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Skye shook her head, indicating that it was nothing, though she was a little worried about living arrangements.
Judging by the state of her car, it would be impossible to repair it quickly. She usually lived in the car. Although she had some money, it wasn't enough for her to stay at a hotel for long.
"Is there a problem?" Michael asked, noticing Skye's troubled expression, though he already suspected what the issue was.
Skye hesitated before admitting, "Yeah, I'm kind of homeless right now because my car needs repairs."
"You live in your car?" Michael asked, surprised.
Skye shrugged, mimicking his earlier gesture, "Don't you think it's freeing to wake up every day and see a different environment?"
"Well, since I've inadvertently made you homeless, let me make it up to you. After all, making a beautiful woman homeless could bring about divine punishment. I'm staying at a nearby hotel. If you don't mind, I can book you a room." Michael offered with a smile.
Skye checked her phone, quickly searching for the hotel Michael mentioned, "It seems it's not that easy to make it up to me. There are no rooms available at your hotel."
"Really?" Michael was genuinely surprised.
"Yeah." Skye said with a sigh, "There's construction going on everywhere, so the hotels are pretty full. Not just yours—several others nearby have no vacancies either."
Michael hadn't expected such a coincidence. After a moment of hesitation, he said, "How about you stay in my room? The sofa in my suite is comfortable. I'm sure you'll be fine. Of course, I don't want to make a beautiful woman sleep on a sofa, but it's better than the streets."
"Isn't that… a bit inappropriate?" Skye asked, though her tone wasn't too resistant.
"Compared to sleeping outside, I think staying with a handsome guy is a better option, right?"
"Well, you've convinced me." Skye agreed with a small smile.
After some more chatting, the mechanic returned, and they arranged for the car to be towed. Before it was taken away, Skye retrieved some personal items from the vehicle and sternly warned the mechanic not to touch anything inside. Reluctantly, she let it go.
"Let me carry that for you," Michael said, taking Skye's belongings as they headed back to the hotel.
"The place looks pretty nice. You drive a sports car and stay at hotels like this. Are you rich?" Skye asked curiously after entering Michael's hotel room.
"It's alright." Michael replied nonchalantly as he put her things away.
Skye narrowed her eyes slightly. It was clear Michael didn't want to elaborate, but her curiosity was piqued. She discreetly pulled out her phone and started searching for information on him. After all, if she was going to be staying with him, it was wise to know a little more.
However, she was surprised to find nothing—no information, no digital trace. It was as if Michael didn't exist online, and that made her all the more intrigued.
"Make yourself at home. I'm going to take a shower." Michael said, heading to the bathroom.
Skye nodded, but as soon as he was gone, she pulled out her laptop and started typing quickly, trying to dig up any information she could.
In the bathroom, Michael filled the bathtub with cold water and, with a slight touch of his fingers, released a bit of his energy. His fingers glowed faintly red as the water quickly began to boil.
"Perfect temperature." He muttered with satisfaction before slipping into the tub.
This was one of the abilities he had gained from the Extremis virus, allowing him to generate high temperatures at will. He had been practicing control over it, and now he could easily manipulate heat in specific parts of his body.
Too bad there hadn't been any real chances to test it out on anyone. Using it against regular people would be overkill.
Meanwhile, in the living room, Skye was still glued to her computer, frustration building, "How is this possible? There's no information about him anywhere. Who is he?"
Skye had recently joined the Rising Tide, a group dedicated to uncovering hidden truths. Now, meeting someone with no digital footprint had sparked her interest even more.
Initially, she had been upset about the car accident, but now... she felt like it was almost a blessing in disguise.
Half an hour later, Michael emerged from the bathroom, dressed casually in a T-shirt and pants, showing off his toned physique. He sat next to Skye, starting a casual conversation.
They chatted about various topics—mostly travel and experiences in China. Skye was curious about his life and kept trying to probe, but Michael deftly avoided giving away too much.
Despite their underlying thoughts, the conversation remained pleasant, and before they knew it, the evening had arrived.
Skye excused herself to the bedroom, and Michael prepared to rest on the sofa.
"Goodnight." Skye said from the door.
"Goodnight." Michael replied, smiling as she closed the door behind her.
"Seems like everything's going well." Michael thought to himself as he lay back on the sofa.
Skye, on the other hand, had trouble falling asleep. There was a mysterious man in the other room, and she couldn't stop thinking about him. Between her curiosity, the sudden change in her circumstances, and the strange new environment, sleep eluded her for a long time.
Finally, after what felt like hours of tossing and turning, she drifted into a light sleep.
When she woke, sunlight streamed through the window. It was almost noon.
"Awake? How did you sleep?" Michael asked, noticing her stirring.
"Not bad." Skye replied with a small smile.
"I checked with the repair shop. They said it'll take two or three days to fix your car. Do you have anything urgent to do, or would you be up for hanging out? I could use some company. Plus, I'm sure walking around with a beautiful woman will make a lot of people jealous."
"Jealous? Why?" Skye asked, curious.
"Because I'll be walking around with a beautiful woman, obviously. People will envy me."
Skye chuckled, "You're pretty smooth. You must have a lot of girlfriends, right?"
"What if I told you I've never had a girlfriend? Would you believe me?"
"No way! You're still a virgin?" Skye asked, surprised. Michael was too good-looking for that to be true.
Michael shrugged, looking helpless, "Is it that surprising? What about you? Had many boyfriends?"
Skye mimicked his shrug, "I've thought about it, but I haven't found the right person yet. Plus, I'm not really in the mood for love right now."
"Very good." Michael said with a smile.