Chapter 175 - 174
Two?
That was a huge concession. Joanna Kennedy decided she could grudgingly accept.
As soon as she returned to the resort, she spotted Sean Grant’s blindingly loud swim trunks from a distance. They seemed even gaudier than last time.
Wearing Crocs, Sean Grant was bent over, flipping rocks. Meanwhile, Jack Warren stood on the beach in a full suit with his arms crossed. They were from two completely different worlds, a total clash of styles.
Joanna Kennedy quietly sidled up to Simon Lockwood. "Are those two really friends?"
"Not sure," Simon Lockwood replied after a moment’s thought.
Joanna Kennedy rolled her eyes, speechless.
Simon Lockwood called the restaurant, then went back to the room to pack their bags. The restaurant was fast; about ten minutes later, there was a knock at the door.
Joanna Kennedy stared at the two steaming hot roasted sausages and shamelessly swallowed.
"You want one?" she asked, remembering her manners.
Simon Lockwood was folding her thin sweater. Without looking up, he replied, "No."
He had a few things to discuss with Jack Warren, but his call went unanswered. Without hesitation, Simon Lockwood headed straight downstairs.
Outside the villa, he saw Jack Warren still standing by the beach, watching the "show."
When Jack Warren saw him, his expression turned serious, and he immediately walked over. Simon Lockwood said something, and a flicker of surprise crossed Jack’s face before he quickly masked it and nodded.
After settling things, Simon Lockwood intended to return to their room. But then he remembered the girl upstairs eating greasy, unhealthy sausages, and a headache started to form.
Worried he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from snatching them and throwing them away, Simon Lockwood decided to stay downstairs for a few more minutes.
A woman walked toward him, stopping right beside the tall, imposing man.
"You’re Mr. Lockwood?"
The scent of unfamiliar perfume filled his nostrils, and Simon Lockwood frowned.
"I’m a friend of Joanna Kennedy’s. My name is Sharon Lawson..." Sharon Lawson blushed just from the man’s glance.
She’d seen plenty of handsome men, not to mention countless starlets in the entertainment industry, but she still couldn’t stop her heart from pounding.
’Even if he weren’t the President of Southland,’ Sharon Lawson thought, ’even if he were just an ordinary man, I’d be with him for that face alone.’
And that wasn’t even mentioning that he was the famous, young, and successful President of Southland Group.
Simon Lockwood’s expression was indifferent. He searched his memory; Joanna Kennedy didn’t seem to have ever mentioned a friend like this.
Out of politeness, he nodded, his tone neither warm nor cold. "Mm."
Hearing the man’s response, Sharon Lawson’s eyes lit up.
She had deliberately dressed up to come here today. Her makeup was exquisite, her dress a wine-red cocktail number, and she wore black stilettos. She’d twisted her ankle several times on the way over, but finally, her efforts had paid off.
’Mr. Lockwood had definitely noticed how beautiful she was.’
Sharon Lawson’s face grew redder. She deliberately stepped closer, straightened her back to show off her impressive figure, and adopted a look of hesitant coyness.
Her act was obvious. Simon Lockwood’s expression grew even more detached, the warmth in his eyes dropping to freezing.
Sharon Lawson was still wondering how to offer herself to him without looking cheap when the man turned and walked away without the slightest hesitation.
This was not what she had expected. Panicked, she hurried after him. "Mr. Lockwood, I really do have something to tell you..."
Swept by the man’s icy gaze, Sharon Lawson froze in place. A prickling fear spread across her scalp, and she didn’t dare take another step.
Just then, the image of Joanna Kennedy’s proud, radiant face flashed in her mind. Sharon Lawson gritted her teeth, made up her mind, and shouted, "Joanna Kennedy lied to you! Don’t you want to know the truth?"
...
In her line of sight, the man’s footsteps halted.
Sharon Lawson breathed a sigh of relief. She knew her gamble had paid off. She rushed forward. "I heard Joanna Kennedy is your girlfriend now. After thinking it over and over, I felt you had a right to know."
Simon Lockwood turned, his face like ice.
*
Back in the room, Joanna Kennedy was already feeling a bit full after one sausage, but on the principle of not wasting food, she finished the other one too.
Her hands were covered in grease from the sausages. Joanna Kennedy wrinkled her nose in slight disgust and went into the bathroom, squirting some soap onto her hands and starting to scrub.
The bathroom door opened with a soft click. Without turning, she continued washing her hands and said, "You’re back. I already ate both of them, so there’s none left for you."
She finished washing her hands, but there was no reply. Just as Joanna Kennedy was about to turn around, a broad chest pressed against her back, and a pair of large hands wrapped tightly around her waist.
"Was it good?" Simon Lockwood’s deep, pleasant voice whispered by her ear, his warm breath tickling the side of her neck as he spoke.
It tickled. Joanna Kennedy tilted her head away, confused. "Yeah, it was good."
Simon Lockwood gave a noncommittal hum and nuzzled into the crook of her neck.
Her fair, sensitive skin couldn’t handle that kind of attention. In no time, both Joanna Kennedy’s face and neck were flushed. "What are you doing? Aren’t we supposed to be leaving soon?"
"Leaving for where?" Simon Lockwood murmured, his voice laced with a strange emotion.
Joanna Kennedy didn’t catch it and answered honestly, "Didn’t you say we were going back to Aethelburg?"
"Oh," Simon Lockwood said slowly. "Did I say that?"
Joanna Kennedy: "..." ’What is with this guy? Did he go out and come back with amnesia?’
Simon Lockwood’s deep voice continued, a hint of huskiness in it. "So if I say we’re going back, you’ll just follow me back?"
"Joanie, why can’t you bear to be away from me?"
His voice carried a faint sigh, as if he were genuinely troubled, yet also as if he were venting some intense emotion.
The woman’s words kept flashing through Simon Lockwood’s mind—
Joanna Kennedy had a first love. She fell for him at sixteen but was too embarrassed to admit it, so she shamelessly pursued him, even threatening the boy to be with her.
Later, when the Kennedy family went bankrupt, Joanna Kennedy played hard to get, using cunning tricks until the boy, out of the kindness of his heart, finally took her into his own home.
She was still a minor, living with a boy, eating his food, drinking his water.
And after all that, she ended up dumping him...
Simon Lockwood automatically ignored the woman’s last few, clearly slanderous remarks. His mind fixated on two phrases: "fell in love at sixteen" and "playing hard to get."
’So, back then,’ he thought, ’Joanna Kennedy actually wanted to come live with me. She was just too embarrassed to say it, and insisted on making me come find her...’
Joanna Kennedy was completely baffled by his words. It wasn’t until she felt a soft bite on her neck that she snapped back to reality, flushing with anger and embarrassment. "Who can’t bear to be away from you?! Stop spreading rumors, okay?!"
’Is the air outside toxic? Or did Simon Lockwood hear some more nonsense from someone again?!’
Joanna Kennedy tried to pry the large hands from her waist, but something pressed against her from behind, not too hard and not too soft.
Even through her cotton pants, she could feel a familiar, scorching heat.
Joanna Kennedy: "..." ’Is it... what I think it is?!’
’Is this something Simon Lockwood would actually do?!’
Joanna Kennedy’s face instantly turned beet red.