[This chapter is dedicated to Amber17. Appreciate your support in our story. Thank you so much!]

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"How much would you pay for me?"

It's weekend again and Noah invited himself to her apartment because her father finally went home three days ago. But he was so busy with work that he wasn't able to stop by her apartment.

Moreover, her interior designer was finally able to fix her place. She was happy with her new study. Noah came as early as seven in the morning. They just finished breakfast and she made the mistake of telling him about the game she played with Luke about putting a price on men that caught their eyes.

Noah won't stop bugging her with how much money she was willing to pay for him.

"A hundred bucks."

Noah's eyes widened. "Only a hundred bucks? Come on now, Miss Zimmerman. For sure, I am worth more than that."

"You don't know the rules of the game, Noah." She swallowed the grin that was about to escape from her lips. "A hundred bucks and nothing more. That's the top offer."

Noah snatched her from her swivel chair. She shrieked when she was lifted in the air, "Minx, don't play with me. Tell me that I am priced more than that!"

He sat down on her swivel chair, taking her in his lap.

Jess couldn't help but laugh at the annoyance in Noah's face. Originally, she was going to tell him how much money she put on his head, but now, seeing how it irked him, she decided to withhold the truth from him. It was just too fun to piss Noah off.

"Speak now, Miss Zimmerman while I am still asking nicely."

"Oh, you are threatening me, Mister Tiefenbacher. You must have forgotten where you are," she smirked at him.

She squirmed to get out of his lap but Noah had his arms circled around her tightly she could barely move from his lap. And wiggling when her ass was right on his groin was not a really good idea if she wanted to finish reading the papers she took home.

"I know exactly where I am, Miss Zimmerman," he murmured, nuzzling her neck, licking the pulse in her jugular vein. And every time she would squirm, he would suck at the pulsating vein that seemed to be pulsating erratically as her heart started thumping with what Noah was doing.

"Noah," she moaned. And when she heard herself moaning, she slapped Noah's arm. But the jerk just laughed. He knew exactly how her body would react to all of his teasings.

"Noah, I have to do my reading. Dr. Sison has too much research that she was working on and I want to catch up with all of them. I don't want to look stupid just standing there whenever she visited the lab."

Noah lifted his face from her neck and she should be thankful that he listened to her. Yet, she felt ashamed that she was a bit disappointed that Noah listened well. For truth to be told, she was enjoying what he was doing to her.

But then, it is true that she had to do some readings of all the research that Dr. Sison was working on. She wanted to be of use. She has no plan to just file documents for Dr. Sison.

"Sorry," Noah murmured as he rested his chin on the top of her head.

"Noah, I want to play with you too. But this is important to me, so please…"

Noah groaned and pulled her closer to his chest. "Jess, what do you think of going for a vacation on an island where Antonio and Dr. Sison couldn't reach us."

She giggled and leaned her head on his shoulder. "That would be nice. Blue water, the sun shining brightly, a gentle ocean breeze, and with us like this." She lifted her head from his shoulder and kissed his jaw. "That would be perfect — but that's not what is going to happen today. Today, you have to keep your hands off me. I have to read the papers I brought home."

"How boring!" he grumbled like a child.

She chuckled and nestled her face on the crook of his neck once again. She inhaled Noah's scent that she loves.

She woke up early today, thinking that she would start early with her reading, but she didn't expect Noah to be knocking on her door so early in the morning. He cooked her breakfast and now they were cuddling in her new study room.

She could feel Noah's junior poking behind her ass. And she has an exciting idea of how to spend her weekend, but then, she has to control herself. Last Thursday, some of Dr. Sison's associates came to the office and she felt stupid when she just stood there, listening to them talk for she has nothing to contribute to the topic they were discussing.

She pushed herself off Noah's lap and he didn't resist. He loosened his hold of her. She turned around to face Noah who was still moping on her swivel chair.

"I know you have something that you have to work on this weekend too. Why don't you go get it from your place and I will let you use my study."

Noah stared at Jess's face. He kept his facial expression passive when he heard the compromise Jess was offering. He knows that she has to catch up with her reading, and it's also true that he has some things that he has to work on.

And the fact of them working on their own respective task in her study room was like a study together that he used to do with some of his pretty classmates back when he was a student. He grinned as he recalled how those studies together ended up.

"Only if you tell me how much you will pay for me?"

She laughed. "You aren't over that? I told you already. I'll pay a hundred bucks for you."

He clicked his tongue at her, grabbing her hand but Jess quickly pulled her arm and walked away from him.

"I can tell you how much Luke is willing to pay for you," she giggled.

"I'm not interested in Luke's price for me. What I wanted to know was your price for me."

"A hundred bucks," she said in a serious tone. She met his annoyed eyes.

"You are going to be sorry, playing me like this Miss Zimmerman," he stood up from her chair.

She laughed and slowly walked further away from him.

"I will go to my place to grab my laptop. Don't lock me out."

"Now that you tell me about it. I think that would be a good idea."

Noah shoved his hands in the pocket of his jeans and stared at Jess. "This pricing in my head, I can let go. But if you lock me out after offering that I can do my work here with you, that I won't let go."

"I won't!" she laughed. When Noah just squinted his eyes on her, she raised her right hand up, "I swear, I won't."

"Okay. Go to your reading. I can let myself out and let myself in."

She nodded and watched Noah turn around to go home to get his laptop.

A smile tore her lips. She was feeling giddy that they would be working together in her study. Well, not exactly working together since they would be working on their own thing. But the fact that Noah would be in the room with her - it makes her happy.

Imagining weekends in the future where they would be doing the same thing and it would be the normal thing for them, won't be a bad idea. She loves spending time with Noah doing the most mundane things.

Cooking breakfast together, sharing a meal, cuddling, and now sharing her study with him. These kinds of things were all new to her, but she loved them.

She looked at the clock on the wall, thinking that Noah would return a bit later. She went to the kitchen and cut some fruits.

It would be nice to have something to munch on while doing something. She also opened her pantry and got the few bags of snacks that she kept in there.

She doesn't like eating junk food but Luke loves them. Hence, whenever she goes grocery shopping she always grabbed one of two, for the days that Luke would visit.

She doesn't have an idea if Noah likes eating chips or if he would like these snacks since it was Luke's preference. Maybe, she should ask him so that the next time she goes to the grocery she can get some for him.

She put down the bowl of cut fruits and the snacks on the coffee table. She went out of the study to get something to drink when Noah returned. He has his laptop in his arms and a paper bag.

Before she could ask her what's in the paper bag, he handed it to her. She laughed when she saw what's inside the paper bag. The mini-pineapple tart that she loves.