Chapter 186
Anyway, this wasn't the first time she and Michael had accidentally kissed.
It had happened once before in the kitchen of Tyler's ranch villa.
So, Rachel thought there was no need to take it too seriously, just like being nibbled by a dog.
With that in mind, she took a deep breath and turned to Michael beside her. He had already set up the playing cards and was waiting for her.
She clenched her fist, telling herself repeatedly not to make any mistakes, then leaned forward and pressed her lips against the card.
Michael felt the warmth from the other side of the card, and his eyes deepened. But before he could savor it, the warmth and the card vanished, leaving him with a sudden sense of loss as he lowered his eyes.
Soon, the time was up.
The manager announced the top three families, which were numbers one, three, and five.
Rachel's family was number five.
Kade clapped his hands excitedly. "Mom, we made it to the next round!"
"Yes," Rachel nodded, showing a look of disbelief. She thought that the mistake and the time wasted earlier would surely get them eliminated, but unexpectedly, they advanced.
Seeing Rachel in a daze, Michael found her somewhat cute, a hint of a smile flashing in his eyes. "Besides the first and third places, the second and fourth families also made mistakes, and they made more mistakes than we did, so we got third place."
"How do you know?" Rachel looked at him in confusion.
Michael met her gaze. "I was keeping an eye on the progress of the other families during the game, so I knew the situation."
Rachel couldn't help but give him a thumbs up. "Impressive!"
In such a tense time, he could still pay attention to the other competitors, something she was far from capable of.
No wonder he could develop Smith Corporation into the leading company in Summit Ridge District.
"It's just my habit," Michael said, his lips curling up slightly at Rachel's words.
Rachel saw his smile and mistakenly thought he was being smug, so she pouted and turned her head away.
Michael raised an eyebrow, not knowing what was wrong with her.
Did he say something wrong?
After thinking for a while, he still couldn't figure out what had offended Rachel.
Just as he was about to ask, the manager's voice rang out again, "Congratulations to the top three families for entering the second round. The second round is push-ups. Please come to the open space over here."
"Mom, let's go!" Kade dropped the playing cards, jumped off the sofa, and pulled Rachel towards the open space.
As for Michael, Kade didn't care about him, knowing he would come over on his own.
Rachel didn't call Michael either, focusing solely on taking care of Kade and telling him to slow down.
Seeing that neither Rachel nor Kade called him, Michael's handsome face darkened. He thought, 'Kade must be doing this on purpose, still holding a grudge over the face-rubbing incident earlier!'
Michael snorted coldly, stood up with his hands in his pockets, and prepared to follow them.
Suddenly, he noticed a small playing card on the spot where Kade had been sitting—it was the card they had just used in the game.
Michael squinted his eyes, took his hand out of his pocket, and reached out to pick up the card. Rachel's lipstick mark was still clearly visible on it. He instinctively slipped the card into his suit pocket.
Just as he put it in his pocket, he heard Kade shouting, "Dad, hurry up, the game is starting!"
Michael turned around, feeling a sense of satisfaction.
No matter how much Kade held a grudge, he still had to call him Dad and ask him to come over at crucial moments.
"OKay," Michael said, his mood improving as he walked over leisurely.
This round of the game was called push-ups. The rules were that the dad had to do twenty push-ups with the mom sitting on his back to add weight, and the child would count.
The audience in the restaurant quickly guessed: with the dad in the third family being thin and the mom quite heavy, it was impossible for them to complete the task.
Rachel frowned and said, "Why is this game so tricky?"
She originally thought the push-ups would be done by the whole family, but it turned out to be just the dad. The last round was already awkward enough, and now she had to sit on Michael's back. He would never agree to that.
Just as she was thinking this, Michael suddenly spoke, "Although it's a bit difficult, it's still doable. Alright, get on."
After he finished speaking, he bent down and got into the push-up position.
Rachel couldn't believe her ears. "You want me to get on?"
"Yes," Michael replied.
Rachel's eyes widened in surprise. She had guessed wrong. He really agreed!
Seeing Rachel standing still, Michael urged, "Hurry up, they're all ready, just waiting for you."
Rachel looked around and saw that the other families were ready. Without hesitation, she stepped forward and sat on Michael's back. This was the first time she had ever ridden Michael, this proud man, like a horse, and it felt surprisingly satisfying!
Rachel's eyes sparkled with excitement, but she acted nonchalant. "Am I too heavy? If you think I am, then..."
"Not really," Michael interrupted her, adding, "Very light."
He wasn't just saying that. She was indeed very light, even lighter than Mandy, but she was half a head taller than Mandy, clearly underweight, and she was pregnant.
"You should eat more and gain some weight," Michael said seriously.
Rachel heard the tone in his voice and replied coldly, "That's my business; you should focus more on Miss Brown. Let's focus on the game instead."
She found it quite funny. He never cared about her before, and now he was pretending to care. It was really fake.
Seeing that Rachel was unwilling to accept his concern, Michael frowned but didn't say anything more.
The game officially started.
After making sure Rachel was seated securely, Michael began doing push-ups. Kade counted beside him.
Although Michael was busy with work, he made time to work out and swim every week, so he was in excellent physical condition, much stronger than the dads in families one and three.
The dad in family one had a big belly, looking like he was several months pregnant, and the dad in family three was slightly better but had a nearly two-hundred-pound wife on his back.
Rachel watched them, their faces red and arms trembling, worried they wouldn't make it.
In contrast, Michael's movements were relaxed and very standard and graceful, attracting the attention of many female guests.
Michael didn't care about these looks; his attention was always on Rachel.
Noticing Rachel on his back staring at the other men, his handsome face darkened. "Focus."
"What?" Rachel was stunned.
She was thinking that he was the one doing push-ups, and she just needed to sit on his back. Why did she need to focus too?
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
