Chapter 77: Took him to the local market

"What the hell, Harrison." Neil muttered through gritted teeth as he took in the crowd at the local market she had made him subconsciously drive her to. When she had told him to turn into the junction he had immediately turned his wheels towards the junction without a second thought.

To be honest he had been curious to know what she wanted to buy at a market _he hadn’t realized was a local market until she made him park his car in a shade far away. They had even walked the few distances only for him to be greeted with dozens of people moving around and heading towards the market.

What came over him that made him drive her here and even follow her to walk the distance? Neil thought as he looked around the crowded place with Mia already walking forward not even waiting for him. As if just noticing he wasn’t following her, she turned over her shoulder and frowned while putting her hands on her hips, "Why are you standing there? Let’s go before the crowd will finish buying the fresh groceries. You have no groceries at your condo and If I don’t buy them now, I won’t have any ingredients to cook with."

She planned to cook for him? Neil thought to himself. He had thought she wanted to get herself something at the market, but it turned out she wanted to do grocery shopping for his house.

For some reason he liked the idea of her cooking something for him at his place. Speaking of cooking, he hadn’t eaten since this morning as he had forgotten because of the investigation he was doing at Ivy Grove. He could feel his stomach growling, but he had been ignoring it. He hadn’t been taking the nutrition pills again after the side effects that made him vulnerable, nor was he eating properly.

Despite the fact that Neil liked the idea of eating another meal cooked by her, he wasn’t going to go against his own principles and go grocery shopping with a woman at a local market filled with dozens of people. He had never in his life escorted anybody to shop for anything in a fancy place not to mention a local market. And he wasn’t about to break that by going with her into that place where he could already imagine the strong stench of sweat and other things that would welcome him.

"Are you coming or not?" Mia, who was waiting for him frowned when he wasn’t walking towards her. She understood that he wasn’t used to places like this and perhaps he had never even been to a local market before, but she could only afford a place like this as she had planned to use her own money to buy everything. Besides, the things here were more fresh and better than those sold in fancy places.

Neil didn’t even attempt to move from his spot, he crossed his muscular arms against his chest and narrowed his eyes at the girl, who was standing a few inches away from him, and with his authoritative tone, he calmly said, "Use your short legs and walk back here, Harrison. If you want groceries, I will order them for you online. You are not going to buy anything from this place. Now start walking back to me." If she wanted groceries to cook for him, she should have just told him and he would get them ordered but she had made him walk with her all this way when he had better things to attend to today. Today was friday and he only had two days to prepare his soldiers for their monday mission at Ivy Grove.

Mia pursed her lips as she glanced down to look at her legs. She would only be considered short while standing next to him as he was so tall she had to tilt her head to meet his gaze, but compared to other woman, she was taller than an average woman!

"I don’t have short legs and I am not leaving this place until I get the things I want. If you don’t want to come along, then fine. Go and sit in your car and I will find you once I am done with my shopping." Mia ssid with a huff. She knew her way around and it would even be better if she was to go alone rather than take this arrogant man with her. She hadn’t even asked him to follow her in the first place he was the one who got out of his car and began to follow her, and she had assumed he wanted to go.

Not paying him anymore attention, Mia turned on her heels and began to walk away. Neil frowned at her audacity to walk away from him when he had told her to walk back. He ordered her to stop but she acted like he wasn’t even talking to her and raised her hand to make a shooing gesture for him to leave her alone. If only this girl knew how many men he had slain for disrespecting him, she wouldn’t have the audacity to always disobey his commands, she was probably the only person who got away with not taking his words seriously!

"The audacity of you, little girl." He muttered under his breath and also started to walk forward. If he had to drag her back to the car, he would do it just so she would learn to listen to him the next time he ordered her to do something!

However, Neil did no such thing as he saw how she was happily buying things from several stall owners. She stood before a stall filled with fresh tomatoes and other goods, her smile was bright as the morning sun as she picked the things she needed while speaking to the elderly man behind the stall. It was also at this moment that he realized the local market wasn’t as bad as he had thought. Vibrant colours and lively chatters surrounded the place, stall owners enthusiastically showcased their diverse array of goods, from fresh products to handmade crafts.

Even the air was filled with enticing aromas, blending the scent of spices, baked goods, and exotic fruits. As he was looking around, his eyes fell on a strange looking fruit that looked inviting, and without hesitation, Neil found himself walking towards the stall. He looked closely at the fruit and noticed it was something he had never seen or eaten.

Neil preferred fruit over other foods while he was at camp. He had already tried most fruits on earth, but he had never seen this particular red, almond-shaped fruit before. It piqued his curiosity with its foreign and mysterious appearance.

"Give me one of these," Neil said as he took out his wallet and handed the middle-aged man, who had been watching him admire the fruit, the money. The man hesitated, saying, "Sir, these fruits are for..." before Neil interrupted him.

"Are you selling them or not?" Neil questioned coldly, not in the mood to listen to any sales pitch. He simply wanted to taste the intriguing and delicious-looking fruit. He was only curious and not in the mood for conversation. He knew full well how market people could be chatty to their customers, but he wasn’t that customer.

Seeing the no-nonsense look in Neil’s eyes, the fruit seller quietly handed him one of the fruits and took the money. As Neil washed the fruit and took a bite, the seller hoped that his customer knew what he was buying and the purpose of the fruit.

Not bad. Neil thought as he finished eating the fruit and flung the seed away. He then walked towards Mia, who had just finished buying goods from the stall she had been standing.

Mia, who had thought her professor had returned to his car, was surprised to turn around only to collide with his firm form. She had almost lost her balance but she felt his strong arm wrapped around her waist to keep her from falling. Her cheeks heated up at the way his hand grabbed her waist. He pulled her to stand straight, "Such a clumsy girl you are, Harrison." He released her slim waist while using his finger to flick her forehand.

"Oww, that hurt." She rubbed her forehand while glaring up at him. She hadn’t thought he would follow her. "Why do you always call me by my last name instead of my first name?" She asked as she curiously looked up at him. She had noticed that he had never addressed her by her name.

"Because I want to." He replied curtly while rolling up his shirt sleeves to his elbow, revealing his toned forearms where the snake tattoo on his right forearm was showing. He didn’t stop there and also unbuttoned the top buttons of his shirt.

Mia’s innocent eyes subconsciously followed all of his action, and her face slightly turned red as she caught the glimpse of his chest. He then ran his fingers into his hair as he gritted his teeth, "Why is the weather so fucking hot today?" He muttered to himself in annoyance. He wiped the sweat from his brow as he felt the sun had suddenly seemed to burn. His heart rate increased as a wave of warmth spread inside him, making him feel uncomfortable. He wasn’t the kind to tolerate heat in any way as it always ruined his mood. However, this heat felt different. Even the air hung heavy with humidity, making his every breath feel like a laborious take.

What was wrong with him? Neil thought as he felt his body begin to feel funny from the inside.

"Are you alright?" Mia questioned with concern in her voice as she noticed how red his face was turning under the sun. He looked like he was about to throw up anytime soon. He nodded his head and hummed, "Hmm."

She doubted that because he seemed to be finding it hard to even speak. Though the weather was hot, it wasn’t that unbearable to Mia who was already used to being to the market on a sunny day.

Mia looked around, she knew a place where they sold cold refreshments, perhaps that would help him. "Hold this for me, I will get you something cold." She handed him the two grocery bags in her hand and he took them from her without a word while she ran in the opposite direction to go and get him the cold drinks.

Not long, Mia returned with four cold cans of Coke, she found him sitting at one of the chairs in front of the stall they had been standing minutes ago. He was looking down while still holding the bags she’d given him like an obedient child waiting for his mother to return. If only he would remain like this; obedient and easy going, but she knew he was only like this because he wasn’t feeling well. Mia thought as she approached him and opened one of the Coke cans and put a straw in it before handing it to him, "Here, have this. It might help with the heat."

He looked up at her from where he was sitting, his gray eyes appearing even darker and intimidating, and without a word, he moved his head forward and took the straw into his mouth and began to drink the cold Coke from her hand without taking his eyes from her face.

Mia noticed how he was drinking the Coke like it was his life source, and she couldn’t help but flush under his intense gaze that locked her in place.

Why was he starring at her like that? It almost felt like she was a prey and he was the predator keeping her in place as he feasted on his first meal before he would get back to her.

Mia swallowed hard, even the way he was sucking the drink through the straw was provocative enough to make her throat go dry and cause her mind to go blank for a moment. Does he have to suck the straw like that while giving her that look? Mia thought in distress as her hand shook. She would have given him to hold his drink by himself but he was still holding on to the bags she’d given him earlier. She might as well drop the drink if he didn’t stop looking at her like that while sucking the straw like he was sucking something else!

Even the people in the market couldn’t help but notice the two. To the people, the two looked like a couple who had come to shop together with the husband holding the bags while the wife fed him the drinks as he looked tired .

Though Mia thought the look he was giving her was intimidating, to the market people who were stealing glances at the couple, it appeared to them that the husband was lovingly looking at his wife as she fed him. Such a cute couple, it was rare to find couples shopping together these days and the elderly people couldn’t help but admire them. Unknown to them that the look Neil was giving Mia was far from loving, he was silently accusing her in his mind for being the reason he was burning from the inside with a strange lust and a sudden strong desire to have her in his bed at his house.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read