"Heh, I seem to have forgotten my manners. A gentleman should introduce himself first. My name is Morgan Sterling." A smile remained on Morgan Sterling's face as he extended his hand toward her.
"Leah Sinclair." Leah lightly shook his hand.
"Leah? A beautiful name, just like the woman it belongs to. You're gorgeous." Morgan Sterling's eyes swept over her.
"...Hardly."
Leah felt that although Morgan Sterling was smiling, there was no warmth in his eyes. The feeling made her deeply uncomfortable, and she had no idea what he was getting at with all this small talk.
"Miss Sinclair, you don't mind if I call you Leah, do you?" Morgan Sterling suddenly leaned closer, causing her to instinctively pull back.
"Eldest... Eldest Young Master Sterling can call me whatever you like."
"Then I'll call you Leah. It's more familiar that way."
'Who's familiar with you? We just met,' Leah complained inwardly, scooting back a little more.
"I hear you're quite close with Ethan Shaw and his friends?" Morgan Sterling took a sip of his drink and asked her, "Why aren't you drinking, Leah?"
Leah quickly took a sip. "Not that close. Young Master Shaw and the others are just generous patrons."
"Heh, they're just a bunch of kids. Ben Coleman, do you remember? Third Master Keating, Ethan Shaw... they all chased after my Madeline back in the day," Morgan Sterling suddenly said to Ben Coleman.
"I remember, I remember! Of course I do! Miss Madeline didn't say yes to a single one of them. Makes sense, though. A beauty like our Miss Madeline, why would she even look their way?" Ben Coleman praised obsequiously.
Leah cursed him for a lackey in her mind, and then she heard Morgan Sterling change the subject. "Leah, do you know how to play with dice?"
"A little."
"Ben Coleman, bring some dice. Just drinking like this is no fun. No wonder our Leah has barely had a drop."
"..." 'Who's "your Leah"?' Leah had no idea why this Eldest Young Master Sterling was acting so familiar with her.
Ben Coleman grabbed two sets of dice from the next table and handed them over. Morgan Sterling asked Leah how she wanted to play. She said anything was fine, so he chose a game called "One in a Hundred."
The rules were actually simple. You start with one die and try to roll a one. If Leah rolled a one, Morgan Sterling would have to drink a glass.
If she failed to roll a one, she would have to add another die and roll again, continuing until she finally succeeded. Then, she would have to drink a number of glasses equal to the number of dice she'd used to get that one.
"Eldest Young Master, how about you let me in on this?" Ben Coleman asked shamelessly.
"Leah doesn't mind, do you?" Morgan Sterling asked her first, playing the gentleman.
"It's fine." Although Leah didn't want to play with them at all, she knew she had no choice.
Ben Coleman grabbed his own dice cup, and the three of them began to play. Leah got lucky on her first turn and rolled a one right away. She let out a small sigh of relief. The game seemed easy, but it could get you drunk very quickly.
She remembered playing with Ethan Shaw and the others once when her luck had been terrible. There were five of them playing, and with twenty-five dice in the game, she hadn't rolled a one until she was using twelve of them.
In their opening turns, Morgan Sterling and Ben Coleman each ended up drinking two or three glasses. After about half an hour, Leah had drunk fewer than five glasses herself.
Meanwhile, Morgan Sterling and Ben Coleman had each downed more than a dozen. Morgan kept praising her good luck, and even she started to feel that her luck was unusually good today.
When Morgan Sterling was nearly twenty glasses in, he suddenly leaned against Leah. "I never expected you to be so lucky, Leah. I think I'm actually getting drunk."
The scent of tobacco and cologne from his body rushed into her nose. It wasn't unpleasant, but Leah still tried to pull away. As she did, an arm snaked around her waist.
"Eldest Young Master Sterling, please don't. I only accompany clients for drinks."
Leah frowned slightly and tried to pry his hand away, but it was locked firmly around her waist.
"Give me one kiss, and I'll let go. How about it?" Morgan Sterling's eyes were fixed on her.
"Eldest Young Master Sterling, that's not a good idea. I look like your sister. Don't you think it would be a little strange if I kissed you?"
Of course Leah wasn't going to do it; all she could do was say something unsettling to make him let go. Everyone said she looked like his sister. Surely if she pointed that out, he wouldn't try anything more.
SLAP.
Ben Coleman had struck her across the face. "Someone says you look a little like Miss Madeline, and now you're getting cocky?"
Leah instantly tasted iron in her mouth. Morgan Sterling turned his head back toward her and said with a laugh, "Ben Coleman, what's with this nasty habit of yours? Are women for hitting?"
As he spoke, his hand moved to caress her cheek. "Leah, you don't have to pay him any mind. He's just a brute."
Leah flinched away from his hand and shot a cold look at Ben Coleman. "Three times."
"What three times?" Her stare made Ben Coleman freeze for a second.
But Leah didn't look at him again. Morgan Sterling, who had been indifferent, suddenly seemed intrigued. "Still stubborn, I see. I'd love to hear what you sound like in bed."
Leah looked up at him. "Eldest Young Master Sterling, forget the kiss. Isn't it disgusting to think about sleeping with someone who looks like your sister?"
"Hah. Such a sharp tongue. Haven't you heard of turning off the lights?"
Morgan Sterling watched her with cruel amusement. The hand on her waist didn't move; instead, it pulled her even closer. "Or should I say, does Third Master Keating prefer to leave them on?"
Alarm bells screamed in Leah's head. She had a gut feeling that Morgan Sterling had finally gotten to his real reason for being here.
Even though he had only mentioned him once at the beginning, his sudden mention now confirmed it. This man had sought her out because of Third Master Keating.
She didn't know if Asher Keating had done something to offend this Morgan Sterling. From his tone earlier, it sounded like they used to know each other well. But his current tone was not that of a friend. She didn't want to cause trouble for Asher Keating, not after he'd saved her last time. "I don't know what you're talking about, Eldest Young Master Sterling."
Morgan Sterling grabbed her chin. "You don't know? Heh, who doesn't know you're Third Master Keating's woman? If he hadn't put the word out, do you think you'd get by here just by pouring drinks? It's the first time I've seen him protect a girl from the clubs like this. Is it because you're that good in bed?"
It finally dawned on Leah why the past half-month had been so easy for her. She didn't know why Asher Keating would do that for her, but since he had, she was even more determined not to cause him any trouble.
She forced herself to remain calm. "Eldest Young Master Sterling, you must be joking. Young Master Keating wouldn't do something like that for a nobody like me. I have nothing to do with him. There must be some misunderstanding."
"Is that so? So many people are fighting to be Third Master Keating's woman, yet you seem desperate to wash your hands of him."
Morgan Sterling tightened his grip, and Leah felt as if her jaw was about to shatter. 'Honestly,' she thought, 'why do all these rich guys have a thing for grabbing people's chins? It really hurts.'
Just as they were locked in a stalemate, the door suddenly burst open.
"Well, well, Morgan, you're here! How come you didn't invite me and Riley to join the fun?"
Ethan Shaw and Riley Sterling appeared like knights in shining armor, just like last time. Leah had never been so happy to see them.