Chapter 308 - 307: I’m a Little Thirsty

The girl exuded a familiar, warm, fresh fragrance. Perhaps because she had been drinking, there was also a hint of red wine in her breath. But now, that clean scent was tainted by a contradictory note of agarwood—the smell of a men’s cologne.

Simon Lockwood had smelled it the moment he got close.

’You wouldn’t pick up someone else’s scent unless you were very close to them.’

A sense of irritation and unease, like one of his possessions had been sullied, washed over him. Simon Lockwood’s expression remained unchanged, but his eyes grew cold.

Seeing the girl’s wide, glistening eyes—clear and bright, yet full of confusion and bewilderment, like a lost lamb that looked easy to pick on—the base, unsettling possessiveness in his heart grew even stronger.

"Joanna Kennedy, speak."

Simon Lockwood repeated himself, his cool, detached voice especially clear in the enclosed space.

He was taking advantage of Joanna Kennedy’s muddled state, closing the distance unhurriedly as he questioned her until their breaths were nearly mingling.

Her eyes met the man’s inscrutable, pitch-black gaze, which was darker even than Nightfall. A warm, moist sensation touched the corner of her lips, and for a moment, Joanna Kennedy’s brain completely shut down.

"Wh-what?"

She was dizzy and couldn’t hear what he was saying at all. She could only see his lips—neither thick nor thin—opening and closing.

They were like little hooks, drawing her closer. Joanna Kennedy subconsciously swallowed, feeling her mouth go a little dry.

She wanted some water. Following her body’s impulse, she looked at him with pleading eyes and said, "Simon Lockwood, I’m a little thirsty..."

Her words were like lighting a fuse. Simon Lockwood’s breath hitched. From only a few centimeters away, he met the girl’s clear, glistening eyes and saw they were filled with expectation and reliance.

"Thirsty?" Simon Lockwood chuckled softly. A restless heat began to burn deep inside him. Without batting an eye, he lied, "What if there’s no water?"

There was a full case of mineral water in the trunk, yet here he was, deliberately teasing her. When the girl didn’t answer, he kept pressing, "What should we do?" until Joanna Kennedy, flushed and red-eared, reached out to push him away.

"Y-you, don’t be so close. I can’t breathe."

Joanna Kennedy’s face was beet red. Though her voice was tinged with annoyance, to anyone else, it would have sounded like she was pouting playfully.

When the man obediently sat up, she finally breathed a sigh of relief and pointed to the storage area between the seats. "Isn’t that mineral water right there?!"

Simon Lockwood’s car was uncluttered, with almost nothing else in it but a box of tissues. Right now, a bottle of mineral water was sitting securely beside it.

To say it was a full bottle of mineral water wouldn’t be precise. It was more like half a bottle.

’If there’s one bottle, there must be a second. How could he not keep water in his car?’ Joanna Kennedy felt that Simon Lockwood was deliberately refusing to let her have a drink.

"I’ll go down and buy one myself." Joanna Kennedy said this in a huff and went to get out of the car, but she fumbled with the door for a long time, unable to open it.

She only turned when he grabbed her wrist. She raised an eyebrow, looking smug. "What, decided to let me have a drink after all?"

She had a look on her face that said she had him completely figured out. The darkness in Simon Lockwood’s eyes deepened, but his expression was as serene as a clear sky after a rain. "You really want to drink it?"

"What else?" Joanna Kennedy pouted, gesturing for Simon Lockwood to look. "See for yourself," she complained. "My lips are so dry they’re about to start peeling."

Joanna Kennedy had just come from the banquet and hadn’t even had time to change out of her formal gown, let alone do anything about her makeup.

Her makeup, done by a professional, was still flawless after several hours. The corners of her bright, lovely almond-shaped eyes were a little red, and the subtle eyeliner was winged slightly upward, like a little hook.

Her exquisite, perfect lips were slightly plump. Perhaps from eating, some of her lipstick had worn off, faintly revealing her natural lip color beneath.

Simon Lockwood’s gaze darkened. His eyes were fixed on the pout of her full lips, a turbulent undercurrent swirling in their depths.

Joanna Kennedy was still complaining when she felt a gentle but firm pressure on the corner of her lips, and her voice trailed off.

"...What’s wrong?"

"Nothing..." Simon Lockwood didn’t pull his hand back. As the girl spoke, her lips parted slightly. He discreetly pressed his fingertip inward, meeting her helpless, annoyed eyes. "Just checking to see if you were lying," he explained.

The red lipstick stained the pad of his finger, creating a certain suggestive beauty. His fingertip felt warm and moist.

Simon Lockwood’s Adam’s apple bobbed sharply. With restraint, he pulled his hand back, sliding his finger from the corner of her lips up to her cheek, finally stopping at the corner of her eye.

The rouge smudged the corner of the girl’s eye, making it even redder, as if she had been crying. It was pitiful yet adorable, a breathtaking kind of beauty.

In the dark, enclosed space, the sound of a heartbeat was distinct—growing heavier and faster, second by second. It was impossible to tell whose it was as they tangled together, never stopping.

"...You weren’t lying." Simon Lockwood said slowly. "Joanie, such a good girl..."

Every word seemed to be soaked in wine, making things both clear and hazy at once. Joanna Kennedy felt that she wasn’t just thirsty anymore. She was also hot.

The mineral water bottle was opened and held to her lips before Joanna Kennedy reacted. Her tangled thoughts finally managed to unravel a little. She hastily averted her gaze and said, "I-I’ll drink it myself..."

’She didn’t want someone else to feed her.’

Simon Lockwood was in a very good mood from all the teasing. Knowing not to push her too far, he agreed with feigned understanding, "Alright, you drink it yourself."

The cool liquid flowed down her throat, relieving the dryness. Joanna Kennedy took several large gulps before she felt better. Midway through, she realized this was the bottle Simon Lockwood had been drinking from, but she merely blushed and didn’t stop.

’Besides, it’s not like she minded sharing with Simon Lockwood.’

After drinking the water, Joanna Kennedy felt much better, and her brain resumed normal function. In an instant, she felt a lingering heat on her lips, cheek, and the corner of her eye.

’Simon Lockwood was very different tonight. He seemed angry about something, which was why he was deliberately teasing her. But... what was he angry about?’

She replayed the recent events in her mind and had a sudden epiphany—the agarwood cologne!

’Henry Hughes really is a scumbag! Just getting close to me caused this much trouble!’

Joanna Kennedy cursed Henry Hughes a thousand times in her head before stealthily glancing at the man in the driver’s seat, who was now focused on the road. The lines of his profile were exceptionally handsome, and there seemed to be a faint redness at the corner of his mouth from what had happened earlier.

Thinking about how it got there, Joanna Kennedy’s face turned red again. She furrowed her brow in annoyance, feeling that she had absolutely no defenses when it came to Simon Lockwood. She hadn’t even realized he’d kissed her.

"Simon Lockwood, I’ve realized you’re not what I thought you were," Joanna Kennedy said.

Simon Lockwood’s grip on the steering wheel tightened, but his tone was as even as always, betraying nothing. "How so?"

He admitted to himself that he had gone too far just now. It was partly because he was provoked by the scent of that strange "men’s agarwood cologne," but mostly because he just couldn’t control himself.

Joanna Kennedy was dazzling, while he was now just an ordinary person with nothing to his name—perhaps even less than ordinary. After all, ordinary people didn’t need hearing aids.

Faced with this immense gap between them, he felt a desperate need to confirm that Joanna Kennedy was his. No one else could touch her. Joanna Kennedy could only belong to him.