CHAPTER 149: MARRIAGE PROPOSAL (2)

The old man harrumphed, then sighed and said, "Will you at least be her friend?"

"She’s currently under the influence of a trauma bond, formed as a result of me rescuing her. I believe she is somewhat irrational about me at the moment. Maybe in a few months, the trauma bond will wear off and she can think about me in a more rational light."

The last thing he needed was the rich granddaughter of a wealthy, rage prone old man, obsessing over him.

Almost like the old man read his mind, he said, "Unfortunately, Lily takes after me. She is already obsessed with you and is unlikely to just let you go."

Great, just great.

The little, possibly unstable, Yokorian chick was manageable. The granddaughter of a powerful man, not so much.

He had a feeling that if he spent any amount of time with Lily, his stronger soul, combined with her trauma bond with him, would just compound into something truly terrifying.

Madison was half a step away from lock-him-in-a-basement-so-she-could-have-him-all-to-her-self levels of obsessed and it was probably the soul bond with her that saved him from a real-life yandere horror story.

So, worst-case scenario, he’d just soul bond her. She’d probably react as enthusiastically as Madison. But damn it, he didn’t want a Pokémon harem. He was not interested in catching all the girls.

He wanted quality, not quantity, and something told him Lily was not merely immature, but selfish, well beyond what Fran claimed was typical for girls Lily’s age. Maybe that would change as she grew, but he really didn’t want her in his life.

"Will she turn vindictive if I tell her I don’t want to take time away from my other girlfriends just to spend time with her?"

The old man got a calculating look in his eye before saying, "You’ll need to give her some kind of hope. If you just cut her off, she’ll push and push. But if you give her something, like a waiting period, then she’ll wait patiently."

The look in the old man’s eyes said, ’We can wait. You’ll change your mind, eventually.’

"So, If I tell her she needs to wait until she’s eighteen before I’ll spend any time with her?"

"She’ll probably accept."

Good enough.

During the conversation between him and the old man, Sophia, Miranda, and Samantha had remained silent. Though Miranda looked amused, Samantha looked disappointed, and Sophia looked sympathetic.

Jack turned to them and said, "I’ll be back in a moment."

Then to the old man he said, "After I talk to Lily, it would be best if you take her home."

The old man nodded.

Jack left the alcove and approached Lily. When she saw him, she rushed over and hugged him tightly.

He pried her off of him and said, "Lily, we need to talk."

He know that "we need to talk," was girl code for, "I have something to say and you’re not going to like it."

She stepped back, frowned, then crossed her arms.

"You asked me earlier to be your friend. I have six girlfriends and a busy class schedule and it would be unfair to my girlfriends to take time away from any of them to spend time with you."

She opened her mouth, but he held up his hand.

"I’m also concerned about the effect this trauma bond has had on you. So I propose a compromise. We part ways now-"

She took in a breath to object.

He continued slightly louder, "but agree to meet again after you turn eighteen. Then we can see how things go from there."

She squinted at him, like she thought he was trying to do something shifty. Then she glanced to her left and suddenly smiled.

"Okay. You can attend my eighteenth birthday party. Promise?"

He glanced to his left and saw her grandfather standing there looking suspiciously innocent. He suspected her grandfather had signaled her to accept Jack’s "compromise."

"I can probably attend your eighteenth birthday party, but I will not make any promises. I have no idea what will be going on in my life in two years, and making a promise for something that far out would be foolish."

"But you’ll try to attend?"

"If I can, yes."

She held out her hand like they were completing some business deal.

After he shook her hand, she started unbuttoning his shirt. He hadn’t noticed, but she had previously undone all but two buttons, so in only a second; she had the shirt fully unbuttoned.

With a flourish, she pulled off the shirt he had given her, exposing her naked chest for the entire room to see.

Her grandfather softly gasped, "Lily?!"

The several of the bodyguards muttered, "Damn!"

And John pulled off his suit coat and headed towards Lily.

"Here," she said, handing him the shirt with a smirk. "It’s only proper that I return your shirt since we won’t see each other for two years."

He suspected she was trying something. Maybe it was a "see what you’ll be missing" type or move.

He didn’t care.

"Thanks," he said, taking the shirt. "See you in two’ish years."

Then he turned and walked back to the alcove, not looking back even once.

As he’d turned, he’d spotted Miranda and Samantha disappear back into the alcove.

When he entered the alcove, Miranda said, "You should have seen the look on her face when you just turned and walked away!"

"Oh?" he said.

"She looked so flummoxed! Like you’d just turned down a trillion credits or something."

Sophia asked, "Well? How’d it go? What happened before Lily took off your shirt?"

"The old man is planning something. I don’t know what. I suggested we wait until she turns eighteen before friendship or anything else, and she was ready to object. Then she suddenly accepted. I think the old man signaled her. So, he probably has something planned."

"Like what?" asked Miranda.

Jack shrugged his shoulders. "How the hell should I know?"

His parallel self had been keeping any eyes on Kayden, curious to see what would happen to the man, but after Lily’s sudden change of attitude, he immediately switched to follow Lily and her grandfather, hoping to learn what plans the old man was cooking.

With the Wallingford’s and their bodyguards gone, Jack and the girls returned to the business of clothes shopping. In the end, they found an outfit that both he, Sophia, and the girls liked.

As they headed back to the valet kiosk, Samantha asked, "So, are you going to take me back to your hotel room and finally ravish me, or are you going to make me wait?"