Chapter 1288

"Luella..."

"Shh!" She buttoned his jacket back up, her tone turning stern. "If you want to live to see tomorrow, just do exactly as I say."

"You have experience with this?"

"Of course." Mentioning her past, she puffed up with pride. "When I was really little, I got tossed into the deep mountains. It took me three days and three nights to crawl my way out. Later on, when Juniper was teaching me martial arts, we trained in the mountains all the time."

"When you were little?" Jimmie's dark eyes grew intense, his voice dropping to a rough whisper. "Aren't you the eldest son of Stellara's top family? Who would dare do that to you?"

"My dad." She let out a cold, bitter laugh. "Crazy, right? Just because I pissed him off, he decided to teach me a lesson."

"Pretty sure he wanted me dead. Too bad for him, I'm too stubborn to die!"

In the dim light, he couldn't see her face clearly, but the raw pain in her voice was completely at odds with her usual carefree, arrogant attitude.

Her mother was dead, and her father had abused her. Surviving to adulthood couldn't have been easy. No wonder she had been so ecstatic when his parents offered to treat her like family.

Thinking back to how mockingly he had treated her back then, a wave of guilt washed over him.

"It'll get better."

"?" She turned her head in surprise, locking eyes with him. Something unfamiliar and electric shot straight from her toes to her brain. Her heart gave a sudden, hard thump.

"Yeah," she nodded, forcing a smile. "Since I met Juniper, none of that stuff matters anymore."

"Besides Juniper, is there anyone else you care about?" Jimmie licked his pale, dry lips, swallowing hard.

Anyone she cared about?

Looking at his devastatingly handsome face, her pulse kicked into high gear. What was happening? He wasn't even shirtless anymore. Was she developing some twisted, love-hate crush on him?

Realizing how dangerous that thought was, she quickly looked away, acting completely nonchalant. "Nope."

With her secret identity, and the responsibilities she still had to shoulder she had no right to fall love she couldn't offer anyone a real future or safety.

So, any ridiculous romantic notions needed to be crushed immediately before they could even start.

Night fully settled in, and the temperature plummeted.

Just as she was hugging herself, teeth chattering, Jimmie suddenly pulled her hard into his chest.

"Oof-" she grunted, crashing against him.

"Didn't you ever learn to huddle for warmth?" He looked down, his chin lightly brushing against her forehead. A ripple of emotion surged through him, but he forced himself to regulate his breathing and keep his mind completely blank

"I did." She was too freezing to argue. Giving in, she obediently tucked herself into his arms.

Neither of them spoke after that. Time dragged on.

Whether the huddling actually worked or not, she did start to feel warm. In fact, she felt so comfortable she had no idea when she drifted off to sleep.

When she woke up, she realized she was sprawled entirely across his chest, her arms wrapped tightly around his waist, her face buried in his shirt.

And worse there was a small, suspicious wet spot on his pristine white collar.

Drool.

"You're awake?" Feeling her stir, his voice was strained and tense. "Get up first. My body is completely numb."

"Ah, sorry!" She scrambled up

immediately, horrified to realize he

had stayed in the exact same position all night. Had he stayed perfectly still just so he wouldat wake her?

"Hiss—" Pain shot through his injured leg, and his arms were agonizingly stiff. He

felt like his body had been dismantled and glued back together.