Chapter 171: "Just For The Two Of Us"

Their lips met with far less shyness than they had the day before, though neither had lost the careful tenderness with which they treated the moment.

Soft lips met warm tongues, brushing and parting as the kiss gradually deepened, until both of them were breathing a little harder.

Jordan’s hand, which had been cupping Aren’s cheek, slid down the back of her neck. He held her there for a moment, before letting his palm caress slowly along the line of her back.

He tried to draw her closer, as though even the smallest distance between them had suddenly become intolerable.

Yet beneath the sweetness of the moment, a thread of anxiety remained coiled inside Jordan’s chest.

He knew this couldn’t last forever.

Soon, she would have to leave, and the quiet intimacy of having her here beside him would disappear with her.

"You’ll have to go back to the workshop soon, won’t you?" he asked when they briefly parted, regret coloring his voice.

"Maybe I could stay five minutes longer," Aren replied before she met his lips again, letting the kiss linger softly against his mouth.

"Mm..." Jordan answered with a quiet hum, catching her lower lip lightly between his teeth in a playful tease. "Can we make it ten?"

Aren chuckled softly.

"Ricci would go insane, and I might have to go get him another box of cookies."

"I’ll send him a text and make it twenty," Jordan proposed. "I’ll tell him you have to help me with more physical therapy. Surely my recovery has to be more important than some ancient relic prototypes, doesn’t it?"

Aren’s laughter grew warmer, and the sound made something inside Jordan ache pleasantly.

"Should I remind you that physical therapy one day after surgery for a wound like yours shouldn’t last that long?" she asked, punctuating the question with another soft kiss. "Ricci might ask me for two boxes of cookies in exchange for keeping that lie a secret."

"I’d happily sponsor them," he murmured at once. "You just have to choose what’s inside."

"Fair enough," she laughed again. "I like that idea."

The kiss deepened from there, slow and unhurried, neither of them quite willing to be the first to pull away.

Aren’s hands remained cradled tenderly against Jordan’s face before sliding upward, her fingers threading through his hair and lingering there as she savored its softness.

The simple touch seemed to affect him more than she realized.

His breathing grew heavier, and for several long moments, neither of them seemed to care about anything beyond the warmth between them.

Eventually, however, Jordan drew back just enough to breathe.

Something important had occurred to him, and his expression shifted from hazy affection to sudden thoughtfulness.

"There’s something I need to ask you." He traced his thumb gently over her lower lip, still catching his breath. "Which day are you free this week?"

"Hmm... I don’t know yet," Aren replied, equally breathless. "Why do you ask?"

"I want to take you out on our first date."

The words brought Aren abruptly back to reality.

She pulled back far enough to look at him properly, seriousness slowly replacing the lingering haze in her eyes.

"A date? How could you possibly go on a date with me this week? You need months to recover fully."

"Not necessarily," Jordan protested. "If you’re free on the weekend, I’ll have had five full days of bed rest by then. That’s more than enough for me to move around normally again. I just won’t be able to drive, but I can arrange a chauffeur."

His reasoning was perfectly sound, yet Aren still looked worried.

"But you’ve lost a lot of blood. You’ll still be tired if you have to move around too much."

"Then we’ll do something relaxing that doesn’t require much walking." He smiled, trying to reassure her. "I promise I’ll eat properly from now until then. I’ll regain my strength even faster."

A soft, reluctant laugh escaped her at his earnest promise. She finally considered the matter seriously, mentally sorting through her schedule before looking back at him.

"For now, I only know that I’m booked on Thursday morning for a press conference for the Castellano Club. The next two days, I plan to visit the Pit itself to inspect the fighting cage. Then, on Sunday evening, I’m meeting my father at the Lombardi Hotel for the official launch of my ice cream at our restaurants."

She paused, trying to recall what else she might have forgotten.

"Other than that, I’m not certain yet. I might be contacted to fulfill my contract with House Accardi at any time, but I don’t know when. I might not be contacted at all."

At the mention of the Castellano Club, the warmth gradually drained from Jordan’s face. By the time she mentioned House Accardi, his expression had darkened completely.

"Right..."

His gaze dropped from hers.

"I almost forgot how many other duties you have."

As disheartening as it felt, he refused to let himself dwell on it.

After all, he had already anticipated this possibility from the moment he’d made the bet with her. So his mind immediately began working through the problem of finding a suitable time instead.

"The Sunday event sounds like something I’d love to attend with you," he said, absently brushing his thumb along her chin. "But I already interrupted your time with your father yesterday. I don’t want to take more of your private time on Sunday."

He paused, thinking through the possibilities.

"Tomorrow and the day after, I don’t think I’ll be recovered enough. You might want to practice at the Castellano Club on Friday and Saturday, or you could get called in for that Accardi contract. So..."

He frowned.

"...I guess there’s only one option."

His gaze lifted back to hers.

"How about I come with you to the press conference? Then we can go on our date after you’re finished."

Aren blinked, surprised by the suggestion.

"You... want to come to the press conference with me?"

"Why not?" He shrugged. "The press conference could be stressful. I just thought... I’d want to be there for you, if you’re going to have to stand among..."

His teeth ground together at the thought.

"...a bunch of strangers who are only waiting to snap pictures of you, ask rude questions, and then sit around waiting to watch you fight and get hurt."

Aren watched him quietly.

The more he spoke, the clearer it became to her how much he disliked the idea of her fighting at he Castellano Club.

She could see the unease settling into his eyes, the tension tightening his jaw. And yet, despite all of that, his first decision had been to ask whether he could be there beside her.

"Then Thursday sounds good," she said with a warm smile. "I’d love to have you there with me at the press conference."

Wanting to ease the tension from his expression, she lifted both hands and gently cupped his cheeks again.

"And..." Her smile brightened. "...where would you like to go for our date after the press conference? What would you like to do? I’m really looking forward to it."

That was enough to bring the light back into Jordan’s face. He smiled, covering one of her hands with his own as he leaned more deeply into her touch.

"Since it’s our first date... how about I make it a surprise?"

His eyes warmed with quiet anticipation.

"I’ll have everything arranged. Just for the two of us."