Chapter 45: Cough-Cough! Did You Smoke?
She didn't speak as she closed her eyes and supported herself by leaning into the railing. Her ears buzzed with the sound of her heart thumping. After a few moments of silence, she gave a deep sigh and snapped her eyes open. "Pervert."
"Yes, just for you." He smiled.
Jiang Yuyan was too exhausted to say anything further. She licked her tingling lips as she looked away.
"Tasting me on your lips? If you want another taste, lick my lips instead of yours," Lu Qiang said with a wolfish smile.
Aghast, she stopped licking her lip and went to wipe them clean.
"Be careful. You might hurt them."
"Not as much as you did," she said in an angry tone.
"You weren't complaining before. You liked it," he said cheekily.
"No way! It was… it was…" she had been left blanked out and confused after the kiss and couldn't find the right words. Actually, she knew that she liked it, but when he mentioned it, she felt like a thief who got caught red-handed.
"You don't need to worry. I understood when you clutched my jacket—"
"I need to go now," she said, interrupting him, knowing he would say something embarrassing. He smiled as he saw her red face. He, too, didn't continue when she stopped him.
"I think you need to reapply your lipgloss. I licked it off completely. It was tasty but no more than you," he said the last line in a flirty tone.
She really couldn't beat his shamelessness. Frowning, she straightened up and started to walk out of the building.
"The washroom is down the corridor," he called after her, but she didn't pay him mind, dashing to the direction.
She walked as fast as she could without looking at him. Lu Qiang watched her retreat with a broad grin on his face. If there were any standard measurements to calculate a smile, then he would have got 11/10.
When she was almost gone, he followed out and went in the opposite direction.
When she turned around moments later to peek at him, he was nowhere in sight. She continued to walk, searching for him, not realizing it until she bumped into someone. Her head hit his chin, and she was about to lose balance when a pair of strong arms held her from falling.
She had closed her eyes involuntarily, bracing for the fall. When she opened them, she looked into a pair of grey eyes. She sniffed and smelled the smoke on him. Immediately she began to cough.
"Did you smoke? Let me go!"
She retreated when he let her go, rubbing the spot she had hit his chin. She didn't thank him or appear to say sorry. She continued coughing as she entered the washroom, never looking back.
In the evening, Lu Feng came to the venue with the family but stayed back in the car. While everyone was busy ushering in guests, Lu Feng picked up a wine glass from the table and got out of there. He sat under the tree, silently sipping on the wine, enjoying it. He then took out the pack of cigarettes and proceeded to light one.
As he was about to do so, he heard a voice.
"Brother Lu Feng! Why are you here? I was searching for you in the hall," Lu Lijun said, standing a few feet away with Wang Peng.
Seeing him, Lu Feng put the pack of cigarettes and lighted back into his pocket and said, "It was suffocating in there."
"Neither you nor brother Lu Qiang is there. I am getting bored," he said with a sad expression.
"Lu Qiang hasn't arrived yet," Wang Peng said when he noticed Lu Feng's curious stare.
Lu Feng then signaled Lu Lijun to sit beside him. As the two chatted and shared funny stories, Lu Feng looked on with a small smile. From the hall, they could hear the sounds of the ongoing party.