Daniel, who had never been speechless or caught off guard, was in a state of shock.
She was inexperienced, and her soft, pink lips moved brashly against his. He wanted to pull away—he could have pulled away—but for some reason, he was intoxicated by her smell, her lips, and by… her. Maybe. However, he was sure that if it had been anyone else, he would have long strangled them.
Rory had never kissed anyone before, but she just couldn't let the men find her. If they did, God knows what they would do to her. She didn't know what she was doing, but she was glad the man didn't push her away. He grabbed the back of her neck, pulled her in, and took the lead. He was skilled, and Rory, a fast learner, caught on and followed the rhythm. It was just to let the men go away, so why didn't she pull away?
The man had gone away when he saw two people passionately kissing.
When Daniel was about to deepen the kiss, Rory suddenly pulled away. She gasped for air. They'd been kissing for quite a while. Both of them were out of breath. Rory's face was redder than a radish. She was flustered. It was my first time doing something like that.
"I…"
"You…" They spoke at the same time.
"This is gonna be awkward," Rory thought to herself. This was her first kiss. At least she lost it to someone as handsome as him. She didn't lose anything, so there was no need to feel awkward.
Just then, the driver's seat door opened. Rory thought it was one of those men, so she wanted to jump out of the car.
"Drive," Daniel ordered.
Rory looked at the man beside her and said very sincerely, "Thank you."
The man just glanced at her and said nothing.
Rory pursed her lips and nagged, "A simple 'you're welcome' would suffice." She let out a snort.
"Didn't they teach you how to be respectful to your elders?" Daniel was displeased.
"Respect? It's basic courtesy to say 'you're welcome' when someone thanks you," she retorted, with a scowl on her face.
"And it's basic courtesy to be nice to people who saved you," Daniel didn't back down either. He stated as a matter of fact, narrowing his eyes at her as if to say, "Talk back. I dare you."
Rory pouted and folded her arms. "For an uncle, you're a real meanie, you know that?"
Uncle? Did she just call him uncle? He wasn't old. He was very young. He didn't know her age nor could he guess because she seemed very malnourished. But he couldn't be so much older than her.
The man driving was about to go crazy. His boss never let women get close to him. Now this woman was in his car, sitting beside him, and even scolded him, and the worst part was that he even responded. If he told Daniel's friends about it, they would call him crazy.
"Who was chasing you?" He ignored her words and asked her.
"I don't know." She didn't know. She didn't know a lot of people in the city, and she wasn't particularly famous either, so who would want to kill her?
Daniel scanned her face for any trace of lies. So that meant that the person who sent them was someone she knew. Her father wouldn't do something like that. She knew Hector Devane. As long as she didn't make trouble for him, he couldn't care less. Then her stepsister, Samantha, wasn't too brazen to do something like that. The only person left was her stepmother. She was your typical evil stepmother but much, much worse.
Her face instantly changed. She gritted her teeth. "That snake!" She burst out. Daniel was taken aback by her outburst.
He guessed she must have figured out who did it. "Who?"
"My stepmom," she admitted. She would have never told a stranger, but for some strange reason, she trusted him.
He lowered his eyes and responded with an "I see."
"Who did you go speak to that took so long?" he inquired from the man driving.
"Your mother called, sir."
"What did she say?"
"The usual, sir." He looked at Daniel through the rearview mirror as he spoke.
"What did you tell her?"
"I said I'll discuss it with you, sir." Daniel became lost in thought.
"She is incessant. Maybe we should give in. She organized a blind date with the eldest daughter of the Shayne family. The Shayne family is very capable—not up to us—but I think it isn't necessary, and I better shut up." The driver changed his statement in his last sentence when he saw the deadly glare his boss was giving him.
Rory kindly used her eyes to signal him to look at his boss's face when he was rambling. The more he spoke, the more the temperature in the car dropped. Rory couldn't help but shiver.
At first, she was confused about what they were talking about, but when she heard 'blind date,' she immediately understood that he was under pressure to get married. She sneakily observed his face. He wasn't very much older than her, so why was he getting forced to get married?
The world of the rich was the survival of the fittest. It wasn't that difficult to become rich; it was maintaining the riches that was the real problem. You had to continue to make connections upon connections until you were stable. Even then, one had to be cautious because you never know who would turn on you. That was why they urged their children to get married to each other. Their marriage was always for power, not love.
Sigh. She was happy she didn't have to deal with that anymore. That was all Samantha's job.
She didn't have anywhere else to go. She could get a job, but how long before her family found out and blocked every route for her to get a job? The ten thousand dollars would last—the issue was, how long? She was frugal enough to spend it for about five months. Then what? Go back to the Devane Mansion? Certainly not!
She looked at the man beside her again, and a very crazy thought came into her mind. She turned to the man beside her and announced, "Let's get married!"