and find him a girlfriend.”
‘Did you forget Mariah just tried to set you up with a girlfriend?” | teased, grinning.
“Please, don’t bring that up. I'm still traumatized,” Nathan replied helplessly.
| couldn’t help but laugh too. Honestly, cracking these offhand jokes now and then was the best way to show
there was nothing romantic between us.
Real romantic tension isn’t about cracking jokes-it's something you can’t laugh off, something that just hangs
in the air...
Edward’s handsome, brooding face flashed through my mind. With real tension, you just can’t joke around
like this.
Being able to banter with Nathan like this kept things balanced between us. What really scaresis the thought
that one day, he might stop joking with me-then I'd know something was wrong.
“Cover for dinner tonight! Any favorite filling?” | asked.
11:57 Thu, Sep 11
Chapter 619
Smiling, Nathan said, “My grandma used to make them with peanut and sugar filling.”
| laughed. “Good timing, | just picked sup.”
“Then... see you tonight,” Nathan said, sounding excited.
“Yep!” | hung up and headed back to the table, phone still in hand.
Jared set his fork down gently and asked, “Is Nathan coming over?”
| replied, “Not now, he’s coming over tonight.”
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Jared frowned. “He knows I'm here for lunch, so he picks tonight? He sure knows how to pick his moment.”
An idea struck me, and | smiled. “I'm planning to make ssweet rice balls this afternoon. If you're interested,
you can stay for dinner.”
Melissa's clever eyes glinted. “Victoria, I've got something going on this afternoon, so | probably won't stay for
dinner tonight.”
“Alright, we'll catch up next time,” | said with a smile.
Jared turned to Yvonne. “Are you staying?”
“Of course! | want to be Mom's little helper,” Yvonne said happily.
Jared cleared his throat and took a sip of coffee. “I don’t have anything planned this afternoon, so | can stay and
help too.”
“Don’t worry about it, just cover when you're done with work,” | said.
No way was Jared actually free. With his company expanding and more projects piling up, he was always up to
his neck in work these days.
Jared nodded with a smile. “Alright, Ill head to the office first and cback later.”
After lunch, Melissa made a quick exit-probably trying to dodge any love triangle .
But me? | was smack dab in the middle of the mess, and honestly, it didn’t fazeone bit.
Since Nathan was coming over, | figured I'd have Jared stick around too. With both of them here, there was zero
chance for any romantic tension to spark. If anything, | was actually curious to hear their takes on business-
maybe | could finally pick up a thing or two in that department.
That afternoon, | got busy in the kitchen, pulling out the sticky rice flour and kneading dough, prepping the
fillings. Yvonne sat at the table, busy shaping little animals out of dough, having the tof her life.
Tflew by, and before | knew it, it was already past six. | popped sof the sweet rice balls into the
freezer and saved the rest to cook for dinner.
For dinner, | made a big pot of seafood congee and tossed together two quick stir-fries.
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