Miranda regretted it the moment the words left her mouth. However, once spoken, she couldn’t retract her words, just like water spilled on the ground.
Sam replied, “You, of course.” He was interested in her. Miranda looked up at the ceiling in exasperation.
Sam’s lips twitched. “Stop pretending. I know you understand what I’m implying.” “What did you say? I can’t hear you… Ahem! Next time don’t say that again.”
Sam couldn’t help but chuckle when he saw her feigning ignorance. “Fine, you can avoid me once or twice, but eventually…” Miranda interrupted him, “Oh, I forgot to take tissues. Do you have any?” “I do.” “Give me one, thanks.”
Sam shot her a half-smile. “So you can hear…” Miranda rolled her eyes but didn’t respond. As she expected, Sam had indeed come to ask for a favor. However, he only got to the point when they were almost done with their drinks.
“Dr. Sanchez has hit a bottleneck with a project that is currently underway. There hasn’t been any progress for two months. He wants to hear your thoughts, and here’s all the data.”
With that, he handed her a USB drive. Miranda reached out to take it, but Sam didn’t let go immediately. Inevitably, her fingers brushed against his. Men had higher body temperature, so she realized the obvious difference in warmth.
Miranda quickly withdrew her hand the moment she took the USB drive. There was no obvious change in Sam’s expression, but his smile deepened at that point.
He did that on purpose! It was clearly intentional! Miranda glared at him, wide-eyed. At that moment, he handed her a tissue. “Here, wipe it. Don’t look so disgusted.”
She was at a loss for words. She was annoyed, but her anger faded almost instantly. He had spoken so nonchalantly, so she would come off as petty if she kept dwelling on it. After all, brushing against someone on the street wasn’t a big deal, so why was she so hung up on Sam? If so, didn’t that prove she didn’t see Sam as just another normal person subconsciously?
It was a paradoxical trap that she couldn’t escape no matter which way she looked at it!
After leaving the café, Sam walked her back to her apartment.
“Let’s keep our distance in the future!” Hearing this, Sam wasn’t offended. He smiled and said, “You’re scared.” “Scared of what?” Miranda frowned. “You’re scared that you will fall for me and lose your heart without realizing it.” At this moment, Sam looked like a proud and confident peacock.
Miranda almost choked on her own saliva. ‘I’m just afraid of getting tangled up in your mess and falling into your trap!’ “Well, it’s pretty much the same thing.”
Miranda was puzzled. How was that the same? They were worlds apart! “Forget it, I won’t argue with you. I’ll never win anyway.” With that, Miranda turned around and went upstairs.
Sam stood where he was and watched her retreating figure. He only withdrew his gaze when she disappeared around the corner of the stairwell. Sam waited until the light came on in her window before leaving, feeling reassured.
After washing up, Miranda took the USB drive and plugged it into her computer. While waiting for it to load, a thought hit her.
Matthew had classes every day on campus. Wouldn’t it have been easier for him to just hand it to her there? Why would he ask Sam to personally deliver the USB drive late at night?
She had fallen for his tricks again!
Meanwhile, Sam received a call from Matthew on his drive home. “Dr. Sanchez, what’s the matter?” “Where’s my USB drive? Did you see it when you were at my place today? I clearly remember leaving it in the drawer…” “Oh, I took it.” Matthew exclaimed, “What? Why did you take it? It’s full of data for the research project! I was planning to give it to Miranda tomorrow, you…” “I already delivered it to her on your behalf,” Sam answered.