Femme Fatale: The King's Deadly Temptress

Chapter 281: Pretense 5

The knowing smile on Damien's face caught Katherine off guard. What was he smirking for? And why was his hand casually resting on her thigh like it was nothing?

Yes, it felt nice but that's not the point!

She didn't know what he was playing at. He already knew she needed space and this wasn't 'space' at all. Her heart started racing and she looked up at him, raising a brow in question.

Thinking that he was going to remove his hand from her thigh, she waited but all he did was lift a shoulder to shrug and subtly pointed at Nana with his eyes as if he was telling her to 'play along' with him. 

She didn't know why she had to because Nana already knew that they had broken up. So what was the point? However, she agreed anyway, "Y-yeah. We did." After all, they did get along well too well.

Katherine curled the corners of her mouth upward to reveal a smile to him while her hand tried to brush his hand off her. Sitting next to him was fine but his hand on her thigh was too much for her. 

However, her attempt was a failure because Damien was stronger and had used his strength to keep his hand in place. The two of them were having a hand war under the table while smiling at each other their jaws tense.

Nana had moved on and talked about another topic that Katherine and Damien had no idea about because they were too busy trying to outdo the other.

"Get your hand off me, Mr. Park," she whispered so that only the two of them could hear.

Damien's right brow twitched upon hearing her address him like that. It was far from what he wanted to hear and it only made him even more annoyed at her. No text response and now she was calling him 'Mister'? He scoffed. "Come on, Ms. Young. Nana said to keep 'in touch'. I'm just being a good boy and doing as I'm told."

Katherine wanted to wipe the smug look on his face harshly with her hand. What was wrong with him? Why was he being so difficult?

"Off. Now," she warned in a low voice.

His pride didn't want him to give up so he challenged her, "Make me."

The smile on Katherine's face disappeared as she answered, "As you wish."

*ThudClack*

"Ngh!!!" Damien whimpered as soon as Katherine stomped on his foot. The dinner table slightly shook as his knee involuntarily jerked after her attack and he removed his hand from her lap instantly.

Everyone's eyes fell on Damien and Nana probed, "Are you alright, Damien? What happened?"

Clearing his throat, he tried to keep his voice light but his eyes stared daggers at Katherine who had an innocent look on her face. He never thought she could do this to him. What a bully!

"I'm fine, Nana. Just ants," he muttered whilst still looking at Katherine.

"Oh, dear! Why would there be ants here?" Nana then turned to one of the servants who was waiting at the side and told her to thoroughly wash the floor and table afterward.

"That's because you're very sweet," Katherine told Damien as she patted his arm gently, her smile was genuinealmost laughing at him.

Though his toe was still slightly throbbing, seeing her smile like that caused his heart to skip a beat. He was almost blinded by her smile. She's truly a deadly temptress. One minute she's sweet or flirting, next she's either kneeing his balls or stepping on his toe.

Despite her harshness, he silently celebrated. All he wanted was to see her smile and he made it happen. At least he got her mind off the fact that they were currently sharing the same table with his uncle. 'That's right, Katherine Just smile like so. I'll try to make you smile as much as I could as long as you'd let me,' his heart quietly wished.

Damien tried to contain his smile but he failed and it slipped out. And as soon as it did, Katherine's smile was gone, replaced by an unreadable expression as she looked away and continued to eat her food in peace.

He straightened up and from time to time, he would add some more food on her plate just like he normally did before. Everything was just natural.

Katherine noticed this, of course, but she didn't comment on it. She allowed him to be nice to her because it felt good and honestly, she missed it.

Later, Nana was reminded of something and so she changed the subject again, "How is the preparation going for that upcoming gala, Frederick?"

"Ah, everything is almost set, Mother. I believe there are only a few more touches left," he answered.

Every year, the Park Family hosts two to three charity galas. The beneficiary for the mid-year charity gala would always be the Cancer Foundation. During last year's mid-year charity gala, Damien took Katherine as his date and made her wear the glowing ball gown. The other two charity galas would be either at the end months of the year or the beginning of the year. This time, it was November.

Nana turned to Damien and openly asked, "Have you found yourself a date yet, Damien?" Her question made Katherine and Damien look at her. 

With his brows furrowed in confusion, Damien started, "No, I do"

"Perfect! So you can ask Katherine then. The two of you will go together. That would be wonderful!" Nana interrupted, not allowing him to escape her trap.

Damien was speechless. What was Nana trying to do? A few weeks ago, he planned to go alone because having a date was unnecessary. But since Katherine came back, he hadn't given much thought about the gala and now that they were talking about it, it was obvious that Nana was trying to set him up with Katherinenot that he didn't appreciate it, but he didn't want her to think he would go with her just because Nana said so.

He could ask her himself and if she had said 'no', then he would go solo. Now that Nana was meddling again, Damien couldn't help but feel uneasy about what Katherine thought about going with him. Turning his head to look at her, he met her stare.

"I Uh" Katherine didn't know what to say. How could Nana just ask her like that with all the people in the room? Her hands started to sweat from all the attention she was getting.

She swore even Frederick Park looked like he was 'looking forward' to her answer. She cursed silently and gulped.

Sensing her discomfort, Damien calmly answered for her despite feeling disappointed because of her hesitation, "Nana, we don't need to trouble her. I'm sure Katherine's busy with a lot of things."

Katherine couldn't help but feel sad upon hearing Damien's answer. A part of her wanted him to ask her to go with him hearing him go with someone else would definitely suck but she was also thankful that he didn't push her.

"Nonsense! Katherine doesn't mind, right dear? I think it would be really nice to have her there, am I right Frederick?" Nana asked, switching her gaze between Katherine and Frederick.

Damien felt Katherine's tension after what Nana said. She was already doing so well since and now she was struggling. 

Very subtly, he brushed his knuckles on the side of her thigh in a soothing manner as though he was trying to tell her 'it's okay'.

As much as she didn't want to admit it, his gesture helped her regain her composure.

This chapter upload first at NovelBin.Com