My Four Miraculous Treasures

Before long, their food was served.

A steak was placed on the table in front of Willow. It looked and smelled delicious. Her lungs were filled with the tantalizing aroma of cooked meat.

Jasper had been served exactly the same kind of steak. This came as a shock for Willow-to think that his 'usual' would be the very item that Willow had picked out at random!

What were the odds?!

Willow stared at the surprisingly similar steaks that had been served.

Jasper met her inquiring gaze with one of his own. "You know what's good here. Not your first visit?"

Warning sirens blared inside her head. Hurriedly, she answered, "I had no idea what I was ordering! I just pointed at one of the pictures in the menu."

If Jasper were to discover that, barely an hour ago, she'd just been here with Xavier, and the two of them had also been seated at this exact same table...

Well, things wouldn't end well for her.

Willow lowered her gaze, picked up knife and fork, and began cutting a chunk off the steak, while industriously averting her eyes from the man across the table. Jasper had an extraordinarily piercing sort of stare which would surely cause her facade to waver.

She cut off a piece of steak, and deposited it into her own mouth. It was juicy and tender, a treat to eat.

Previously, Xavier simply had to bring her here, by hook or by crook, but Willow hadn't had the appetite to take so much as one bite of the steak that he'd ordered for her.

But now, the one she had to face was Jasper, his intimidating aura blasting her in the face like a howling winter wind, filling every fiber of her being with abject terror. There was no way she could refuse to eat, if he was the one involved.

After her first bite, she looked up to make eye contact with Jasper, showed him a sweet smile, and said, "Mmmm! It's so good."

Her smile was dazzlingly beautiful, because it was innocent and pure. Jasper's usual frosty demeanor wavered ever so slightly, as the brightness of that smile brought some light into the shadowy corners of his heart.

With perfect table manners, he cut off a piece from his own steak-but he didn't

eat it, instead depositing it upon Willow's plate.

Willow's attention had been fully

devoted to her own food, in order to keep her mind off her

life-threatening state of peril. All of a sudden, there was an extra morsel of beef in the mix, and it had the same effect on her as a pebble tossed into a pond, causing a splash and sending ripples in all directions.

Startled, Willow looked up, and Jasper's astoundingly handsome features caught

her eye, tranquil and serene.

Jasper cut off another bite of his steak, and gave that to her too.

Overcome by this gesture from him, Willow said, "Mr. Hughes, I've got enough to eat, here. You have some, too."

"You seem to like it. Have some more, then."

Willow swallowed the mouthful of beef she'd been working on. Jasper's words inspired a strange sensation inside of her... it almost felt as though he genuinely cared about her.noveldrama

Laver

Immediately, she dismissed this notion. How could he possibly? If anything, he should be the last person in the world to care about her in the slightest. She was the daughter of his bitter nemesis. Whoever had heard of showing kindness to your enemy'skin? She'd be lucky that he didn't put her to death! Expecting him to hold any warm feelings towards her was patently ridiculous.

"Thank you, sir." Willow bowed her head, skewered the proferred morsel with her fork, and began chewing that up next.

At last, Jasper started eating, as well. He chewed daintily, swallowed gently... even when he was eating, he was an exquisite portrait of class and elegance.

Willow stole another peek at him, and allowed herself to admire his refinement and beauty for the moment.