Love at First Novel by Gu Lingfei

Tatum had no clue the driver was sweating bullets over him stealing his job. As he drove, he shot Elora a quick question. "Sleep okay last night?"

At breakfast, with her little brothers around, both he and Elora had kept their cool, acting like nothing was up.

"Pretty good," she said, then let out a dainty yawn. She laughed at herself. "Slept fine, but I stayed up too late. Still dragging. Can you whip me up a coffee later? I'm useless without it."

She pulled long hours daily and barely slept. Coffee was her lifeline, though lately, even that was losing its punch. She used to down a cup in the morning and feel wired all day. Now?

Two cups barely kept her going, and sometimes she'd crash hard even after an evening dose.

"You got it," Tatum said with a nod.

"You should've taken an extra day off," he added, concern lacing his voice. "You got back way too late yesterday. Don't run yourself into the ground-health's what matters."

work during the ride, no time to notice the world outside. But today felt different. With the guy

myself two days off already," she said. "Running massive companies means there's always a pile of stuff to handle. I

a powerhouse, with their

night," she went on, "my mom saw us hugging. She had a lot

quiet for a beat before replying. Your mom cornered me this morning too. Asked a

been up early, chatting him up downstairs. He figured she'd caught the late-night

did, Tatum stopped stressing. If he could win her over, the

smiled. "Don't sweat it. My parents will love you. If there's any hitch, it's just Mom

move far away. But I laid it out for her last night, and I think she's on

clear: her