Chapter 37 Listen to You
In the moonlight, the tree branches cast some shadows on the front window of the car.
Natalie looked at Luke quietly in the car.
The pain of having her ears pierced could not make her cry because she was not so weak. She said it hurt because she did not want to tell him she had pierced her ears for him.
But when he said he would coax her, his tone sounded gentle. Natalie felt lonely tonight, so she did want to refuse.
She looked at him with a smile and said, "How are you going to coax me?"
Her chin was slightly covered by the high collar of the dress. Her dress was white, and her face was also fair-skinned, so she looked quite young. But her ears were decorated with earrings, making her look more mature. She changed from a little girl to a little woman and become very feminine.
Luke kept silent for a moment after seeing her smile, and he suddenly rejoiced that he had left that annoying banquet full of old guys and come back by his private plane.
He fingered her earlobe and felt it was thin and warm. And then, he rubbed it slowly. Natalie shivered slightly because of the itch, but she didn't dodge his touch.
After a while, Luke said, "What about I teach you how to play the piano for free?" But after two seconds, he laughed frivolously, "If so, we can touch each other's hands, right?"
Since he returned, he had not revealed any negative emotions. All the depression and tiredness were hidden in the details.
They were very subtle, but Natalie had still sensed he was in bad mood, otherwise, he wouldn't have smoked outside the house before calling her.
"Luke," Natalie said, guessing he had gotten in trouble in Athana.
"Yes?" he replied.
While his Fingers pinched her soft ears repeatedly, the pink diamond pendant swayed gently.
Natalie allowed his action and asked softly, "Is it OK if you don't stay in Athana during the holiday? You must have a lot of elders in your family, right?"
Luke paused his actions imperceptibly.
There were indeed many elders, and all of them were the company's so-called respected shareholders, but in fact, they were all selfish profiteers who were colluding with Noah.
They had a large number of the shares of the Bennington Group, so it was not wise to conflict with them at this juncture, but Luke had done it anyway.
At the banquet, a neutral elder had mentioned that Luke had grown up and should get married now and hinted that if Luke agreed to marry the young lady of the Crosley family, he would take a stance and choose to support him.
Grace wanted Luke to date Sloane Crosley, but he had blocked her.
In the beginning, Luke was willing to deal with those old guys courteously but without sincerity, but they should not have been so self-righteous and tried to take a carrot-and-stick approach.
Luke was very aggressive when hearing his words. Even though the other party was his elder, he had said arrogantly, "Do you think I care about the shares you have? Who do you think you are? Don't you dare to threaten me!"
And he left as soon as finishing speaking even though Grace had tried her best to persuade him to stay.
Seeing this, everyone else at the banquet fell silent with fright, and the older who had been scolded by Luke had looked very sullen.
But Harry who was the main character of the banquet had remained calm and been eating the food on his plate gracefully.
Walking out of the banquet hall, Luke had received Natalie's message saying, "Happy New Year's Eve." He had stopped his steps and cooled down in an instant.
Then he made up his mind, immediately left the hotel, and headed for Alcomara to meet her.
Luke wanted to evade her question by making a joke, but when he saw the concern in her eyes, he suddenly changed his mind.
"It is not OK," Luke sighed, leaned over, and hugged her, resting his head on her neck. Later, he said pitifully, "I will be scolded fiercely. What should I do now?"
His sudden approach made Natalie freeze, but when his arms wrapped around her shoulders, she smelled his scent and slowly relaxed.
When she turned her face to look at him, his short hair brushed her cheek, and then, she said, "Luke, do you know you're acting like a child now?"
Luke pressed his face against her shoulder and chuckled in a muffled voice, "Yes! And you should coax me."
Then, he rubbed his face against her neck. And suddenly, he regretted that he had bought her a high-necked dress because the collar completely covered her neck.
Natalie was speechless. They were talking about how to coax her just now, right?
She thought he was pretending to be sad because she didn't believe anyone would dare to scold him.
But it didn't matter. Even if he was lying, his appearance today had long melted her heart.
So, she decided to act together with him. She stroked his hair as if coaxing a child and said softly, "Be good, and I'll treat you to dinner."
Luke gave a low laugh, and said cooperatively, "Okay."
Most restaurants were fully booked a week ago, but it was a piece of cake for Luke to get a table in any restaurant.
Natalie sincerely wanted to treat him to dinner, and to cater to his preference, she had chosen an Athana cuisine restaurant.
In terms of the decoration of the building and the taste of the dishes, it should be the most authentic Athana cuisine restaurant in Alcomara. The golden and red sign hung high, and the decoration was fancy.
Luke asked Natalie to order dishes. She was very happy to have a companion to have dinner together on New Year's Eve, so she ordered many dishes.
After hesitating for while, she added some desserts in the end.
After the waiter placed the order, she asked in hindsight, "Luke, did I order too many dishes?"
Luke picked up a cup with a smile, poured a cup of coffee, and pushed it in front of her, saying, "I will eat as if I've starved for days."
"It's your fault. You refused to tell me what you like to eat, so I could only order all the Athana cuisine dishes I know."
Although Natalie had studied in Athana for eight years, she seldom went to other places except for her classrooms, the cafeteria of the school, and her dormitory, so she didn't know much about Athena cuisine.
"It doesn't matter. We can take our time to eat. I can accompany you for a long time."
Luke put down the cup and teased her with a wicked smile, "I am all yours tonight."
Their table was behind a mahogany carved screen. He had not changed his clothes after leaving the banquet, so he was still wearing a brown suit with a tie, looking more serious than usual.
He was leaning against the back of the chair lazily and sitting with his legs crossed, and when he smiled, he looked like a scion of an aristocratic family in the Middle Ages.
This scene brought back some of Natalie's dusty memories. She stopped talking, lowered her head, took a sip of the coffee, put the cup back, and then held her chin in her hands.
"What's wrong? You don't like the coffee?" Luke changed to a more comfortable sitting position. The square table was wrapped in carved wooden boards. His legs were too long, so when he crossed his legs, the wooden board hindered his leg from moving freely. Therefore, he stretched his legs forward, and his leather shoes touched her boots.
When Natalie felt his feet under the table, she didn't move but said, "No, I like it. I was thinking about something else."
There was a firework show outside the restaurant, and the festive atmosphere made her negative emotions leave quickly.
One second ago, she had felt distressed because of the sad remembrances, but now she was thinking about what Luke would do if she raised her foot to rub his legs like seductive women in the TV dramas.
Of course, she was just thinking.
It was the most special New Year's Eve dinner Natalie had ever had. Although only Luke was by her side, and he was not her family, she had never had such a pleasant meal before.
The dishes here were not very authentic, but Luke kept adding food onto her plate amid the sounds of firecrackers, and he also patiently explained the history of the dishes to her. Natalie liked both the food and his stories very much.
And then, she realized that the festival atmosphere had nothing to do with the number of people around at all. Instead, the people who were eating together were the most important.
Natalie guessed Luke didn't like sweets because he had refused to taste the desserts, but she liked them very much because they were crisp.
When she was eating a red bean pastry, Luke said, "Can I go outside to smoke a cigarette?"
Hearing this, she raised her head, and her cheeks were bulging.
She wanted to be self-centered this time. There was laughter all around, so she didn't want to sit here alone on New Year's Eve even though she knew he would come back very soon.
"Don't go." Natalie slowly put down the pastry and said in a low voice, "Smoking is bad for your health."
It was easy to read her mind. After Luke looked at her for a while, he asked, "You don't want me to leave you?"
After looking in his eyes for a second, Natalie looked away and wiped the crumbs off her lips without denying it.
Now, Natalie was thinking about whether she was too clingy.
But Luke was happy to see her finally begin to cling to him.
"Smoking is really bad..." Natalie muttered to herself and tried to prove that she had no other intention by repeating this argument.
A smile flashed across Luke's face.
Natalie glanced at him and blushed, saying, "What's so funny?"
The amusement in his eyes deepened.
Natalie gradually felt embarrassed because of her weird thoughts. To stop him from teasing her, she hurriedly asked, "When did you start to smoke?"
"When I was young," Luke answered, throwing the cigarette case back on the table.
When he was young?
Natalie was slightly surprised to hear that and she remembered the boy she met outside the quadrangle courtyard in Athana. He also looked so young because he was wearing a school uniform of a primary school.
"Why did you both start to smoke at such a young age?" Natalie asked with a frown in confusion.
"Both?" Luke raised his eyebrows.
Natalie could not be more familiar with the look in his eyes. His subtext was asking whether she had gotten to know a new man.
Natalie cleared her throat and said casually, "Why did you start to smoke at such a young age?"
Luke stared at her, smiled, and half-joked, "Because I was rebellious."
Luke didn't go out to smoke in the end. Natalie couldn't eat up all the dishes but didn't want to waste food, so she asked the to waiter help pack the leftovers up. Before leaving, she went to the cashier to pay the bill, but the manager hurriedly walked to her and said with a respectful smile, "Mr. Greig told me that you don't have to pay."
Hearing this, Natalie looked at Luke in confusion, only to see him remain calm.
When they got back to the car, Natalie found this restaurant was Duke Greig's property. Natalie didn't know him. Luke told her she had met him once in Sanctum Garden, but she could not remember him at all.
"Why is it so difficult to treat you to a meal?" Natalie sighed, leaning on the back of the passenger seat.
Luke started the car with a smile silently.
She owed him too much and tried to treat him to dinner several times but failed, so she must figure out a way to repay him. After thinking for a long time, she suddenly came up with an idea. She could give him lucky money, which was a token of her good wishes.
"Luke, did you register your Instagram account with your phone number?"
"Yes," He replied casually, stepped on the accelerator, and drove past a green light.
Natalie nodded and bowed her head. When she realized they had not friended each other on Instagram after she had known him for so long, she smiled and copied his phone number, intending to friend him now.
After she slicked the search button, she saw his profile, and his nickname was Luke.
The profile picture was a German Shepherd dog in military clothing who was squatting in front of a gun target.
Suddenly, Natalie's smile froze on her lips. After she was stunned for a while, she searched again, and the result was the same.
The latest message in the dialog box was Luke saying, "Go to sleep, Luke's girlfriend."
It took ten seconds for Natalie to understand what happened, and it took another ten seconds for her to calm down. Suddenly, she turned her face aside to glare at the man in the driver's seat, and snapped, "Luke!"
Hearing her sudden roar, Luke turned to look at her in confusion. As soon as he saw the screen of her phone, he knew what was going on.
He had a headache and asked, "Is it useful if I apologize now?"
-
When they got back to the villa, Natalie slammed the car door shut and went straight into the house, ignoring the man following her. Her thigh boots were making loud sounds on the ground, and she looked quite imposing.
Seeing her going upstairs instead of staying in the living room, Luke trotted up to her, grabbed her hand, and apologized, "I was wrong."
Being grabbed by him, Natalie didn't shake his hand off but turned her face away.
"Don't be mad at me." Luke gently pulled her closer and rubbed her wrist with his thumb, tenderly showing his affection.
Natalie squinted at him and said, "Explain."
After saying this, she inwardly blamed herself for being a softie.
It was really hard to explain it. Luke bit his lower lip and said, "When I went to Raine's home, I thought you could recognize me when seeing Fourteen. But you are..."
He stopped talking.
Natalie read his mind and said lightly, "Do you want to say I am too stupid? "
"Of course not," Luke said with a smirk.
Natalie knew he was lying, so she rolled her and snapped, "You said I am stupid on Instagram!"
Luke was speechless, and he did not expect he would be at a loss what to do when facing a girl.
He smiled helplessly, "I did not mean to hide it from you."
Natalie kept silent, not wanting to forgive him so easily.
Luke leaned over, wrapped his arms around her waist, encircled her into his arms, and said softly, "I will be scolded severely because I came back to accompany you during the New Year holiday. Can't it atone for my previous fault?"
She was hurt deeply by the quarrels with Forrest, so she felt a little happy when Luke grabbed her.
But Natalie still selfishly wondered if he was different from Forrest and willing to coax her.
"Stop playing the victim," Natalie murmured in dissatisfaction and struggled slightly in his arms.
Luke wrapped his arms around her waist tightly, lowered his head, and tenderly said, "Nata, can you forgive me? I will behave myself and listen to you in the future."
His voice was drawling and full of affection, so Natalie's heart began to race when she heard his words. She felt as if she were trapped in a small world, and her back almost leaned against his chest.
Natalie's face blushed, so she lowered her head. When she was about to tell Luke it would depend on his future performance, she saw him suddenly glance down as if he was looking for something.
"What are you looking for..." Natalie couldn't help asking.
"Where is my way out?" Luke raised his head to look at her with his pretty eyes and said solemnly, "Did you see my way out?"
Seeing him acting so hard, Natalie was stunned for a moment and then understood what he meant.
She looked out of the floor-to-ceiling window and found it was dark outside. Occasionally, there were fireworks set off in the distance, and her smile was reflected in the window.
Although Luke could not see her face, he could sense that she was in a better mood. He raised a hand, stroked her hair, and coaxed, "Don't be mad at me, okay?"
Natalie agreed in an extremely low voice. They were so close to each other now that she felt shy, so she pushed him away and intended to go to the living room.
But as soon as she turned around, Luke hugged her from behind again and completely pressed his body against her back this time.
He lowered his head and whispered into her ear, "Are you my girlfriend now?"
Natalie's ears were burning, but she bit her lower lip and said stubbornly, "Not yet."
Luke sighed with a smile and said helplessly, "I behaved myself today. Don't you think you should reward me?"
His face was very close to her ear, so her auricle could feel his breath with his body temperature, which was the warmth of a man.
Her heart skipped a beat. Maybe she was intoxicated by the beautiful fireworks outside the window, so she suddenly turned around and kissed his left cheek.
Luke was stunned. Before he could recover from the shock because of the sudden warmth on his cheek, Natalie had run away.
After a while, he took a deep breath slowly, eager to hug and kiss her.