For various reasons, Phoenix didn't sleep well during the three or four hours at the motel. After waking up, he immediately covered up all the details that might bring trouble to him.
He was quite experienced in such matters.
He had made a lot of misleading actions along the way and even deliberately made choices that didn't match his preferences. But just in case, Phoenix didn't let go of any possibility of making mistakes.
For example, those two agents had seen Lu Jia's car before. So he asked the front desk and learned that the nearest car rental agency was an hour's drive away. It was the largest car rental agency in the United States, and it happened to be the one where Lu Jia rented her car.
So Phoenix drove there early in the morning. While driving, he paid attention to both sides of the road, looking for what he wanted.
The United States is a country on wheels. It's very difficult to get around without a car, which has also led to second-hand car market transactions being seen everywhere.
Due to years of work experience, Phoenix knew that some cars with unknown origins would be parked on the roadside, with contact information posted on them. They were traded privately in cash and didn't go through formal channels. And the prices were very cheap.
Phoenix was very lucky. Just when he was about to reach a corner near the car rental agency, he saw several second-hand cars that looked pretty good parked there. He immediately dialed the phone number and contacted the car owners. After returning the rented car, he walked to the destination on foot.
Probably the car dealers had been nearby. They arrived quickly and began to introduce the cars to Phoenix enthusiastically in front of him and invited him to take a test drive.
Phoenix reluctantly took a liking to a 1995 Mazda Miata Na, the first-generation sports car that was about the same age as him. The car dealer had replaced its power system with the latest one. Except for the high mileage, everything else was in good condition.
However, the other party greedily asked for ten thousand US dollars.
I won't go into details about the bargaining process in the middle. Anyway, in the end, Phoenix only spent three thousand dollars and drove the car back.
Thus, he managed to change the situation quietly, and the car became the best backdrop for Phoenix and Lu Jia's kiss.
Senior agent Mahoney frowned. He wasn't interested in those stupid young couples at all. So he followed the front desk staff to the room next to Lu Jia's.
At this time, Lu Jia's mind was still blank. She just felt that the touch on the corner of her mouth had moved slightly away.
However, this kind of being neither too close nor too far away made Lu Jia feel even more unbearable. Coupled with Phoenix's increasingly rapid breathing that quickly filled the narrow space between them, it made her hairs stand on end. Most importantly, his hands had been staying in places they shouldn't be, making her so restless that she couldn't sit still!
"Knock, knock, knock—"
The two agents knocked on the door of Room 1007 several times. Since there was no reply for a long time, the knocking gradually became more urgent, and the atmosphere became tense.
Lu Jia and Phoenix knew that the two people in the room had just experienced a rather lively "interesting" thing in the room and probably were inconvenient or too lazy to answer the people outside the door.
However, the others outside the door didn't know about this.
The two agents looked at each other. The black agent Daniel quietly put his hand behind his waist and placed it on the handle of a black metal object.
And just at that moment, a half-naked man slowly opened the door of Room 1007, showing his impatient full face.
Then he quickly changed from an impatient look to a confused one. "Who... who are you guys?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Phoenix's body finally moved. He put his head close to Lu Jia's neck and whispered in an extremely soft voice beside her ear, "...Let's kiss while backing up and walk into the room. Act a bit more eager."
Lu Jia was already stiff all over at this time. She was concerned about Phoenix's lips on one side and was bothered by his hot hands on her butt on the other side. They were really too close to each other. The most important thing was that she wasn't wearing underwear inside... She had never encountered such a thing in her life!
Hearing what he said, Lu Jia finally came to her senses from the desperate and ambiguous atmosphere and wanted to slap him hard twice!
However, before Lu Jia could say anything, Phoenix suddenly arched his back like a wild beast. He hugged her with one arm and pressed her whole body down with the other, as if he was eager to devour the prey in front of him.
Lu Jia's body was forced to press tightly against his hot body. She subconsciously wanted to struggle, but then her lips were blocked by the other party again. She could only squeeze out a surprised moan from her throat, which sounded especially coquettish in this situation. She was almost pushed backward forcefully by Phoenix. She stumbled and backed up. If Phoenix hadn't half-supported her butt, Lu Jia would definitely have fallen embarrassingly.
Phoenix's mouth was still just touching Lu Jia's lips without overstepping and didn't make any invasive deep movements. It was just that there were some polite frictions due to their movements.
However, just this, the strong aggressiveness and hormones emanating from him were enough to make Lu Jia's steps tremble.
"Bang—"
Almost at the same time, Lu Jia's back and the back of her head hit the door panel heavily. She immediately saw stars and whined and moaned. She struggled and tried to punch him on the chest.
"...Beep, click—"
Phoenix took out the room card from his pocket at some point and opened the room door. After carrying Lu Jia into the dim room, he immediately closed the door behind them with a loud bang, cutting them off from the outside world.
The light outside the door disappeared completely. Phoenix immediately let go of Lu Jia. While backing away, he explained in a hoarse voice softly, "Sorry, given the situation outside the door, I was forced to choose this way. Please understand."
But just as he finished speaking, a sudden "slap—" sound rang out.
Phoenix's face turned slightly to one side, revealing his clearly defined jaw. His eyes were calm, as if he wasn't surprised by Lu Jia's slap.
"—If you think this can relieve your anger."
Lu Jia's eyes were red. She covered her chest tightly and looked at the handsome yet mysterious man in front of her with indignation. She knew that slapping him was what he deserved, but Lu Jia couldn't explain the changes in her body. It was as if she had just run the damn 800-meter race. Her legs were weak and her whole body was exhausted.
"But if we didn't do this, we only had two choices when facing their knocking on the door, opening the door or running away. Either choice would bring very bad consequences."
Phoenix had been quite calm from the beginning to the end except that his breathing was a bit rapid. He was even analyzing the situation to her in a low voice.
"Only by making them think that they have confirmed our identities can we—"
But Lu Jia couldn't accept it. She sneered and pointed out the fact that he had deliberately ignored. "Who's 'we' with you?"
"Don't act as if I should cooperate with you as a matter of course. I'm clearly the one who's been dragged into this by you!"
"In your eyes, I'm just a cover, an object to cover for you, right?"
Phoenix lowered his eyes. After a moment of silence, he said, "I understand your agitation, but believe me, this is also very uncomfortable for me."
After saying that, he frowned, narrowed his long and deep gray-blue eyes, reached out to wipe off a small amount of glistening moisture on his thin lips, then turned his head and walked straight to the bathroom to wash his hands.
Lu Jia wasn't comforted at all. Instead, she became even angrier.
He really showed his true face... How dare this shameless bastard dislike her!?
"Washing your hands isn't enough. You might as well take a few more showers. After all, you've been 'dirty' because of me!"
Lu Jia was so angry that she followed him to the bathroom and growled at him.
Phoenix happened to turn his head. He opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but before he could say the words, his gaze paused at this moment.
Lu Jia didn't understand what was going on with him for a moment. Subconsciously, she followed his gaze and then saw the strawberry-pink underwear that she had placed on the toilet lid and was going to change into before...
"...?!"
At this time, she no longer cared about the one-sided quarrel with Phoenix. Like a cat with its fur standing on end, she hugged her underwear into her arms, stared at the silent man in front of her with wide eyes in panic.
"..."
"..."
Silence, only silence.
Only vague voices from the next room could be faintly heard in the small space, but it was impossible to hear clearly, and no one was in the mood to listen.
Lu Jia pursed her lips and looked at him unwillingly.
She knew that the foreign atmosphere was open. She had even seen such things before. But Lu Jia really couldn't accept that something that was common in his eyes happened to her.
Finally, seeing her wet yet stubborn dark eyes, Phoenix couldn't help but sigh deeply and looked at her helplessly.
"I'm really sorry. I didn't mean that. But... if you continue to be so loud, you'll mess this up."
"..."
"Let's just forget about this, okay?"
Their eyes met.
Lu Jia wasn't an unreasonable person, nor was she unaware of how urgent the situation was. She was just angry.
At this time, hearing the other party's sincere apology, Lu Jia calmed down accordingly.
Besides, Phoenix was tall, handsome, and good-looking. Presumably, he didn't lack women and probably wasn't interested in her. Her overreaction did seem rather childish.
However, Lu Jia couldn't just let this matter pass casually.
She decided to make three rules with Phoenix.
"Then... then you're not allowed to kiss me again."
"Of course... Of course, that trick is indeed old-fashioned and outdated, so I'll use other methods in the future."
"And, you're not allowed to do that to me again either..."
"What?"
Phoenix was puzzled.
Lu Jia blushed. She just felt that the temperature in the bathroom was rising gradually with their conversation. She looked away, but her tone was fierce.
"—Pinch me there like that again."
Phoenix had never met anyone who was more innocent than himself in his life. After all, even elementary school students in the United States were more intimate than what they did today.
But... that was okay.
Phoenix hid his fleeting micro-expression in the shadows. When he raised his head again, his expression returned to normal. He swore to her righteously.
"I swear to Jesus Christ that I'll never do that again even if I die."