Love Contract

Chapter 22 Fawn On The Boss

When Mary had made the "good husband" comment, she was not serious, but it had somehow ended up being misinterpreted by William. His anger had disappeared finally.

Ignoring the excitement pounding in his heart, William looked to Mary to find her seemingly begging for mercy. Schooling his voice to sound indifferent, he said, "Fawn over me."

"Fawn over you? !" The moment the words fell from his lips, Mary's mind went both blank and had a million different things buzzing in it. She could feel her face heating up, and she knew it would be tomato red as not so appropriate thoughts invaded her mind. Mr. Lan had seemingly turned into a roguish wolf, and she herself, well she was...

She was just so incredibly shy. Painfully shy.

"What's the matter?" William turned slightly to look at her and found her biting her bottom lip, her eyes clouded over. He was speechless. Could she be thinking about what he thought she was? He tapped her head with a finger to get her attention and said in a slightly harsh tone, "What is it you're thinking about? "

"S-sorry. What?" Mary had been startled, looking at him with wide eyes as she nervously nibbled at her fingertips.

"Such a dirty woman," he drawled, a slight tinge of contempt in his tone. "I'm not interested in you."

"1-1... No, I am not!" Mary cried but the words lacked any confidence. She looked down at her hands, trying to escape his heavy gaze. "How do you want me to fawn over you, then?" she asked quietly.

William laughed humorlessly. "You have to ask me that? !" A frown tugged the corner of his lips.

"No, I guess not," Mary grumbled with a shake of her head. "Give me some time to think about it."

William scoffed and looked away from her. "Hurry up, then."

Mary thought hard, her lips pursed with her chin in her hand. Maybe she could take him shopping... No, no, that wouldn't work. She'd have to spend her own money on him if she did that. He had enough of his own that she didn't want to waste her own on him.

Perhaps she could take him to dinner... That wouldn't do either! She'd have to spend her own money for that as well.

How, oh how, was she to do this without spending any money on him? Mary hadn't expected it would be this hard to come to a decision.

"Well?! Haven't you decided yet?" William snapped impatiently.

Mary nodded. "Yes, I've made up my mind. Let's go to the seaside."

The car tires squealed against the asphalt a second after her words, and they were speeding down the road to the seaside. They made it there in record time. Mary felt slightly queasy from the speed they'd gone at.

Once on the sand, the two of them strolled down the waterfront side by side.

With each step Mary took, she had to think hard about not falling or stumbling as her thin heels dug awkwardly into the sand.

Mary sighed softly. "Just look at the sea. It's breathtaking and seemingly endless. It always puts me in a good mood, and allows me to forget my troubles. Don't you feel the same?"

William nodded once. "Yes, I do."

"Does that mean you are in a good mood now?"

He was quiet for a moment before he said, "So, this is the way you choose to fawn over me?"

Mary laughed softly and a little timidly. "Yes, I guess so. How do you like it?" Not waiting for an answer, Mary bent down to mess with her heels a bit. "What is it?" William asked. His hands were shoved deep in his pants' pockets, and he looked down at her coldly.

"I'm just tired of these high-heeled shoes. They make my feet ache." Mary then plopped down on the beach and slipped off her shoes.

Glancing over at William's feet, she realized he was getting sand all over his trousers and shoes. "You might want to take your shoes off, as well. I'm sure all that sand is making your feet uncomfortable, isn't it?"

"You chose this place!" William snapped, gnashing his teeth in irritation. No matter where he went, he always behaved in a decent manner. He'd never been so embarrassed by such a casual display. And Mary was right! The sand in his shoes was starting to really hurt his feet.

"We are already here..." she mumbled. "Take off your shoes. Let's go dip our feet into the water."

Opening his mouth to argue, William stopped when he realized there were many happy couples and families all around them. They were smiling and laughing together, so unrestrained in their emotions. Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.

"Come on," urged Mary. "Don't be shy, or I'll just have to get into the water by myself."

There was short lived impulse inside William to give in and do as she said, but he quickly beat it down. "Go by yourself!" he practically snarled. "So you want me to go by myself? Into the ocean?" Mary had raised her brows and looked at him skeptically.

William's face bloated in anger, his cheeks red. "You're not fawning over me, you're just irritating me!" William barked angrily as he snatched her arm.

"Look at you! Getting all angry again. I don't like it when you're angry, it's kind of scary," Mary muttered. "I was only kidding. Will you go in or not?"

"No," he said with a shake of his head. "I won't" William's face had turned cold and he refused to move even an inch.

"I suppose I won't go either," Mary said as she squatted on the ground still holding her heels. "Here, I'll show you my great art work instead. The long face of William."

"This is the face, the eyes, the nose..." she whispered to herself. Mary was drawing a picture in the sand with her finger, and William would glance at her from time to time.

"Auntie!" a young girl about three or four years old suddenly called. She ran over, her ponytail whipping out behind her. "Aw! The pig you're drawing is so beautiful," she said as she looked over Mary's shoulder at the picture.

Mary's lips twitched as the little girl giggled and stared at her drawing for a moment longer. Before the adults could say something, the little girl left with a happy smile on her face. A smile played at the corner of William's mouth and he said, "Such great work, huh?"

Mary huffed angrily. "Children don't know how to appreciate great art work." She sighed softly, "Let's leave if you're not wanting to get into the water."

"Where are we going now?" he asked.

"I suppose I can continue to fawn over you..." Mary stood up, brushing the sand from her buttocks and walked away.

William followed along behind her quietly.

The two of them found a bench and sat on it, looking out over the shore. Despite William's terrible mood, Mary pulled his shoes off and helped him to empty the sand in them.

Mary clicked her tongue and shook her head, "Look at that! Entirely full of sand. Wasn't that uncomfortable?"

Feeling uncomfortable without his shoes on, William said, "Enough. Let's get out of here as soon as possible."

"Alright, alright," Mary muttered, giving in to his demand. "Let's go."

After he had put his shoes back on, Mary told him she was hungry. He looked at her with an odd expression on his face. "What?" "I said, I'm hungry. What would you like to eat?" Mary sounded a bit like a whining kid.

"Well, what did you eat yesterday?" he asked.

Mary led him to a sidewalk snack booth that she'd visited yesterday. When he realized where they were headed, William frowned.

"I told you not to come here. Regret now?" Mary shrugged. "This place isn't suitable for you, I suppose."

"So you think you can come here with someone else, but I can't be here? !"

Sensing his impending temper tantrum, Mary hurriedly apologized, "No, no. I just meant you have such a high-end taste that this place wouldn't be somewhere you would go... Especially with it being so... Normal."

"Oh, cut the crap." William snorted and then entered the booth without another word.

Mary shook her head, exasperated, and followed his lead.

It might be a sidewalk snack booth, but William ate the food as if he were eating at some five-star restaurant. The way he daintily ate his food and took small sips of drink made everything feel elegant and high end.

The patrons sitting around them were toasting and arguing, loud and slightly obnoxious. While staring at William, Mary had forgotten to chew the meat in her mouth. She chewed quickly and swallowed loudly.

"Oh my, where did this handsome thing come from?" A slurred voice brought Mary out from her daze. She found a stumbling, drunken man making his way over to them, lustily staring at William. "How about you have a drink with me?" he said, burping at the end of his sentence.

As he spoke, he placed his hand on William's shoulder.

Mary was stunned at this bold man, and had a fleeting thought that there was no way William could get away from this, being trapped in the booth as he was.

"Remove your hand from me at once," William growled coldly, obvious disgust in his eyes.

The man hiccupped as he said, "My! Don't you have a temper..."

William slapped his hands on the table top, the sound echoing around them loudly, as he stood up. Mary knew this was about to take a turn for the worst, so she quickly approached William.

The drunkard was not scared at all though, no trace of fear in his eyes. William grabbed his arm and put him on the ground with a suplex.

Mary stared at him with wide eyes, impressed by his move. "Awesome," she whispered. Before she could say anymore though, several larger, strong looking men stood from the tables around them.