CHAPTER 78: CHAPTER 78: "QQ" LINGERIE

Holly’s mind hadn’t caught up yet, but her hand instinctively ended the video call.

She tossed aside her phone, yet the images from the video she had just seen kept replaying in her mind vividly.

Water droplets sliding down chest muscles... abs... thigh muscles... and further down, wrapped in a towel...

What a... what a... what a seductive scene of a male beauty getting out of the bath!

Holly covered her face and shook her head, trying to shake out the "unwholesome" images from her mind.

She touched her burning face and ran to the bathroom to wash her face with cold water.

She took a few deep breaths in front of the mirror.

Pull yourself together, Holly!

It’s just the beginning, isn’t it?

After all, you’ve seen everything that should and shouldn’t be seen, it just caught you off guard earlier!

Yes, that’s it!

Given another chance, she definitely wouldn’t react like that.

Whether it was fate hearing her words or responding to her self-comforting, her phone rang again, and it was a video call invitation from Blake Sinclair.

Holly took a deep breath, picked up her phone, walked back to the bed, and calmly pressed the answer button.

As soon as the video connected, she heard Blake Sinclair’s low, soft chuckle from the other end, "Why did you suddenly hang up earlier?"

This time the angle of the video was much more conventional; he was dressed in a black bathrobe, not as "risqué" as before.

However, the belt of the bathrobe was loosely tied, and the open neckline still offered a glimpse of his abs, adding a few more layers of elusive allure.

He must have just finished showering; his hair wasn’t completely dry yet, with a few damp strands resting on his forehead. He looked clean yet... irresistibly sexy.

Holly’s gaze faltered for a moment, then she lied through her teeth, making excuses, "Just now... the hotel’s internet wasn’t very good, it got accidentally disconnected."

Blake’s eyes twinkled with even more amusement, without exposing her pretext.

Feeling a bit uncomfortable under his gaze, Holly scrambled for words, "Why aren’t you... wearing any clothes?"

Blake raised an eyebrow teasingly and glanced down.

Holly quickly rephrased, "No! I mean, why are you wearing a bathrobe at home?"

Blake replied naturally, "My sleepwear is being washed and hasn’t dried yet."

"Oh...."

"I saw your message earlier and didn’t want to keep you waiting too long, so I didn’t have time to change."

"....Oh."

Holly felt the temperature of her cheeks begin to spiral out of control again.

At that moment, the video on his end seemed to shake accidentally as Blake adjusted the phone’s angle.

This slight movement made the already loose neckline of his bathrobe open even wider, and Holly inadvertently caught a view of his abs and lower torso.

Her mind went blank.

After he adjusted the view, Blake brought the phone a little closer.

His amber eyes seemed to hold an enchanting magic that could penetrate through the screen into someone’s soul.

Holly’s heartbeat quickened unconsciously, and as she tried to look away, her gaze accidentally glimpsed the revealing view beneath the wide-open bathrobe again.

She felt a dryness in her throat, "Maybe you should... tie up your bathrobe first?"

Blake deliberately raised an eyebrow, confused, "Hmm?"

Holly braced herself and talked nonsense seriously, "I... I’m just worried you’ll catch a cold! Yes, catch a cold!"

She tried hard to make her words sound full of righteous concern, but the tips of her ears turning red betrayed her.

On the other end, Blake observed her, clearly flustered and trying to appear calm, and secretly curled his lips in a smile.

He didn’t tease her further but lifted his hands, slowly and methodically re-tying the bathrobe belt.

However, Holly overestimated her own resolve.

The abs might have been concealed, but Blake’s face was still there! His natural aura of restraint was inescapable.

Holly felt that Blake was like some demon from "Journey to the West," exuding threads of candy and constantly tempting from across the screen.

She looked at him, and he at her.

Neither said a word.

"Is the exhibition going well? Have you been around the surrounding area?"

Blake naturally tossed out a topic, finally breaking the awkward silence from before.

Holly nodded, "Yeah, it’s going pretty well. Yesterday I went to see the night view by the river."

"Seems like you’re having a great time."

Holly smiled.

Then, she suddenly remembered her "mission to pursue someone" had been interrupted for three days.

Imitating Blake’s earlier words, she quickly tried to add on, "How... about you? Have you been busy with work these past few days? Are you eating on time?"

She regretted it right after asking; her question sounded too straightforward, like fulfilling a routine, so stiff.

However, on the other end of the screen, Blake’s expression didn’t change much. Only the amusement in his eyes seemed to deepen.

His deep laughter came through the phone, carrying a magnetic, husky undertone, "I’m going to work on time, eating on time, and... thinking of you on time."

The last few words were said lightly, like a lover’s whisper.

Holly: "!!!"

Her mouth opened involuntarily, but no words came out, she just stared blankly at the person on the screen.

Damn it!

Clearly, she was the one proactively pursuing him, so why does it feel like she’s the one being flirted with now?

Really pathetic, being led astray by just a few words of his.

She felt a bit frustrated, why couldn’t she think of such top-level flirtation tactics herself?

My internet teachers, your skills need further refining.

Holly cleared her throat, clumsily changing the subject, "Uh..... my packages, are they... are they all there?"

"They’re all here, three boxes in total," he replied.

"Could you... conveniently open them for me? I want to see if I need to return any."

"Alright," Blake agreed readily.

The video image wobbled with his movement as he held the phone, walking to the living room, finding a suitable spot to set it down, then began unboxing the packages.

The first two were quickly opened, revealing the car hangers and aromatherapy she had bought.

Blake held them up for her to see, then started on the last pink parcel box.

On Holly’s end, just as the sound of the knife slicing through the tape came through, a new message from Celia popped up at the top of her phone:

[Senior! Just a heads-up! Remember to open that pink box alone ～(smirking.jpg)]

Seeing her mischievous emoji, Holly had an ominous feeling wash over her.

She quickly looked up at the video, and perfectly timed, locked eyes with Blake’s gaze.

On the screen, Blake was holding a light pink spaghetti strap romper, the trim was lace, and the fabric was almost transparent.

Holly was stunned.

Blake seemed taken aback for a moment too.

But, it wasn’t over!

He pulled out another item from the box.

This one was even spicier; a red spaghetti strap, with scant fabric that could only cover a few key areas, not really qualifying as clothes.

Holly felt her mind completely explode, blood rushing to her head.

She wanted to dig a hole and crawl into it!

This! Was this what Celia meant by "secret weapon" and "drastic measures"?!

Lingerie!??