When Elliot left, Julie knew that he wouldn't be coming back, so she grabbed her own bag and got up. She wasn't about to wait around for Kieran to come back and give her a lift.
She had planned to sneak out, but as soon as she opened the door to the private room, she bumped right into someone.
The familiar scent of the man was something Julie could identify even with her eyes shut. Kieran didn't tell her that he had been waiting outside the door for two or three minutes, just waiting for her to fall into his arms.
Julie tried to back away, but he held onto her tightly. No matter how tough she was, she was no match for Kieran in terms of strength. Considering they were in a public place, Julie lowered her voice and looked up at him. "Let go!"
"You came at me first, and now you want me to let go?" The man's deep voice came from above. Julie looked up and saw his sharply cut jawline.
His facial features were strong and smooth, almost perfect from any angle. She turned her face away, unwilling to look at him. "Just because I bumped into you, means you have to hold onto me? If I hit you, would you just take it?"
"That depends on how you hit me. If it's playful flirting, I won't mind being hit." Kieran caught a whiff of her sweet scent. It was the smell of her favorite shampoo and shower gel, a refined floral fragrance that made it hard for him to let go. But in the end, he did let her go, instead taking her hand and leading her to the dining table.
"Since you've already ordered, might as well finish your meal. Don't waste food." Kieran led Julie to the table.
Julie was indeed hungry, so she started eating.
After the meal, Kieran took Julie to his car. He didn't ask her where she wanted to go, but told the driver, "To Noblewood Retreat."
"Mr. Hernandez, please let me out at a convenient place later!" Julie said.
Surprisingly, Kieran agreed, "Okay."
By a convenient place, Julie meant a bus stop or a subway station, but she didn't expect Kieran's understanding to mean dropping her right at her destination.
They passed two bus stops, but Kieran showed no signs of stopping the car. Julie had no choice but to turn and look at Kieran, but he was already pretending to be asleep.
So Julie had to tell the driver, "Austin, please let me out at the next bus stop. Thank you."
Austin slowed down a bit, unsure if he could stop without Mr. Hernandez's orders.
Kieran's calm voice came from the back seat, "Keep driving."
"Mr. Hernandez..."
"It's not working hours. You don't have to be so formal with me."
"Kieran, I want to get off!" Julie said.
The man's eyes opened slightly. He lazily looked at her, then said lightly, "Then you might as well jump."
How shameless!
Jump? He might as well have told her to go die!
"I'm not a stunt actor. I'm not good at jumping off cars," Julie responded to Kieran. "All you need to do is say 'stop,' and I can get off. That way, I won't be polluting the air you breathe in the car."
"Then I can't let you off. You've already polluted a car's worth of air, how can I let you go and pollute the whole earth?"
Julie was left speechless. Kieran, the sharp-tongued one, could always leave her speechless.
He seemed to be determined to take her straight back to Noblewood Retreat. Suddenly, she remembered that Mr. Kennedy had mentioned yesterday that Gilded Gate Residences was undergoing renovation, so Ivan should have moved back to the mansion at Noblewood Retreat today. Therefore, her destination tonight would also be Noblewood Retreat.
With that in mind, Julie stopped resisting. It was always good to catch a free ride and save some money.
After a moment of silence in the car, Kieran put on an innocent face and asked Julie, "By the way, when I came back from the restroom, where did Mr. Sanches go?"
Julie gave Kieran a sidelong glance. He didn't mention this when he just came back from the restroom, but him bringing it up now? Wasn't this intentional?
Julie replied with a poker face, "Isn't he your guest? If you don't know where your guest went, how would I know?"
She was playing dumb.
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