Chapter 81

“Hey!” Samantha called Daniel again when he did not answer her question. She even accompanied her call to him with a snap of her fingers right in front of his face, as if she were waking him up from a hallucination.

Daniel blinked a few times again, looking so confused. “W-what..?”

Samantha shook her head. “I was asking you if you wanted to come inside first,” she answered.

Daniel, who looked and sounded like he had just realized that he was just standing still and doing nothing but staring, finally stood straight, fixed his suit, and cleared his throat. “I’ll just wait here,” he answered with a smile on his face, acting like he was not slightly embarrassed with how he acted.

Samantha, who was able to see what he was truly feeling, couldn’t help but grin.

‘Trying to act cool, huh?’ She thought while grinning.

Daniel cleared his throat once more and averted his gaze from Samantha, who seemed to want to tease him but was holding back.

“If you are still not ready, I can wait,” Daniel said while just taking glances at Samantha and not focusing his gaze on her. He can’t look into her eyes for a long time, or else his cheeks would flush in embarrassment, which is totally out of his character.

“No. I’m all ready. I was actually just waiting for you,” Samantha replied while still grinning, to which Daniel answered with a nod and said, “I see.”

He then kept quiet after that, still looking around and unable to stay still.

Samantha could not help but raise her brows. “Are we supposed to just stand here all night?” She asked after almost a minute of silence. Her voice also sounded like she was teasing him, affecting Daniel, who started to panic.

Daniel promptly focused his gaze on her. His eyes widened, and his mouth went hanging as if he wanted to say something, but he ended up closing it.

Samantha could not hold it back anymore, and she started laughing. She was so amused at every reaction Daniel had at that moment that she just continued to laugh until her stomach started hurting and her eyes started getting misty.

It was then that Daniel’s feeling of embarrassment vanished into thin air, and he was filled with amusement instead as he stared at Samantha, who was laughing heartily, making him think that if that sight of Samantha was compensation for his embarrassment, then he wouldn’t mind acting like a fool again.

“Why are you acting like that?” Samantha asked while still laughing and wiping away her tears with her own palm. She then took a couple of deep breaths as if she were trying to calm herself, and when she was able to successfully do so, she said while shaking her head, “Seriously. You look so funny.”

“You should thank me for entertaining you then,” Daniel said without any hint of annoyance. He was actually smiling gently while saying those words.

Samantha chuckled first before saying it with her shoulders raised. “Then, thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Daniel responded while still smiling, making Samantha laugh once more while shaking her head. “So, are you done laughing? Shall we leave now? Or do you want to do some retouching or anything?”

“I'll take back what I said. I'm not prepared. I mean, I was prepared until you started acting funny. So, because it is your fault, you will have to wait a little longer.”

“I’m fine, though,” Daniel replied.

“As you should,” Samantha said while smiling before she went back to her room and did some touch-ups that only took five minutes.

After taking a final look at herself in the full-length mirror, Samantha went out of her room and made her way to the living room. She saw the door to her house still widely open, and in the center of it stood Daniel with his back facing him.

“You could have come in,” she said, prompting Daniel to turn around and face him. And right after Daniel did that, she immediately spoke. “Please no more acting funny, getting starstruck, or whatever. I can’t afford to ruin my makeup again.”

“Who said I was starstruck? I was just shocked,” Daniel retorted.

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say, buddy.” Samantha then made her way closer to Daniel. “Shall we?”

Daniel smiled again. “Yes,” and then he made space for Samantha as she went out of the house.

Samantha locked the door to his house, and after making sure that it was safely locked, she turned around to look at Daniel again, who was offering his arm, which made Samantha raise her brows. “Is that necessary? She asked.

Daniel grumbled. “Come on. Just let me be a gentleman.”

“Acting like a gentleman does not suit you at all. A gentleman does not fuck a lady so hard to the point that she will have a hard time moving.”

“I—”

“But since you did an awesome job in making our plan successful, I will make an exemption today and will consider giving you this as another reward.” After she said that, she immediately snaked her arms around Daniel’s, making the guy shake his head in disbelief, but still said in the end, with a sarcastic tone, “Thank you for your generosity.”

“Don’t mention it,” Samantha replied in a sarcastic tone as well.

Daniel did not say anything anymore after that and just shook his head again and started walking, making Samantha walk along with him.

When they reached his car, Daniel opened the door to the passenger seat, and Samantha, although wanting to tease Daniel again, quietly got inside the car. Daniel quickly followed, opening the car to the driver’s seat and getting inside as well. As soon as Daniel was able to make sure that Samantha was wearing a seat belt, he then finally drove the car and made their way to the fine dining restaurant where he had a table reservation.

They still had one hour left before their dinner reservation, and the traffic wasn’t as hectic as it usually was, so Daniel wasn’t that worried about being late.

“Where are you taking me this time?” Samantha asked after a few minutes had passed.

“I’ll take you to one of my favorite restaurants in the city,” Daniel answered as he glanced at her while smiling before taking his focus back on the road.

“Is it a luxurious restaurant?”

“Not really. Why? Do you not like expensive restaurants?”

“No. It isn’t like that. It’s just that I am not used to those kinds of restaurants, so I tend to get nervous. I feel like I wouldn’t fit in there.”

Daniel smiled. “You’ll be fine. And you have me. I believe my presence is enough to calm down your nerves if you ever get nervous. I mean, my handsome face could be a great distraction from nervousness as well,” he playfully said, which made Samantha smile as well while shaking her head upon hearing the arrogant words coming out of Daniel.