Chapter 978

Their little session of "proper business" went on for quite a while... Eventually, Shanley had to retreat to the bathroom for a cold shower. Juniper leaned against the headboard, doing the math in her head.

He had been in there for two hours.

Brutal.

***

Saturday.

Luella stepped off her flight and headed straight for the Cloudscape Community.

Talk about a small world. The moment she reached the lobby, she bumped right into Jimmie Tate, who was dropping off a cake for his sister.

The two were like oil and water. Neither looked thrilled to see the other.

But since Juniper was caught in the middle, they both forced agonizingly polite smiles, faking civility. On the outside, it was all smiles; on the inside, they were cursing each other out.

"Morning, superstar," Luella greeted him with a bright smile.

She was fully leaning into her tomboy persona today-wearing a sleek black denim jacket with a silver chain draped around her neck. Her hair had been cropped short and styled with textured, highlighted waves, framing a face that was sharp, delicate, and undeniably handsome. A ruby stud in her left ear caught the morning light brilliantly. She looked entirely untamed, practically radiating a bad-boy edge.

"Hello," Jimmie replied, his smile painfully stiff as he carried the cake box forward. Tsk. So uptight. Aside from his terrible temper and abrasive personality, his physique really was something to drool over. Luella, after all, was the one who had secretly admired photos of his abs. The more aloof Jimmie acted, the more she wanted to drag him off his pedestal. She just wanted to see if the universally adored A-lister was actually human, or if he just survived on morning dew and arrogance.

"What's in the box?"

"None of your business." Jimmie shot her a frosty side-eye. "What are you doing here?"

"Looking for my little sweetheart, obviously," Luella smirked, her smile oozing wicked charm.

Jimmie stopped walking. He leveled a freezing glare at her, his voice dropping into a clear warning. "Juniper is doing incredibly well right now. Stay away and don't mess things up for her."

Did this boy think he was blind? It was obvious Luella had a thing for his sister.

"I think you've got the wrong idea, superstar... Luella couldn't help but laugh. She leaned in close to his face, deliberately dropping her voice into a tow, playful purr have absolutely zero interest in women. But I do have a little thing for men.

Jimmie's breath hitched. For a second, he thought his ears were malfunctioning. Was Luella saying he swung the other way?

"By the way," Luella continued her absolute nonsense, noticing Jimmie's disturbed frown. "Do you have a girlfriend? You're not getting any younger. Ever considered dating outside the industry?"

Jimmie's eyes snapped up, meeting the 'boy's' deeply amused, dangerously flirtatious smile. His heart nearly stopped. Was this absolute psycho actually hitting on him?

"Not interested."

Dropping the words like a block of ice, Jimmie tightened his grip on the cake box and practically broke into a sprint. He moved so fast he looked like he was about to take flight terrified uella was going to chase him down.

"Hahaha..."

Watching the A-list actor flee in pure panic, Luella clutched her stomach, laughing until it hurt.

Trying to lecture her? She could terrify him with just a few words.

Though—she had to admit, Jimmie really did have a spectacular build. Broad shoulders, narrow waist. Lean in clothes, absolutely shredded out of them.

Out of all the men she had ever seen, he easily ranked in the top three. Absolute top-tier material!

If she could just personally peel his shirt off and take a look.....

Thinking about it, Luella's face inexplicably flushed hot red. She quickly ducked her head, hiding her reaction. If anyone saw her, her flawless bad-boy reputation would be ruined forever.

***

Inside Juniper's place the Cloudscape Community.

Ever since "learning" about Luella's

supposedly questionable

preferences coupled with those

bizarre, flirtatious

comments Jimmie had been

het

avoiding her like the plague. He was

terrified of being hit on.

Whenever Luella threw a teasing remark his way, the superstar just grit his teeth

and ignored her, not even bothering to snap back.

"Stop picking on Jimmie," Juniper murmured, passing Luella a glass of juice with a slight frown.

"I'm not doing anything!" Cradling her glass, Luella raised an eyebrow in utter delight, looking exactly like a triumphant general who had just won a war.