Cassidy can't help but roll her eyes at how Adrian is overreacting just from seeing a woman in her undershirt.
Said woman also turns out to be his very own wife who's been sharing a room with him since forever.
It's not like they're still living in the ninety's where conservative apparels are such a big deal. What's more, they're only by themselves at the moment. Nobody else is looking.
Despite all these, Adrian still sighed and grumbled exasperatedly before narrowing his eyes at Cassidy - an inscrutable look layering over his unsmiling expression all the while. From that second on, he just keeps shooting that pointed and enigmatic gaze at her.
"What...?" she blurted out, her brow twitching a little in annoyance.
"Stop staring at me! If you hate it that much, then just don't look my way, geez...!"
With that, she starts to stir her stumps again and stomps away, leaving him behind. It's just that the kind of gaze he's throwing at her comes out to be unbearably intense for some reason.
She is already more than aware that her husband doesn't like a single thing about her - not her physical body, much less her personality. If someone who dislikes her so much will stare at her that way - and when she has such an unsightly look at that, she'll definitely feel uncomfortable.
Unbeknownst to Cassidy, however, Adrian is doing what's contrary to her assumptions.
He simply thinks that his wife has such an appealingly curvaceous figure - something that he failed to fully take in before. Though he already saw her in sheer garments and knew that she does have an attractive appearance, he doesn't really put too much thoughts in them.
Then again, Adrian can't stand women who wear revealing clothings just to catch his attention. He had told this to Cassidy in the past, which was most probably why she never wore those kinds of apparel.
Right now, though, she is unknowingly shedding light on an unusual form of sexiness - one that he can't help but view as appealing, especially since she's not doing it for the purpose of gaining favors.
"Ughhh... It can't be helped then," Adrian sighed deeply once more, making her turn to look back at him.
"Huh? Did you say something, bossman-"
At that very second, Cassidy came to a pause. She suddenly finds her husband taking his suit jacket off of his head before making his way towards her. Without uttering a word, he then proceeds to wrap it around her waist.
Taken aback, Cassidy only watches Adrian with wide eyes, her mouth slightly agape. She's even more surprised the instant she sees a dead serious expression on his face. Just as she thought, he's displeased about something.
"Both your pants and shirt are fitted. Have you no shame...?" Adrian complained with a scowl, earning another annoyed look from her.
"Drape my jacket over your shoulders once we enter a building with people around."
"Uhh... Sure. Why don't you just give it to me when that time comes, then? Now, you can't shield yourself from the sunlight anymore."
"Just because."
In reality, though, he only wants to cover some of this hot display so he can last longer under the heat. Though that may be the case, he knows for himself that he's already feeling too hot underneath.
With that, Adrian goes ahead and removes the first two buttons of his long-sleeves collared shirt before loosening his necktie. From these small tweaks in his appearance alone, he already looks hotter and sexier than before.
His muscular arms are so ripped that she can see his veins practically popping. He even has the audacity to brush his hair backward with his fingers, making him appear more rugged and luscious.
Stupefied silence falls over Cassidy at that moment. As she beholds her husband's strapping figure under the blazing sun, she can't help but picture an ongoing photoshoot. If that's indeed the case, though, he'll definitely be one rough-hewn hunk of a model.
"My eyes are now burning..." she then grumbled underneath her breath before turning back around and walking away.
"I need water... No, holy water. This demon lord has come to punish me, and now I'm burning."
With that, Cassidy has grown even more afraid of Adrian.
---
It was a silent walk from that point on.
The surroundings are as empty and quiet as ever, but not eerie enough to compare with those featured in horror films. There are still no passerbys and fellow travelers around. By now, though, they find it understandable, considering that they're on a service road under the scorching afternoon sun.
"Hey, bossman, look!"
A few more minutes later, however, something finally comes into their view -
It appears to be some sort of a pub or a beerhouse that's operating in broad daylight.
"Do you think they have a charger port there?" Cassidy questioned as she jerked a thumb towards the tavern.
"Let's go check inside. Since you already have your charger with you, I'll ask if they can spare me one," Adrian replied with a thought.
Unbeknownst to them, though, three pairs of desirous eyes start to loom towards the unsuspecting woman, trailing her beauteous figure like dogs in a heat. The anticipation hit them hard as soon as she pushed the door and entered inside.
Fortunately, Cassidy didn't miss their beat, especially when one of them let out a wolf's whistle all of the sudden. Adrian also caught on to this almost instantly. With that, they turn to the other direction before finding this group of burly men approaching them.
It didn't take much time for the two to know that these strangers are bad news, especially with how they keep peering at her so intently and suggestively.
"Hi there, miss..." one of them greeted her with a flirtatious wink.
"Fancy meeting you here."
Not up to the idea of letting their dirty play continue, Adrian tried to step forward, but Cassidy beat him first. There's no need for her to see his facial expression to know that he was pissed off, even more so when she blocked his way.
She didn't really mean to hurt his ego or make it look like he's not capable enough to defend a woman, though - a thought that turns out to be not really the case for him.
"Eleanor, what are you-"
"Hello there, Sir. I didn't expect to receive such reception from you," his wife cut him off, responding to the man with a fake smile while nudging her companion to pipe it down.
Creating a scene was the last thing Cassidy wanted to do there.