Sweet Subterfuge

Chapter 91

“What?” Kevan asked in confusion.

“Your face-” Larissa’s laugh was a little forced.

Kevan immediately understood her meaning and raised his hand to wipe his face.

But when he removed his hand and looked at it, there was nothing there.

“Not there- Larissa leaned forward and brushed away the smudge on his face with two fingers.

Her fingertips were warm against his skin. Even though the interaction lasted less than two seconds, it still. made his body temperature skyrocket.

His blood seemed to have all rushed to his brain, staining the skin above his neck red.

Kevan thanked her again, but his voice was hoarser than it was the first time.

He pulled out two pieces of tissue and handed them to Larissa. “Here, wipe your hands.”

Having said that, he straightened his posture and started the car once more.

Because they’d left so early, they did not encounter any traffic. The journey from the city center to Starry Mountain had only taken them approximately two hours.

Starry Mountain was a highly–rated scenic area in Covenford. In order to preserve its natural surroundings, the area hadn’t been extensively developed. There were no ready–made tar roads, so to reach the summit, they could only hike or take the cable car.

Larissa had initially thought that Kevan would pick the latter. His goal was to attend an event in Starville

Hotel, not hike. Plus, the cable car was a more time–efficient way to reach the peak. Yet, he headed straight for the winding trails by the cable car, surprising her completely.

Larissa mustered enough courage to tug at his jacket. “Are we not taking the cable car?” she asked after garnering his attention.

Kevan emptied his pockets. There was nothing inside other than his phone.

“I didn’t bring any money,” he told her truthfully.

Unfortunately, neither did Larissa.

The staff manning the ticket booth for the cable car expressed apologetically. “I’m sorry, we only accept payments in cash.”

Larissa could only accept her fate and began hiking upward with Kevan.

She supposed she should be grateful that she’d worn a pair of sneakers when she left the house today.

As Larissa was almost always busy with her work and hardly left her house even during her days off, she rarely exercised, and her stamina was extremely weak. Hall an hour had barely passed when she was already

gasping for breath, her arms braced on her knees as she stood by the hiking trail, too tired to move another

muscle.

Kevan had been hiking with the same speed as her, carefully maintaining a two to three–step distance

between the two of them. When she stopped, he turned around immediately.

“Do you need a break?” he asked, his voice steady, as if he didn’t even need to catch his breath at all.

Larissa nodded.

Her throat was so parched that she found it difficult to speak.

The sides of the hiking trail were steep, and there was no place for them to sit and rest.

Fortunately, there was no one else on the trail with them, so Larissa sat directly on the steps with Kevan

standing beside her.

Just then, a man carrying a few boxes of mineral water passed by them. He kept on glancing at them curiously

as he ascended.

‘Tired already, missy?”

Larissa was so exhausted that she didn’t even have the energy to retaliate. She could only grumble inwardly.

Kevan stopped the man and asked, “How much are you selling these for?”

“These are not for sale! I have to bring them up to the store on the mountain!” the man replied immediately.

“How much further until we reach the closest store?” Kevan asked instead.

The man raised a brow as he attempted to estimate the distance. “About the distance from the foot of the

mountain to where you are now.”

Despair filled her heart upon hearing the man’s words.

“I’ll just buy one.” Kevan took out a ten–dollar bill from God knows where and slid it into the man’s palm. “You can keep the change and give it to the store as compensation.”

The man eventually gave them two bottles of water.

“No, I do not want to take that much money from you. When you reach the top, go ask the store manager for

your change, alright?”

The man soon left with his boxes. Kevan twisted open a bottle of water and handed it to Larissa. She gulped

down half of it without pausing. From NôvelDrama.Org.

When the scorching feeling in her throat had mostly subsided, she raised her head and glared at Kevan as she demanded, “You clearly have money, so why did you lie to me at the foot of the mountain earlier?”