Addiction to Temptation: His Mischievous Sweetheart Captivates Him-Chapter 71: Natalie Vaughn: You’re Not Man Enough
Natalie Vaughn was caught up in the dilemma of whether Zane Thorne was up to par, staying awake until three or four in the morning before finally falling asleep. Her sleep was restless, filled with complex and chaotic dreams.
Floating and sinking, shadows intertwined.
The scenes in the dream were dim and oppressive, full of noise, and once Natalie woke up, she couldn’t remember anything except that Zane appeared in the dream.
In the dream, Zane was still as arrogant and reckless as ever.
Natalie frowned; every time she had such a dream, she would get a headache.
Beside her, Zane’s presence was already gone, the bed completely cold, indicating he had been up for a while.
Natalie felt quite irritable; she hated having such dreams, which left her unable to help but try to recall them, only to remember nothing, all in vain.
She splashed cold water on her face several times, finally feeling a bit more awake.
Going downstairs, she immediately saw the culprit—Zane—sitting on the sofa watching TV, seemingly at ease.
Natalie felt a rush of anger.
"So noisy."
At her words, the man on the sofa looked up at Natalie at the staircase.
Her hair was casually pinned up, slightly messy, and there was some undried water on her fair, delicate face, her eyebrows furrowed.
Zane raised his eyebrows.
Who ticked her off this early in the morning, making her so furious?
Understanding that the young lady wasn’t one to suppress her emotions, Zane didn’t intend to add fuel to the fire; he used the remote to mute the TV.
Suddenly, the expansive house fell into silence.
The man on the sofa just raised his eyebrow, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth as he watched the young lady at the staircase.
Natalie pursed her lips, feeling a bit unaccustomed to this agreeable Zane.
And what’s he smiling about? What’s there to laugh at?
In such a big house, every little sound seemed to be magnified.
For example, Natalie was opening the fridge to drink some water when, even though Zane couldn’t see anything from his angle, he spoke up the moment she unscrewed the bottle cap.
"There’s breakfast and warm milk on the table."
Natalie paused mid-motion.
Drinking cold water in the morning was a habit she picked up after moving in because she was too lazy to make warming milk her first task of the day.
Half-convinced, she screwed the cap back on and glanced at the dining table, where indeed breakfast and milk awaited her.
Now it was Natalie’s turn to be surprised.
"Did you make this?"
Right after asking, she figured it couldn’t be, and seeing the kitchen untouched only confirmed her suspicion.
Zane snorted, saying nothing, silently continuing to watch TV.
Indeed, how could someone like Zane stoop to enter the kitchen and prepare breakfast? Most likely, he called a restaurant to deliver it.
Still, the gesture was enough to calm Natalie’s morning irritation.
The unruly son of the Thorne Family, no matter how domineering and arrogant, still prepared breakfast for her, didn’t he?
The milk’s temperature was just right, soothing her parched throat from the night, and Natalie’s mood instantly lifted, her thoughts shifting to Zane.
"I didn’t know you had a habit of watching TV."
Zane paused his bored channel surfing, lifting his gaze to Natalie, who was nibbling at her breakfast.
"Then what should I be doing?"
This question genuinely stumped Natalie.
To her knowledge of Zane, aside from eating, drinking, smoking, archery, and racing, there was nothing else.
Zane couldn’t possibly be drinking forever, nor racing eternally. Moreover, he had retired, wasn’t even working as a coach, merely the owner of a club.
She’d never heard of him having a steady job.
So what did Zane do with his time?
The more she thought about it, the more Natalie realized her understanding of Zane was superficial.
"Are you like this at your own home?"
Natalie propped her chin with one hand, fiddling with the empty milk cup. Watching TV seemed so out of character for Zane.
Especially...
Natalie glanced at the current broadcast of a certain dance group’s vibrant performance, squinting slightly.
Stylish waistlines and long legs, definitely appealing to men.
Does Zane enjoy watching these?
"No."
The pure girl group on TV switched to a sultrier girl group; Natalie’s brow furrowed.
"Then what do you do at home?"
"Sleep."
The sultry girl group started hip winding even with the sound off, and the atmosphere remained sizzling; Natalie’s complexion worsened.
Her tone turned brisk.
"So you sleep at your house and watch girl groups at mine, huh?"
Her words dripped with sarcasm.
Zane finally realized he hadn’t changed the channel for a while and noticed the show’s content.
He naturally discerned Natalie’s bothersome concern over the visuals.
Letting go of the remote, he tossed it aside, focusing intently on the screen. Half a minute later, the man offered a comment.
"The third one from the left has a nice figure."
Natalie: ...
The anger that the milk had soothed instantly flared back up.
"What’s the use of a good figure when you can’t have her."
Saying this, Natalie brazenly stared at the man’s widely spread legs.
Zane’s eyes flickered, unsure if Natalie’s reaction was jealousy, but he genuinely enjoyed her prickly demeanor.
He also enjoyed teasing her like this.
"And why can’t I?"
With amusement in his gaze, Zane watched the fuming Natalie, anticipating her mentioning marriage and protesting as Mrs. Thorne, when Natalie suddenly scoffed.
"You’re just not up to it."
Zane furrowed his brow; regardless of the meaning, the man did not wish to be associated with the idea of "not up to it."
What puzzled him was Natalie’s mouth’s faintly mocking smile suggesting her "not up to it" meant the kind of man’s most dreaded "not up to it."
"..."
Why wasn’t he up to it?
How did she conclude he wasn’t up to it?
If he weren’t up to it, would he have needed several bottles of iced water just because she kissed his brow last night?
At this point, Zane also realized when Natalie said those words, her gaze was fixed on the space between his legs.
"..."
This young woman really wasn’t shy.
Zane glanced down without any discomfort, his long legs still stretched wide, and reached out to Natalie.
"Come over here."
Natalie eyed him warily.
"What for?"
The man let out a cold snort.
"To show you whether I’m up to it or not."
Natalie: ...
Is Zane a pervert?
"No, you’re definitely not up to it."
Saying this, Natalie provocatively gave another glance at the space between his legs.
Zane: ...
He wasn’t particularly patient, especially on matters of dignity. Not caring whether Natalie would come over, he directly stood and walked towards her.
Natalie quickly jumped off her chair, moving behind the table.
"What do you want?"
Zane’s eyes were deep, mouth set in a firm line, his voice tense with a hint of intimidation.
"You tell me what I want?"
