Anger flashed in Mason’s eyes when he heard this, but he retained his composure anyway. “The way you drove reminded me of my wife, is all,” he replied flatly then added, “But I can’t say much about your skills, since my wife’s are far superior than yours.”
Janet pushed herself away from her seat and looked at him squarely in the eye. “Oh? So your wife has great driving skills; perhaps I should ask her out for a match.”
“My wife is a proper lady. She doesn’t hang around with questionable people like you.” There was a chill in Mason’s words.
Janet shrugged this off as she mused, “Surely your driving skills are up to par. Let’s race, shall we?”
“Rose, I don’t think you asked to meet me today just so we could go racing,” Mason said pointedly, his voice cold.
However, Rose was unfazed as she countered with a relentless tease, “Are you not interested in a match at all?”
His gaze darkened as he appraised her, sensing that there was more to her than met the eye. Short of her proposing a collaboration, there was nothing more that Mason would like to say to her. “Why did you ask to meet me here today?” he demanded icily, not wanting to delve further into meaningless small talk with the woman.
She raised a brow and placed both her palms on the table, assessing him with a sultry gaze as she drawled, “I’ll tell you if you race against me.”
“No,” Mason rejected without hesitation. He was already pushing limits just by meeting Rose alone at the teahouse. He would not allow himself to entertain any woman other than Jan, and he certainly would not be provoked by them.
Meanwhile, Janet knew that he would refuse her. She also knew that things were looking more comical than they were supposed to be, but she only went to such great lengths just so she could poke the bear in him. She also wanted to see how he would react once he found out that she was Rose. If he found out that she and Rose were the same person, would he still think of the latter as a terrible woman? I must find out!
“Are you sure you don’t want to race against me? If you do, I’ll tell you who I really am,” she said in a sing-song voice, deliberately getting on his nerves. Other than the silicone mask that she was wearing, Janet did not try to cover up anything else about herself. She did not try to mask her own scent with fragrances, and she spoke and carried herself the way she usually did.
At that moment, Mason was caught off guard when he picked out a familiar scent. There’s something about her scent and the way she carries herself that seems awfully similar to Jan.
Mason frowned as he tried to draw a distinction between this woman and Janet, immersed in his own thoughts.
Janet, on the other hand, noticed that his brows were heavily drawn together, and she smiled as she teased, “Are you okay? Do you feel as though there are some things about me that are similar to your wife?”
Upon hearing this, Mason snapped out of his thoughts and appeared dazed as he looked at her. He crossed his legs defensively, his gaze flickering as he snapped, “If you insist on a race, I’m afraid I must turn you down. You can go back to wherever the hell you came from!”
“Fine.” Janet was flippant as she waved her hand dismissively. “Since you’re not up for a game, then I won’t pester you. I don’t want you to hate me more than you already do.”
He scoffed and glared at her balefully. “Even if you don’t pester me, the mere mention of your name is enough to make me want to murder you.”
Janet laughed at this and she smirked as she strutted over to him, her hips swaying enticingly. She reached out a hand and slid it over his waist.
Mason stiffened. He looked down at the dainty and porcelain-like hand that was feeling up his waist and his expression grew thunderous. He stood up roughly and pushed her hand away, feeling the rage consume him as he asked in a fearfully cold voice, “Rose, what do you think you’re doing?”
