Chapter 382
Chapter 382:
Knowing he was half-teasing, Rosalie hugged his arm and chuckled. “You’re so territorial! Are you really jealous even when another woman looks my way?”
Looking earnest, Ashton proclaimed, “Absolutely. You’re mine, and I won’t have anyone else laying a hand on you!”
Rosalie’s heart warmed at his words. Rising slightly, she leaned in and gave him a swift kiss on the cheek.
As steam curled around them, the air grew thick with romance. Ashton let out a mischievous chuckle, pulling Rosalie close. “Remember how Selena interrupted us last time? Now that we’re alone, how about a repeat of that massage?” His hand began tracing a path up her slim waist.
Memories of their night on the beach flooded Rosalie’s mind, coloring her cheeks a deep red. She squirmed free from his grip with a playful giggle.
Ashton was clearly jesting. This was hardly the place for such closeness, especially with the risk of someone walking in. After some light-hearted splashing in the hot spring, they agreed it was time to head out for dinner.
Rosalie, wanting to rinse off once more, handed Ashton her clothes in a small basket and asked him to wait outside. With no choice but to comply, Ashton walked to the waiting area and settled into a massage sofa, basket in hand.
However, just as he got comfortable, a woman’s shrill scream pierced the air nearby.
“My underwear is gone! Someone’s taken my underwear!”
The woman’s piercing scream shattered the peaceful atmosphere of the hot spring’s rest area, sending a ripple of unease through the gathered crowd. Conversations halted, and curious whispers began to spread like wildfire.
Eyes immediately turned toward the source of the disturbance. When the men caught sight of her striking beauty, interest sparked like flint to dry grass. They flocked around her, as if pulled by an unseen force, showering her with compliments and eagerly offering their help to catch the culprit.
But Ashton didn’t so much as blink. He remained draped across the massage sofa, his eyes fixed lazily on the door, waiting for Rosalie to reappear.
𝕷𝓪𝖙𝑒𝖘𝓉 ¢հ𝖺ρ𝑡𝑒𝗋𝓈 gⲁ𝗅𝗇𝗈ⲇ𝗲𝗅𝘀．ⅽ𝗈𝗆
His stillness, set against the clamor of the others, was like a rock in a stormy sea—unmoved, unaffected, utterly disinterested.
Dora Lopez, on the other hand, was no stranger to admiration. From a young age, she had been crowned the queen of beauty by her peers. She knew the effect she had on men, and she wore it like armor.
So, when Dora noticed Ashton’s complete indifference, and how he, unlike the other men, made no effort to flatter her, a strange sense of irritation bubbled up within her.
In fact, this disregard gnawed at her more than the theft of her underwear itself. Somehow, his lack of attention felt like a deeper offense, leaving her more unsettled than the crime she’d just experienced.
She was still clad in her alluring swimsuit, the kind that commanded attention wherever she went, as if the spotlight naturally followed her.
And now, with her underwear stolen, it felt like a twisted compliment—the thief clearly had an eye for the most tempting piece.
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