Chapter 212 Teasing
Ambrose met Scarlett's flirtatious gaze, her soft, teasing voice in his ear like an aphrodisiac. Heat rushed through him again. He swallowed and said, "Kids can listen to bedtime stories, and so can adults."
With that, he stood up, scooped her into his arms, and placed her on the bed. Just as he was about to sit down on the edge, he heard her snap at him.
"Your clothes are dirty. You can't sit on my bed."
Ambrose froze, seeing the disgust on her beautiful face. He glanced down at his clothes—he'd been wearing them all day, so yeah, they were a bit dirty.
An idea struck him. "Then I'll go take a shower and change."
With that, he turned and headed for the door.
"You don't have any clothes here anymore," Scarlett reminded him, propping her head up with her hand, half-lying there looking quite pleased with herself.
Ambrose raised an eyebrow. "I think I still have a set of pajamas left here."
Without further explanation, he disappeared through the doorway.
Scarlett wasn't worried, though, because she'd checked his bedroom—there wasn't a single item of his left in there.
Actually, this time she wasn't deliberately being difficult. She just really cared about keeping her bed clean.
She'd always had this habit—clothes worn outside never touched the bed.
Just as she was waiting for Ambrose to return empty-handed, she saw him walk back in holding a set of pajamas.
"Where did you find those pajamas?" She sat up, incredulous.
Without missing a beat, Ambrose said calmly, "In Hayden's room."
Scarlett froze for a second, then quickly understood—he'd hidden the pajamas in Hayden's room.
Back then, he must have been planning to move back in!
He was way too calculating.
Ambrose showered incredibly fast. Fifteen minutes later, he stepped out of the bathroom fresh and clean, walked over to Scarlett, and snatched her phone away.
"Stop looking at that. I'll tell you a story." He turned off the main light, leaving only the night light on.
He lay down next to Scarlett, not fully lying down, but half-reclined.
Scarlett kept her eyes open. "You can tell your bedtime story, but until I agree to your pursuit, you can't do anything else. Can you manage that?"
She was setting up barriers now.
Ambrose looked down at her, his deep gaze fixed on her beautiful face, full of affection.
Though this would be torture for him, to solidify their relationship, he had to endure it. He nodded.
"Until you agree, I'll reluctantly use other methods to get by, until you say yes."
Other methods?
Scarlett didn't catch on at first. Thinking he meant finding other women, her eyes widened. Just as she was about to question him, Ambrose grinned.
"Where's your mind going?" He held up one hand, even demonstrating the motion. "This whole time, I've been relying on this to get through."
Scarlett immediately understood—Ambrose was talking about masturbation.
Her face instantly flushed red, both from his teasing and from her own embarrassment at misunderstanding.
Ambrose was so bad.
Seeing her shy expression, Ambrose let out a pleased laugh from deep in his chest.
In public, Scarlett seemed unshakeable, but in private, she was innocent and shy.
He leaned down and kissed her lips. "Alright, stop seducing me. I'm going to tell the story now."
Scarlett glared at him. Who was seducing whom? Though she didn't agree in her heart, she still nestled closer into his embrace, finding a comfortable position to hear what story he planned to tell.
Under the orange glow of the lamp, Ambrose held Scarlett close, his low voice slowly beginning.
"A man fell for a woman, but the woman didn't really like the man. Until one time, they had sex, and the woman's attitude toward the man changed. But after that one time, the man stopped looking for the woman. The woman thought the man wanted to dump her after getting what he wanted, so she went to his workplace. When the man saw her, he asked coldly, 'What are you doing here?'"
"Guess how the woman responded?" Ambrose suddenly asked Scarlett.
Scarlett's eyes widened. Listening to this cliché story, she felt a bit embarrassed. She didn't answer, only asking with her eyes: "How did she respond?"
Ambrose's lips curved up. "She said, 'I don't want to live anymore.'"
Scarlett thought the woman had fallen for the man, and when he didn't seek her out, she wanted to force him by threatening suicide. Scarlett said skeptically, "Your story is so fake. How could a woman fall so desperately in love after having sex just once?"
After speaking, she saw Ambrose laughing and unhappily pounded his chest.
"What's so funny?"
Ambrose caught her wandering hand, leaned down, and whispered in her ear, "What the woman meant was, the man made her feel so good last time, she wanted to try again."
Scarlett immediately understood the story's real meaning. Her face flushed red again. What kind of bedtime story was this!
"You're too much!"
She was so flustered that she didn't know what to say to him. Both embarrassed and angry, she raised her fists and hit him twice, then said indignantly, "I'm not listening to your stories anymore."
With that, she pretended to be angry and turned over, her back to him.
Ambrose laughed. Where did this innocent woman come from? But seeing her angry, he had to control his amusement and moved closer.
As he moved closer, his chest pressed against her back. With this contact, Scarlett felt something hard poking her bottom.
She didn't need to guess what it was. She shifted, trying to keep some distance from him.
But Ambrose wrapped his long arm around her, pulling her back against him.
She turned her head to glare at him. "I want to sleep now."
He leaned down and kissed her face. "You sleep. I won't do anything."
With his erection pressing against her like this, how could she possibly sleep?
"How can I sleep like this?" She asked, trying to stay calm.
"I'll tell you another story. You'll definitely be able to sleep," Ambrose persisted, continuing his teasing.
Scarlett saw through his step-by-step testing. She understood—he wanted to use these crude stories to arouse her desire, and when she couldn't hold back anymore, she'd give in to him.
Nice plan, but wasn't he afraid it might backfire on him?
After thinking it through, she turned back around, poked his chest with her finger, and looked straight at him. "Are you going to tell another story like the last one?"
When she poked his chest like that, Ambrose's blood stirred again. He took a deep breath. Seeing the gleam in her eyes, he guessed Scarlett was up to something.
He steadied himself, deciding to play along with her plan. Calmly stroking her hair, he met her gaze.
"No, this story is different. You'll definitely love it."
Flirting with her was more interesting and fun than any business negotiation.
Scarlett's eyes sparkled as she asked in a sweet, coy voice, "Then tell me. Let me hear what's so different about this story."