Chapter 97

"You!" Farris's face burned red with embarrassment as he peered down through the clear glass railing,breathing a sigh of relief when he didn't spot Marissa below.

"She didn't catch that, did she?" he asked nervously, not having gotten a good look at who'd called out before he'd made a complete fool of himself.

His gut told him it was probably the woman who'd come upstairs with Theodore earlier.

He hadn't even had a shot at sweeping her off her feet, and already he'd blown it-definitely not his usual smooth operator routine.

"Theodore?" Farris noticed Theodore giving him the cold shoulder, so he hauled himself up from the lounge chair, shook out his aching arm, and thick-skinned as ever, sidled over."Come on-we're family.We practically grew up in each other's pockets. How about throwing me a bone here? Let me take a crack at that woman? I'm telling you, it was love at first sight."

Theodore shot him a look, his face an unreadable mask, his tone carrying an edge of warning. "Keep your distance from her."

Farris stopped in his tracks, then eyed him with growing suspicion. Was that woman actually someone Theodore had his eye on?

"But wait-aren't you already spoken for?" Farris felt his head spinning, his hand instinctively reaching for his phone, ready to dial up his aunt.

This was heavy. Theodore was planning to cut ties with the Curtises and parade another woman around right under their noses.

Wasn't that basically throwing down.the gauntlet?

"Theodore, you can't just play with fire like this!" Farris's expression shifted, concern creeping in. He knew Theodore inside and out, and there'd never been any women in his orbit. Now suddenly one showed up out of nowhere? It seemed he was totally smitten with her.

Theodore gave him a calm, measured glance and said in an even tone, "Don't go stirring up trouble."

"I'm not stirring up anything," Farris shot back defensively, but all he heard in response was the lounge door clicking shut.

Annoyed, he ran his fingers through his hair in frustration and pulled out his phone, thinking he'd blow off steam to his friends, but then Theodore's earlier warning echoed in his mind, and he hesitated.

"Damn it!" He tossed the phone onto the sofa and threw himself down beside it, wrestling with what to do.

A tap at the door broke through his thoughts.

"Come in!" Farris figured it was room service and called out without bothering to move.

The hotel had tight security-no way could anyone get in without a room card.

After a few beats of silence, Farris muttered under his breath and dragged himself up to answer the door.

"What's wrong?Why-"

The words died on his lips as the door swung open, revealing the very woman who'd been occupying his thoughts standing right there in front of him.

Before he could stop himself, Farris swallowed hard, the sound embarrassingly loud in the quiet hallway.

The woman was stunning-her features perfectly sculpted. She looked just as surprised to see him, a flicker of confusion dancing across her face.

"You..." Farris meant to ask if she was looking for Theodore, but what came out instead was,"Hi,I'm Farris Patel. What's your name? Want to be friends?"

He stared at her eagerly, his gaze glued to her face, not daring to let his eyes wander south.

It wasn't that he didn't want to-he just didn't dare.

The woman standing before him wore no expression at all,radiating an icy coolness that could freeze water. Oh man.

He'd gone and fallen head over heels for Theodore's woman and now wanted to make his move!

"Want to come in?" Farris felt his cheeks warm, his eyes bright with hope as he pulled the lounge door open wider in invitation.

"No thanks." Marissa shot him down without hesitation.

An invitation to step into someone's room often carried more weight than just crossing a threshold.

Lillian had griped to her once about how somne guy she'd met while riding motorcycles had added her on WhatsApp and jumped to conclusions that he was her boyfriend.

Lillian had been furious-blocked him on the spot and had Benny wipe out all his social media accounts.

Even as Marissa turned him down, Farris's eyes still brimmed with puppy-dog devotion. He wasn't put off one bit, shamelessly pressing on. "Can I at least get your contact info?"

Before Marissa could reply, Farris cut in again, "Hang on a second."

Marissa figured he was going to fetch Theodore, so she turned and leaned back against the corridor wall.

Farris moved in a flash, terrified she'd bolt. Clutching his phone, his heart sank when he didn't see her right away,but then he caught the sound of the voice he'd been dying to hear.

"Where is he?" Marissa asked, seeing only Farris and no trace of Theodore anywhere.

"Huh?" Farris, looking somewhat dazed and confused, fumbled to pull out his phone. "We should exchange WhatsApp numbers! What's your name, anyway? You're gorgeous-honestly, the most beautiful girl l've ever laid eyes on. Like an angel."

For a few seconds, Marissa just looked at Farris, saying nothing. Now she understood why Theodore had told her not to pay attention to this guy. He was a complete airhead.

As Farris rambled on, he inched closer to the woman he was clearly smitten with, a goofy grin spreading across his face. They were standing side by side now, and as Farris closed the gap, Marissa found herself boxed in, her back pressed against the wall.

Marissa didn't budge an inch at his invasion of her space, crossing her arms, her whole bearing cold and commanding.

"Shameless jerk," she sneered.

Farris's eyes darkened, a flash of irritation crossing his features, but he quickly acted like he hadn't heard a thing, his interest still running strong as he kept moving in. "Hey beautiful, running into each other again must be fate. Come on, let's be friends, yeah?"

"Who do you think you are?" Marissa shot back, looking him up and down.

He didn't deserve to be in her circle-not by a long shot.

Farris's mind jumped to some unpleasant memories, his brow creasing. But just as quickly, something seemed to click, realization washing over his face as he stuck out his hand. "Hello, I'm Farris Patel,Theodore's cousin. So are you and my cousin an item? Do you know that he..."

Farris's voice trailed off, the words left dangling in the air.