Chapter 195: Pulling Up Pants and Not Recognizing People
The first round ended at the entryway.
Mia hadn't even caught her breath when James scooped her up by the waist and headed toward the living room sofa.
Without giving her any breathing room, he kissed her again.
From the sofa to her bedroom, by the time he finally settled down, she was too exhausted to even open her eyes and fell into a deep sleep.
Mia woke up from hunger. She'd woken up early on an empty stomach to go running, then came back only to be dragged into sex by James, who was like a hungry wolf, all the way until the afternoon.
She was so tired that she fell asleep immediately.
Now lying in bed, her stomach was growling non-stop.
She opened her eyes to find the bedroom completely dark, and she was alone in bed.
Mia was speechless, her whole body aching from being worn out.
Jerk!
Got what he wanted, pulled his pants on, and just left.
She was tired and hungry, her vision going a bit dark as she slowly sat up in bed.
The soreness at the top of her thighs made Mia's expression even worse.
She didn't even know what she was mad about.
She should be happy that he followed the rules.
Since they'd agreed it was a one-night stand, there was nothing wrong with him leaving after they both got what they wanted.
It even saved her the trouble of kicking him out when she woke up.
But she was still pissed!
Sitting on the bed, Mia couldn't help but curse James out in her mind using every insult she could think of. Only then did the anger stuck in her chest ease a little.
Even so, Mia's expression still wasn't great.
With a sullen face, she threw off the covers and got out of bed, planning to go outside to get her phone and order some food delivery first.
Then she'd take a hot bath to ease her aching body.
Dragging her sore, tired body, she pulled open the bedroom door. The brightness outside made Mia feel a bit dazed.
When she first woke up, she thought it was nighttime, but it turned out to be evening.
The bedroom was dark only because the curtains were drawn.
What dazed her even more was that James, who she thought had left, was now standing in her kitchen that never got used.
The range hood was running, and to reduce the noise, he'd closed the kitchen door.
Standing inside, wearing an apron, he was cooking in a pretty convincing manner.
One hand gripping the pan handle, the other holding a spatula, he was showing off his skills, using his wrist strength to toss the food in the pan.
Mia was speechless.
She hadn't forgotten his skill level at their breakup dinner before he agreed to the divorce.
It wasn't that he was a male chauvinist who thought the kitchen should be a woman's domain.
He simply thought it wasn't necessary.
You could hire someone to cook, so why do it yourself?
He didn't cook, and he didn't expect her to either.
This man who had never thought about entering a kitchen—what the hell was he doing?
Was this a dream?
Was she not fully awake?
Because the scene before her was so unreal, Mia did something a bit silly.
She raised her hand and pinched her own face, trying to find some sense of reality.
The pain confirmed it was real.
James, focused on cooking in the kitchen, hadn't heard the bedroom door open over the sound of the range hood.
It wasn't until the stir-fry in the pan was done and he turned around with the wok to plate the food that he saw Mia.
He quickly plated the dish, turned to put down the wok and turn off the heat, then picked up the last plate and headed out.
He pulled open the kitchen door.
As soon as the door opened, a tempting aroma wafted out.
Mia's already growling stomach became even more enthusiastic.
"Why are you standing there stupidly at the bedroom door? Mesmerized by the sight of me cooking?"
Mia was speechless.
She silently rolled her eyes at James.
She really had to admire his shamelessness!
Even though there really were several moments when she thought James cooking in the kitchen looked pretty hot, she would never admit it.
James looked at the proud Mia, set down the dish he was holding, and went to uncover another dish already prepared on the warming pad.
The aroma of food in the air grew even richer.
Mia's legs had a mind of their own and actively walked toward the dining table.
Looking at the two quite presentable dishes, holding back from drooling in front of James already required her maximum self-control.
"Try it."
James looked at Mia, who looked like a little hungry cat, and held up a piece of cod to her lips.
Mia opened her mouth with a look of disdain.
She was planning to say it tasted bad.
But—
It actually tasted pretty good.
Although it couldn't compare to restaurant quality, it was almost as good as their former housekeeper's cooking.
"How does it taste?"
James watched Mia eating with a satisfied expression and asked.
Although he had some confidence in his current cooking skills, he still really wanted her approval.
He was cooking for her, after all.
"Not bad, barely edible!"
Mia said it was barely edible, but her eyes were fixed on the food, clearly wanting another piece.
James picked up another piece and fed it to her.
Mia's eyes narrowed slightly—it really did taste good.
She wasn't sure if James was feeding her on purpose, but some of the cod's sauce got on the corner of her mouth. Just as Mia was about to lick it off herself, someone beat her to it.
James bent down, leaning close.
His tongue lightly swept across, taking away the sauce at the corner of her mouth.
Intimate and flirtatious.
Mia noticed and immediately raised her hand to push away his approaching handsome face.
"Back off!"
Her voice was cool and indifferent, as if she wasn't affected by him at all.
But deep down, she knew clearly that the moment James bent toward her, her heartbeat skipped a beat.
No matter how much she argued, she couldn't deny his effect on her.
James chuckled and planted a kiss on her palm.
Mia pulled back as if burned, clenched her fist tightly, and glared at him.
"There are two more dishes. Want to take a bath first?"
James knew when to stop and didn't continue teasing her.
It had been so long since he'd had her that he lost some control the moment he touched her.
He kept at her relentlessly, and even when she begged for mercy, he pretended to be hard of hearing.
As a result, he'd gone overboard again.
Just now, seeing the way she walked, he knew she must be uncomfortable all over.
Before turning to head to the bathroom, Mia gave James a look that said: Now you know I'm uncomfortable, why didn't you know to hold back when you were screwing me?
James gave her a look back that said: Can't blame me, blame yourself for being too tempting.
Mia was speechless.
Too lazy to deal with him anymore, Mia headed to the bathroom.
Some behaviors become habits you forget about.
Like locking the door when bathing.
When she lived with James before, neither of them had the habit of locking doors.
After living alone, there was even less need.
So Mia went into the bathroom, ran the water, added a few drops of essential oil, undressed, and got into the tub to soak.
She turned on the speaker nearby and played her favorite music.
Her favorite scent filled the air, and Mia slowly closed her eyes in comfort, her nerves gradually relaxing.
Just as she was enjoying her bath, the bathroom door suddenly opened from outside. "Mia, did you fall asleep?"
Hearing the sound, Mia immediately opened her eyes and met James's smiling deep gaze.
He stood at the bathroom doorway, one hand resting casually on the door frame, with absolutely no sense of propriety. Those beautiful deep eyes fell on her without any hesitation.
He openly used his eyes to appreciate Mia's exposed skin.
Those all-too-obvious marks were the results of his work today. The more he looked, the more lecherous his gaze became.
While looking, he deliberately said, "Oh, you're not asleep. I was calling you from outside just now—why didn't you answer? I was so worried you fell asleep in the bath that I had to come in and check..."
Mia was speechless.
Go ahead, keep making stuff up!
Although she had music playing, the volume was very low.
If he'd really called her, wouldn't she have heard?
Too lazy to argue with the increasingly shameless James.
Knowing that even if she told him to leave, he wouldn't.
Too lazy to say more to him either.
She reached for a bath towel and stood up from the tub at the same time, wrapping the towel around herself.
So fast that James didn't even have time to get a good look.
But the exposed shoulders and those straight long legs still kept James's gaze glued.
They'd already had sex—she wasn't going to be overly prudish about it.
After accepting that she'd slept with him, Mia's mindset had opened up quite a bit.
Everyone has physical needs.
She didn't have anyone she particularly wanted to date right now, and here was a good-looking guy with a perfect body and handsome face actively offering himself.
She wasn't losing out!
But Mia was annoyed in her heart at James's behavior of taking a mile when given an inch.
She didn't show it on her face, and wrapped in the towel, walked toward him step by step.
As the distance closed, James could see the marks on her body more clearly, and his eyes grew darker.
Even though he'd just had his fill not long ago, seeing Mia now, he still had the urge to pin her against the wall immediately.
Although James didn't act on it, his eyes had already expressed everything he wanted to do.
Mia let him look.
Until she reached the door, she suddenly moved to close it.
James was too focused on looking at her and didn't react in time, forgetting to pull his hand back.
The fingers are connected to the heart.
A sharp pain hit.
James quickly pulled back his hand from the door frame. Mia took the opportunity to close the door and lock it.
After drying off and changing into loungewear, Mia reopened the bathroom door to see James blocking the doorway.
As soon as he saw her, he immediately held up his right hand that she'd caught in the door. "Mia, it hurts so much—"
He was clearly acting spoiled.
Mia couldn't avoid looking even if she wanted to—his hand was right in her face.
She'd been angry and had indeed closed the door pretty hard.
Looking at his obviously swollen hand, it would hurt, but wasn't he always fearless of pain?
Besides, he asked for it!
"You deserved it!"
Mia had no sympathy for him!
Who told him to be so annoying!
After saying that, she walked past him toward the dining table.
The food was already on the table. Mia sat down directly, and James followed behind her, sitting in another chair.
He continued playing pitiful. "It's all swollen. Mia, how can you be so heartless? You almost crippled my right hand!"
Mia picked up her utensils and used them to push away his obviously attention-seeking hand from in front of her.
She said coldly, "Good if it's crippled."
If you have a hand but don't know how to knock, what's the point of having it?
James's eyes lit up, and he suddenly leaned close. "Mia, you want my right hand crippled so that when I miss you at night in the future, I can come find you directly instead of using my right hand, right?"