My Clingy CEO Husband

###Chapter 55: This damn man... he’s just too smooth.

Cloudview Apartments.

Ethan Hawthorne pushed open the apartment door. The entryway light was on for him, and the faint scent of neroli—her favorite aromatherapy fragrance—lingered in the air.

Only a few ambient lights were on in the living room. On the giant projection screen, the bright, colorful antics of Tom and Jerry were playing.

Maxine Rhodes was sitting on the soft carpet, her back against the sofa. Her face was bare, her skin looking delicate and translucent in the soft light. She wore a set of light gray, fluffy loungewear, the hood adorned with two cute bear ears.

She was hugging an open bag of potato chips, her eyes glued to the cartoon as she munched away, CRUNCH, CRUNCH. Her cheeks puffed out slightly, making her look like a little hamster hoarding food.

When she saw a funny part, she would laugh out loud, completely unguarded, her shoulders shaking gently. Her smile was pure and relaxed, as if the Director Rhodes who had been clashing with Lydia Thorne at the office that day was a completely different person.

Ethan Hawthorne leaned against the entryway wall, quietly watching the scene unfold.

He had seen her in many different lights, but this version of her—sitting cross-legged on the floor without a care for her image, giggling at a cartoon while crunching on chips—was a sight reserved for his eyes only.

An indescribable sense of contentment and a surging wave of love nearly overwhelmed him.

’My wife... how can she be... so adorable.’

Perhaps his gaze was too intense, because Maxine seemed to sense something and turned her head.

Her eyes lit up when she saw him. "You’re back?"

As she spoke, she casually patted the spot on the carpet next to her. "Want to watch with me?"

It was meant as a casual, polite invitation, but to her surprise, Ethan Hawthorne walked right over and sat down on the carpet beside her.

"Sure."

Noticing a tiny crumb at the corner of her lips, he very naturally brushed it away for her.

Maxine Rhodes froze for a second, the tips of her ears turning red. She didn’t pull away, but her gaze flickered as she mumbled, "What are you doing?"

"Nothing," Ethan Hawthorne said, pulling his hand back. The soft, warm touch of her skin lingered on his fingertips. He looked at the screen, his tone filled with an indulgence and affection he himself didn’t even notice. "This cartoon... is pretty good."

’Yes, pretty good.’

’But not even a fraction as good as the person beside him.’

Maxine Rhodes could feel her cheeks heating up under his focused gaze. She subconsciously wanted to do something to break the charged atmosphere.

She held up a potato chip. "You... want some?"

She expected him to take the bag as he usually did.

However, Ethan Hawthorne’s gaze was deep as he stared at her. He leaned down slightly and, right from her fingers, took the chip with his mouth.

His lips inevitably brushed against her fingertips.

The sensation in that instant—cool, soft, yet carrying a stunning heat—was like a faint electric current that shot from Maxine Rhodes’s fingertips through her entire body, making her heart skip a beat.

Maxine Rhodes snatched her hand back almost instantly.

"You..."

Her cheeks flushed crimson, and a blush crept up her neck. The composure she had struggled to maintain moments ago evaporated completely.

Ethan Hawthorne chewed slowly, his eyes locked firmly on her, a clear smile and triumphant pleasure spreading in their depths.

"It’s sweet," he said in a low voice.

The faint, damp sensation on her fingertips made Maxine Rhodes’s ears burn, but seeing the triumphant smirk in his eyes, her competitive streak instantly flared up.

She deliberately shook the bag of spicy crayfish-flavored chips in her hand, her red lips curving into a smile even more teasing than his. "Sweet?"

She mimicked his earlier tone, her voice laced with playful provocation. "Mr. Hawthorne, are your taste buds... broken?"

Ethan Hawthorne hadn’t expected such a counterattack. Seeing her smile like a cunning little fox, he was momentarily taken aback before the amusement in his eyes deepened.

It was this kind of unpredictable comeback, more than any deliberate attempt to please him, that made his heart race.

"Is that so?"

Ethan Hawthorne smoothly accepted the challenge, leaning forward slightly to close the distance between them. His gaze fell on her fingertips, which were dusted with a little seasoning powder, and his voice dropped, low and seductive. "Then maybe... I tasted the wrong spot."

His eyes moved pointedly from her fingertips to her lips, the implication unmistakable.

Maxine Rhodes’s heart skipped a beat, and the heat that had just subsided from her cheeks flared up again with a WHOOSH.

’This damn man... he’s just too smooth!’

Thinking fast, Maxine Rhodes took the chip she had just bitten and quickly stuffed it into his slightly open mouth.

"How about this one," she said, lifting her chin, her eyes dancing with a hint of smugness and cunning. "Is it spicy or sweet?"

After making such a bold move, she didn’t wait to see his reaction. Like an agile cat, she scooped up the rest of the chips and shot up from the carpet with a SWISH.

"The cartoon’s over!" she announced in a breezy tone, though the tips of her ears were a translucent red. "I’m going to take a shower!"

Ethan Hawthorne remained leaning slightly forward, the chip she had stuffed into his mouth—the one bearing her unique mark—between his lips. The spicy flavor spread out, yet it was mixed with a lingering, faint sweetness.

He watched her slender figure beat a hasty retreat and let out a low chuckle.

’His Mrs. Hawthorne was certainly getting better at this ’flirt and run’ business.’

’But he liked it.’

This sweet thought swirled in his mind all night, so much so that the next morning, as he sat in the CEO’s office signing documents, the corners of his lips would still unconsciously turn up in a slight smile.

This rare, long-lasting, soft smile was witnessed by none other than Erza Sinclair, who had come in to deliver a report.

Out of concern for his boss’s well-being, and a little bit of curiosity, Erza Sinclair mentioned it when reporting Mr. Hawthorne’s schedule to Claire Sinclair during her regular call. "Mr. Hawthorne is in a very good mood today."

This sentence was like a stone dropped into the already anxious lake of Claire Sinclair’s heart.

"A very good mood?"

Claire Sinclair clutched the phone, alarm bells ringing in her mind.

’Her son, the one who never let his emotions show, who wore a perpetual poker face, was suddenly in a ’very good mood’ at work?’

’Thinking back to that phone call last night where he’d called someone ’babe,’ and how he had rushed out of the house... A whole love story in progress began to form in her mind!’

’No, I have to go see for myself!’

And so, that afternoon, Claire Sinclair appeared at the Hawthorne Group headquarters, carrying a container of meticulously prepared soup.

When Special Assistant Erza Sinclair saw her, he immediately rushed over to greet her respectfully. "Mrs. Sinclair, you’re here!"

Claire Sinclair gave an elegant nod, then pulled Erza Sinclair aside. She lowered her voice, unable to hide the urgency in her tone. "Erza, dear, you have to be honest with your aunt. Has Mr. Hawthorne had any... unusual developments lately? For instance, is he... getting particularly close to anyone?"

Remembering Mr. Hawthorne’s instructions, Erza Sinclair could only brace himself and answer with a perfectly straight face, "Mr. Hawthorne has been doing well recently. Work is going smoothly, his mood is stable, and he hasn’t been getting close to anyone in particular."

Having failed to dig up any dirt, Claire Sinclair felt even more unsettled. She picked up the soup and marched straight toward the CEO’s office.

The office door wasn’t fully closed. She gave it a gentle push, and the scene before her made her eyes widen in utter shock!*****