A Love Trap

'Did she... Did she just hit my boss?' thought Josef.

He was dumbstruck for a moment. This clearly stunned Andrew too. He just sat there, rooted to the spot, staring unblinkingly at Ashley.

As for Ashley, she remained perfectly still, but in her mind, her thoughts were running wild. She regretted it the second she hit Andrew. 'Oh my god! What did I do? Why did I do this? Did I hurt him? It sounded bad. Ouch! My hand hurts. Yup! It definitely hurts. I used all of my strength to slap him. God! Why did I do this?'

Ashley was panicking. She couldn't figure out what to do next.

Her hand was already swelling up. Her beautiful, white fingers turned red.

'Calm down, Ashley. He asked for this. You just tried to protect yourself!' Ashley was trying to calm herself down.

'He brought this all on himself. No man would poke a girl's face like that! I was just trying to protect myself. If you really want to poke a face, poke yours!'

Although loud, the slap didn't hurt Andrew much. It really was not a big deal in comparison to what he had suffered in the past.

Andrew recovered from the shock and saw Ashley staring at him in embarrassment. He wasn't upset at all. Her cheeks were puffed out in anger. The only thing on Andrew's mind right now was how cute she looked. He just wanted to poke those cheeks.

But he didn't. He knew his limits. If he crossed the line, she would just slap him again.

"My apologies. I didn't mean to offend you but I just couldn't help it," said Andrew. He looked at Ashley earnestly.

Ashley had mentally prepared a whole bunch of excuses for her actions, but Andrew didn't give her a chance to say a word. She gulped uneasily.

Andrew had apologized in all sincerity, so she decided to let it go.

"Alright, just this once!" she said.

Andrew didn't respond. He loved teasing her. How could he promise it would be the last time?

took his silence as agreement. She didn't say another word

who was driving couldn't believe what he

thought he was

him to believe that the guy in the backseat apologizing to the lady was his

not the kind to apologize to a

him to be careful about what he saw in the car, keep his eyes on the road and his mouth shut.

had preempted

told him beforehand what he should do in these

not related. They just happened to have the same last

slow compared to Johnny. Johnny was a smart man. He could be as flexible as the situation demanded.

you want for dinner?" Andrew asked, moving closer to Ashley.

Andrew mentioned it, she felt her stomach rumbling. She thought about the dinner that she and Ellie had made. She didn't even get a chance to taste it. She just wanted to tear this

her energy on anger right now.

which was very popular and had really good

googled it on her phone and showed it to Andrew.

and asked Josef to drive them there.

on the

or seven o'clock. There was a

restaurant was nearby, else it would have taken them hours to get there.

not too opulent. It

no one came to attend to them. The place

restaurant just for couples and she felt a little awkward. Ellie didn't tell

saw couples sitting close, holding hands and sharing their food. She lowered her

so nice to Ashley anymore. Not good at all! ! For her, this place had turned to a

this. Andrew was really smart. Surely, he knew that she didn't mean to bring him here. Right? Ashley guessed and peeked at him to see