Chapter 296 On One Condition

Chapter 296 On One Condition　　"Tell me, do you?" Jade asked, leaning closer to Harry, who drew back as he set down his glass before meeting her gaze. 

"Do I what?"

"Do you like me?" Jade asked after a moment as though she was trying to recall what the question was.

"Am I supposed to not like you?" Harry asked in return, and she giggled.

"That's not what I'm asking, and you know it. Don't shy away from the question," Jade said as she placed a hand on his chest, and Harry's eyes fell on her perfectly manicured nails.

"The only thing I know is that you are drunk, and it's time to go home before you embarrass either of us," Harry said as he tried to get away from her, but Jade pushed herself forward and settled on his body, with her head resting on his chest. 

"Hold on, I need to finish up my drink first," she said as she patted his chest, and once again, Harry found himself holding his breath. This time he wasn't just holding his breath. He sat as still as possible, as though he was scared to move or do anything.

Harry mentally counted to ten, scared that if she didn't move anytime soon, he might collapse from lack of oxygen to his brain, and just when he counted up to eight, she sat up with a sigh, much to his relief.

"You are already tipsy. Drinking that might knock you out, and I..."

Oblivious to what she was doing to Harry, Jade reached for the remaining three shot glasses and gulped down their content before turning to look into Harry's honey brown eyes. 

"It won't, don't worry. And even if it did, I already gave you the permission to carry me home. I won't sue for harassment come morning," she assured him, but Harry noticed her speech was starting to slur.

"Did you know that the first time I met you, I thought you had the most beautiful pair of brown eyes I'd ever seen?" Jade asked, making Harry's lips twitch in amusement.

"You did say you liked my eyes," he said, recalling how he had thought that she was just being nice that night.

"I did? But I guess you didn't believe me, did you?" Jade asked with a giggle.

"Yeah, I didn't."

"Too bad you didn't. That was actually one of the reasons I stayed up that late talking to you. I just wanted to keep staring into your eyes under the night sky," Jade said with a wide smile as she struggled to keep her eyes on his.

"And here I was thinking that it was because you actually enjoyed our conversation," Harry said dryly, making her giggle.

"I did enjoy our conversation that night. I doubt that there has ever been a time when I didn't enjoy a conversation with you," Jade confessed as she leaned on Harry once again.

Harry feared that if they remained there and she continued resting on his body this way at intervals, he might suffer brain damage due to lack of oxygen to his brain, so he cleared his throat.

"We should leave now," Harry said when she remained silent for some time and he assumed that she had dozed off, but Jade grabbed the front of his shirt as she shook her head and raised her face to look up at him such that her forehead was on the same level as his chin. 

"Why are you in so much of a rush to get back to your apartment? It's not like the place is on fire, or it's running," she complained with a pout, and Harry turned his face away from her.

How in heaven's name was he supposed to talk to her when she was this close, and he was holding his breath? This woman was going to be the death of him. 

Harry sat up and held her away from himself at arm's length, "You wanted to get drunk. Now you are drunk. What more do you want to do?" Harry asked with a weary sigh as he thought about how he would have to carry her from there to the car if she got knocked out. He would rather escort her out now that she was still conscious than carrying her.

"Let's talk. I want to talk with you. I enjoy talking with you. And then we can dance," Jade suggested as she looked into his eyes, with blue eyes that made it difficult for him to say no.

"If you want us to talk, then you have to keep your distance. Don't come too close," Harry bargained. 

"Why? You're scared that I might take your virginity?" She asked with a teasing smile, and Harry glared at her, making her giggle drunkenly.

"I was just pulling your legs. Don't worry, though. I'll keep my distance, virgin uncle Harry," Jade said tauntingly as she moved away from him. 

"Remind me never to tell you anything personal about me next time," Harry hissed with a scowl.

"C'mon, don't be like that. I won't call you that anymore. I'm sorry."

Looking at her, Harry had to admit that her alcohol tolerance level must be pretty high for her to be still able to converse this way despite all the shots she had consumed. 

"What do you want to talk about?" Harry asked as he watched her, curious to know what she wanted to talk about. What he was even more curious about was why he was willing to have a conversation with a drunk lady when he should drag her home and let her sleep it off. 

Unable to keep her gaze focused on him, Jade shut her eyes, "I'm sorry I didn't get to show you around the neighborhood as I promised you I would," Jade said, surprising Harry, who hadn't expected her to remember that she had made the promise in the first place, or even bring it up at that moment.

"It's fine. I guess you were too busy to remember," Harry said dismissively, not wanting her to know that he knew the reason she had failed to keep her promise to him.

"No, that wasn't the reason. I would have shown you around if not for that cheating bastard. To think he was jealous of you, yet he was the cheat," Jade hissed in annoyance as she opened her eyes to gaze at him.

"I'm sorry about that," Harry said politely, noting that she seemed to still have a lot of resentment for her late boyfriend.

"You don't have to be sorry. You didn't do anything wrong other than being too interesting and cute for your own good," Jade said with a grin, and Harry chuckled.

"You think I'm interesting?" Harry asked, even though he knew that he should probably stop her from saying anything since she was speaking under the influence of alcohol and was most likely going to regret whatever she said by morning.

"Yep. Very interesting," she said as she closed her eyes once again.

"Yet you also think I'm annoying," Harry pointed out, unable to stop himself.

"Yeah, you can be annoying sometimes. But being annoying doesn't make you any less interesting than you are. Now that I think about it, it is funny that no one annoys me as much as you," she said with a yawn as she opened her eyes to look into his face.

"Have I told you that you're very handsome?" She asked as she stretched her arm and raised a finger to his face to touch the tip of his nose, and Harry's eyes followed her fingers, making her giggle when his eyes crossed as he looked at the tip of his nose.

"Usually, I think of Captain America whenever I look at you," she added with a small smile.

"Chris Evans?" Harry asked in disbelief, and Jade bobbed her head. 

"Yep. You look a lot like him, but I prefer your eyes to his. I think you're cuter than he is, too," Jade said, and Harry just stared at her.

Did she really think so, or was she just saying it because she was drunk? How could she compare him to someone as good-looking as Chris Evans and even say he was cuter? Or did cute mean something else to her?

"Is cute the same as good-looking?" Harry asked as he reached for her finger, which was still sitting on his nose, but before he could get a hold of it, she moved her hand to his hair and buried it in his short mop of black hair.

"No. I don't think they mean the same thing. Good-looking means you are pleasant to my eyes, and cute means looking at you makes my heart flutter. Your hair is softer than I imagined. I've always imagined what it would feel like to comb my fingers through your hair this way," Jade said as she massaged Harry's temple, making his eyelids feel heavy. 

"You should stop doing that," Harry said in a slightly husky voice as he grabbed her hand and gently lifted it from his hair. 

Her lips pouted sulkily as she looked at him, "Why?" 

Harry cleared his throat, "Because it makes me uncomfortable when you touch me that way," he said with a slight frown, not wanting to think about why she was imagining her hand buried in his hair. 

"If you want to dance, you should go do so now. We are leaving in twenty minutes," Harry said as he glanced at his wristwatch. He didn't want to hear her say anything else. He had heard more than enough for one night.

"Let's dance together," Jade suggested as she tried to stand up, but she staggered, and Harry's hand automatically reached for her waist to steady her. 

"I guess I'm tipsier than I thought," she slurred with a giggle.

"You're very drunk, not tipsy. Let's go home now. No more dancing," Harry said as he got off his seat while still holding her.

"Fine. I'll go without dancing on one condition," Jade said with a gleam in her eyes making Harry's brows arch.

"Earlier, I bargained with you, so you get to do that with me too," she reminded him.

Harry looked at her with a slight frown, wondering just how drunk she was to be able to remember things and still sound this way, "And what makes you think I can't throw you over my shoulder right now and just take you home?"

"Because you're too much of a gentleman to do something like that," Jade said with a grin as she looked into his eyes, and her right hand went to rest on his chest. 

"Okay, as long as you're not going to ask for something as ridiculous as another shot, let's hear it. What is your condition?" Harry asked with a sigh of resignation, curious to know what it was she wanted this time. 

"I want to kiss you. Just once. And then we can leave."