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."

in the street scenes. Usually, she'd be buried in work during the ride, no time to notice the world outside. But today felt different. With the guy she liked next to her, just the two of them, she could

gave myself two days off already," she said. "Running massive companies means there's always a pile of stuff to handle. I pushed some things off during my break, but if I take

powerhouse, with their hands in

us hugging. She had a lot to say about

a beat before replying. Your mom cornered me this morning too. Asked a bunch of questions. I answered

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

he could win her over, the rest of the Ormonds wouldn't be an issue. Elora was

My parents will love you. If there's any hitch, it's just Mom

for her last

made it clear: