Chapter 172
Daron shifted his gaze from Marina’s phone to her face. When he saw her cheeks were oddly red, he asked. “Are you hot?”
Marina gave a stiff smile and nodded. “A little.
Daron immediately turned down the air–conditioning temperature. Then he picked up his phone, stretched out beside her. and continued playing.
From time to time, his arm or shoulder brushed against her.
Marina was left speechless.
If Daron hadn’t been so focused on his game, Marina would’ve seriously wondered if he was trying to seduce her.
A man and a woman alone, bodies brushing, temperature rising, imagination running wild.
Under these misleading, dangerous conditions, they naturally lost the match.
Right after the game ended, Kara called.
Marina felt instantly saved by the phone call. She turned to Daron and whispered, “Kara’s calling. Let’s play again later.”
Daron agreed without hesitation. “Sure.”
Marina quickly swiped to answer. “Kara…”
But before she could say anything else, Kara’s voice blasted through the phone. “That guy in your story, is that Daron? Are you two hooking up? Did you sleep with him? How many times? Was it good?”
Kara was so loud, throwing out all kinds of wild questions, and with Daron sitting right next to her, there was no way he hadn’t heard everything.
Marina took a deep breath, quickly pulled the phone away from her ear, covered it, and shot a sideways glance at Daron.
Daron wore an utterly relaxed expression, lips curved with a hint of amusement.
Marina felt flustered entirely by his gaze and blurted out, “I’ll take the call in my room.”
She sprang to her feet and hurried to her bedroom. Only after closing the door did she bring the phone back to her ear. “Keep your voice down!”
Kara immediately lowered her voice, “What’s wrong?”
Marina took a deep breath. “He heard everything you just said.”
Kara paused for a moment, then whispered, “So, did you two sleep together or not?”
Marina sounded a little helpless. “No, of course not.”
She honestly wanted to crack open Kara’s skull and see what kind of wild ideas were bouncing around in there. Kara clicked her tongue. “The vibe was totally right, and you didn’t sleep with him? Then did you at least kiss?”
Kara even made two exaggerated kissing noises as she spoke.
Marina’s face turned bright red from Kara’s teasing. “No, seriously, nothing happened. We were playing games.”
Chapter 172
2 55 you bus
Kara freaked out on the other end, her voice rising to a screech. What? You had the perfect mood, and you spent it gaming?”
Marina just mumbled a “yeah.”
Kara took a deep breath and asked tentatively, “When you say ‘games, you mean actual games, not something, you know, with a little more spice?”
Marina cut her off. “No, not at all, nothing like that.”
“Oh.” Kara sounded genuinely disappointed.
“Seriously, get your mind out of the gutter,” Marina said.
Kara groaned, “If you had a dirty mind like me, you’d have Daron eating out of your hand by now.”
Marina pressed her lips together and murmured, “It’s just not worth it.”
Marina knew she wasn’t confident she could remain detached if something truly happened between them.
And she had already made a promise to Elnora that she would sacrifice her marriage prospects to secure the future of the Finley family.
This was the most crucial moment. She absolutely could not cross that line with Daron.
Otherwise, everything afterwards would become complicated.
Kara was practically gnashing her teeth on the other end. “You worry too much. Sometimes charging forward head–first brings miracles!”
Marina let out a quiet sigh, worried Kara’s wild thinking might actually rub off on her. She just gave a half–hearted reply and
hung up.
The Gross family and the Finley family were worlds apart. Kara dould afford recklessness, but Marina couldn’t.
Marina took a few deep breaths, steadying herself, and only after she’d calmed down did she finally Daron was still on the couch, and when he saw her come out, his sharp, spirited gaze fell directly on her.
of her room.
Marina stopped in her tracks and gave him an apologetic smile. “I’m really off today. Tired, I guess I’ll rest. We can play another day.”
Daron nodded, not pushing it, but his gaze was curious as he looked at her, and asked, “So, how did questions?”
you wer
her
Marina blinked, caught off guard. “Huh?”
Daron’s lips curled into a teasing smile. “You know, the one about whether I’m good.”
“I didn’t answer that,” Marina muttered.
‘How could I answer? And how would I even know if he was good?! What kind of man asks something like this himself?! Talk about shameless.‘ Marina thought.
Daron raised an eyebrow, a hint of disappointment in his eyes, then said in a low voice, “If she asks again next time, how will
you answer?”
Marina gave an awkward smile and quickly said, “Kara just misunderstood, so I explained it to her. She won’t be asking that kind of thing again.”
20:53 Sat, Jan 3
Chapter 172
“I” Daron repeated. “If she asks again, what will you say?”
Marina saw the playful smile on Daron’s face and felt her nerves go haywire.
“I’ll tell her I don’t know,” she said.
Daron let out a soft laugh, glanced away from Marina, and said
a low voice, “You’ll find out”
As soon as Marina caught on to what Daron meant, her cheeks instantly flushed.
Marina managed a stiff smile and mumbled, “I’m going to bed now.”
Daron nodded, finally letting her off the hook. “Goodnight.”
“Goodnight,” Marina replied casually, then hurried back to her room.
As she lay in bed, all she could think about was Daron’s words: “You’ll find out.”
Maybe it was because she was sleeping in a new place, or because his pheromones were overwhelmingly strong tonight. Whatever the reason, Marina couldn’t fall asleep at all.
Her Instagram Story was still exploding with notifications from comments and likes, more than she’d ever received.
She didn’t finally fall asleep until after three in the morning.
To avoid bumping into Daron at the crack of dawn and letting those embarrassing thoughts keep haunting her, Marina ser her alarm extra early before going to bed.
She got up at six with only three hours of rest and dragged herself out of bed, yawning.
After washing up, she tiptoed out of her room.
She was just about to slip on her shoes at the entryway when Daron’s deep voice drifted over from the living room.
“Where are you going so early?” Daron asked.
Marina froze and wondered, ‘He woke up this early, too?‘
“Just heading out to grab some breakfast,” Marina said.
Ross Group didn’t start until nine, and it was only about a half–hour drive from here.
She couldn’t exactly tell Daron she was heading out at six for work. He’d think she was dodging him.
Daron glanced at her work uniform, walked over, and said casually, “From now on, you don’t have to get up so early. Breakfast will be delivered at seven–thirty.”
Marina nodded, still a bit out of it. “Okay.”
Daron’s eyes drifted to the briefcase on the shoe cabinet. Then he leaned forward slightly, his face lowering toward hers. “You’re not avoiding me on purpose, are you?”
Chapter 178
Chapter 173
Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
