From "The Gardener's Ice Maiden" by Stella Eromonsere-Ajanaku

He knew he’d gone way too far, but her vulnerability coupled with her infuriating stubbornness had pushed him over the edge. Having her walk into his home late in the night, speaking to him as if being a gardener made him less than a person was a direct attack at his insecurities. The fact that she paid his salary didn’t give her the right to talk down at him.

   He was nobody’s doormat, especially not Olivia’s!

   ‘I get it. So you come into my life to look for a job, I offer you what you want, you get rewarded, but that isn’t enough for you. You go ahead and warm your way into my son’s life. What is your plan? To wreck my already fragile reputation in New Ferry?’ she paused, trying to make sense of what she’d just experienced. ‘Now…now you lay your filthy…wretched fingers on me, pulling me like some dirty, street tart…’ she choked, trying to get her point across.

   Olivia didn’t sleep at all the whole night. Restlessly, she walked up and down her bedroom floor. Every nerve in her body was stretched to breaking limit.

   That explosive kiss…

   One kiss…no, not one, two heart-melting and…