Chapter 10 Partnering with Theo
Veronica's POV:
For the next two days, I was completely immersed in work with Theo. We spent hours side by side... building the prototype, refining the interface, debating every small detail until it clicked in the right place.
It felt strange… and yet familiar. Like I was back in college again... that version of me who used to lose track of time while coding, too busy creating to care about anything else.
Only now, the three-year gap hit me hard. So much has changed... new tools, new languages, new trends. Every time I thought I’d figured something out, another update or framework left me confused again.
“I guess I hit a wall,” I muttered, pushing my laptop toward him. “Theo, what even is this? This function wasn’t here three years ago.”
He leaned closer, the faint scent of cedar and sea salt hit me, making me feel like heaven. “Ah, that?” he said, green eyes gleaming with amusement. “That’s just a new rendering library. It optimizes real-time design assets without crashing your CPU. Here, look—”
His fingers gently brushed over mine as he took the laptop, making me almost hiss... quiver at touch. My body wanted more from him, but I swallowed hard, controlling myself.
He explained the concept to me as if he were narrating a story... smooth, patient, effortlessly confident. He wasn’t like a boring techie guy; he spoke poetic, with a depth in everything that he said.
There was a certain intimacy in the way he explained things. Most men would get impatient when a woman kept asking questions—including my father, who would lose his temper whenever my mom asked too many.
But Theo… he lingered. Patient. Unrushed. He made me feel so confident in my skin... by never once talking down — always drawing me closer to him, as if he wanted me to feel the understanding, not just hear it.
Then, I found myself watching him more than the my own screen... the sharp cut of his jaw as he focused, the way the light caught against his skin. He was distractingly handsome, almost too much to look at for long.
He could have easily hired a dozen other developers like me to do this faster, I realized.
But he didn’t.
Theo was doing everything himself, every test, every detail, because he cared about quality. About meaning he created with his products.
About building something real.
When he finished adjusting the code, he closed the laptop softly and slid it back to me. “There you go,” he said, his voice low but warm.
Our eyes met. For a moment, the world outside the screen... seemed to just fade into grey, and Theo was the only one shining bright like a sun.
“Got it,” I murmured, forcing myself to look away, though my pulse thudded in my ears. “Thanks.”
His smiled, warmly, making me feel hot. “You’re getting sharper already.”
I let out a light laugh, trying to disguise the heat climbing up my neck. “Guess I’ve had a good teacher.”
He leaned back, the leather of his chair creaking softly, his gaze never leaving mine, looking steady, unblinking, almost too intense to bear. “Veronica…”
My fingers stilled over the keyboard. “Yeah?”
He hesitated, voice low as if he wasn’t sure he should say it at all. “You know… that day I saw you in the workshop back in college,” he said, his eyes flicking up to meet mine, “I liked you. A lot. I almost asked you out.” He let out a quiet breath, a faint smile tugging at his lips. “But I had a girlfriend then. The timing just… wasn’t right."
Something in my chest tightened. Just days ago, he’d seen me at my most miserable state. I'd embarssed myself so much to the level that I haven't ever done before... yet there was no hint of judgment in his eyes.
He still remembered the clean girl I used to be back in college, the version of me who chased dreams with unshaken purpose, and somehow, he looked at me as though she had never disappeared. He was helping me find her again. Helping me feel like her again.
Any woman could fall for him... with his sweetness, intelligence and calm confidence, his handsome features could make girls fall for him even if he didn't try.
And as much as I tried to resist it, I already knew I was falling for him.
“Do you have a girlfriend... now?” I asked, my voice quieter than I meant it to be.
“No,” he said. “Not anymore.”
I went still, my heart unfolding itself... like a flower turning toward light.
When he rose and closed the space between us, the world seemed to narrow to the quiet beat of my pulse.
He stopped just before me, his warm breath brushing my lips and neck, his voice barely above a whisper. “May I?”
I just nodded.
Something inside of me relaxed the instant his lips met mine. His warmth gradually burned away every fragment of worry I was unaware I had been carrying in my mind.
I became rigid when his hand came up and lightly touched my cheek. Not with urgency, but with understanding, he deepened the kiss slightly.
Theo was too gentle like a feather… like he was too afraid of breaking me; there was neither a rush nor a demand in the way he caressed me.
I felt like I was finally finding a home, a safe haven where I truly belonged.
I fully melted into that moment.
After a minute or two, our kiss ended... slowly, hesitantly, almost disbelieving. Our foreheads remained pressed together, breaths mingling, hearts stumbling over the silence.
Neither of us spoke. Our world had gone very still—despite the hum of the ocean outside, the faint buzz of the laptop screens, and the soft rhythm of our breathing.
It took a few seconds before reality caught up.
“The… rendering,” I whispered, my voice trembling slightly.
Theo blinked, as if surfacing from a dream. “Oh, right.” He cleared his throat and turned toward his laptop, fingers flying over the keyboard.
I tried to do the same, eyes fixed on my screen, pretending to focus on the lines of code in front of me. But my heart just refused to settle.
The bliss still lingered... along with that sweetness in my chest that was new to me.
As I continued tracing lines of code on the screen, I realized, with a quiet pang, that I wanted more than just a kiss from Theodore Ashford—and that terrified me.
Wanting him meant opening doors I wasn’t sure I could handle again.
Was I even capable of love?!