Thirty minutes had passed, and Sarah still hadn’t received a message from Holden. She was losing patience and called Crystal for a video chat, complaining, “Crystal, your whole ‘post a cryptic message’ thing isn’t working.”
Crystal had just told her to post something vague and a little flirty to stir him up. If he had any interest in her, he’d be overthinking her post by now.
Crystal shrugged. “Either he didn’t see it, or he’s just not interested.”
Sarah felt guilty but stayed stubborn. “He’s definitely interested in me…”
Crystal replied confidently, “Well, if he is, why isn’t he watching your feed and asking who you’re thinking about late at night?”
Sarah muttered, “Because he’s the cool and distant type.”
“Come on,” Crystal didn’t buy it. “I’ve never seen a guy in love stay all cool and mysterious.”
Sarah was about to cry out of frustration.
Seeing her little apprentice’s teary eyes, Crystal started to panic too. She knew how to deal with crybaby guys and the heartbroken, but seeing someone like Sarah on the verge of tears threw her off. It just made her think Sarah’s crush had to be some kind of stone-hearted jerk if he wasn’t even moved by someone as beautiful as her.
If Crystal were a guy, she’d have confessed a thousand times over by now.
“Don’t cry, don’t cry,” Crystal said, jumping up out of bed. “Maybe he’s not biting on this strategy. I’ll give you some new tips! Let me hang up and think of something.”
Crystal called up her assistant.
Her assistant had done favors for her many times, but with the Oscar happening, paparazzi were camped outside the hotel in droves.
Her assistant frowned and asked, “Crystal, did you hide someone in your room? Should I give your agent a heads-up? If the paparazzi catch anything, the company can get ahead of it. The clothes are not your size… Did you bring in a woman?”
She didn’t know when Crystal’s preferences had shifted, but she was still going to do her job and give the agent a heads-up, just so the company wasn’t caught off guard.
Crystal sighed. “Nope, it’s for a friend.”
About half an hour later, there was a knock on Sarah’s door. When she opened it, Crystal stood there, bags in hand. “Come on, try these on. You’re his wife, after all-wear this stuff around the house every day, and I bet he won’t be able to resist. Trust me, guys are always led by sex.”
The clothes Crystal brought were from her own brand, edgy and sexy with a little bit of sass, only available in a few big cities. They had that bad-girl vibe.
Sarah tried one on. It was a black strapless top shaped like a butterfly, held up by thin straps around her neck and back, showing a sliver of her waist, paired with a mini skirt that stopped at mid-thigh. Definitely a bold look.
With her golden hair hanging over her shoulders, the outfit seemed more cool than sexy on her.
Crystal rubbed her chin. “Just wear stuff like this at home. No way he can ignore you if he’s got a cute girl floating around. Oh, and go ahead and tease him-send a pic of the outfit and ask if it looks good on you.”
The subtle, demure approach hadn’t worked at all, so it was time for something bolder.
“If you’ve tried everything and he still doesn’t react…” Crystal took a deep breath. “Well, then he’s a rock-solid guy who’s impossible to crack, and it’s time to move on. There’s plenty of fish in the sea.”
Sarah had to admit Crystal’s style was spot on. She hadn’t worn a “bad-girl” outfit in a while, so after Crystal left, she looked through the pieces one by one.
It was true-nothing could pull a woman out of a love daze like clothes and good food.
Among these “bad-girl” outfits were a few ultra-sexy pajamas. Sarah hung them up in her closet, but before she could try one on, there was another knock at her door.
Thinking Crystal had something more to say, she rushed over to open it.
Holden took one look at her, gave her a slight push, and stepped inside.
Holden coolly walked through it, checking every room, even the bathroom and the closet.
Sarah was baffled. “Mr. Holden, what are you doing here?”
After confirming she wasn’t hiding any “moon-like” man, Holden casually replied, “Just on a business trip.”
That made sense; Sarah knew Circle Tech Company had a big branch here.
“But how did you know this was my room, Mr. Holden?” she asked, still curious.
She was a major celebrity, after all! This was the most exclusive hotel here, charging her sixty-eight hundred a night, and they couldn’t even protect her privacy?
Holden gave a half-smile. “Didn’t you know our group bought this hotel three years ago?”
Sarah was speechless.
Did he own everything in the world? Was there any industry the Smith Family Group wasn’t involved in?
Sarah asked, “So if I stay here from now on, can I get the room comped?”
“Dream on,” Holden replied, tapping her forehead. “I’ll have the manager charge you double.” He paused and added, “Oh, by the way, I heard something interesting.”
Sarah’s curiosity piqued. “What is it?”
“A woman died recently-sounds like it’s linked to Ronald.”
Sarah had to think for a moment before remembering the news about a girl named Mimi. That story had already faded from the public’s attention ages ago.
“So?” she asked, puzzled.
Holden smirked. “The cops just picked up Ronald for questioning. Too bad for him-looks like your ‘dream guy’ is going to become a prisoner.”
“Stop making things up!” Sarah shot back. Don’t insult her taste! Ronald was definitely not her dream guy!
Holden’s expression stayed cool, though his smile lingered. “So Don’t you want him to go to jail?”
Sensing a hint of danger in his tone, Sarah quickly switched to sweet-talking mode. “What I meant was… you’re my dream guy, Mr. Holden. You’re my absolute favorite.”
Which was true! Sarah regretted ever bragging to Holden about her so-called crush on Ronald. If she’d known Ronald was so unimpressive, she’d have claimed her “crush” was David. At least David was harmless enough that she wouldn’t look foolish.
Meanwhile, David, who was lounging on a couch watching a domestic cooking stream, tipped the streamer ten grand. Oddly, he felt a chill down the back of his neck.
Holden eyed her. “Anything else?”
With the mood already where it was, Sarah felt her heart flutter as she stood on her toes and planted a quick kiss on Holden’s cheek.
His eyes darkened a bit. Well, well, she was actually trying to seduce him now. But the more she played along, the less he felt inclined to let Ronald off the hook.
Holden wrapped an arm around her waist. She was wearing a thin, strapless top that left her snow-white waist bare, and Holden’s large hand easily spanned her midsection.
He lifted her a little, leaning in to kiss her. He was going to enjoy this-and Ronald would still be dealt with.
Sarah’s skirt was short, too, barely covering her as Holden placed a hand on her thigh, lifting her against his waist.
There was a faint, woody scent on Holden that Sarah found oddly pleasant, so she leaned in, taking a small sniff of his chest.
That’s when she noticed something unusual about his hand. She looked closer and saw a cut, dried blood staining his palm, like it hadn’t been treated at all.
Sarah felt a pang of sympathy. “What happened to your hand?”
Holden brushed it off. “It’s nothing.”
Sarah usually got squeamish at the sight of blood or injuries. If she hurt herself, it wouldn’t be so bad if she couldn’t see it, but once she did, the pain became impossible to ignore.
Holden might not care about his wound, but she did.
She called the hotel’s front desk and asked them to bring up some first-aid supplies.
A few moments later, someone knocked on the door with a small kit.
Sarah took out the alcohol and dabbed it on a cotton swab to disinfect his hand. She looked up at him, hesitating. “It’ll sting a little. I just need to clean off the dried blood first.”
Holden’s hands were beautiful, with long, elegant fingers that could easily belong to a pianist. Sarah gently wiped away the dried blood, bit by bit, with care and tenderness.
She was rarely the gentle, delicate type, but here she was, treating him with all the patience in the world-like he was a rare treasure.
Holden’s eyes lowered slightly, feeling the faint cool sting of alcohol on his wound. Honestly, a bit of pain was no big deal-sometimes it was pain that left the deepest impressions.
Sarah noticed Holden’s reaction and got a bit nervous. “Does it hurt?”
He gave a slight smile. “Yeah, it really does.”
She gently blew on his wound. “Don’t worry, I’ll put some ointment on it and bandage it up.”
After applying the ointment, she wrapped his hand carefully, taking way longer than necessary. But she was pretty pleased with herself, admiring the neat bandage. She thought, if my acting career ever crashed, I could go back to school and train as a nurse.
Feeling a little too proud, she added a waterproof layer just in case Holden washed his hands or took a shower.
She looked up at him, her eyes shining. “Am I not super considerate?”
Holden touched her cheek. “Not bad.”
Sarah muttered to herself, Not bad? I’m amazing!
“I’ve got a gift for you as a reward,” he said.
“What is it?” she asked.