Sweet Subterfuge

When Larissa opened her eyes, she was still rather out of it.

Even so, she could recognize that she was in Room 8888, the place where she had been “fortunate” enough to have spent that fateful night with Kevan.

Shock and fear chasing away the last bit of tiredness in her bones, Larissa lifted a corner of the sheets—

She was not naked like she thought she would be. However, her current state of dress was not that much better either. The clothes she wore yesterday were gone. They were replaced by a high-end silk dressing gown that the hotel had custom-made for high-profile guests.

Moreover, the concealer on her neck was gone too, revealing deep red kiss marks.

She could not remember what happened last night and dared not try to recall the events.

She was alone in the huge king-sized bed, the space beside her empty. The pillows were stacked neatly at the head of the bed, and the sheets were neat apart from the side that she slept in.

Larissa did not know if Kevan had already left the room or if he had not even slept here last night. She sure hoped it was the latter.

The bathroom door was open, and there was no one inside. The hamper was filled with clothes, however. The ones on the top were Kevan’s, and the ones at the bottom were hers. The sight of their clothes muddled together had a rather suggestive vibe.

Larissa immediately gave up the idea of picking up the soiled clothes. After freshening up, Larissa decided to wear a set of Kevan’s clothes just like she did the previous time.

She had just opened the wardrobe when the bedroom door swung open.

Startled, Larissa slammed the wardrobe door shut, which caused it to bounce twice before settling closed.

Kevan was the one who entered the room.

a simple, casual outfit. His hair was also

and about, he was a little surprised. But that was only

a paper bag he had been carrying onto the bed. “Dylan

he turned and left.

reddened ears. She opened the paper bag and saw that it was full of womenswear—there were even three sets of lingerie, which made her

not buy these clothes in person—he probably

by a typical man. Because other than lingerie, there were only a few pink dresses in the bag,

when she was still in elementary school,

have any

and patted her neck with the loose powder that she always carried in her bag. She barely managed to cover the kiss marks this way.

room. They sat

Mr. Rogers,” she greeted them, and they turned to her at the same time.

smile instantaneously as he desperately tried to stifle his laughter. His fist covered his mouth as he choked out, “This dress…” His voice was quivering.

at the skirt and lowered her head so that her hair could

to finish his sentence.

answer, and Kevan asked, “You don’t like

gaze, Larissa looked up. Kevan’s brows were

at once. “It looks pretty good.”

to him, which was between him

“Go on. Sit.”

only sat down carefully after

Seymour. Perhaps you could move over there a little?”

Larissa immediately

would not have touched anyone. But now that she had moved, she ended up sitting rather close to Kevan. Recalling what Dylan said to her about Kevan hating bodily contact with others, she immediately apologized to him and said, “Forgive me, Mr. Rogers, I’d better

before she could move, Kevan pinned her down.

was mild, and his face revealed nothing. But she could tell that he was not angry.

so that there was

Dylan, Larissa asked, “You had something to say to me, Mr. Shields?”