Chapter 296 Asking Me Out?
The night at the resort was straight-up gorgeous. The moon was chillin' high in the sky, with stars twinkling like crazy.
After dinner, Grace and Xavier were heading back.
Xavier was striding ahead, then suddenly dropped to one knee. "Hop on. I'll give you a piggyback."
Grace, all smiles, jumped onto Xavier's back, wrapping her arms around his neck.
She had a thought, pulled out her phone, and started typing a message.
She hit send, and a second later, Xavier's phone dinged right next to her.
Since she was on his back, she leaned in and whispered in his ear, "Xavier, your phone just went off."
Grace rarely called him Xavier like that, so it made his breath catch, and he started breathing heavier.
"Ignore it," Xavier said.
Grace insisted, "Check it. Might be something important."
Because she said so, Xavier reached for his phone.
It was in his pocket, and since both his hands were holding Grace, he had to free one hand.
He was strong enough to hold her securely with just one hand.
Xavier, still carrying Grace, opened his phone and saw the message from her.
Grace: [Xavier, the stars are super pretty tonight. Wanna go stargazing?]
"Are you asking me out?" Xavier's voice had a playful tone.
Grace replied, "So, Mr. Montgomery, are you down? Last time, Jessica snatched my phone, and I had no clue. You must've thought I invited you, went up the mountain, and got pissed when I wasn't there. How about giving my invite a shot this time?"
Grace's message mimicked Jessica's tone from last time.
Seeing Xavier stay quiet, Grace asked again, "Well, how about it?"
"Too late!" Xavier started walking towards the small villa.
Grace watched as Xavier headed back to their place, a hint of disappointment in her eyes.
If Xavier didn't want to, that was cool. Maybe he was tired or had stuff to handle.
"Next time then." Grace wasn't bummed; there'd be plenty of chances later.
They soon reached the small villa.
Grace thought, 'I do have some work to handle; Lily sent me a message I haven't replied to yet. If we're not stargazing, might as well get some work done.'
Just as Grace was about to open her laptop, she heard Xavier say, "Come here."
He seemed to be holding something. Grace walked over. "What's up?"
Grace then saw that Xavier was holding some ointment.
He had her sit down and started applying the ointment to her legs.
"What's this?" The ointment felt cool on her legs, but she wasn't hurt.
Xavier said, "Didn't you say you wanted to stargaze? Without mosquito repellent, you wanna be mosquito food?"
Grace was thrilled. "You agreed to stargaze with me?"
She had thought Xavier came back because he didn't want to stargaze with her, but he was actually putting on mosquito repellent for her.
She thought, 'Xavier is more thoughtful than I am.'
Xavier said, "Why not? You owe me this."
Xavier applied the ointment to Grace's legs and arms. Even though the resort had some mosquito repellent devices, the mountain had a ton of mosquitoes.
He thought, 'Grace's delicate skin should have marks left by me, not mosquitoes.'
"You should put some on too." After Grace slathered the ointment on Xavier, they headed up the mountain to their stargazing spot.
Halfway up, the view was killer. The moon was hanging high, stars scattered all over the sky, reflecting on the sea, twinkling like a dream.
Grace hadn't done this in ages; it was absolutely stunning.
Grace smiled, her eyes sparkling with the stars, while Xavier's eyes were locked on her.
"Mr. Montgomery, you're so smart. Can you name the stars up there?" Grace turned to look at Xavier.
The light was dim, and half of Xavier's face was hidden in the shadows.
Xavier said, "If you ask me a question, there's a fee."
Grace asked, "What fee?"
Xavier stayed quiet for a moment, his eyes mysterious and unreadable.
As for what kind of fee it was, Grace would find out when they got back to their place later that night.
The next day, they left the resort.
Grace was swamped at work for the next two days, dealing with company stuff.
Madison showed up at Iris with a box of things. "Grace, here's what you asked for."
Madison thought, 'I managed to get Daniel to help Grace get these from Zach.'
Grace eagerly opened the box and found some familiar items inside—definitely her mom's belongings.
Madison said, "All your mom's stuff is here. When are you gonna give me the perfume formula and samples?"
Grace rummaged through but didn't see the half crystal she remembered from her mom's place.
Grace asked, "Are you sure everything's here?"
"What do you mean? Are you trying to back out? Zach said everything's here. If you have a problem, take it up with Zach!" Madison thought Grace was trying to dodge giving the formula by causing trouble.
Grace was happy to get these items.
"The workspace is over there; pick one for yourself." Grace pointed inside.
That was her fragrance lab, filled with scents she had researched—some finished, some not, some released, some still in the works.
Madison went in and saw so many different fragrances, all unique and pleasant. A hint of jealousy flashed in her eyes.
She thought, 'Grace is a real genius in perfumery. If Grace enters a fragrance competition, she'll definitely win.'
Madison said, "Grace, you haven't patented these, right? You won't suddenly claim these are your ideas." Madison had been tricked before and wasn't about to fall for it again.
Grace said, "You can pick a formula and patent it now."
"Can I pick two?" Madison pushed her luck.
Grace was in a good mood and didn't mind. "Sure."
If she had known Grace would agree so easily, Madison would have asked for more.
People in this line of work were super sensitive to scents. The Lewis Group had many fragrances, but they didn't smell as good as Grace's, lacking a certain natural quality.
After picking, Madison left Grace's lab.
Just outside, Madison got a call.
"Brittany?" Madison saw the international call was from Brittany.
"What, you're coming back in a few months? That's awesome!" Madison's voice was filled with excitement.
Madison thought, 'Let's see how smug this damn Grace can be when Brittany returns!'
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
