Sweet Talker

"Is there something wrong with this dress?"

Irene was suddenly anxious because Sebastian didn't say anything. It wasn't that she cared about his opinion, but if he didn't like it, maybe others would hate the dress as well. 

"I'll try another dress," said Irene.

As she walked to the fitting room, Sebastian held her hand. He smiled broadly, his eyes shining with adoration. "You're beautiful."

The tone of his voice was soft and warm, like someone who loved his lover dearly. Irene was taken aback by his behavior, if only she didn't know that Sebastian acted like this to impress other people around them, she might have already fallen head over heels in love with him.

"I thought you didn't like it." Irene turned her face away because she couldn't bear to look at Sebastian's face any longer. 

"Nonsense." Sebastian stroked her hand and said, "Any dress can fit you perfectly, but this one ... it's more than perfect."

Good heavens. 

It seemed that Irene had made a mistake in accepting Sebastian's marriage proposal. At first she thought it would be easy not to fall in love with Sebastian, but after spending a few days with him, Irene doubted whether or not she could control her heart.

Fortunately, Irene's heart was still as solid as a rock after Daniel's betrayal, so it took a long time for her heart to completely melt for Sebastian.

"Don't flatter me too much." Irene pushed him aside so that she could clearly see her appearance in the mirror.

"Why?" Sebastian circled around her waist so that Irene could no longer move away from him. "Are you embarrassed? Or because you couldn't handle a little compliment?"

Irene clicked her tongue. "You're delusional."

She wanted to get out of this situation right away, because the stares of the other people made her feel uncomfortable, too. "Miranda, we agree to use your design for our wedding."

Miranda smiled broadly, happy that a bride from the Delacroix family would use her design. She immediately asked her assistant to take care of the contract and help Irene get dressed.

"I'll make sure you look beautiful on your wedding day, Miss Russell." Miranda handed her a bag of souvenirs before they left her boutique. "You can come back for a fitting when your dress is ready."

Irene replied nonchalantly, but she made sure to put a smile on her face. "I can't wait."

After they left, her smile immediately disappeared and was replaced by a flat expression. The bouquet of roses that had been carefully held before was immediately placed in a paper bag.

"I thought you liked flowers," Sebastian said as he saw his gift being treated roughly, even some of the rose petals had fallen off.

"I do like flowers." Irene glanced out of the corner of her eye. "But I don't like waiting."

She hinted at Sebastian's late departure. She knew that he wanted to impress other people, but she hated waiting uncertainty. "You almost embarrassed me in front of Miranda and her assistant."

"I didn't pretend to be late." Sebastian took the paper bag and didn't let Irene carry it anymore. "That's why I apologized to you."

Irene almost asked 'when', but turned her eyes to the bouquet of flowers. However, she couldn't just take his word for it. "Liar. You seemed to enjoy it too much."

Sebastian chuckled. "Like I said, I like your surprised look. Besides, this flower is not a token for my apology." He stretched his hand and let Irene take it. "Let me give you a proper apology for being late, darling."

How could Irene resist his invitation? With that perfect smile and that gorgeous face, he might be able to make anyone obey his words.

"Please, stop trying so hard to be a gentleman. No one will see you anyway." 

To be honest, Irene wanted to avoid his gentle manner for now. Perhaps because others often treated her badly, her heart became weak whenever someone was gentle and kind to her.

Unfortunately, Irene would be even more hurt if such a person with a gentle temperament betrayed her in the future.

"This isn't an act," Sebastian murmured.

Before Irene could open her mouth, Sebastian had already spoken again, "Let's go see your present. He continued, "Oh, maybe we won't go home tonight. Is that okay with you?"

"It's not like I have anything to do at home. But where are we going?"

Sebastian curved his lips up. "It's a surprise."

Irene rolled her eyes. She disliked things that were uncertain, but Sebastian seemed to take great pleasure in surprising her.

Well, at least he had something she hated, so she didn't have to worry about her heart completely melting for him.

When they got into his car, Irene couldn't find his driver, so she guessed that Sebastian truly loved to drive alone when he wanted to do something private.

"It's getting late. Aren't you afraid you'll be tired at work tomorrow?" reminded Irene.

Sebastian replied calmly. "I've already asked my secretary to clear my schedule for tomorrow. You know, I deserve a vacation after working non-stop like a slave."

"Oh, but hard work can put a lot of money in your pocket, Mr. Delacroix." 

He chuckled. "My pockets will not be empty just because I refuse to work for one day, my dear gold digger." Sebastian stepped on the accelerator, then said, "And please, just Sebastian is fine."

Irene scoffed at him, "Now you want to befriend the gold digger."

He shrugged. "Why not? The gold digger is quite beautiful."

She rolled her eyes. "Sweet talker."

Irene leaned her head against the window, watching the road and the light of the city as they passed. After a long time, she finally realized that Sebastian was driving his car into the suburbs, away from the noise of the capital.

"I thought you were taking me to the hotel," Irene accused.

Sebastian just answered her with a laugh. As his mouth curved up, his eyes narrowed slightly and a faint dimple appeared on his cheek.

Irene kept her eyes on him, noticing every detail of his face as the street light hit the car. Sometimes she regretted that such a handsome face never made it into magazines or paparazzi cameras.

As she lowered her eyes, she noticed a small stitch under his chin. It wasn't very visible, so Irene never noticed it before.

She reached out and touched his chin. "You have a scar there. When did you get it?"

Sebastian looked at her hand briefly before looking forward again. "I forget. Maybe when I was 10 or 12? It's no big deal anyway. I just fell in the park and hit a stone."

Irene stroked it gently. "Well, you must be a bad boy when you're little."

He smiled. "Who knows."

After a while, Irene finally saw something other than a boring road. Not far from them, the vast ocean stretched endlessly in front of her. 

She couldn't see the blue ocean clearly under the night sky, but the soft sound of the waves echoed through the car even with the windows closed, as if the sea itself was welcoming them.

"Surprise," Sebastian said softly. "This is my compensation for stressing you out at my family dinner."