Crashing into an Old Flame
Chapter 139: Crime scene

Chapter 139: Crime scene

’’Ugh...’’ Diana groaned as she slowly opened her eyes.

Outside the French windows, the sky was pitch black as thunder strikes shone across the stretch of darkness, lightening the place occasionally.

Whether it was night or the dawn was nearing, she could not make out.

The television was still on but the channel had somehow changed from cartoon to news with headlines of an intense storm hitting southern California.

Diana sat up on the couch and glanced at the blankets draped over her body before looking at the pillow under her head.

Did she doze off when she was talking to Maxim?

She walked upstairs and went to Maxim’s room, following her memory from the noon.

When she pushed open the door, the scene that she witnessed warmed her heart.

Angel was sleeping peacefully on the bed with her hands above her head, tucked in a blanket while Maxim sat next to her, with a laptop on his lap.

’’What time is it?"

Maxim did not raise his head from the laptop, ’’Didn’t you check the clocks on your way here?"

’’I came to check on you both as soon as I woke up,’’ she strode inside the room.

’’So, do I get to be checked on too?" Maxim closed the laptop and put it on the bedside table.

Diana rolled her eyes, ’’You tucked me in such thick blankets. I woke up sweaty,’’ she said, changing the topic with a clear of her throat.

Of course, she was unabashedly exaggerating it. How else would she wake up sweaty in this cold weather?

’’Your clothes were almost drenched in the rain,’’ Maxim narrowed his eyes, ’’Couldn’t help you to a warm shower while you were sleeping so I decided to keep you warm with the blankets.’’

’’You...’’ her face flushed. Who wanted a shower from him?

Diana eyed the laptop on the bedside table before looking at him, ’’Why did you take the day off, Warner? You seem busy as it is.’’

She was confused about it no matter how she thought. Since the day she met him again, he barely took a day off like this, without any reasonable cause.

’’I was looking at the patient’s information that you have mailed me,’’ he extended his hand towards her.

She did not take it, ’’So, can I assume that you missed your mom so you came over for lunch today?" Diana did not know why she was probing about it. Was it important why he came here? It was so trivial but she wanted to know why he showed up right when she decided to keep a distance from him.

He quirked a brow, and sighed as he looked at his empty hand before taking it back, ’’You want me to be honest?"

’’Depends,’’ Diana gulped.

’’On what?" he asked.

She averted her gaze, ’’Whether I will like your honesty.’’

"I doubt that,’’ he said with a contemplative gaze, ’’I doubt you would like it.’’

His gaze seemed to be emitting heat because Diana suddenly felt suffocated standing in his presence.

’’Or you just don’t have a decent explanation. Maybe Dr. Warner just got lazy and took a day off to slack. That’s something your work ethic would frown at,’’ she mocked him to deflect the tension in the air.

But he brushed off her excuse with a tilt of his lips, ’’Or maybe I didn’t want to be ignored by you for another week or so,’’ he said.

Diana swallowed, ’’W-Why would I ignore you?"

’’Once you moved to your new place, I was given cold shoulders for no reason. We had a decent conversation over the phone call and the next day, I was treated like air...’’

’’That was...’’ That was because I was trying to control myself from pouncing on you. Staying away is the best option to deflect whatever strange things happen to me in your presence.

The explanation was resting at the tip of her tongue but the cat would be out of the bag the moment she uttered those words.

And hence, she stayed put and did not say anything.

’’So, you do agree that you ignored me,’’ Maxim tilted his head to the side, ’’And regarding why you would ignore me... Usually, I don’t have an answer to that.’’

Usually, he said.

Did he have an answer to this time then?

Diana bit her bottom lips when he pushed himself to his feet. His long legs easily covered the distance between the both of them.

He stopped at a small distance from her, ’’But right now, I do have the answer.’’

The proximity left her flustered, ’’A-Answer to what?" she fell in a daze.

’’An answer to why you would have avoided me today,’’ Maxim smiled, raising his hand towards her face.

Just as she started closing her eyes, he dropped his hand, stopping himself barely an inch away from touching her.

Her eyes flashed with disappointment.

’’And why would I do that?’’ she asked him.

Maxim leaned closer to her, his nose brushing against her hair as he spoke each word for her to hear, ’’Because we kissed, Ana,’’ he whispered.

A shiver tingled in her body, face turning warm as she leaned closer to him, her chest barely brushing against his shirt, ’’So...?"

’’You were not drunk or sleeping and hence, you could not have blamed it on alcohol or slumber. You already used the ’mistook you for someone else’ excuse once so you could not have done it again. And being the little coward you are, you would have ignored me and acted like it never happened after a few days,’’ his tone was mocking and blunt.

When he pulled back from her, she looked at him with narrowed eyes, ’’I would not have...’’

’’You dare to claim that you were not going to ignore me today if we didn’t come here?" Maxim asked.

Diana frowned. She had planned just that. Ignore and deflect. Sweep it under the rug. But... ’’I am not a coward.’’

’’You are,’’ he said nonchalantly.

’’No,’’ she glared at him.

’’No?"

’’No,’’ Diana repeated.

’’Then prove it,’’ he challenged with an emotionless face.

Diana was exasperated, ’’You...’’ she inhaled a deep breath as a resolute look flashed on her face, ’’You better not regret it, Warner.’’

It was his turn to be confused, ’’Wha—"

His words had yet to finish when she grabbed his collar and pushed herself to the tip of her toes before capturing his lips.

Diana was clumsy and hesitant at first but then she felt him turning rigid against her as he made a noise in his throat. The very same kind of noise he had made when they were kissing yesterday and it certainly meant he was enjoying it.

A boost of confidence was all it took for her to lick and suck his bottom lips as she wrapped her hands around his neck for support.

His lips parted, giving her more access and she thrust her tongue inside his mouth, pressing her body against his.

Just as he started responding to her, she broke the kiss and stepped back from him.

Wiping her lips with the back of her hand, she looked at him with the very same nonchalant look that he had sported earlier.

While Maxim looked at her with a dazed expression on his face, Diana shrugged a shoulder, ’’As you can see, I am a pro. You should think twice before calling me a coward ever again,’’ After a moment of silence, she added, ’’Well, you didn’t tell me the time earlier.’’

He turned his wrist towards her, showing the watch, without breaking eye contact as he spoke, ’’Past midnight, sweetheart.’’

Sweetheart. That sweetheart again.

Diana’s knees turned weak almost instantly.

’’Why should I think twice before calling you a coward?" he questioned before she could flee from the crime scene.

’’B-Because...’’