Chapter 164 A Romantic Dinner at the Office

"My dad told my mom that women’s hands should be well protected. Men should do dirty things like washing the dishes," Joseph smiled.

"Oh, my goodness! Your dad was a true romantic!” Kate exclaimed and looked at Joseph with a wide grin.

"Are you going to say that I haven't inherited it as his son?" Joseph questioned.

Kate shook her head, "You are more romantic than your dad."

Joseph was surprised by her words. He leaned over to her ear and asked softly, "Really? Do you like it?"

His sudden approach caused her ears to burn for an instant. She moved a little away from him and said, "No, I don't like men who are egotistical!”

"I am serious."

"You better start cleaning up that table,” Kate smirked as she sat down on the sofa to supervise Joseph's cleaning.

After Joseph was done cleaning, he washed his hands and sat down next to Kate. He put his arms around her and pulled her close.

She moved restlessly and asked angrily, "Have you ever heard the saying that it is improper for men and women to touch each other?”

"What?" He didn't understand what she meant, "We are boyfriend and girlfriend. Hugs and kisses are normal emotional communication, and you agreed about that. If you disagree, though, of course, I will respect you."

Joseph had no idea what Kate was talking about, so he could not give her that answer she was looking for.

Kate finally said bluntly, "You were holding that lady's hand earlier. And you asked John to change the table because of her. Will you change the elevator if it breaks down the next time she is in it?"

Joseph now knew why she was angry with him. He could not help laughing, "Are you jealous?"

"No!" She turned her head so he could not see she was lying, “I just don’t think that you need to hold her hand. You could have supported her arm.”

The jealousy Kate was feeling was comparable to the way Joseph felt about Rowen.

"I did not hold her hand, I..." Joseph wanted to explain, but he realized it would do no good when his girlfriend was angry. He paused for a moment and then said, “What are you thinking? Do you really think that I am that kind of person? You should know that I am not interested in any woman except you.”

"Regardless, your hands were touching. It doesn't matter who was holding whose hand," Kate knew she only glanced at them and didn't see everything, but she felt jealous and angry just thinking about it.

"I was wrong," Joseph admitted rather than trying to argue with Kate.

Kate felt that he was just apologizing to make her happy, so she snarled, “If I didn’t see you, you certainly would not have told me!”

“I wouldn’t have thought anything of it, but now if you do that, I will think that you are trying to hide a relationship with her,” Kate snapped.

Joseph did not know what she was thinking or how to ease her mind. He looked her in the eye and said, "She only works for me."

When Kate heard Joseph’s sincerity, she felt if she continued to be angry with him, things would only get worse, “Well, I was just a bit jealous. I am okay now, and I believe that you are only colleagues. Don’t transfer or fire her.”

"You are so mischievous!" Seeing that she was no longer angry, Joseph secretly breathed a sigh of relief. At the same time, he promised, "I will watch my behavior if I am faced with another situation in the future."

"Mr. Smith, will you think I am too mean? You obviously helped others out of kindness, but I..." She began to think about her actions.

"My dear, it's normal to be jealous. It means you love me and care about me. If you didn't have any response when you saw that, I would think that I am not important to you," Joseph was thrilled about her reaction.

"Although I may be jealous, I need to act rationally. I won't wrong you or others," Kate lowered her head. She sighed and said, "We should be open to state our feelings. In the future, if we have something to say, we should just be direct."

"That sounds like a great idea,” Joseph agreed and hugged her close. He looked outside, feeling content and noticing his exhaustion faded just being close to Kate. Joseph thought of a saying, “Every moment spent with a loved one is treasurable, all unhappiness and fatigue will disappear.”

Kate pulled away from Joseph. She smiled, “I will go back to your house tonight.”

"Really?" Joseph thought he heard incorrectly. He asked with hope-filled eyes, "Are you really willing to go home with me?"

“I just said go with you! I did not mention anything about sleeping with you,” Kate responded.

"Okay, you can have the master bedroom, and I will take the guest room," Joseph was just thankful that she was willing to go home with him. However, he did add, “If you are afraid or not used to it, I can sleep on the sofa in the bedroom with you.”

Kate shook her head in disbelief; Joseph would come up with any reason to share a room with her. She refused his offer, "Although we shared the same bed for two years, we were not in love. Right now, we are at the stage where we are enhancing and testing our love, so please follow the rules, Mr. Smith."

"Okay, you win!" Joseph approached her and whispered in her ear, "Can I at least have a kiss? When I tried to kiss you before, you turned away, and since you are not angry anymore, you should kiss me. Look at it as a sign of reconciliation?"

Without saying anything, Kate leaned in and kissed his cheek, “Enough?”

"No," Joseph chuckled and pulled her close, clearly wanting more.

There was no refuse him, so she put her hands on his face and gently kissed his lips. After a few minutes, she thought Joseph was satisfied and pulling away, but instead, he pushed her down on the sofa. Kate blushed and nervously asked, "You…what are you doing?"

"Care to guess?" Joseph showed a sly smile.

Kate knew that Joseph might get carried away, so she reminded him, “You just agreed to comply with the rules between us. How can you…”

Joseph passionately kissed her; she was unable to keep speaking. Thinking that he would start to caress her body, Kate wasn't sure if she could control herself, but Joseph stopped. Even if he was enjoying it, he contained all of his impulses.