A Night of Desire

Skylar Hayes quickly waved her hands. "No, no, Mr. Jarvis. I’ve already taken up enough of your time. Please, go on with your business. I can manage on my own."

Marcus Jarvis didn’t insist. "Alright then. Goodbye, Ms. Hayes."

After speaking, he thought for a moment and added, "Be careful on your way. Don’t get distracted again; it’s very dangerous."

Skylar Hayes was a little embarrassed, but mostly grateful. She nodded. "Thank you for the reminder, Mr. Jarvis. I’ll be careful."

With that said, she turned to leave.

But as soon as she lifted her foot to take a step, a sharp pain shot through her ankle. Skylar Hayes couldn’t help but let out a soft cry and bent down to look.

She was wearing thin, cropped trousers, and on her exposed right ankle, there was a scrape. The skin was broken, and flecks of blood were oozing out.

She must have scraped it when she fell on the ground earlier.

She hadn’t felt it before, but lifting her foot made the pain noticeable.

’It’s not serious, though. It’ll heal quickly once I get home and put some medicine on it.’

Thinking this, Skylar Hayes straightened up to continue walking. But Marcus Jarvis, who had only taken a couple of steps away, heard her cry of pain and came back.

"Ms. Hayes, what’s wrong?"

"Oh, it’s nothing. Just a small scrape on my ankle." Skylar Hayes hadn’t expected him to turn back and paused for a moment before answering.

Marcus Jarvis leaned to the side to look at her ankle. Seeing the scrape, he thought for a moment and said, "It seems I should take you home after all."

As he spoke, he reached for the bags in her hands.

Skylar Hayes didn’t react in time, and he took the bags from her. She quickly reached out to take them back. "Mr. Jarvis, there’s no need! How could I possibly trouble you? My place is very close; it’s a quick walk. Besides, this is just a minor scrape. It’s really nothing at all..."

But Marcus Jarvis simply carried the bags and started walking toward his car. Seeing this, Skylar Hayes had no choice but to follow him.

As they walked, Marcus Jarvis said, "Ms. Hayes, don’t be so formal with me. Isn’t there a saying, ’strangers the first time, friends the second’? We’ve met twice now, so we’re acquainted, right? Besides, didn’t you just say you wanted to thank me? You can just make me a cup of tea when we get to your place. We’ll call that even."

Since he’d put it that way, Skylar Hayes couldn’t very well refuse. If she said anything more, she’d just seem petty.

"In that case... thank you, Mr. Jarvis."

...

The two of them went upstairs and into her apartment. Just as Skylar Hayes was about to take the bags from Marcus Jarvis, he spoke first. "Where’s the kitchen? I’ll go put these things away. You should go take care of your injury. Even if it’s just a minor scrape, it’s best to treat it."

Skylar Hayes had no choice but to tell him where the kitchen was, then went to her room to find some ointment.

By the time she came out after applying ointment to the wound, Marcus Jarvis was standing in the living room, casually looking around. When he saw her, he asked, "All taken care of?"

Skylar Hayes smiled. "Yes, I put some ointment on it. It’ll be fine soon. Please, have a seat, Mr. Jarvis. I’ll go make you some tea."

With that, she walked past him to make the tea.

Marcus Jarvis caught a fresh, pleasant scent as she passed. He couldn’t help but ask, "Is that the smell of the ointment?"

The scent had only appeared after she applied the medicine, so it must have been the ointment. It was just that the fragrance was so exceptionally fresh that he felt compelled to ask.

While making the tea, Skylar Hayes replied, "Yes, it is. It’s an ointment I mixed up myself. It’s quite effective for bruises and sprains."