“DIDN’T I tell you I’m not going to have sex with you?” she asked, clearly shaken. She glanced around the room again. It was obviously his bedroom. Goosebumps rose on her skin as fear slowly crept over her. She reached for the pocket knife in her jeans and pulled it out, showing it to Keith. “Fine. I won’t hesitate to use this on you if you try anything.”
One corner of his lips lifted before he crossed his arms. “Look, Maddie, I have no intention of having sex with you either.”
“Then why do I have to be in your bedroom?”
He let out an obviously irritated sigh. “Because everything’s already set up in here—the camera and the tripod.”
She blinked at that. Why was there a camera? What was he planning? “Don’t look at me like that. Do I look like someone who shoots adult videos?” His irritation was now unmistakable.
When she didn’t respond, he shoved his hands into his jeans pockets. “Fine. Just pay me back for everything I spent on your brother. Or maybe Noah can just hand over the prize money he won from our match.”
Because of what he said, she immediately stepped further into his room. He followed her with a snort. Her eyes found the camera already mounted on the tripod. She walked to his bedside table to place her bag there, along with the pocket knife she was holding. She set it beside her bag—just in case.
“Put that on,” Keith said when she turned to face him. She looked toward what he was pointing at, and when she realized what it was, her mouth fell open.
“Seriously?” she couldn’t help but ask. Hanging on the back of a chair was a Pikachu pajama suit. She looked at Keith again, who was now busy adjusting his camera. So she was going to model while wearing a Pikachu pajama suit?
“You’re wasting time. Move.” he said, brows drawn together. She pouted at him but did as she was told. The man was grouchy, irritating, impossible… and infuriatingly handsome. Darn it.
Without another word, she put on the costume. She didn’t even take off her button-down blouse underneath, even though she knew she’d probably feel hot later. She was completely covered from neck to toe. And since her ‘photographer’ seemed to be in a hurry, she quickly positioned herself in front of the camera.
“Okay, I’m ready,” she announced, flapping her arms up and down.
Keith lifted his gaze from the camera. For a few seconds, he didn’t move or say anything. She just blinked, waiting for what he would do next. She instinctively stepped back when he suddenly walked toward her. But there was nowhere left to go—his bed was right behind her. He stopped in front of her, and she swallowed.
She was startled when he suddenly reached for her hair and untied it. Since it had been styled in a messy fishtail braid, it fell into soft waves. She blinked again. Was it just her, or did he gently run his fingers through her hair, as if testing its smoothness and volume?
But before she could even answer her own question, he placed the hoodie—the one with Pikachu’s ears—over her head. Without a word, he turned his back on her and went behind the camera again. Before she could even strike a pose, she heard a click from the camera.
“H-Hey, you can’t just do that!”
He only shrugged. She even caught the small smile playing on his lips. Madelyn pressed her lips together and didn’t say anything.
Their ‘photoshoot’ officially started. Keith made her do several poses, and when he requested wacky ones, she gave in. Eventually, she began to complain—she was getting tired and feeling hot in the pajama suit. Maybe Keith was tired too, because he didn’t argue with her anymore.
She let out a sigh of relief after taking off the pajama suit. She laid it at the foot of his bed. She wiped the sweat from her forehead and fixed her messy hair. While she was busy tidying herself up, she suddenly heard the camera click again. She looked at Keith—right as another click sounded—and found him smiling from behind the camera. Because of her surprise, she couldn’t even react. Judging by his grin, it seemed he liked the candid shots more than the posed ones they did earlier.
Seconds later, Keith yawned as he stepped away from the camera. He picked up the pajama suit and handed it to her. She stood there like a statue, just staring at what he was offering.
“It’s yours. I can’t really use it anyway.”
“H-Huh?”
He shrugged. “I only bought it so you could use it today.”
She shook her head. “I can’t accept that.”
“Just consider it an early Christmas gift.”
“It’s only June.”
“Exactly. Early.” he replied sarcastically. She rolled her eyes at him. When she didn’t take the pajama suit from his hand, he tossed it back onto the chair where it had been earlier. “Fine. If you don’t want it, then don’t.”
Her gaze shifted to his camera. “Aren’t you going to show me the pictures?”
“No.”
“Are you going to post those on Facebook or Instagram?”
One of his eyebrows lifted. “No. I don’t have social media accounts. I’m more of a private person.” He pointed at her bag. “Let’s go. I’ll walk you out.”
She picked up her bag and slipped the pocket knife back inside. She didn’t need it anymore. Seconds later, they stepped out of his room. Since it was Sunday and there were no matches, the entire place was quiet. When they got outside, he told Poncio to call a taxi, and the bouncer immediately followed the order.
“I remember the first time I came here, Poncio said taxis weren’t allowed.”
“They’re not. But there are a few taxis connected to the club. They’re the ones we contact when guests need services. As for the taxis that happen to pass by here, we pay them to keep quiet,” Keith explained.
“Hmm…” She nodded, then glanced at her watch. It was almost ten in the evening. Noah was probably beyond worried by now. She couldn’t call him because she forgot to charge her phone earlier, and now it was completely dead. She let out a sigh. The thought of borrowing Keith’s phone crossed her mind, but she quickly dismissed it. She couldn’t clearly remember her brother’s number anyway. And besides, she wasn’t even sure if Keith would let her use his phone.
Madelyn suddenly caught her breath when she felt his stare on her. Swallowing against her dry throat, she turned to him. “What?” she asked, brows drawn together.
He didn’t answer. He just kept looking at her, his expression unreadable, as if he were studying her.
“Do you know it’s rude to stare at someone? Especially when you’re already standing inside that person’s personal space?” She took a step away from him.
He continued staring, but now there was a hint of a smile playing on his lips.
Just then, she heard the sound of a vehicle approaching. When she looked, it was a taxi. She silently thanked it for arriving because she already wanted to get away from Keith. Her heart was pounding hard—she didn’t even know if she was nervous or what. She bit her lower lip and tried to keep her cool. He shouldn’t notice that his stare was affecting her.
When Poncio stepped out of the taxi, she quickly got inside. She didn’t even say goodbye to Keith. She told the driver her destination. She thought they would leave right away—but she was wrong. Keith knocked on the front passenger window, and the driver rolled it down.
“Hey, Joe, how are you?” Keith greeted, even resting his arms on the car’s window frame. Great. He was going to chat with the taxi driver.
“I’m good, Keith. You? So, is this your girlfriend?” The taxi driver jerked his head in her direction. Her eyes widened as she looked at Keith.
“Ha-ha! Very funny,” Keith replied. “Anyway, just take her home, Joe. Make sure she’s safe.”
“Don’t worry, Keith. I’ll make sure your girlfriend gets home safe.”
“Um, I’m not his girlfriend, sir,” she couldn’t help but butt in. It was like Keith was just letting the driver believe she was his girlfriend. Keith gave her a blank look before turning back to the driver.
“Alright,” he said, drumming his fingers on the window. The driver nodded and rolled it back up.
Before the taxi could pull away completely, Keith looked at her. She didn’t know if she was just imagining it, or if one of his eyebrows really did lift for a split second. She blinked.
It looked like a subtle wink—just with his eyebrow.