Chapter 15: You Always Walk Away After Flirting With A Man
Chapter 15: You Always Walk Away After Flirting With A Man
Wendy continued her business with the bamboo skewer.
"Hi, Precious!"
"Hello, Uncle Roger."
Roger smiled at her and asked, "Can you eat spicy food? If you can't, then I won't put any pepper in it."
"Of course, I can!"
Starving, the little girl stared at the red charcoal fire on the grill, swallowing a few big mouthfuls, and uttered, "Uncle Roger, I love spicy food.
"Okay, give me a second.I'll grill some for you."
"Okay!"
Meanwhile, sensing the strong, intimidating aura emanating from Ryan, Wendy moved a little far away to wash the vegetables and placed them on bamboo skewers.
Halfway through, Roger came over and said apologetically, "Wendy, I can't stay that long.Something came up with one of my friends, and I have to leave."
‘What? He's leaving?! Then, I will be left alone with Ryan! What are we going to talk about during dinner?’ Wendy thought, slightly panicking in her head.
"Are you in a hurry? Is there something I can help you with?"
"It's okay.I can handle it myself."
"Oh, alright.Then, you should go now."
"Okay, I'll leave everything here to you.Thanks!"
Wendy did not reply.
How could she say no?! She felt like weeping but felt it was too useless now.
Ryan would not do the grilling, and the two kids couldn't be trusted with fire.
So, after seeing Roger off, Wendy had to take charge of the barbecue.
When she turned to check on the kids, she saw them sitting close to each other on the grass, whispering something.
Precious's laughter resounded from a distance, and even Raymond had a smile on his face.
Wendy seldom saw her son this happy.
It seemed that it would be good for Ryan and Precious to stay.
A smile crept on her lips as she thought of this.
Suddenly, an oppressive gaze fell on her face.
As soon as Wendy turned her head, she saw Ryan intently looking at her from a distance, making the smile on her face freeze instantly.
"Uhm..."
Feeling the heat slowly rising to her cheeks, Wendy immediately diverted her gaze.
And only when she lowered her face had she realized what happened! It should not be like this! This day was meant to celebrate her discharge from the hospital.
She was the host of this little party while Ryan was the guest! How could she be so nervous as the host?! "Do you need any help?"
A baritone voice suddenly penetrated her ears, causing her to raise her head again at once.
"Ah '' Startled, Wendy screamed and almost threw the roasted mushroom out! She turned her head with lingering fear and saw that Ryan had already walked towards her without his blazer.
He was now wearing a pure white shirt with its sleeves rolled up to his elbows, revealing his strong wheat-colored arms.
Wow! Wendy swallowed at the sight of that.
"Are you afraid of me?" asked Ryan, raising his eyebrows.
The air was stuffy, and a thin layer of cold sweat formed on Wendy's head.
The faint smile on Ryan's face seemed more dangerous than before.
‘Damn it! Don't you have any idea how gorgeous you look like?’ Wendy cursed in her head.
This man's aura was just too strong! Even if his well-sculpted, attractive face was only inches away from her, she did not dare to flirt with him!
"Ha-ha, you are not my boss.Why would I be afraid of you?"
As soon as those words escaped from her mouth, a strange expression flashed through Ryan's eyes.
"What's wrong?" Wendy asked, tilting her head to one side.
"Nothing! Do you need any help?"
"No, no.I can do it myself."
She didn't dare to let such a big man cook, or worse, let him be closer to her.
Otherwise, she would be out of breath the whole time! Wendy hurriedly moved aside, grabbed a few chicken wings, and settled them on the grill, causing rifles of smoke to rose to the air.
Ryan stood next to Wendy for a while before suddenly asked, "Why don't you want to marry me?"
Bang! The question blared like a bomb with a heavy impact.
As Wendy was caught off-guard, the chicken wings fell from her hands to the ground! And right there and then, she could feel her heart frantically beating, as if wanting to break free from her chest.
She was not nervous about being proposed on, but more like frightened.
Yes - she was terrified, to the extreme.
Why hadn't he given up on such an idea? After trying to calm herself--quite unsuccessfully-Wendy swallowed hard and responded,
"Mr.Oliver, you don't have to do this just because Precious likes me.You do not have to sacrifice yourself like this.Maybe she clings so much to me because you're too busy to spend time with your daughter, and I happened to save her a few days ago, but I'm sure it wouldn't last long."
"I Know my daughter."
Although Precious usually cared about nothing, she was also very arrogant and paranoid.
Except for her blood relatives, she had never been so close to others in her life.
Nothing would change her stubborn little mind! "So, the premise of your marriage is that Precious must like the woman? You don't mind whether you love her or not, and you don't care whether the woman loves you or not?"
"Do you love me?"
There was this question again.
Wendy felt like her head was about to explode.
How could she persuade this man to give up this crazy idea? "Mr.Oliver, I have told you before that I don't have great ambitions.I just want to live an ordinary life.I might flirt with men once in a while, but I don't ever want to get married."
"So, you always walk away after flirting with a man? You don't feel bad about it?"
"Well, right...Ah! No! Not like that.I mean..."
Seeing that Wendy was too anxious to explain, Ryan grinned.
He then stopped teasing her and kindly pointed at the grill, reminding her,
"It's scorched."
Wendy did not know what to say.
She hurriedly flipped the chicken and wiped its roasted skin with a knife remorsefully.
Then, she quickly brushed seasonings on it.
Instantly, an alluring fragrance reeked out in the air, causing the two kids to trot over their direction.
"Wow! It smells good! Auntie, can we have dinner now? I'm so hungry!"
"Well, you can just wait.It's almost done."
Actually, it was Roger who had prepared everything so well.
He had really done an amazing job, from pre- setting the food to arranging a huge picnic cloth and table.
The two kids helped in setting the picnic cloth and table on the lawn.
Already drooling at the sight of the barbecue, Precious ran and sat on a chair, waiting for her dinner to be served.
Placing the barbecue on a plate, Wendy settled it on the table.
Then, she grabbed an ice, cold beer prepared by Roger and exclaimed.
"Barbecue with beer! Such a perfect match!"
As soon as she lowered her head, she saw Precious staring at her with bright eyes.
Laughing, Wendy reminded, "You can't drink that.There's alcohol in it."
"Oh, okay."
Precious pouted in disappointment.
Wendy rubbed her Afro and replied, "Eat while the food's still hot.I'll grill more for you."
"Okay!"
The little girl began munching on her food while wearing a complicated expression on her face.
Holding the chicken wings in one hand, she gobbled them down and mumbled, "Daddy, didn't you say that barbecue is junk food and not clean?"
Uh! Embarrassed, Wendy raised her head and saw Ryan holding mushrooms flatly.
"The barbecue is cooked with fire.The temperature of the fire is very high, and it can kill bacteria."
Precious was speechless.
Her cheeks were flushed, and her forehead was sweating.
Well, her father was smart, and she could never defeat him in an argument! But even then, the little girl didn't mind and just continued gobbling her food that even Raymond, who usually didn't eat much, was influenced and boned a couple of chicken wings too.
Not an hour later, all the food was consumed.
It was already eight o'clock in the evening, and the weather was unusually hot.
While cleaning and packing up the grill, Wendy was in a dilemma.
Although she lived not far from the park, all the things they had used tonight were too heavy to bring back home all at once.
"I'm driving you home,"
Ryan proposed, much to Wendy's gratitude.
"Ah! That's great! Thank you so much!"
Before they could even get into the car, a gust of strong wind blew, followed by a flash of lightning and rumbling of thunder.
"Oh! No!"
Wendy widened her eyes as she suddenly remembered,
"I checked the weather forecast yesterday.They said it might rain hail tonight.Is it true?"
As if in response to her words, the wind continued howling for a while, and not long after, it really began to rain hail! Ryan ordered decisively,
"Get in the car!"
The hail hit Wendy's head so hard that she didn't have time to care about other things.
She quickly protected Raymond and stepped inside the car, and so did Ryan and Precious.
The hail was as big as a quail's egg, hitting the windshield with loud bangs.
It was utterly frightening.
Even Wendy was utterly worried at that moment.
"I've checked the weather forecast recently, but it's almost never accurate..."
Glancing at her indifferently, Ryan responded, "Today is quite accurate."
Wendy was rendered speechless.
All she could do was stared outside as they traverse through the wet road.
The hail soon turned into heavy rain, and the wind blew so strong that it almost knocked down the trees on the roadside.
It was not safe for them to stay in the car like this.
After hesitating for a while, Wendy suggested, "My apartment is in the next neighborhood.How about...you and Precious stay there for a while until the weather calms down?"
As soon as Precious heard this, her eyes instantly lit up.
"Okay! Daddy, I'm so scared.Let's stay at Beautiful Auntie's apartment for now!" the little girl exclaimed with sheer excitement.
Meanwhile, Wendy did not know what to say.
Although Precious claimed she was afraid, her face said otherwise.
There was no sign of fear and just mere excitement on her cute, little face! Looking at her, Wendy's mouth twitched.
‘Such a naughty little girl!’ she thought.
Soon, they arrived at the underground parking area of her apartment complex.
It was still raining heavily outside, so Wendy invited him and Precious to stay in her apartment for a while.
As soon as Wendy finished speaking, Ryan and his daughter followed her into the elevator, and in no time, they stepped foot inside the comfort of her living room.
She had planned to ask them to go back after the storm, but she didn't expect that it would rain endlessly and the wind would not stop.
The clock hit ten in the evening, and it was still raging.
Wendy did not know what to do.
She had to sit in the living room awkwardly, accompanying Ryan and Precious even though her eyelids were already failing.
"Daddy, I'm sleepy!"the little girl uttered, yawning.
Looking out of the window, Ryan grabbed his coat and stood up.
"It's time for us to go home!"
"Oh, okay."
A frown immediately registered on Precious's face as soon as her father announced that.
Wendy didn't insist on letting them stay anymore.
If it was just the little girl, it would be okay.
But what about Ryan? She couldn't let a strange man stay in her house, could she? Holding his daughter's hand, Ryan was about to leave when the girl suddenly turned pale.
She bent down and pressing against her stomach while a grimace of pain was etched on her face.
Shocked, Wendy called, "Precious!"