Chapter 48 You're Not Allowed to Scold Her
"You're the only one who can make me run wild like this."
His short hair was messed up by the wind and his large hand was on the top of her head. He also messed up her hair domineeringly.
When he said that, his chest and features were heaving and his deep voice sounded even more seductive laced between his urgent gasps after a high-temperature run.
Initially, Natalie wanted to be harmonious but Miss Crosley did not seem to want the same with her. It was unknown if Miss Crosley had a strong sense of superiority and hostility or whether her emotional intelligence was just too low.
The future was the future, and at least right now, she was Luke's official girlfriend. Natalie did not want to suffer this kind of grievance and even if she had a good temper, she could not stand having her relationship being criticized by a stranger.
So she asked Luke to come over. She wanted to tell him, 'Here, you should take care of your relationships yourself.'
However, the way Luke ran toward her against the heat wave-like wind reminded her of how he would travel thousands of miles tirelessly round-the-clock to see her every single time.
When he caressed her head, all the displeasure in her chest vanished.
She did not want to say the words that were on the tip of her tongue anymore. Natalie lifted her face to look at him and said softly, "Lower your head."
Luke bent his waist.
Natalie reached out, her fingertips lifted the scattered black hair away from his forehead and combed them back neatly. Now, his beautiful eyes were displayed in front of her again.
He lowered his head obediently and let her comb his hair. He did not urge her or question her, and he was very patient.
The person next to them did not say anything either and Natalie did not know what expression she had on her face. She would just let Sloane assume that she had wicked intentions and she wanted to retaliate against the sarcasm just now.
"Miss Crosley is over there, didn't you see her?" After she combed his short hair neatly, Natalie placed her hand down and asked in a calm tone.
Luke shifted his gaze and peered at that person.
When Sloane looked at Natalie, her eyes were filled with contempt.
However, the moment her eyes met Luke's, it was as if she had put on an entirely different face. The arrogance and haughtiness she displayed just now immediately turned into a gentle and lovely smile, her gaze was also amorous and ambiguous.
She parted her red lips softly. As she was about to say something, the man shifted his gaze away and ignored her. The whole process lasted only one second. He did not even show her any respect at all.
So, the expression of this lady from a rich family became extremely unpleasant in the blink of an eye.
Luke's eyes returned to the girl in front of him. He saw her blinking softly and she was looking at him smilingly. Her gaze was like syrup and it was so loving that it would be stringy.
She was purposely copying Sloane mechanically to compete with her. Right now, she seemed to be asking him, 'Who are you more attracted to? Me or that woman?'
Clearly, his girlfriend was jealous.
"Who?" Luke asked innocently.
Natalie looked at him, asking him 'why are you still pretending' with her eyes.
"I really have no impression of her." Luke smiled and lifted his arm to put on her shoulder before pulling her into his arms. "Let's go. What do you want to eat tonight?"
Sloane was staring at them blankly. When she heard that, she finally found her voice. So, she called out to him quickly, "Mr. Bennington..."
She approached the two of them, swaying her lips seductively within those few steps. "We met two days ago at the tenth-anniversary dinner for the Magnus Region."
Luke did not have much of an impression of Sloane. He was the kind of man who would not remember someone from just their face, but after Natalie said that she was Miss Crosley, he vaguely understood.
He had a pretty deep impression of this surname.
The Crosley Family did not have any branches in Alcomara so since Sloane was here and she met Natalie privately, it was pretty self-evident.
Luke peered at her, "What do you want to say?"
When Sloane saw that he did not walk away directly, she smiled. "We're there when our mothers discussed our marriage, don't you remember?"
Natalie frowned.
Sloane saw that and before Luke could answer, she curled her bottom lip calmly and then said warmly, "You didn't reject the idea back then."
As she said that, she faintly peered at Natalie, it was unknown to whom she was directly this sentence.
Natalie did not look at anyone and she only looked at the congested junction not far away quietly. After Sloane said that, Natalie shuddered and pushed the hand of the person that was resting on her shoulder away.
She lifted her leg to walk away but Luke reacted very quickly and pulled her back by her waist.
Luke was miles away from being a gentleman. He just did not want to argue with the less well-informed but since the people from the Crosley Family insisted on coming here to embarrass themselves, he did not suppress his temper. "If you don't know how to talk properly, you should shut up. I don't care whatever they want to say."
Sloane was silent and she was speechless after being retorted.
"Are you too lazy to reject or do you not want to reject?" Suddenly, Natalie asked faintly. She was acting a little dramatic as she looked at him with secret bitterness. Right now, she looked like a jealous and finicky child.
She was indeed doing this on purpose in front of Sloane.
After thinking about it, Natalie felt that she must have been influenced by Luke, so that was why she became so vengeful.
Luke did not care that they were in public and he started to coax and explain to her. He pinched her cheek and asked how would his taste be so horrible.
"She's not nearly as pretty as my girlfriend and I'm not blind," he said with a little mischief.
He was indirectly insulting Sloane and Sloane's face turned white after she heard that.
Natalie snorted and crossed her arms to pretend to be the bossy girlfriend. She felt that she had let Sloane taste enough of her own medicine so she stopped speaking.
Luke could see through what this girl was thinking but he was very cooperative. He glanced at Sloane coldly and said, "Stop provoking her, I have to coax her for a very long time if she gets angry."
After he said that briefly, he grabbed his girlfriend and left without any more nonsense, leaving Sloane to be embarrassed on her ground.
If someone filmed this, she would have embarrassed herself completely. She stopped entangling with him and put back her sunglasses quickly before getting back into the car.
Sloane's bodyguard who was driving was named Michael Harper. He was a handsome young man and he was wearing a neatly-ironed suit, not one of his hair was out of place.
When Michael saw her getting in the car, he was not nosey. Instead, he asked, "Where are we going next, Miss?"
"Back to the hotel, where else?" Sloane was suffering from pent-up frustrations in her heart and she replied while feeling moody.
Michael grunted a reply and started the car, not saying anything more.
She was raised pampered in a heap of splendid luxury so Sloane refused to swallow this grievance. After she thought about it, she said, "Go look into that girl named Natalie Moore."
She was curious who this girl was and how she could charm the unruly Luke into falling head over heels with her.
...
The entrance of the subway station was opposite the road. When Luke was not around, Natalie would take the subway home every day.
Once they were far enough, Natalie pulled back her hand and walked straight to the escalator at the entrance.
Even though his performance was pretty good just now, Natalie did not want to pay any attention to him. Perhaps she was not happy that he did not say no when they were discussing his marriage for him, but perhaps it was because of something else. In short, Natalie was having mixed feelings.
Natalie had a mobile application for taking the subway so she could go through the turnstile after she scanned the QR code. Meanwhile, Luke never had to worry whenever he went out and he never needed to take the subway, so he did not have it and he needed to buy his ticket from the ticket vending machine.
At that moment, Natalie ignored him. She went through the turnstile right after she scanned the QR code.
After she got in, the person behind her grabbed her arm and Natalie had no choice but to stop and turn back.
The closed door of the turnstile was between the two of them and Luke said softly, "Nata, your boyfriend is not inside yet."
He was stuck outside and he sighed, looking pretty pitiful.
Natalie's heart softened for him and she pressed her lips together, not saying a word. Then, she slapped her phone with the QR code displayed in his hand before turning around to leave.
After he went through the turnstile, Luke chased after her quickly and grabbed her arm. "Are you not waiting for me?"
This man was a lot taller than her but he had to walk with his hand on her arm. It looked as if the two had switched genders and it looked pretty strange.
Natalie wanted to pull her arm back but unfortunately, she could not get out of his grip. Eyes from all over were on them and Natalie suddenly realized how eye-catching he was. She did not want him to be recognized so she reached into her bag and handed him a medical-grade mask.
Luke then quickly put it on obediently.
Actually, Natalie was not mad anymore, or rather, she was not that mad. If a stranger could successfully drive a wedge between them, then she would seem too foolish.
However, what Sloane said was worthy of contemplation too.
She was a kid with no background, so what qualifications did she have to stand next to him?
Since it was working hours, the inside of the subway was very crowded. Natalie knew that there would not be empty seats and what she failed to calculate was that it was so crowded that she even had no space to stand.
The entire carriage was filled with people and Natalie squeezed her way inside. She found two rings and as she was about to grab them, a pair of hands appeared in front of her eyes and the rings were occupied one step ahead of her.
Luke grabbed the two rings and he grinned while Natalie looked at him angrily.
The subway was shaky when it started moving, therefore, Natalie lunged forward because of the inertia and she fell onto him. After holding the fabric on the sides of his waist, she then barely steadied herself.
While Natalie fell onto him, the smile in Luke's eyes deepened and he lowered his head to her ear to entice and coax her in a warm voice, "Be careful. Hold onto my waist."
The warmth of the man's lips warmed her ear through the mask.
Natalie was certain that he did this on purpose. She felt a little shy and a little mad, so she replied lowly, "Can't you share one with me?"
Luke did not feel remorseful at all. He even looked a little innocent. "Why are you glaring at me? I'm just worried that your arm will feel sore after lifting it for so long."
'Go on with your act!'
It was air-tight in here and there were people everywhere. Natalie did not want to cause a scene to attract the attention of others so she took a deep breath and decided to ignore him.
However, she fell forward after a jolt and she had to hold his waist tightly.
She heard a chuckle on top of her head.
Natalie was buried in his chest and her face turned red as she listened to it. She flew into a rage out of humiliation and she started biting, but she did not know where she was biting. He hissed lowly and put his lips next to her ear. His voice was hoarse and only the two of them could hear what he said.
"You can't even wait until we get home?"
Some exciting scenes replayed in Natalie's mind immediately. She was like a cat in heat and he was training her. When he opened his mouth to flirt with her, she could only feel shy. Her ears turned red in just one second.
"You scoundrel!" Natalie kicked him. Her small voice made her sound coy as if she was protesting coquettishly.
Yet, Luke loved to tease her and he slowly whispered in her ear, "It'll be so much better if we're not in the subway, if we're in the car, we can even..."
Natalie lifted her face suddenly and glared at him to stop him from speaking.
Luke smiled and shut his mouth obediently.
Their car was parked at the hotel nearby the hospital. After the subway reached the station, they still needed to walk ten minutes to Clovervale Residence.
After dusk, the sunset disappeared from the horizon, and the cloudy sky was painted in a blue-green color. The heat of the day gradually dissipated and the wind brought a hint of coolness.
The two did not go home directly. Instead, they walked to a Chatforte restaurant in the commercial street for dinner.
The Chatforte restaurant was very particular. There was a saying that the time for the dishes to be in contact with the air should be as short as possible, and the food would be the freshest if you immediately ate it, because of this, the bar would cost more than the private room, especially when you could also watch the chef's sophisticated cooking methods from the bar, which was pretty appealing.
However, it was very hard to reserve a seat at the bar in this restaurant. Natalie wanted to see if there were any empty private rooms, but who knew with just one phone call, Luke managed to get her to the bar.
Once again, Natalie witnessed how strong this person's network was.
The Chatforte-style environment was relaxing and elegant. After a while, the chef served them a few cold dishes as appetizers and some sake.
Luke uncorked the sake and poured some from himself. As the sake sloshed into the glass, he peered at the girl sitting next to him. Her head was lowered as she ate, looking quiet and very polite.
"Are you still mad?" Luke placed the bottle away and continued coaxing her grudgingly. "I wasn't interested in talking nonsense with them that night. Please don't be mad. I'll go back and do a press conference to tell the world that I won't get engaged to her, okay?"
He really wished for the whole world to be in chaos.
Natalie wanted to laugh when she heard that. She was not mad at him, she just felt a little suffocated after hearing what Sloane said.
"I'll think about it." Natalie chewed slowly and was still unyielding. Who asked him to be so cheeky on the subway?
Luke lifted his arm to look at his black gold wristwatch. "I'll let you think about it for one minute."
Natalie frowned in confusion. "What?"
"50 seconds left."
After she was slightly stunned, Natalie came back to her senses to turn and stare at him. She was half complaining and half-mad when she said, "Is this how you coax someone?"
The chef was an adorable man from Chatforte and he was very close to one of Luke's friends, so they caught on very easily.
He had stayed in Estain for a long time so he could understand the language. However, he was a little shoddy when he spoke it. "Miss, stop being angry with your boyfriend."
Luke drank some sake and caressed her head. "Look, he's laughing at you."
Natalie was puzzled and she felt that these two men were ganging up to bully her. Hence, she was not happy and she retorted, "Didn't you see that he's the one who made me mad? Are you even being reasonable?"
The couple was fighting but why was he the one that was attacked first? The chef blinked and continued to make his sushi innocently with his head lowered.
"There is no engagement. Do you think I dare to go against you when you're around?" Luke grabbed one of her hands and rubbed it between his fingers. Then, he pulled her hand to his lips and kissed it. "You can punish me however you like, just tell me."
"Punishment? Can you cry in front of me?" Natalie murmured, the tips of her finger turning soft after it was burned by the warmth from his lips.
The seats at the bar were arranged next to one another. An unknown smile flashed across Luke's eyes and he pulled her into his arms. He asked softly, "Hmm? Do you want to punish me and make me cry out Dr. Moore?"
'This guy...'
Why did he become such a scoundrel all of a sudden?
Natalie wanted to pull her hand away but Luke refused to let go. He looked at her while holding back his laughter.
Natalie could not overpower him so she decided to lower her head to bite him. Then, she bit down hard on the web between the thumb and forefinger of his left hand.
"Hiss..." Luke was in pain but he did not let go even so. Instead, after her teeth left his hand, he said just complained that he was in pain pitifully.
Natalie pressed her lips together and did not say anything.
"It hurts a lot, Nata. Look, it's about to bleed." Luke lifted his hand to show her.
Natalie looked at the deep set of teeth marks on his hand. A second ago, she was still mad but now, she felt a little sorry for him.
She did not know why she could not hold herself back. Natalie pulled his hand over and looked over it closely. Then, she ran her fingers over the teeth marks, feeling extremely remorseful in her heart.
At this moment, the chef who was watching this spoke as if he was the mediator, "You have to be careful next time in case you enrage her again."
Natalie was immediately protective of Luke. "Why are you scolding my boyfriend for making me mad? You're not allowed to scold him!"
"..." The chef was taken aback.
Luke lowered his head and he could not control himself from grinning.