Chapter 64
Ava froze while blow-drying her hair and glanced back at him. This man's shamelessness had reached such a level that he could say things like this with a straight face.
It's not like she didn't have hands and feet - what did she need his help getting dressed for?
He just wanted to take advantage of her, more like it.
William wasn't joking. He had already gone back to the master bedroom's walk-in closet to find clothes. Soon, he came back carrying a light gray dress and had also grabbed underwear.
Ava felt a chill run down her spine. What was he up to now?
"William, can I not go? I'm feeling a bit sleepy."
She wanted to say she was tired, but then who knows how smug he'd get. She changed it to sleepy at the last second - she couldn't let him feel too pleased with himself.
"Ava, stop dawdling. I really do have something to deal with. You never even try on the clothes my assistant brings every quarter - so many still have their tags on. This dress is perfect for today's weather. Change into it in a bit."
Ava's eyes fell on the dress. It matched the color of his suit perfectly, looking just like a couple's outfit.
By now her hair was dry. She was just hesitating about how to change clothes - she was wearing nothing but a nightgown on top.
"Can you go out first?"
William walked closer with the clothes. "How am I supposed to help you change if I go out?"
He was serious. As he spoke, he hung the dress on his arm and reached to untie the sash at her waist. He'd done it once this morning, so now he was even more practiced.
Ava was mortified. In broad daylight, he was going to strip her again, and who knows what might happen. His moods were so unpredictable and hard to read.
She looked down and pressed her hand over his at her waist.
"I'll change myself. Don't mess around."
William put his hands on his hips with a half-smile.
"Believe it or not, I'll fuck you again?"
Ava paused slightly and looked up at him. When he spoke, his presence was overwhelming. She instantly let go, like a Barbie doll being dressed and undressed.
She didn't know what new game this was. Ava figured he shouldn't have the patience to wait on her like this - he was only ever the one being served.
The nightgown fell silently to the floor. Ava kept her head down, feeling like she was being roasted over a fire. She guessed his gaze was burning too.
His hand landed on her mottled neck, sliding down along the marks he'd bitten, finally settling on the slightly swollen area he'd ravaged, caressing it gently. Ava couldn't help but shiver, as if an electric current passed through her entire body.
"Hurry, hurry up."
She urged him to get on with dressing her.
William's large hand played gently, much more tender than his movements in bed earlier.
"Who tells a man to hurry? Would you like it if I hurried?"
Blood rushed to Ava's face. He was fully dressed while she wore nothing on top. This one-sided exposure was so embarrassing that the shame reached its peak.
He was like cutting meat with a dull knife, slowly torturing her this way.
"Don't you have something to do?"
William made a sound of agreement, his voice carrying restraint.
He did have something to do.
Reluctantly, he let her go and picked up the bra to help her put it on.
Ava stared blankly at the two small pieces of fabric in his hands - semi-transparent lace. Sure enough, all men liked this style.
"Ava, you need to go up a size. Did you have a second growth spurt?"
Ava didn't want to discuss this topic. She'd stopped wearing her old bras long ago. Because of the pregnancy, her bust had grown a full size, and her bra size had gone up too.
That one was indeed a bit small, but wearing it once wouldn't hurt.
Once the dress was on, Ava's scalp relaxed, as if she felt relieved.
William helped her zip up the back, the whole sequence of movements practiced as if he'd done it a thousand times. Ava felt a pang of sadness - he probably helped Sarah get dressed often.
He had good taste. The clothes he picked all suited her temperament well.
The knee-length long-sleeved dress was perfect for Emerald City's spring weather and suited her tall figure. Her shoulder-length black hair fell loose, carrying the scent of shampoo.
Overall, she looked gracefully elegant.
For once, William didn't push her back onto the bed. Ava figured the matter he mentioned must be quite urgent. Otherwise, given men's base nature, he'd surely have another round.
Ava sat in his passenger seat and reached to pull the seatbelt.
"Where are we going?"
She'd been so confused by his changing her clothes upstairs that she only now thought to ask this important question.
William watched her buckle the seatbelt and pressed the gas pedal, driving out of the residential area. After a while, he finally answered,
"Your friend and Daniel are trapped in a room by the media. We're going to help them out."
Ava made a sound of acknowledgment, carefully processing his words. Thinking back to Lucas's phone call this morning, the next second, she was so shocked her mouth fell open.
"You mean he, the two of them?"
She'd always been curious - Daniel drove around in that flashy sports car all the time, but she'd never seen him with a girl in it. It had never even crossed her mind.
"Daniel, he, he..."
William nodded while driving. "It's exactly what you're thinking. Others don't know about this, so don't spread it around."
Ava quickly agreed.
William glanced at her, looking like she'd discovered a huge secret, yet being so obedient to his words, and couldn't help but smile.
"Shocked?"
Ava shook her head. "No. I was thinking if you'd told me earlier, I could have introduced them."
William wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Never thought you had potential as a matchmaker. But between those two, who do you think is the bottom?"
Ava felt he was about to make another dirty joke. The car was getting a bit warm, so she opened the window slightly, wanting to skip this topic.
At the Emerald City International Auction Center, Emily had been waiting forever. She'd even called Sarah to come watch the show. The two of them were rubbing their hands together in the hallway, waiting for William to come alone.
When they saw him with Ava, both looked at the approaching couple in disbelief.
Sarah's right eyelid kept twitching; her heart filled with anxiety. She felt this scene before her was a disaster.
She'd been eagerly waiting for William to catch someone in the act, but instead, she got a loving couple.
Though they weren't holding hands, William was clearly adjusting his pace to match the woman beside him.
How could she accept this reality?
"Emily, who exactly is inside?"
Emily was completely stunned. She had indeed given Ava the drugged juice yesterday, but hadn't seen her drink it.
The man inside was definitely Daniel, so who was the other person?
None of that mattered now. What mattered was that their scheme had failed again.
At that moment, the media gathered at the door started snapping photos of William and Ava. One reporter said to the person next to him, "Today is fucking awesome. Didn't get the popular actress, but caught a scandal about an Emerald City big shot. Don't lose that recording from this morning."
The person next to him kept pressing the shutter button at William and Ava.
"How could I lose it? Such explosive audio, I could listen to it for a lifetime. Whatever the news is, getting an exclusive is good news."
William often spoke to cameras and had seen this kind of scene many times. He quickly took off his jacket and covered the little woman beside him with it.
These entertainment reporters had gone crazy today, daring to provoke him like this.
"Ava, don't be afraid."