Chapter 324 – Beginning with a Daring Encounter

How in heaven’s name was he supposed to talk to her when she was this close, and he was holding his breath? This woman was going to be the death of him.

Harry sat up and held her away from himself at arm’s length, “You wanted to get drunk. Now you are drunk. What more do you want to do?” Harry asked with a weary sigh as he thought about how he would have to carry her from there to the car if she got knocked out. He would rather escort her out now that she was still conscious than carrying her.

“Let’s talk. I want to talk with you. I enjoy talking with you. And then we can dance,” Jade suggested as she looked into his eyes, with blue eyes that made it difficult for him to say no.

“If you want us to talk, then you have to keep your distance. Don’t come too close,” Harry bargained.

“Why? You’re scared that I might take your virginity?” She asked with a teasing smile, and Harry glared at her, making her giggle drunkenly.

“I was just pulling your legs. Don’t worry, though. I’ll keep my distance, virgin uncle Harry,” Jade said tauntingly as she moved away from him.

“Remind me never to tell you anything personal about me next time,” Harry hissed with a scowl.

“C’mon, don’t be like that. I won’t call you that anymore. I’m sorry.”

Looking at her, Harry had to admit that her alcohol tolerance level must be pretty high for her to be still able to converse this way despite all the shots she had consumed.

“What do you want to talk about?” Harry asked as he watched her, curious to know what she wanted to talk about. What he was even more curious about was why he was willing to have a conversation with a drunk lady when he should drag her home and let her sleep it off.

Unable to keep her gaze focused on him, Jade shut her eyes, “I’m sorry I didn’t get to show you around the neighborhood as I promised you I would,” Jade said, surprising Harry, who hadn’t expected her to remember that she had made the promise in the first place, or even bring it up at that moment.

“It’s fine. I guess you were too busy to remember,” Harry said dismissively, not wanting her to know that he knew the reason she had failed to keep her promise to him.

“No, that wasn’t the reason. I would have shown you around if not for that cheating bastard. To think he was jealous of you, yet he was the cheat,” Jade hissed in annoyance as she opened her eyes to gaze at him.

“I’m sorry about that,” Harry said politely, noting that she seemed to still have a lot of resentment for her late boyfriend.

“You don’t have to be sorry. You didn’t do anything wrong other than being too interesting and cute for your own good,” Jade said with a grin, and Harry chuckled.

“You think I’m interesting?” Harry asked, even though he knew that he should probably stop her from saying anything since she was speaking under the influence of alcohol and was most likely going to regret whatever she said by morning.

“Yep. Very interesting,” she said as she closed her eyes once again.

“Yet you also think I’m annoying,” Harry pointed out, unable to stop himself.

“Yeah, you can be annoying sometimes. But being annoying doesn’t make you any less interesting than you are. Now that I think about it, it is funny that no one annoys me as much as you,” she said with a yawn as she opened her eyes to look into his face.

“Have I told you that you’re very handsome?” She asked as she stretched her arm and raised a finger to his face to touch the tip of his nose, and Harry’s eyes followed her fingers, making her giggle when his eyes crossed as he looked at the tip of his nose.

“Usually, I think of Captain America whenever I look at you,” she added with a small smile.

“Chris Evans?” Harry asked in disbelief, and Jade bobbed her head.

“Yep. You look a lot like him, but I prefer your eyes to his. I think you’re cuter than he is, too,” Jade said, and Harry just stared at her.

Did she really think so, or was she just saying it because she was drunk? How could she compare him to someone as good-looking as Chris Evans and even say he was cuter? Or did cute mean something else to her?

“Is cute the same as good-looking?” Harry asked as he reached for her finger, which was still sitting on his nose, but before he could get a hold of it, she moved her hand to his hair and buried it in his short mop of black hair.

“No. I don’t think they mean the same thing. Good-looking means you are pleasant to my eyes, and cute means looking at you makes my heart flutter. Your hair is softer than I imagined. I’ve always imagined what it would feel like to comb my fingers through your hair this way,” Jade said as she massaged Harry’s temple, making his eyelids feel heavy.

“You should stop doing that,” Harry said in a slightly husky voice as he grabbed her hand and gently lifted it from his hair.

Her lips pouted sulkily as she looked at him, “Why?”

Harry cleared his throat, “Because it makes me uncomfortable when you touch me that way,” he said with a slight frown, not wanting to think about why she was imagining her hand buried in his hair.

“If you want to dance, you should go do so now. We are leaving in twenty minutes,” Harry said as he glanced at his wristwatch. He didn’t want to hear her say anything else. He had heard more than enough for one night.

“Let’s dance together,” Jade suggested as she tried to stand up, but she staggered, and Harry’s hand automatically reached for her waist to steady her.

“I guess I’m tipsier than I thought,” she slurred with a giggle.

“You’re very drunk, not tipsy. Let’s go home now. No more dancing,” Harry said as he got off his seat while still holding her.

“Fine. I’ll go without dancing on one condition,” Jade said with a gleam in her eyes making Harry’s brows arch.

“Earlier, I bargained with you, so you get to do that with me too,” she reminded him.

Harry looked at her with a slight frown, wondering just how drunk she was to be able to remember things and still sound this way, “And what makes you think I can’t throw you over my shoulder right now and just take you home?”

“Because you’re too much of a gentleman to do something like that,” Jade said with a grin as she looked into his eyes, and her right hand went to rest on his chest.

“Okay, as long as you’re not going to ask for something as ridiculous as another shot, let’s hear it. What is your condition?” Harry asked with a sigh of resignation, curious to know what it was she wanted this time.

“I want to kiss you. Just once. And then we can leave.”

“No,” Celsie said with a shake of her head.

“No, what?” Benne asked, watching her closely.

“No, I’m not inserting that thing inside me. I can’t go down to have dinner with the others while having that inside me. I just can’t,” Celsie said with a shake of her head, looking repulsed by the mere thought of it.

“Okay,” Benne said with a nod as he returned the egg-shaped vibrator into the box.

“Okay?” Celsie asked, wondering if he was saying so because he was angry or saying it because he understood her.

“Yes. It’s okay. You don’t want to do it, and it’s okay. You don’t possibly expect me to force you to do something that you don’t want to do,” Benne said as he carried the box and placed it on top of the shoe shelf where he had taken it from.

“I said I can’t. I didn’t say I don’t want to. Ask me to do something else that doesn’t involve inserting any inanimate object inside me.”

“Let’s go down for dinner,” Benne said as he walked out of the closet.

“Are you mad at me?” Celsie asked with a slight frown as she followed him out of the closet, and this time Benne turned around to look at her.

“Why would you think that? I’m not mad at you. You have every right to decide what you want and do not want inside…”

“But you’re not happy about my decision,” she pointed out.

“I’m not upset about your decision either. I don’t have to be happy about everything, love. The world does not revolve around me and my emotions.”

“Benne, I can see that you are upset, and I don’t want you to be upset,” Celsie said with a slight frown, feeling guilty.

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