Married To My Billionaire Stepbrother novel Chapter 45

Chapter 45: Closeness

Natalie stuttered slightly, caught off guard. "I was just checking to see if you were doing it right and won’t ruin my vegetables."

"I almost sensed a pervert here," he commented, picking up another vegetable to wash.

"Don’t get carried away with your imagination," she snapped back, frowning as she turned to face her side of the kitchen counter.

"It’s your imagination that seems questionable," he retorted smoothly.

Was he up to getting on her nerves again? Just a while ago in the bedroom, how well he talked like a gentleman, almost making her forget about his mean side. But now he was back to his annoying self, making her want to beat him up.

She nearly slammed the pot she was holding onto the counter and spun around to face him. "What do you mean? What did I imagine?"

Seeing her riled up once more, only prompted him to tease her more.

"Maybe you liked my hands," he suggested with a smirk, "and who knows what else you were thinking."

"Shut up, alright? I was just thinking that you have good hands, and I might want to draw them. It’s an artist thing, something a narcissist like you wouldn’t understand," she shot back, turning her focus back to her work.

"You know how to draw?" he asked, his tone more serious.

"You don’t need to know," she replied curtly, clearly not interested in sharing more.

Natalie felt like she was wrong to ask Justin to help her in the kitchen. She did it because she didn’t want to leave Justin alone with Albert in case her grandpa asked him something which he might answer wrong and ended up exposing her. If not for that, she wouldn’t even have allowed him to step in her kitchen.

She heard Justin again.

"Well, I assure you that not just my hands, but my entire body is perfect that one can only dream about drawing. So, I can understand you whenever you stare at me, as you must have lacked perfectly handsome men around you. Having Ivan Brown as your first love is enough of a proof."

"Ever heard of the word ’humble’?" she shot back sarcastically as she moved closer to him, picking up the washed vegetables to chop.

"That’s a word for losers who love to act ignorant, hoping others will praise them and boost their ego," he replied smoothly, handing her the remaining vegetables. Their gazes met. "But I’m more familiar with something called ’being self-aware,’ which I am."

She narrowed her eyes at him, irritated. "You seem to have a very wrong sense of self-awareness." She snatched the vegetables from his hand, intending to show her annoyance, but in her haste, she lost her balance.

Before she could stumble into the kitchen counter behind her, Justin quickly caught her.

Her hands instinctively clung to him, the vegetables slipping from her grasp and scattering across the floor.