Reborn to Dodge the Bad Marriage novel Chapter 209

Chapter 209 Now We’re Even

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Finished

Ryder leaned against his motorcycle with his phone in one hand and a cigarette in the other, blowing out smoke. Under the streetlight, he looked every bit the hot bad boy, and girls walking by kept sneaking looks

at him.

Back in the car, Nora had never been kissed like this before, and she couldn’t catch her breath. She sank back against the seat, limp, heat racing all through her.

She was losing her head completely, letting Julian do whatever he wanted. Just then, someone knocked on the window.

That snapped Nora out of it. She shoved at Julian, and when he wouldn’t budge, she bit down hard on his lip. “Someone’s here.”

Julian finally let her go, blood beading on his lip.

Nora hurriedly straightened her clothes and turned her face away, gasping for air. She couldn’t bring herself to look toward the driver’s side.

Julian sat back and rolled down the window. It was a traffic cop.

The cop bent down and glanced at Nora in the passenger seat, then at Julian’s lip. “Sir, you can’t park here.”

Julian wiped his mouth, and there was blood on his fingertip. He kept a perfectly straight face. “We had a little situation. We’re leaving now.”

“You’ve been parked here for six or seven minutes.” The cop handed him a ticket he’d already written up. “Sir, it’s great that you two are close, but next time, get a hotel room. The side of the road’s too dangerous.”

Julian took the ticket. “Got it.”

Nora was beet red by the time the cop walked off.

Julian tucked the ticket away and glanced at her. “That’s a $200 fine.”

Nora glared at him and didn’t bother answering.

Julian pressed his lips together and started the engine. Then, he glanced at the phone lying nearby. “The call’s still going.”

Nora took a deep breath and picked up the phone. “Ryder?”

“Still here, Nora,” Ryder said cheerfully.

Nora looked at the call timer. They’d been connected for almost 10 minutes, and for several of those minutes, she’d been kissing Julian. She might have even kissed him back without meaning to.

She’d done that in the middle of a phone call. Just thinking about it made her face burn, and she wanted to crawl into a hole.

Ryder couldn’t see her, but she kept a straight face anyway. “Anything else?”

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Chapter 209 Now We’re Even

Finished

Nope. That was what Ryder thought, but it wasn’t what he said. “Yeah. The Victor thing is about halfway done. When do you want it wrapped up?”

Nova thought for a second. “Let’s hold off. It’s not time yet. We can set it up even better. Get Victor and Yvette to turn on each other…”

She ran through the next steps with Ryder, then hung up.

The car went quiet again, and it stayed that way for a long while.

Finally, Julian spoke. “About earlier… I’m sorry.”

He hadn’t been able to control himself. Around her, the self-control he’d always been so proud of was a joke

He kisses me like that, and now he’s sorry? Nora would’ve been fine if he’d kept his mouth shut. But somehow, the apology made her mad.

She gave a cold little laugh. “Oh, you’re sorry? Well, that fixes everything.”

Julian could tell she was mad, but he had no idea how to make it better. After a moment of silence, he said quietly, “Then you can kiss me back. Call it even?”

Nora was still angry, but that made her laugh in disbelief. She turned to look out the window and didn’t say another word.

Julian didn’t say anything either. He spent the whole drive trying to figure out how to calm her down.

The silence only got heavier the longer they drove. Nora seemed to get colder by the minute, which made Julian even more nervous, and he kept going over everything he might have done wrong.

The second Julian cut the engine, Nora was out of the car.

He got out too, shut the door, and called after her anxiously. “Nora, I-”

Julian had barely gotten her name out before Nora was right in front of him. She gave him a shove, and he stumbled back against the car before he could react.

Then, she grabbed his tie and tugged his head down. With one arm around his neck and her other hand still fisted in his tie, she went up on her toes and kissed him.

It wasn’t some shy little peck, either. It was bossy and wild, and clumsy too. She forced his lips apart and kissed him hard, so fiercely that he didn’t get a chance to respond or even breathe.

Julian was stunned. She wasn’t just kissing him. She was stealing every breath he had.

He honestly couldn’t get any air. He was so short on oxygen that he nearly went weak in the knees, and he held on tight to her waist.

Once Nora felt she’d gotten most of it out of her system, she bit down hard on his lip again. Then, with his blood on her lips, she stepped back.

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