Take My Breath Away

Carlos looked at the girl standing before him, and said nothing.

Debbie approached him and whispered in his ear, "Hey, are you stupid or something?"

His face soured almost immediately at what she said. He cast a warning glance at her and said in a cold voice, "Are you sure you want to offend me?"

Debbie immediately shook her head and replied with a flattering smile, "You asked me to buy my classmates ice cream. But the money was yours. Technically, it was you who bought them the ice cream. Why would you do that?"

"You were late for class," he said indifferently.

"What did it have to do with---" Before she could utter the words, "buying them the ice cream", she shut her mouth. In truth, she didn't understand his motives.

'What was he trying to say? That there was nothing wrong with me eating ice cream, but I shouldn't have been late for school? Was he trying to imply that?

Actually, I didn't run eight kilometers nor was I the one who paid for the ice cream. So basically I never received any punishment.

Seriously? Is he really such a nice guy?' she thought to herself, while eyeing Carlos from head to toe in disbelief. She was not accustomed to being treated well by Carlos. When she noticed Carlos' ramrod straight posture, she asked curiously, "Have you served in the army before?"

"Uh-huh."

"Then why did you quit the army? You prefer being a CEO?" She could imagine he must have been the most handsome soldier in the army.

Debbie believed that if he were wearing the military uniform right now, she would literally be drooling over him. 'What a pity!' she sighed.

As if Carlos understood what she was thinking about, he flashed a naughty smile at her and whispered in her ear, "If you really want to learn more about me, why don't you come and see me this evening? We can have an in-depth exchange."

What? In-depth exchange?

If he had only mentioned "in-depth exchange", she would not have been lost in various conjectures. Why did he stress "this evening"? Was he implying something else? Men would never tire of telling dirty jokes, and Carlos was no exception.

When Debbie realized what he was implying, she flushed scarlet with shyness. She coughed once and cleared her throat. "No, thank you. Bye!" she answered simply, before turning to leave.

The man said something behind her back that made her stagger.

She steadied herself and turned around to say something, but the man was not there any more. He had already left to instruct the students in training.

'Did I mishear him? No, that ca

part of his firm, chiseled chest. Debbie felt somewhat thirsty at the sight of the handsome man smoking before the window. She swallowed hard and wished for this peaceful moment to last a bit longer.

Carlos saw her come in through the reflection in the window. He walked towards the desk and killed the cigarette butt in the ash tray. "Sit," he demanded briefly.

Looking around the study, Debbie believed that the couch would be the most comfortable place, so she went towards the couch and made herself comfortable.

Carlos followed and sat next to her. They were so close, she could feel the warmth of his body.

In a low, tantalizing voice, he asked, "How's your English? I'll need to assess that before we can continue. We are going to communicate in English this evening."

Debbie was slightly taken aback. 'Communicate in English? Seriously? I've never passed any English tests before. I can only speak a bit of English. I had learnt it before I had to travel abroad.'

"First of all, you need to pay..."

Carlos opened his mouth and English words poured out of his mouth like a waterfall. Debbie didn't know what he was talking about, but she could tell that his accent was of that so-called Received Pronunciation. The only words she was accustomed to were words like "first of all" and "you need to". She had no idea what he was trying to tell her.

When Carlos finally stopped talking, Debbie sat up straight, cleared her throat and answered, "Good night... H-How much..." The more she said, the deeper he frowned.

After she finally finished speaking, he gripped the book more tightly. He tried his best to calm himself down and not make her feel intimidated and discouraged.