His Private Chef (by Amycee) novel Chapter 18

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Chapter 18

Storm fading to a distant murmur, hours passed in restless wakefulness as one memory refused to let go.

The kiss.

It had started as a dare. A joke between two people trying to survive the weirdest three days of their lives. But it hadn’t felt like a joke when his mouth touched mine. It felt… real.

Like something we weren’t supposed to want, but did anyway.

And I had been the one to pull back. I said the words I thought I was supposed to say.

“Friends don’t kiss.”

Liam neither protested nor pulled me in. He just stayed there, as though I’d become a puzzle

he couldn’t solve.

Eventually, my thoughts blurred, and I must’ve dozed off because the next time I opened my eyes, golden light filtered through the windows.

The storm had stopped, and the electricity was back.

I blinked as the hum of appliances returned, and my phone buzzed with missed messages and delayed alerts. My signal bar finally lit up.

One alert stood out:

Roads clearing. Storm cleanup underway. Normal traffic expected by morning.

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Tomorrow.

I’d be going home tomorrow.

I should’ve felt relieved.

Instead, there was this strange, hollow feeling in my chest.

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This mansion had felt like a cage at first. A luxurious one, but a cage nonetheless. Now, weirdly, it felt like a cocoon I wasn’t sure I was ready to leave.

Downstairs, Liam was already awake. He looked like he hadn’t slept either.

“Morning,” I said, voice a little too quiet.

He handed me a cup of coffee wordlessly.

I nodded and wrapped both hands around the warm mug.

“They say the roads will be cleared by morning,” I offered, trying to keep things casual.

“I saw,” he replied, eyes fixed on his own cup.

I waited for him to say something else. I’ll miss you, stay another day, I had fun with you around the house, please don’t go. But nothing came, he didn’t even look at me when he spoke. No joke. No comment. Just silence.

But I saw it in the line of his shoulders, the hesitation in his voice,

He felt it as much as I did, but he wasn’t about to let that get in the way of his image.

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Chapter 18

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We spent the morning avoiding the topic of goodbye.

Instead, we played chess.

It started as a joke. I teased that he probably gambled portfolios on every move.

“You’re not entirely wrong,” he said, smirking.

We sat in the sunroom, light dancing on the board. I lost the first game badly. Barely won the second. Accused him of letting me win the third.

“I would never go easy on you,” he insisted.

“Liar,” I grinned.

“Brat,” he countered, moving his knight.

Our banter filled the room, easing the tightness around my ribs. But with every checkmate I suffered, I felt the clock ticking on our last hours together.

By afternoon, I couldn’t sit still any longer.

“I need something chaotic,” I declared. “Let’s do karaoke.”

He blinked. “Karaoke?”

“Don’t tell me you don’t have it.”

He stood and strolled to a corner console, pulling a compact mic system and touchscreen into

the room.

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I laughed. “You actually have a karaoke setup?”

“Sophia’s doing,” he said, voice light. “She loves hosting parties.”

“Believe me, I noticed,” I said, flashing a grin.

He ignored me and powered it on. I scrolled through the options and dared to pick the most dramatic early–2000s power ballad.

He perched on an armchair, arms crossed, glancing between me and the screen.

I threw myself into the chorus, off–key and overdramatic. He winced so hard I thought his ears might bleed.

“Okay,” he said, hands over his ears. “That’s enough. My eardrums are begging for mercy.

”

“Rude!”

“Wrap it up.”

He swiped the mic away and synced his phone instead, cueing up a mellow jazz playlist.

I rolled my eyes. “Wow. Okay, ‘Gentleman Liam.‘

“You have the worst taste,” he quipped.

“You have no soul.” I crossed my arms, pouting dramatically.

Then he surprised me. He tapped his phone, replacing the jazz with a familiar beat.

The first notes of the Rihanna song I’d danced to on his kitchen counter filled the room.

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My heart lurched. I stared at him.

He raised a brow. “Thought I’d play something… familiar.

I couldn’t help it. I burst out laughing. “Unbelievable.”

He sipped his coffee, unfazed.

The beat dropped again, and I stood.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

”

“We’re friends now, right? Friends dance in front of friends.”

He looked like he might actually explode.

I broke into a wild, unselfconscious dance, carried wholly by the beat and the moment.

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