A Love Bargain

013: On the road side

"Eww," I crunched my nose up and his mouth curved in a smile. His face eased up and I felt happy, realizing that I was able to make him smile. I decided to continue talking. "What are your criteria for judgment."

"A beautiful body like yours." He said, once again eyeing every inch of my body before meeting my eyes again, "I am quite sure that you're going to be a delicious meal."

I smiled coyly, pressing my lips together. I struggled to hold on to his unwavering gaze, which was on me. His words sounded like nothing but a compliment to me. As I opened my mouth to say just anything, a voice came shutting me up.

"Madam."

We shifted our gaze simultaneously to the man, whose gaze was on me.

"Is he your mechanic?" Kachi asked.

"Yes," I glanced at him and then moved away from my car.

I inched closer to my mechanic and we started discussing what happened to my car. After that, he went on to check it out. He pulled the car hood up and after trying a few times, the car still didn't come to life. That was when he decided he would have to tow my car to his workshop and I would have to come and get it, the next day. We waited for some minutes before the towing truck came and took my car away. After they left with my car, I swivelled in the direction of Kachi, who stood behind me and had not said much the whole time.

"So?" I said, taking three steps closer to him. "I--"

"Where are you headed, Pearl?" He ran his hand through his neatly cut hair. "Home?"

I shook my head "No... My friend's house. Her place isn't far from here, I can just use a--"

"Let me drive you," his gaze stayed on me while I contemplated whether to protest or accept, but he took my silence as a yes and started walking to his car. I turned and for a second, stared in his direction before sauntering to the other side of his car.

I settled in the passenger's seat and while strapping the seat belt on, I asked. "So, do you live around here?"

He ignited the car engine and glanced in my direction, meeting my gaze which was now on him. "Not really," he said and shifted his gaze back to the road. He made sure it was clear before reversing his car and trailing off the road, he continued. "I had something to do around here." Once again he glanced in my direction, meeting my eyes which had been on him the whole time. "Where does your friend live?"

I tore my eyes away from him and back on the road, I blurted. "Phillips estate," and for the first time, I processed the name in my head. "It belongs to your family, right?" I glanced in his direction and then, went on, listing what they owned in my head. "I wonder what it feels like to be born into a family where everyone is super duper rich," I added, earning a glance from him.

"There is nothing special about that." He said while halting at the traffic red light.

"Oh please, don't hit me with that rich people's anthem." I trailed my gaze to the traffic light and my brain automatically started a countdown. Something I did for fun when I was younger, turned into a habit that I could not get myself to stop.

"You don't look like you know or have met rich people," he said causing me to snap my face in his direction. "Just kidding," he chuckled lightly. When he noticed I wasn't laughing nor did I have an amused look on my face, he glanced at the road and then shifted his gaze back to me. "It was a joke."

"You have been doing so well since this evening, Why do you have to annoy me now?" I watched as he stared at me like he didn't understand what I was trying to say.

"Why are you looking at me like you don't understand what I'm talking about? Unlike other times we have met, you have been kind of nice with your words tonight."