Chapter 4

"J-Just stop it," I pushed his face with my palm. "Whatever you think I want to 'taste' from you, keep it. I'm not interested."

"Can you still say that when we're married?" he said after lowering my hand. "I'm just kidding, Lyl, but it seems I like what's on your mind."

"You're so lewd!" I hissed at him.

He chuckled. "So, you really do have lewd thoughts?"

I froze. I was caught, oh my God! "No!" I defended, my eyes wide. "Just get out of here! I can't breathe properly!"

"Fine, fine... stop pushing me," he said, laughing as he moved away from me. "I didn't know you knew about that kind of thing. You're not that innocent. It's possible."

I glared at him. "What's possible? You want to taste something?"

"I already offered earlier, but you refused," he said with a smirk.

I gave him a sharp look. "One more, Raze. You still owe me an apology."

"For not coming back last night? Like I said, I was taking care of our wedding."

"Are you in a hurry?"

"Yes, you might still get away."

A moment of silence passed.

"A-Am I a fish? T-That can just get away?"

We avoided each other's gaze, and after a moment, I heard him chuckle softly. "Sorry, slipped out."

"Huh?"

"Nothing," he shrugged. This captain was really something. "Maybe you want to close your legs? You're sitting with them wide open." After he said that, he closed the door while I stared blankly at my spread legs.

"Raze!" I covered my face with my hands.

I only now realized that my legs were wide open! How embarrassing! Why did he only say it now?! He was such a pain!

When he sat in the driver's seat, I curled up and turned my back to him.

"What are you doing? Does your stomach hurt? Or are you just avoiding me?" I could hear the playfulness in his voice. He's teasing me! How irritating!

"Are you having fun?" I faced him and sat properly. "When is the wedding? Why do you seem to be in such a hurry?"

"You'll know," he said and started driving. "You'll find out soon enough since you'll be my wife."

"Once we get married, will my debt be paid?"

He glanced at me. "Nope. You still have one million debts."

Damn it! I thought it would be paid off, but it wasn't. "You should have made it clear," I complained.

"We'll get there soon."

"I'm impatient."

"I know."

"Raze!"

I was getting annoyed with him!

"Once we're married, one million of your debt will be paid. I also won't have your house and eatery demolished," he clarified.

"What about the remaining one million?"

"I'll think about it—don't pressure me, Lyl."

"I know!"

He glanced at me. "What are you thinking?"

"I'll be your helper," I suggested. I screamed when he suddenly braked. "Raze! Do you want us to get into an accident?!"

"Sorry, what did you say again?"

"I said I'll be your helper so I can gradually pay you back! Get yourself together!"

"I thought you'd be my helper in making babies," he muttered, but I didn't hear him.

"Did you say something?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Nothing. I said, I'll think about it," he said with a smile.

"Why the smile? You're plotting something, aren't you?" I poked his cheek repeatedly. "You're planning something against me, aren't you?"

"Stop it, Lyl, I'm driving," he said, stopping me while smiling like an idiot.

"You're plotting something, aren't you? Tell me..." I stopped bothering him when he caught both of my hands.

"Silly, I don't have any plans yet. Maybe in the next few days, I will."

"I knew it! I don't want to get married anymore!" I pulled my hands away from him, and he laughed.

"Are you sure about that?"

I didn't say anything. It was up to him.

"Lyl... one."

Go ahead and count, I don't care.

"Two—"

"Will we get married in a church? Can't we just have a private ceremony?"

Now it was his turn to fall silent. I suddenly felt guilty. There was nothing wrong with my question, right?

"They won't believe it," he replied coldly.

"Will everyone attend the wedding?"

"Everyone."

"Do they know that—"

"Stop questioning me."

He was so moody, I swear. Sometimes sweet, sometimes grumpy, sometimes—he was hard to spell out. What would it be like when we were married? I might not last long. Then again, this was just a deal anyway.

When we arrived at the market, I didn't wait for him to open the door for me and got out first, carrying my woven bag for the vegetables and fish.

I saw him park the car and was about to follow me, but someone stopped him, who I thought were his colleagues from the district. He was a distict captain after all.

I went deep inside the market and shopped for fresh vegetables, fish, and ingredients to sell later. I also bought some meat but not too much because it was expensive—

"Give it to me," I looked up at the man who snatched my bags. "Please add more meat."

"Oh, it's you, Captain," the vendor glanced at me briefly before adding more meat to the scale. "Is this enough?"

"Add more," he ordered, so the vendor added more again. "That's enough. How much?"

"Five hundred pesos only, Captain."

Raze gave him a thousand. "Keep the change."

"But—"

"Let's go, Lyl."

I couldn't protest anymore when he took my hand and pulled me along. People kept staring and whispering.

"What else do we need?" he asked while walking straight ahead. "Lyl?"

"Huh?" I blinked. I didn't realize I had been staring at him for a while. "N-Nothing more," I said, looking down.

"Rice?"

"N-Not anymore—"

He stopped at a rice stall. "Two sacks of rice. Please deliver them to my car."

"C-Captain!" The vendor seemed to have just recovered because he rubbed his eyes. It was probably the first time he saw Raze again. "Well, look who it is! You're back, Captain Raze."

Raze nodded at him with a smile. "Yes, just the other day. How much is everything?"

The vendor hadn't even answered when Raze handed him five thousand pesos. "Captain, this is too much—"

"It's alright, just take it."

I thought he was stingy? Why was he giving away money?

"Thank you, Cap. Is this your girlfriend?"

I was about to answer when he beat me to it. "She will be my wife," Raze replied with a smile.

"Well, that's great!" I secretly chuckled when the vendor even clapped his hands. "You two look perfect together! Both good-looking people!"

I felt Raze staring at me, so I looked up at him. "What?"

"Are you still mad at me?"

"Do I look mad?" I shook my head, which made him smile. "Do I look angry, Captain?"

"You're so kissable."

I gently slapped him without thinking. "You're at it again."

There were so many people around, and here he is, talking about kiss.

"What are you thinking then?" he smirked.

I glared at him. "I'm not thinking about anything! Let's go home. You're starting to tease me again."

We said goodbye to the vendor, and then pulled him out of the market.

"Raze?" our attention turned to the woman who called him.

"S-Sheila?"

They knew each other?