"Maxen!" Olivia hopped away as if the hard rod poking her abdomen hurt and cauterised her.

    She sent eye daggers up on Maxen and reprimanded the horngry little prince.

    Her voice was low but squeaky, and it played a symphony in Maxen''s ears, sending him in a fit of restrained laughter, afraid to offend Olivia more.

    Pulling her back to him, he apologized. "Please accept my humble apology, Ms. Lin, Maxen Sui''s baby." His voice was rich and deep. It annoyed Olivia that she was so easily pacified by it.

    But she had to hold her ground.

    As she was about to break off from their bearings, her attention was stolen upon seeing a door down the hallway flipped open.

    From where she stood, Olivia narrowed her eyes and saw Ollie stepping out of Amelia''s bedroom followed by Ava who was cradling an asleep Finn in her arms.

    S.u.c.k.i.n.g in a deep breath, Olivia pulled away from Maxen''s caging embrace for the nth time and straightened her dress, as if guilty of doing something lascivious out in the open.

    Her mind went into a haywire, hysterical over the idea of people catching her and Maxen in a compromising position again.

    When she felt her cheeks burn, she masked it by gently slapping her cheeks to hide the blush on her face that she knew for sure would give her away from her misdeeds.

    Subconsciously, her eyes landed to Maxen''s nether regions and her breath hitched when she saw his bulging erection.

    Covering Maxen, she stood in front of him but the sneaky arse teased her, pressing his hard, mouthwatering erection to her back yet again.

    Heat crawled up to her neck, burning her ears red. Looking over her shoulder to give her attacker a warning, Olivia was surprised when the little prince bowed so slightly, his lips a hair''s breadth away from her ears teasing her more.

    His hot breath alone sent a wave of need so potent she started to feel a burn in between her legs.

    Extinguishing her carnal d.e.s.i.r.e, she held every ounce of her dignity with her will power as she stabbed her heel on Maxen''s foot, sending the guy limping in the balcony.

    "Baby, how could you do that to me!" Maxen cried but he was smiling while shaking his foot, the collateral damage for his cheekiness.

    "Did what? Flatten the curve?" Olivia crossed her arms over her c.h.e.s.t, jutting her chin up as if challenging Maxen.

    Maxen was about to retort when Oliver spoke behind Olivia, "Are you guys fighting again?"

    "Yes."

    "No."

    The two said in unison. Their answers confused Oliver, making him scratch the back of his head.

    "Whatever. You can deal with that later. For now, Mother wants to have a word with us, Livi," Oliver announced before he even reached the balcony, jerking his thumb towards the open bedroom door.

    "Finn and I will wait for you here out on the balcony, sweetie," Ava muttered, flashing a small smile to her husband who nodded his reply.

    When the siblings were gone, she sat on a lounge chair that was strategically placed on the corner of the balcony.

    Checking her son for the nth time, she breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Finn''s drool drenching her sleeves. She pulled out her phone and started checking her online drive for new files.

    "Easy on your phone, Ava," Maxen commented upon seeing Ava''s nose almost kissing the phone''s screen. His brows furrowed when he realized that earlier, he saw her frequently check her phone. Curious, he probed, "Are your ch.i.p.s doing okay?"

    "Ch.i.p.s?" Ava thought for a second when she realized that Maxen must be thinking that she''s watching her stocks. So she swatted her free hand which was also holding a phone. "No. I''m doing something else."

    "Ohh," Maxen dragged the word until it faded in his mouth. He darted his gaze far out in the horizon, ignoring the silence between him and Ava. He never spoke with her anyway because she''s either too quiet in a corner or too loud when Oliver''s beside her. However, just as Maxen was about to leave and find something better to do, he heard Ava snort and saw her turn red from holding her laughter.

    "This is funny." She lifted her phone and showed Maxen a doc.u.ment. His brows knitted when he couldn''t make out what''s written in it.

    "And that is?" Maxen gestured to her phone.

    "Oh, it''s the novel I''m editing." She briefly glanced at Maxen before training her eyes back on her phone.

    "I didn''t know you were into editing. That''s great. Welcome back to the workforce." Maxen skimmed his memory if he got it right. As far as he remembered, Ava used to work for her father as the Executive Director of Finance in the Lee Shipping Company.

    "Maxen, I haven''t been in the workforce since I married Ollie. It was a mutual decision between us. This? What I''m doing is for free." Ava rolled her beady eyes irking Maxen but he reminded himself to be cordial to her after all the help she did for Olivia.

    He stepped away from the wrought-iron railings and was about to excuse himself, when Ava dissolved into laughter, slightly rousing her son, Finn.

    After patting her son back to sleep, Ava c.o.c.ked an accusing eyebrow at Maxen. "I thought you''re leaving, Your Highness?"

    "I''m intrigued with the book you''re reading… or editing." Maxen shifted his stance, dipping his hand into his pocket and jutted his chin towards Ava''s phone.

    "Don''t even start, Maxen. I can attest to how addicting this app is."

    Be curious, not judgemental.

    Those were one of the words that Maxen Sui lived by. And so he narrowed his gaze to Ava''s phone screen and asked, "Let'' see if it gets me hooked. What''s the name of the app?"

    Ava''s eyes twinkled and shone brighter than the afternoon sun that sent shivers on Maxen''s spine. He never once saw this side of Ava and it''s scaring the shit out of his princely arse.

    "It''s a app."

    She held her phone up, the phone screen glowed as it faced Maxen.

    His eyes zeroed in on Ava''s phone, hypnotized by the big blue and pink ''W'' logo.