What...?
Connor Quinn’s voice was so low and raspy that Moira didn’t quite catch what he said.
By the ti she snapped out of it, the rough pad of Connor’s finger had already slipped beneath the hem of her skirt, tracing circles around the torn spot...
The corners of Moira’s eyes reddened, her gaze growing hazy. Connor Quinn kissed her, murmuring, "I’m just putting so dicine on it."
Moira had no idea when he’d put the ointnt on his finger.
But his thod of application was nothing short of tantalizing torture.
She was tornted by it, and he wasn’t having a much easier ti himself.
When the kiss ended, the dicine had finally been applied.
Moira braced a hand on the arm of the sofa, trying to even out her breathing. Connor, anwhile, strode into the bathroom.
A mont later, the sound of the shower started. Moira hopped off the sofa and padded barefoot to the refrigerator for a bottle of water.
The chill of the water soothed so of the heat coiled within her.
She was suddenly beginning to understand why so n and won, despite not being in love, could be so incredibly intimate.
’My own moral compass is a bit shattered, perhaps.’
’But as long as no families were being broken and no other relationships were being interfered with, it wasn’t such a bad thing.’
’After all, life is short. You have to seize the day.’
’As long as no third party was getting hurt, it was nobody else’s business.’
They had different ways of taming their desires, but both thods proved remarkably effective.
When they sat facing each other on the sofa half an hour later, they had both returned to their usual states. The few words they exchanged were like those between strangers.
After they sat in silence for a while, Moira was the one to speak first. "Isn’t your shop busy?"
Connor got the hint and stood up. "Rember to use the ointnt. Twice a day."
Moira nodded. The mory of him applying the ointnt made her cheeks flush, no matter how calm she tried to appear. "Okay."
"What do you want for lunch?" Connor asked.
"I’ll just order takeout," Moira said.
In her current condition, there was no way she could go to the shop. Anyone with eyes could tell what had happened at a glance.
She was broad-minded, to be sure, but she had no desire to be the subject of baseless gossip.
As she saw Connor out, Moira thought for a mont before saying, "Thank you for helping with the pipes today."
Standing outside the door, Connor looked down at her. "Mm."
Moira added, "Don’t co by for the next week."
"Mm," Connor replied.
The thanks were a courtesy; the distance was her true intention.
Moira managed this balance perfectly. Connor saw right through it but said nothing, nor did he press the matter.
After watching Connor head downstairs, Moira turned to go back inside.
A few steps in, a twinge of pain made her try hopping instead. But to her dismay, hopping only made it hurt worse.
For once, she didn’t care about her composure, grimacing as she limped back to the sofa.
Moira returned to the shop three days later.
She had planned to take a few more days off, but a frantic call from Shauna Duane had summoned her to the shop.
The reason: soone was there to inspect their business permits.
Shauna didn’t know how to handle it, so she’d called Moira over.
Moira didn’t know what the problem could be, either. She had taken care of all the necessary paperwork before opening. She gathered all the docunts and handed them over to the inspector.
The official flipped through a couple of pages, then asked Moira with a stony expression, "You don’t have an Environntal Protection Certificate?"
Moira was dumbfounded. "No."
The official said, "Then you’ll have to suspend operations. You can reopen when you get your Environntal Protection Certificate."
Moira was speechless.
They say a lack of a single coin can stump a hero. In Moira’s case, a single missing certificate brought her business to a screeching halt.
After seeing the inspector off, Moira went to the print shop across the street. She had a "Temporarily Closed" sign printed, which she then taped to the front door. She lowered the rolling tal shutter halfway, then dusted off her hands and went back inside.
Shauna watched her, at a loss for words. "In my entire life, I have never even heard of an Environntal Protection Certificate."
Moira didn’t reply to Shauna. Instead, she leaned against the counter, pulled out her phone, and searched for how to obtain an "Environntal Protection Certificate." When the search result pointed to the Environntal Protection Bureau, she looked up and asked Shauna, "Do you know where the Environntal Protection Bureau for Everwood County is?"
"I do," Shauna said. "It’s over in Oakhaven."
"Will you co with ?" Moira asked.
Shauna looked reluctant, but she couldn’t bring herself to refuse. "Alright," she said grudgingly.
Everwood County wasn’t large. Oakhaven might have sounded far, but in reality, a taxi ride there barely cost more than the three-dollar starting fare.
When the taxi arrived at the Environntal Protection Bureau, Moira and Shauna got out one after the other.
They walked into the lobby and found the right service window. Following the instructions she’d found online, Moira bent down and passed her prepared docunts through the slot.
She had barely handed the docunts to the clerk when, a mont later, they were unceremoniously tossed back out.
Moira, maintaining the deferential attitude of soone asking for a favor, put on a polite smile and leaned in. "Hello, sorry to bother you. Am I missing any docunts?"
The clerk ignored her, simply tapping the pen in their hand against the glass partition.
Moira looked up and saw a list of required docunts taped to the glass.
She checked her papers against the list one by one and confird she had everything. Her lips twitched in annoyance. She leaned in again. "Excuse , I have all the docunts here..."
Before she could finish, a tall figure ca up behind her. He took the docunts from her hand, gave them a quick look, and passed them through the window. He said sothing in a low voice to the clerk. A mont later, the clerk, now smiling, replied, "This is all fine. The certificate will take one to three months to process. A staff mber will contact you regarding the remaining procedures."
The person who had taken her docunts was Connor Quinn.
Seeing how much more smoothly things went for Connor, Moira arched an eyebrow.
Connor, a man of few words, asked her in his deep voice, "Is it healed?"
Moira’s mind was entirely focused on the certificate, so she didn’t imdiately understand. "What?"
Connor’s gaze darkened. "Where I hurt you."
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