Chapter 63 Chapter 63 If intimidation fails, try seduction...
Oops! Irene closed her eyes subconsciously, and the stool under her feet was kicked against the wall with a bang. The hammer in her hand flew out from her palm and whistled towards the flat white wall.
In Irene's mind, she seemed to clearly remember the four legs of a stool hitting the pure white wall that she had just painted and dried, leaving four irregular black marks. The hammer also smashed a clear shallow pit on the wall, with even cracks spreading around it.
Shit! Irene's eyes went dark, she wanted to cry but couldn't.
She can't be so unlucky today. She was cheated out of thirty dollars in repair bills this morning, and now she has to pay another sum of money in the afternoon.
In just a few seconds, a bunch of messy thoughts suddenly popped up in Irene's mind. The obsessive-compulsive decorator's fear of the white wall being destroyed far exceeded her fear of falling.
An injured body can at least heal, but the dirty white wall can only be scraped off and repainted!
That's all money, money that can never be recovered once you spend it!
Before the imagined severe pain came, she fell into a warm embrace. The first thing that rushed into her nose was the familiar scent of basil, faint but very strong. Irene knew who was holding her without even opening her eyes.
The first thing that came to her mind was a strong sense of loss. Irene buried her head in her heavy shell like a turtle, trying her best not to think about why Leo suddenly showed up today.
If you don’t think about it and don’t worry about it, you won’t be sad.
Although she didn't want to admit it, the arrogance revealed in Leo's brief words did hurt her.
What was even more frightening was that the complex emotions that she had managed to suppress during the busy month suddenly came flooding back when she smelled the faint scent of basil on Leo.
Great, I can save some money to buy medicine for the back of my head, Irene thought with a smile.
As soon as her feet touched the solid floor, she turned around and jumped out of Leo's arms, as fast as a rabbit seeing a falcon.
"Long time no see, Leo. Why did you come here suddenly? Luckily you held me, otherwise I would have fallen down badly."
Irene spoke in a brisk tone, full of the comfortable tone of talking to acquaintances. She spoke in this way to Hannah and Mrs. Irin. This was the way she spoke when she was very relaxed, and the people she was talking to were generally close friends.
They can only be close friends.
Leo's Adam's apple rolled, and he tried his best to suppress the anxiety in his heart. He wanted to hold Irene's fingertips, but he knew that he couldn't be reckless now, and he couldn't let Irene find a chance to push him further away.
Boiling a frog in warm water and taking things step by step are the principles that impressed him the most after he learned Chinese on his own in recent years.
Leo raised his hands and put them in his trouser pockets. His eyes were as gentle as the calm sea after the tide receded. He said slowly:
"We need to hold a meeting in New York regarding merchant shipping. Now that the war is over, the previous temporary rules are no longer practical. We need to formulate more practical rules."
He paused, then added: "Especially those related to taxation."
Although he had planned the meeting in advance and had also decided on the address,
Oh, she understood. Irene realized what Leo meant with a quick roll of her eyes.
Isn't this just asking Leo and his gang for money? No wonder he came to New York in person to participate in the meeting. Nothing is trivial when it comes to money.
Anyway, as long as he didn't come to New York just for her, Irene breathed a sigh of relief. But for some reason, she felt a little disappointed, as if she was expecting a different answer...
Stopping the thought, Irene shook her head, shaking off a layer of white wall dust on her hair. It was like artificial snow, rustling and leaving conspicuous white marks on Leo's expensive custom-made velvet suit.
She watched Leo glance down at the front of his clothes and look at her with a hint of doubt, as if he was caring for a fool.
…
Irene gasped, almost suffocated by her own stupid and foolish behavior.
An awkward atmosphere spread in the air. She glanced at the obvious white and gray on her black suit and felt so embarrassed that she wanted to use her toes to dig her way out of the Disney castle and crawl inside.
She was in the business of this, so she knew that this kind of fabric was difficult to take care of, and it was even harder to clean up once it was covered with fine dust. What's more, Leo looked like he was in a hurry to attend a so-called meeting.
What should I do? What should I do? What should I do? The villain in Irene's heart wailed loudly, and she forced a dry smile.
"I'm so sorry," he said, trying to cover up the dust on Leo's clothes. "The store is under renovation, it's dirty and messy. Look, the dust is stuck to your clothes. But it's a coincidence. I remember the front street..."
——There is a tailor shop and a laundry on the front street, which can meet your needs whether you plan to buy new clothes or get rid of old clothes.
What she meant was that Leo should leave her small and narrow store as soon as possible - the store was too small to accommodate such a distinguished guest.
But before she could finish her words, Irene stared at the faint gray-white palm print under Leo's shoulder, and her eyes went dark. She felt that she was no longer stupid. Her brain was probably hammered into the wall along with the nails.
How could you touch someone else's clean clothes with your dirty hands? Irene was surprised. Could it be that not taking fish oil would really make you stupid? She thought that she was not so stupid before.
The suit was turned inside out, steam rising from the high-temperature ironing. Hanging on the wall was the long dress that Irene had recently rushed to make.
A few days ago, she put the skirt on a mannequin and placed it at the door of the store, which attracted inquiries from several wealthy ladies. However, due to the major renovation work in the past two days, the store looked dirty and messy, so Irene did not put the skirt at the door. She did not want to leave a bad impression on the customers.
The two of them were now staying in the small shed that came with the storefront that Irene rented. In order to save money on accommodation and rent, Irene set up a bed in this small shed. According to Hannah, New York was a place where thieves were aplenty, especially after the war, so they had to pay more attention to safety.
Irene agreed with this and successfully found a legitimate reason for her stinginess.
Besides, how can entrepreneurs be called stingy? This means that money should be spent wisely.
"If you keep ironing, holes will be burned in the clothes," Leo couldn't help but remind her. He was not afraid that the clothes would be burned, but he was mainly worried that the steam would burn Irene's skin. She was in a daze today, and no one knew who she was thinking about. If he hadn't caught her just now, Irene would have to lie in the hospital now.
I have to find a way to help her finish all these dangerous tasks. Leo frowned, looking solemn, as if Irene was not ironing clothes, but his face as a man.
Irene wailed twice and changed direction with the iron in her hand with great effort. She forced herself to focus all her attention on the iron in her hand and ignore Leo who was cleaning in an open shirt.
I don't know what he wants to do. It was obviously just her coat that was dirty, but he insisted that she iron her vest as well. He was so clumsy when taking off his clothes that he even pulled the buttons of his shirt off. What kind of person is he?
Irene turned back quietly to glance at Leo. His silk shirt hung loosely on his body. As he bent down to pick up something, the white and pink, muscular body of the man flashed into Irene's eyes.
Putting aside Leo's personality issues, his handsome face and body were simply developed according to Irene's aesthetic, especially his pectoral muscles, abdominal muscles and mermaid line that were inadvertently exposed.
She absolutely couldn't watch this anymore. Irene looked away with difficulty. If she continued watching, tears would flow out of her mouth in the next second.
"Hiss", Irene, who was scalded by the high temperature steam, took a deep breath. The irons of that era were really difficult to use. They relied entirely on the heat from the burning charcoal inside. Not only could they easily burn holes in clothes, but they could also easily burn people.
"What's wrong? Did you burn your hand?" Leo anxiously took Irene's iron and put it on the shelf beside him. He didn't even bother to look at the suit that was so important to him just now. He quickly pinched Irene's wrist and took her to take a cold shower as if she knew the way.
Before Irene could say the word to refuse, Leo skillfully untied and rolled up the ribbon on her sleeve. He held Irene's wrist and stretched his red fingertips under the water.
The faucet was gushing out cold water with white foam. Leo, who was standing beside her, pursed his lips tightly. The regret in his expression was clear, like a poor puppy who had just been scolded, with his long furry tail hanging behind him, following his owner pitifully.
Her weird cute spot was hit hard, and in the blink of an eye, countless new design drafts flashed in Irene's mind. Inspiration gushed out like a fountain, much more than the water in the faucet.
"I'm going to draw," Irene pulled her hand out, shook off the water on it, hurriedly left an explanation and went back into the house.
"Wait, dry your hands first." There was a clean towel hanging in the room, but Leo didn't even look at it. He pulled up the hem of his clean shirt and carefully wiped the water stains on Irene's hands.
The silk shirt becomes more transparent after absorbing water. It sticks to the abdominal muscles, the shape of the lines is clearly visible, and the texture of the skin can be seen.
She would be a fool if she didn't understand what Leo was trying to do.
Irene's pupils dilated. When intimidation failed, he started to seduce her!
Damn it, how did Leo know she would fall for this!?
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