The Supreme Soldier in the City
Chapter 139 Bad Habits

Chapter 139: Chapter 139 Bad Habits

Well after midnight, James Brown returned to Gina Lopez’s home, not because he wanted to, but because Sunny Nguyen was afraid that if James stayed there, Grace Lopez would notice something was amiss. Reluctantly, Sunny had no choice but to send James away.

When James got home, he was also worried about waking Gina Lopez and Grace Lopez, so he moved very quietly. He didn’t turn on the lights and tiptoed back into Gina’s room.

Gina was sleeping soundly, covered with a blanket. James took off his clothes and carefully got into bed without waking her. He stayed at the edge, just like usual, not touching Gina. He had been satisfied over at Sunny’s place earlier, so even though he was next to the beautiful Gina, he didn’t entertain any indecent thoughts and soon fell asleep.

The next morning, James woke up to Gina’s movements, and before he even opened his eyes, he knew something was wrong.

Gina’s bed was quite large; usually, they each kept to their own side. Even in their sleep, they both seemed to remind themselves not to drift to the other side.

But since James had gone to Sunny’s place, Gina assumed she would have the bed to herself that night, so she had completely relaxed. After her bath, she just put on underwear without bothering with pajamas and went to bed.

And because she wasn’t worried about bumping into James at night, she slept very relaxedly, somehow rolling over to James’s side. She was snuggled up against him, her body pressed against his with one leg draped over his.

Sunny had drunk quite a bit last night and had been rather wild, which left James fairly exhausted. His return home was also deep and undisturbed. Normally, as a former Green Beret, he would be aware of someone coming close, but because he intended to stay over at Sunny’s, even back at Gina’s place, he didn’t have the slightest sense of danger. So when Gina hugged him, he did not wake up but instead wrapped his arms around her.

What really took James by surprise was that Gina was almost naked at that time. He could feel her smooth skin and the touch of her chest that could send any man’s soul soaring.

Now James could only pretend to be asleep, which seemed to alleviate the awkwardness for Gina. As soon as he opened his eyes, it would likely prompt a lot of follow-up reactions, and these reactions, no matter what, would be detrimental to him.

At that moment, Gina wished she could find a hole to crawl into. She had ended up sleeping in the same bed with James, naked, and in such an embarrassing embrace. For a slightly conservative woman like her, the shock was just too great.

Thankfully, James seemed to be sleeping soundly and hadn’t noticed her, which allowed her to breathe a sigh of relief. She carefully moved to the other side of the bed, then pulled over a sleep shirt and put it on under the covers. She glanced at James again, realized he was still asleep, and let out a long breath.

But then, Gina quickly came across a terrifying thought—what time did this guy come back last night? She had no idea. He must have lifted the blankets when he got into bed; could he have missed seeing her body?

The thought that her body might have been seen by him ignited anger inside Gina. She kicked James hard and muttered in a low voice, "James Brown, wake up."

James opened his eyes in a groggy haze, then rubbed them and asked, "What’s up? Why are you so grumpy first thing in the morning?"

Gina sat up, looking down at James with gritted teeth, "What did you see when you came back last night?"

"Saw what?" James looked at her bewilderedly.

Gina felt a pang of emotion and slightly softened her tone, "What time did you come back last night?"

"It was almost one o’clock, I guess. Sunny was afraid that Grace would notice my absence in the morning and insisted I come back, so I did."

"And what did you do when you got back?"

"I just went to bed to sleep."

"I’m asking what you did when you got into bed."

James responded, a bit impatiently, "Gina, what else could I do? I just went to sleep. I haven’t touched you once all these days. Last night I was so exhausted at Sunny’s, how could I possibly do anything to you?"

Gina’s cheeks flushed with embarrassment. James was speaking about that matter so naturally, no shame at all. But judging from James’s reaction, he seemed not to have noticed how scantily clad she was the night before. She glared at him, "Then why did you even come back? You could have just woken up early and hurried back in the morning."

James sighed and said, "Gina, I wish I could, but you don’t understand. In that state, one is very tired; I wouldn’t have woken up until seven or eight in the morning. How could I have made it back in time? I always take my job seriously. Since I’m employed by you, I have to earn the salary you give me, right?"

Gina had heard the phrase ’without having seen a pig run, one eats the pork.’ It should have been ’without having eaten pork, one has seen a pig run,’ but nowadays, not many young people have seen pigs run, yet there’s almost none who haven’t eaten pork.

Anyway, Gina knew a thing or two about the affairs of men and women. Imagining how exhausted this guy claimed he was, one could visualize just how intense his battle with Sunny Nguyen must have been last night. And the thought of the noises emanating from their stay in this place only added more scenarios to Gina’s vivid imagination.

"Disgusting." Gina shot James Brown a glance and then got out of bed, freshened up, and checked the time—it was just six o’clock. Usually, she would consider the day’s work as soon as she got up, but today, she wasn’t up for that tiring routine. JYPP Region had left her heartbroken. While the last shift always needed to be covered, she no longer felt the need to dwell on it too much.

It was still early and the house was quiet. As a wave of sleepiness hit her, Gina hesitated for a moment and then went back to the bedroom.

Seeing James sound asleep, Gina couldn’t help but move a little more gently. He wouldn’t have had to rush back in the middle of the night if it weren’t for her. But the thought that he came back without so much as a hello, letting her sleep naked in his embrace all night—so much for all her innocence—inevitably left her feeling a twinge of irritation.

"Hey, stop sleeping." She climbed onto the bed, sat next to James, and gave him a shove.

"Let me sleep a little longer, just ten minutes, and I’ll get up to make you all breakfast."

Gina’s irritation instantly subsided. "Then sleep," she said. "I don’t have much to do this morning. I’ll go out and buy some breakfast later."

"Thanks a lot, I’ll sleep just a bit more." James mumbled before falling back into a deep sleep.

Gina really did get up to buy breakfast. When she lived alone, she never had the habit of going out to buy breakfast; whenever she wanted to eat breakfast, she would have her secretary buy something at the office.

After arranging the breakfast on the table, Gina woke up both James and Grace Lopez.

"Big sis, no way, did you actually get up to buy breakfast?" Grace looked at Gina as if she were seeing an alien.

Gina glared. "What’s the problem? Can’t I?"

"It’s not that you can’t... it’s just... Sis, you’re not sick, are you?" Grace suddenly reached out to touch Gina’s forehead.

Gina swatted her sister’s hand away with annoyance and retorted, "You don’t want to eat, fine."

"It’s really okay to eat? You’re not planning on getting me and James to do something illegal, are you?"

"You..." Gina clenched her teeth in anger. The one time she made the effort to buy breakfast and this is how Grace treats her. She was fuming, but on the other hand, she also felt like a failure, realizing that such a simple act could evoke such disbelief from her sister. It was clear how Grace had always viewed her.

"Heh heh, these buns are great, James. You better eat up quick; you’ve never had the chance to enjoy my big sis’s lovingly bought breakfast."

It was then that Gina noticed James looking at her with an exaggerated expression, which left her feeling a bit flustered. Yet she managed a strained smile and said, "It’s always you cooking for us. Surely you don’t think the same as that crazy girl?"

James chuckled. "It’s all good, it’s all good. Just keep it up, I’m rooting for you."

At last, Gina felt encouraged, but seeing Grace snickering to the side, she realized that James was hinting for her to do more of such things in the future. She rolled her eyes at James but wasn’t really angry. It seemed that going out to get breakfast and making her family happy could actually be quite a joyful task.

Gina’s focus had always been on her work. Apart from sleeping, any free time she had was spent on thinking about how to improve the company. Today, with some spare time, she discovered that there were other enjoyable things to do besides work.

Unfortunately, once Gina arrived at the office, she reverted to her role as a formidable businesswoman—even in the face of a company she was about to leave.

Today, she brought James with her again, not only to prevent him from spending the day carelessly with Grace but also to bore Grace into going home earlier, hastening the end to this cohabitation with James.

James, however, didn’t overthink things as Gina did and went straight back to the logistics department. But the atmosphere there wasn’t as cheerful as usual; everyone was frowning, troubled, as if they had encountered some serious difficulties.

This even made James feel a bit depressed, but soon he gathered from their conversation that they too had heard the news—the general manager of the head office was going to be replaced. This left everyone anxious, uncertain about what the company would become after Gina departed.

"James Brown, you’re close with Gina. Got any insider info?" Jessica Wilson approached James and whispered her inquiry.