Chapter 146 Who Gave It; Return It
After a night of passion, Courtney and Alexander fell into a deep sleep. By the time they woke up the next day, it was already late in the morning.
“What time is it?”
Courtney rolled herself over. With her droopy eyes, she looked at the figure at the end of the bed.
Alexander was fastening his watch strap around his wrist. Upon hearing her question, he turned around and looked at her. “11 AM.”
“11 AM?”
Courtney was wide awake all of a sudden. Immediately, she sat up from the bed. “Why didn’t you wake me up?”
This was her first visit to the Duncans’ ancestral home, and she slept for so long. Her image would be ruined if Scott knew about this.
“The servant came and woke you up three times, but you didn’t wake up.”
“That’s impossible.” As Courtney put her clothes on, she protested, “I didn’t hear anything at all. Stop fooling around.”
“That’s because you were exhausted from yesterday night. You were deep in sleep.”
“Who said I was exhausted?” Color rushed up to her cheeks. Lowering her head, she mumbled, “Don’t get cocky.”
“Really? Then, you should have heard what I just said to the servant.” Alexander looked at her in a teasing manner. As he turned around and leaned against the table, he slowly said, “I told the servant that you were too tired from last night, so we won’t be having lunch with Grandpa today.”
Upon hearing that, Courtney looked up immediately. She was so embarrassed that she was frustrated.
“You rascal…”
I wonder how thick his skin is? How can he say something like that without flinching?
“Are you angry?” Alexander looked at her, pretending as if he did not understand the reason behind her wrath. “So, you still want to have lunch with Grandpa?”
Annoyed, Courtney did not say anything. She left the bed and headed straight to the bathroom.
Staring at herself in the mirror, she saw her cheeks painted red and hickeys all the way down her neck. “Alexander Duncan!”
She pulled the door open angrily and yelled, “Look at what you did.”
These won’t go away for a few days. What am I going to do when I go back to work?
Alexander rested against the chair as he flipped through a magazine. When he heard her, he looked up for a moment. He then titled his head innocently and shrugged.
“Courtney, this is something out of my control. But, you can hit back and take an eye for an eye.”
“You…” Courtney gritted her teeth. For a long moment, she couldn’t say a word.
“Bring me my liquid foundation.”
“Okay.”
A hint of a smile crawled onto the corners of Alexander’s eyes. Arching his brows, he fumbled through her purse.
While waiting for Alexander, Courtney stood in front of the bathroom mirror. The collar of her white shirt was buttoned to the very top, but it could not cover up the two obvious hickeys. I wonder if the liquid foundation can conceal them? Well, nothing’s dead until it’s buried.
After a while, Alexander came to the bathroom door.
“Did you find it?” she asked without turning around.
“What is this?” he asked in return.
Turning her head, Courtney saw him holding a purple satin box. She was startled. “My jewelry. I told you to bring me my liquid foundation. Why did you bring this instead? Someone gave it to me. It’s quite expensive, so don’t lose it. Put it back quickly.”
Looking at her nervous state, Alexander’s expression hardened. He continued to question, “Who gave it to you?”
“Jen…” The name almost slipped out from Courtney’s lips, but she suddenly sensed jealousy from Alexander’s words. Moving her gaze away, she quickly grabbed the liquid foundation from his other hand. She applied the foundation onto her neck as she looked at the mirror.
Casually, she said, “A friend from abroad.”
Courtney was trying to annoy Alexander as revenge for the frustration he caused her early in the morning.
Sure enough; the moment Alexander heard her answer, his tone sank. “You seem to have a lot of friends. Is this a teenage boy again?”
Huh! Looks like he’s bringing up the past now.
Courtney avoided his gaze intentionally. She kept looking into the mirror and said with an indifferent tone, “Why can’t I know someone that is older and more experienced? Don’t look down on me.”
“Older? More experienced?”
Alexander sounded like he uttered those words through his gritted teeth. Before Courtney could react, he grabbed her arms and turned her around with a strong force. She spun around and was pressed against his chest.
He sounded annoyed. “Courtney Hunter, did you forget that you belong to me?”
“You’re hurting me.” She looked up and frowned. “Let me go.”
“Who gave it? Return it.”
Flames were dancing in his eyes, and his attitude seemed intolerable.
However, Courtney was not afraid at all. A trace of cunning was hidden behind her eyes.
“Fine. Call Jennifer on your own and send someone to deliver it abroad. There’s no way I’m going to explain why I have to return something I just received from her.”
Jennifer?
Alexander’s expression froze.
“You don’t believe me?” Courtney broke free from his hold and took the jewelry box away. “This pair of earrings is from Jennifer’s collection. I even wore it to the farewell banquet. But, someone was putting your tie on for you at the entrance that day, so of course, you didn’t notice.”
It’s not like I don’t know how to settle old scores with you.
Alexander looked awkward, which was a rare phenomenon.
Deliberately, Courtney glared at him with an aggressive look. ‘Let’s see how you’re going to explain your way out of this’ was written clearly all over her face.
“That was a misunderstanding.”
Frowning, Alexander did not know how to explain himself.
At the entrance of the hotel that day, Britney stopped him when she got out of the car. Because they were attending a banquet, she reminded him that his tie was crooked and wanted to straighten it for him. He did not think too much during that time because his servants usually did it for him. Thus, he forgot the occasion they were at and the person who was doing it for him.
“Would you mind explaining it to me?”
Courtney grimaced, but there was mischief in her eyes.
Staring at her for a second, Alexander realized he had been tricked. “Are you trying to mess with me?”
“Who’s messing—”
Before she could finish her words, her vision went dark and her mouth was sealed by a kiss.
“You’re a rascal.”
After a long moment, the pair separated. With her cheeks flushed, Courtney slapped his hands that were touching her away and said, “Stop messing with me. Aren’t you going on a business trip? I need to go home and pack some things too.”
She wanted to move her things away from Cameron’s place to her new place now that it was the weekend. Alicia was right. She couldn’t stay in Cameron’s house all the time. Since there was a suitable place for her to stay now, she had to move out as soon as possible.
The pair came out from the bathroom together. Courtney kept her liquid foundation in her purse and Alexander followed behind her before handing the jewelry box—the source of the earlier conflict—back to her.
“Why don’t you move only after I’m back from the trip?”
“It’s fine. I don’t have many things with me. I can move them by car. Besides, the place is huge. Didn’t you plan to let Jordan stay with me for a while? This will be convenient too.”
Alexander thought for a moment, but he seemed to remember something. His brows furrowed, yet he did not continue asking.
“By the way, if you meet Jennifer on your business trip, greet her on my behalf.”
Opening up the jewelry box, Courtney let out a sigh. “Back then, Jennifer gave me this because I was about the same age as her daughter. She always thought of her daughter every time she saw me.”
“Okay,” Alexander promised. When his eyes swept across the jewelry box, he was startled.
“Jennifer gave you this?”
