I guess, after all is said and done, I really do have some commitment issues…

“If you want, I can spend more time with you here or if you want me to sleep over more often, we can discuss that…” I replied while carefully trying to discreetly evade the topic.

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“If you move in here, we can spend more time together and we can sleep together every night,” Ace pointed out.

Spending time together and living together felt like two entirely different things to me. If I moved in with him, I’ll be with him all the time and I won’t have much private space or time. Sometimes being around Ace made me self-conscious and I couldn’t quite relax properly. I wasn’t sure how I could explain something like that to him, though.

“Do we have to discuss this now? I’m sure you’re so busy with everything else…” I said as I attempted once again to evade the topic.

“This is as good a time as any other. I honestly don’t see why we have to put this off. I can hire people to help you with the move if you think you have a lot of things to take care of,” Ace offered with a smile.

“It’s not that…” I murmured as I debated with myself on my next move.

“You’ve been spending a lot of time here anyways. It won’t be that much of a change,” Ace said as he tried to convince me.

“I don’t know…I still think that it would be better if I still kept my own place. Of course, I can spend more time with you here if that is what you prefer…” I said as I tried my best to compromise.

I liked spending time with Ace both during the daytime and during the night as well, but I wasn’t sure of living with him all the time. Of course, if we get married then that will have to happen eventually, but with all the uncertainties that came with the unknown future, it just made me feel safer and more reassured for me to have my own place.

“Why should you rent out another place when you can just move in here with me? Or is it that you don’t like this place?” he asked as a look of concern crept into his attractive features.

“Well…” I began explaining but Ace held up his hand to halt my words.

“I should have known…maybe the kitchen is a little small? The balcony isn’t so spacious either…” Ace said as he started rubbing his chin.

I stared at him in disbelief as I asked myself how he could honestly be blaming my hesitation on the mega-big suite that he has to himself. We don’t even cook that often, so the size of the kitchen wasn’t at all on my list of concerns.

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“Listen, Ace, there’s nothing wrong with this place. It’s great…” I said before flashing him a smile.

“You don’t have to pretend to like it for my sake. If you want a bigger place or one with a different layout, why don’t we find some time to check out the other places that I have? You’ve never seen all of them, right?” Ace suggested with a hopeful look on his face.

I just felt like the conversation had started heading off on the wrong tangent and I wasn’t quite sure how to steer it back in the right direction. I opened my mouth just to find out that I wasn’t sure what I wanted to say. Ace looked at me with a curious look on his face before his eyes lit up.

“It’s the interior and the furnishing, isn’t it? We can get this place renovated if you want and I’m fine if you want to choose everything. Honestly, I didn’t pick much of anything when this place was decorated either. I just left it up to the interior designers but if you don’t like it, we can have this place renovated,” he said before smiling warmly at me.

“Ace…” I said his name.

“We should still go check out the other places that I have. I’m not particularly attached to this place or anything, it’s just the closest to the office out of all the properties that I own,” he said with a careless shrug.

“Ace, listen to me, ok? This has nothing to do with this place or any of your properties. This place is fine. Actually, it’s more than fine. This place is great. The problem is, I’m…not sure if I’m ready to move in with you…” I confessed softly.

The look of disappointment that killed the shimmering light in Ace’s eyes and his apparent excitement filled my chest with a blunt stabbing pain. Admitting that I wasn’t ready was already challenging but having to see that look on Ace’s face made everything seem a thousand times harder than before.

“I’m sorry. I guess I just got a little ahead of myself. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to rush you…” he said before he went completely silent.

I wanted to scream and pull my hair out for my own foolishness, and I hated the regret that flooded my mind and senses. Perhaps I should have readily agreed to his proposal or at least been more openminded about giving it a try.

“No, it’s not your fault. Honestly, I’m very happy that you’re asking me to move in with you. I also don’t think that it’s a bad idea but…I’m just a little worried because I’ve never lived with a man before…so…” I tried my best to explain.

“I get it, Rina. You don’t have to worry about it, and you don’t have to push yourself if you’re not ready,” Ace said before smiling a little at me.

It was clear that he was willing to let it go and put the conversation to rest; however, I was the stubborn one that wasn’t able to just let it slide. After all, by that point, I had learned many times over what a simple misunderstanding could lead to.

--To be continued…

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