Chapter 20: CHAPTER 20
Eva fell silent at his words, her mind in a whirl at his sudden proposal. While she was pondering over his offer, her gaze wandered and somehow landed at his mouth.
She felt her pulse quicken.
"Nervous?" a teasing yet wolfish grin flashed across his features as he noticed her getting a little flustered.
She sharpened her gaze at him while shooting off her rebuttal. "It's natural for any first timers to feel nervous, Mr. Acheron."
Silence reigned between them. A slow frown crossed Gage's face then got quickly replaced by surprise. "Wait… are you saying that you've never been kissed before?" His eyes went a little wide as he asked that.
"I'm saying that I have never kissed someone before, where I'm the one who needed to be the one initiating and doing the kissing." She started off explaining clearly but ended up as something more than a mumble.
"Oh," Gage leaned back again. She did not know which expression he had shown upon hearing her explanation as he faced away while putting his hand over his mouth and cleared his throat. "I see..."
Whatever expression he had on earlier, it was now back to that relax and casual expression he always had on when he faced her again. Then his wolfish grin returned as well.
Eva did not know how to react for a moment. But since he did not try to call her out on her admission, she decided to just pretend as if nothing had happened.
Reaching over, he tucked a loose wave of her fiery hair behind her ear. His fingers lingered as he spoke. "Don't worry, pet. Just relax. I'm totally fine even if you want to carry out a few trials to get yourself familiarised with the process. I'm giving you freedom to practice on me right now." Then he winked at her.
That made her blush again. His voice sounded so tempting just now.
"I don't need practice, Mr. Acheron." She managed to keep her face straight and her tone steady as she answered him smoothly.
Then without warning, Eva twisted her body, facing him fully now. Her other hand had braced herself on his seat while the other moved to touch lightly cup his face. But her hand halted midway, remembering his damn condition that she can't touch him while kissing him and that she will be punished if she do.
So she grabbed on his collar instead.
Gage smile. "Bold gi –"
Before he could even finish that line, Eva's lips unceremoniously crashed against his.
He stilled at her brutish movements. She had literally crashed her lips on his. That was no kiss! It felt more like a punch – just that she had used her lips instead of her fists!
After less than a second of just pressing her lips against his, she pulled away.
Their eyes met and Gage bit down on his lower lip. He looked a bit speechless as he continued staring at her.
When Eva slowly retreated back to her seat, a breath that almost sounded like a laugh blew out from Gage's lips.
"What." Eva glanced at him, adapting her straight face again. Her voice was flat, and she had her brows arched. But her ears were still a little red. "You didn't specify what kind of kiss I must give, remember?"
An amused chuckle erupted. "Well, true. You are right again." He ran his fingers through his hair before he climbed off the car.
Eva saw him walked around to her side, so she moved to open the door, but he managed to beat her to it. She stepped out but ended up getting trapped between Gage's tall frame and the car.
"That was one memorable kiss, I must say." He muttered softly, looking as though that kiss was still amusing him to no end.
But a moment passed, and his expression changed. His gaze seemed to darken as he bent over her.
Somehow, Gage in the dark turned out to be incredibly domineering.
Eva suddenly realized that without bright lights and those playful smirks plastered on his face, Gage seemed to look and feel completely different than that lazy and rich-heir persona that he usually displays. A completely mysterious air clung to him now and for a moment, she felt as though there was something off about him. And whatever it was, it had made the tiny hairs along her spine rose.
"Spend these three days perfecting your disguise," his nonchalant yet firm tone distracted her from her sudden deep observation. "I've already arranged everything. So all you have to do is just focus on the things you needed to prepare for."
"I got it." Eva nodded sharply as she voiced her agreement, all business like and serious.
"Well then," his attention moved across her face and lingered on her lips a moment too long before his gaze shifted to her eyes again. He bent and whispered near her ear. "See you in three days, Eva." He said his goodbyes and walked back to the drive's side and got back into his car as smoothly as he got out.
His voice lingered in her ears and echoed endlessly in her mind even as she watched his car drove off and disappeared from her eyes. She absentminded reached over and touched her lips, remembering how soft and warm his lips were against hers when she had crashed her lips on his. She suddenly wondered how it would feel if they were to really kiss – and not the peck on the lips kind of kiss.
"Miss Eva?" someone called out, knocking her out of her little reverie. She blinked a few times before coming back to reality. A very faint blush tainting her high cheekbones, the only proof that she had been drifting off on some pleasurable fantasy.
When she turned, she was back in her normal no-nonsense self and an older man around his fifty's stood there along with two maids behind him.
The trio introduced themselves to her and then led her back inside the mansion. Eva found out that the trio have been the caretakers of this house for a long time now. The man was the butler, and the two maids were the ones in charge of keeping everything in the house as how it was – clean and flawless.
When Eva asked them who was the maid that Gage had told her who had ran away, none of them could answer the question.
Eva: "…?!!"
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A/N: Read in advance on pat. reon. Tap this paragraph to see the link.
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