Perfect Match: Irresistible Desire For You
Chapter 44

Before the party officially began, Lina saw Joseph with Ashley. Everyone was astonished to see the hero saving the beauty. But they didn’t dare to provoke him, so they stopped talking about it after a while. As soon as Lina saw Ashley was tasting the food alone while Charlie was talking to people elsewhere, she walked up to Ashley. ‘After breaking up with Charlie, she went shopping with another handsome man, and now she is trying to hook up with Joseph, the outstanding man who has ranked first among the Golden Bachelors.’ Lina envied Ashley a lot. However, Ashley never took her seriously, which made her even more infuriated. She wanted to have a conversation with Ashley, but Joseph appeared in front of them and the silence ensued immediately.

Now that the two of them appeared in public together, Lina was sure that they had a close and secret relationship. With a perfect smile on her face, Lina pretended to be kind. “All that glitters is not gold. Someone you’re interested in has been with a lot of men already. Don’t misunderstand me, Mr. Marshall. I’m your well-wisher.”

Of course, Ashley knew what Lina meant. She said it on purpose to let Joseph know about her past. Ashley used to feel helpless about this woman who had been against her since they knew each other. But nowadays, she just ignored her. Her attitude towards Lina didn’t differ this time also. There was no reason for her to explain anything because her character was clean. Ashley knew that her explanation would be useless in front of such a jealous woman who only enjoyed others’ misfortune. So, Ashley continued to do what she was doing.

However, listening to her words, Joseph took a closer look at the coquettish Lina and asked, “Have I asked you Miss to meddle in my business?” His voice was extremely cold.

When Lina realized that he stressed the word ‘Miss’ on purpose, she didn’t know if he was deliberately satirizing her. As a smart woman, she understood that Joseph had purposely shifted the key focus of their conversation. But she didn’t dare to express any objection to his conscious partiality to Ashley. She could only smile and mediate. “Mr. Marshall, you’re getting offended unnecessarily. I’m just a nobody. How could I make any comments on your personal business?”

Joseph didn’t anymore respond to the nosy woman. Instead, he turned around and followed Ashley, who had already left to look for food elsewhere. Staring at his tall and straight back, Lina clenched her fists. First being ignored by Ashley and then by Joseph, Lina felt both embarrassed and exasperated. ‘Ashley, let’s wait and see!’ Lina thought to herself before turning around to look for Charlie.

Joseph watched Ashley walking around and eating as if nothing could attract her attention except for the delicious food. He felt helpless under the curious gaze of the public. He created quite a stir after showing up in the party and his forceful momentum made many people stand in awe. With his close follow-up behind Ashley, many men who wanted to accost her dared not approach her rashly.

Ashley knew that Joseph was behind her. She didn’t know what he wanted from her. It was strange that he followed her all the way but said nothing. She wanted to ask him to come over and share some delicious food with her. But before she could ask him why he was following her, a bright spotlight focused on her. Then the host announced cheerily, “Now our spotlight is on this lucky woman. Let’s warmly welcome her to perform a dance on the stage.” After the host finished his words, there was warm and long applause all around. Seeing that the response was very lively, the host added, “Anyone from the gentlemen present here can sincerely invite this lucky beauty and share a dance with her.” The atmosphere turned warmer, when everyone saw the beautiful woman standing under the spotlight. When the men heard that they could dance with her, they were even more excited.

In the meantime, Ashley stood frozen under the spotlight. She was stunned. She was just hungry and wanted some food. Why were they forcing her to do something else? Was it wrong to taste delicious food? Why did this so-called ‘lucky’ turn out to be the real bad luck for her? Under the blazing gaze of the crowd, Ashley knew she couldn’t just refuse such a grand invitation. Although she preferred to be quiet, dancing was easy for her. But the problem was, who would be her partner? At the thought of this, Ashley hesitated. She walked towards the center of the stage while the crowd kept cheering for her. On the way, she looked for Mike in the crowd, hoping that her brother could help her out. She didn’t want to dance with just any stranger.

However, she didn’t replace her brother anywhere, and she couldn’t even call out his name. Because it’d be too awkward to ask for his help directly before so many people. She calmed herself down thinking it was just a dance and continued to walk to the stage calmly and elegantly. Suddenly, a strong hand grabbed her arm. Ashley turned around and found it was Joseph. ‘What is he doing?’ Ashley couldn’t help but frown.

Joseph saw the confusion on her face. In fact, he didn’t know exactly what he was going to do either. Joseph was also surprised when the spotlight suddenly focused on Ashley. By the way Ashley looked around nervously, Joseph knew that she didn’t want to dance alone on the stage. Additionally, when he saw that she was being followed by the covetous stares of the countless men, Joseph sensed a strong feeling of unhappiness.

‘Even if she wants to dance, her partner could only be me.’ Joseph followed his heart’s desire and walked up to Ashley to hold her arm. He looked into Ashley’s confused eyes and said, “Let me dance with you.”

Surprise flashed through Ashley’s eyes hearing Joseph’s words. She had thought this noble man only acted disdainful in front of public. But compared with other people as her dance partners, Joseph was a much better choice. So, she nodded at him.

To be honest, Ashley’s character study of Joseph was true in a sense. But, the recent behavior of Joseph was different than usual. In fact, it was his unique way of showing his love for her. He wanted to be exclusive and announce his ownership at the same time. That was his real purpose, which was also in line with his usual dominance.

Those who had planned to attract this beauty with their personal charm, were stunned to see her getting on the stage with Joseph. In every aspect, be it appearance or family background, Joseph was far superior to them. So, those men could only watch Joseph and Ashley stepping onto the stage in silence.

At this time, some officious women among the crowd raised an objection. “So, it’s not true that Joseph doesn’t like women. But why did he suddenly invite this woman to dance?” A round of murmur rolled out in the crowd. The question caused a lot of hot discussions. Some people engaged in the news industry even took out their phones to secretly take photos.