Robert Tinder respectfully pulls the chair out for Leilani. Just as Leilani is about to sit down, Waylen wraps his arms around her. He sits and pulls her onto his lap. Atop his muscled things, Leilani can feel his warmth. Even though there are two layers of fabric between them, his heat burns through them and reaches her skin.
She frowns and turns around to show him her dissatisfaction, but finds that a waiter is standing behind them and looking down. It’s a familiar figure—Michelle Cindy. The woman has changed into workwear and wiped the smeared makeup from her face. She holds a tray with a glass container.
It took three years for Michelle to work her way from waiter to the client manager, but now she’s been forced to become a waiter again. Three years ago, she signed a ten-year contract with the hotel. When she tried to leave a few minutes ago, she was informed that the hotel would sue her for breach of contract. She knows she could get herself fired, but she doesn’t want to damage her reputation that way.
“Did you do this?” Leilani stares at Michelle but directs her question to Lance.
“She’s not qualified to be the client manager or even an employee of the Zuri Hotel,” Waylen says, smiling slightly, “Why don’t you ask me why I didn’t have her fired?”
“I don’t want to ask you,” Leilani says.
She feels hot and itchy, and she wants to take his hands off her waist.
“It’s too easy for her if I fire her. She made you very unhappy, and she needs to serve as an example to others,” Waylen says calmly.
This is, of course, he’s bought the Zuri Hotel for her. He wants everyone to know that no one can bully Mrs. Bamford.
“You gave the Zuri Hotel to me to teach her a lesson?” Leilani asks, “Aren’t you worried that I don’t have an interest in managing it? If the hotel shuts down one day, the Bamford Group will lose a lot of money.”
“You shouldn’t be so dismissive of the Bamford Group. Besides, I don’t doubt that the hotel will profit under your management.”
Leilani doesn’t know what to say to that. Michelle approaches them with a tray. Although she forces herself to smile, she looks unhappy. She is still trying to calm down.
Robert takes the glass contained from the tray and hands it to Waylen. He removes an adhesive bandage from the tray and tears the wrapping off of it before handing it over to Waylen.
“Give me your hand,” Waylen orders.
Leilani doesn’t know what he wants to do.
“Huh? Left or right hand?” she asks.
Grumpily, Waylen grabs her left hand. She sees small blackthorn protruding from her index finger. It’s difficult to see, and she forgot it was there. She wonders how he noticed.
“Mrs. Bamford, Mr. Bamford saw on the security footage that you were pricked by a thorn,” Robert explains, “He immediately asked for first-aid supplies.”
“I didn’t ask you to explain anything to her,” Waylen frowns.
He gently takes the back of Leilani’s hand and lowers it into the glass container to soak in warm water. After soaking it for a while, he takes the plush towel and dries it carefully. He picks up an adhesive and prepares to put it on her finger.
Robert shakes his head in disbelief, wondering if he’s seen and heard everything.
“Why is Mr. Bamford being so tender with Mrs. Bamford?” he wonders.
“I can do it by myself,” Leilani says, trying to pull her hand away.
“I thought you wanted to show off with PDA,” Waylen smirks.
“When did I say that?”
She freezes, suddenly recalling a sarcastic comment from the morning. She said she was willing to endure the humiliation of PDA with him if it would kill her and take her out of the miserable marriage.
“Okay, fine, I like PDA,” she says, “I’m not scared by it.”
She quietly allows him to take her hand again. She hates the way the people around her react. They give her knowing looks as if she’s enjoying some sort of special honor. Their eyes seem to say: Look at Waylen Bamford, heir of the Hamilton family, honor his wife when it should be her honoring him.
She doesn’t feel honored or even enjoys his touch. She just feels smug when Michelle sees how affectionate Waylen is being. She sighs. She can’t refuse Waylen.
Waylen quickly takes a piece of adhesive and applies it to her finger. Gently, he lifts the adhesive, pulling the thorn out of her finger. He raises her hand high into the air, and Leilani stares at her delicate fingers. Large drops of blood form on the wound and drip down her finger.
“Is it painful?” Waylen asks.
He takes a towel from Robert, and she holds her finger out to him. He wants to personally wipe away the blood from her hands, but Leilani dodges him. He stares at her, unable to guess what she wants to do. Unexpectedly, she places her bloody finger on his shapely lips.
Her finger is quite cold and Waylen’s lips are warm. She smiles and her face becomes mischievous.
“Darling, help me disinfect,” she says lightly.
Leilani’s lips are touched with a rosy red, and Waylen thinks her mouth looks like the flower itself. He’s never seen someone so s.e.xy. Leilani gazes back at. Him, becoming distracted.
Recalling herself, she says insistently, “On TV people often put their fingers into their mouth to disinfect them.”
Robert had been in the process of withdrawing the glass container, but Leilani’s words make his hands shake and he almost spills the warm water in the container.
“Mrs. Bamford has asked Mr. Bamford to put her finger in his mouth,” he thinks, aghast, “Although the finger has been washed and soaked, there are still bacteria. Moreover, Mr. Bamford has a thing about dirt. How can he let her put her finger in his mouth? Mrs. Bamford is so entitled. Does she have any idea how hard it was for Mr. Bamford to endure even touching her wounded hand.”
Robert’s hands are still shaking. “Why does she always do stuff like this?” he thought angrily, “Once Mr. Bamford is angry, the lunch will be spoiled and he’ll surely punish her.”
Michelle looks at Leilani critically. “This woman is so arrogant,” she thinks, “It’s a great honor for Waylen to treat her wounds, but now she’s insisting on putting her fingers in his mouth. It’s no wonder everyone says he treats her coldly.”
Everyone waits to see what Waylen will do—push her away, bite her finger, yell. Waylen sits motionlessly, he doesn’t refuse or say anything as she rests her finger on his lips.
An airplane flies across the sky, leaving faint white wisps of clouds behind. Under the blue sky and above the city, the restaurant is silent. If Robert wasn’t awkwardly holding the glass container, the scene would look like a beautiful painting.
In the painting, a handsome man holds a beautiful woman in his arms and the presses a flirtatious finger to his lips. Both of them are still, gazing at each other. A long-time passes, but Waylen’s lips remain closed.
“You’re not willing to do it?” Leilani asks indifferently.
Waylen frowns. Leilani tries to take her finger off his lips, but suddenly Waylen darts his tender tongue forward and licks the tip of her finger, before drawing it into his mouth.
Robert takes a deep breath. He can’t believe what he’s seeing. Michelle widens her eyes in shock. Everyone always said that Mr. Bamford has spent the last three and a half years avoiding Leilani as if she’s the plague. People keep saying they’re going to divorce, but now he does this.
“It’s impossible! How can it be?” Michelle and Robert wonder.
Leilani freezes and her mind wanders. Her whole body feels as stiff as stone. He gives Leilani a seductive look and sucks her finger harder. He’s supposedly just helping her disinfect, but her body suddenly feels hot. Her face feels like it’s been burned. Finally, he releases her finger.
“Are you nervous?” he asks, chuckling.
“No,” Leilani says.
“What were you thinking about?”
Leilani makes a small, indistinct sound in the back of her throat.
“Want me to do it again?” Waylen Bamford asks, gripping her waist harder.
“No, that’s enough,” she turns away from him and pulled her hand into her lap.
“Why do I feel so ashamed?” she thinks, ” I wanted to frustrate and embarrass Waylen, but somehow he’s turned the tables on me.”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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