He Wouldn't Claim Me — Another Man Did-Chapter 141 - 128: Danger

After a full day of travel, Annabelle Leighton was actually very tired.

But after her shower, she didn’t feel the least bit sleepy. In fact, far from being tired, the thought that Morgan Hayes was staying in the room next door made her feel a faint thrill of excitement.

’A long night in a strange place... This is a golden opportunity.’

"Officer Hayes, are you asleep?" Annabelle Leighton texted Morgan Hayes.

Morgan Hayes replied with a question mark.

Annabelle: "The moon is beautiful tonight. Want to go for a walk?"

His reply was quick, a blunt two words: "I won’t."

"How about a late-night snack, then? I saw a barbecue place at the village entrance that looks pretty good."

"I won’t."

"Please connect me to a human. I don’t want automated replies!"

Morgan Hayes simply stopped replying.

Annabelle Leighton stared at her screen for a while. Seeing no activity from his end, she flopped onto her bed in frustration.

The room felt a little stuffy.

Annabelle tossed and turned, unable to sleep. Finally, she got up, threw on a jacket, and went downstairs.

After being cooped up in the city for so long, her soul felt imprisoned by steel and concrete. The occasional sight of the vast, starry country sky felt incredibly healing.

Annabelle took a couple of photos. She thought about sending them to Isla Prescott, but then remembered she was probably asleep at this hour, so she sent them to Morgan Hayes instead.

Morgan still didn’t reply, but with such a beautiful view before her, Annabelle didn’t mind.

She took a solitary stroll around the lake outside the hotel. Feeling a bit cold, she was about to head back when she turned and saw Morgan Hayes walking over from the hotel.

"Offi—"

Annabelle had started to call him "Officer Hayes," but she remembered they couldn’t reveal their identities and quickly stopped herself.

"Hayes."

Hayes?

Morgan Hayes’s face darkened. "Are you incapable of speaking normally?"

"Aren’t you the one who can’t speak normally?" Annabelle shot back, her gaze fixed on his thin, sensual lips. "You have such a handsome mouth, yet all it knows how to say are words of rejection like ’I won’t,’ ’no good,’ and ’no way’! If it weren’t so warm when we kissed, I’d almost think your lips were made of ice."

"Can you please stop bringing that up?"

"Bringing what up?"

Morgan Hayes’s ears turned red, and he fell silent.

Annabelle laughed. "Oh, you mean the part about the kiss?"

"It wasn’t a kiss. You forced a kiss on me."

"Is that so?"

Annabelle walked right up to Morgan Hayes, stood on her tiptoes, and leaned in to kiss him. With lightning-fast reflexes, he caught her by the shoulders and pushed her away.

"Don’t mess around."

"See? With your skills, if you really didn’t want it, there’s no way I could kiss you." Annabelle looked him in the eye, smiling as she broke it down for him. "If you’re unwilling and I force you, that’s forcing a kiss. If you want it and I want it, and it’s mutual, then that’s just a kiss."

Morgan didn’t want to argue the point with her. He changed the subject, reminding her, "Don’t you think it’s dangerous for a woman like you to be wandering around alone in a strange place in the middle of the night?"

"So you were worried about me? Is that why you came down to find me?"

"Think whatever you want. Now go upstairs and sleep."

"You can’t tell me what to do." Annabelle’s smile bloomed. "If you want to tell me what to do, you’ll have to be my boyfriend first."

Morgan Hayes was utterly defeated.

He didn’t say another word and turned to leave, but he happened to catch a glimpse of a small, thin, furtive shadow flitting across the opposite side of the lake.

"Hayes—"

Annabelle had just reached out to stop him when he spun around, wrapped an arm around her waist, and pulled her into his embrace.

’Happiness came so suddenly!’

Annabelle didn’t hesitate. She immediately hugged him back, wrapping her arms tightly around Morgan Hayes’s lean, strong waist.

"Why so forward all of a sudden?"

"Shh!" he whispered softly in her ear.

Although Annabelle was usually boisterous, she knew when to be serious. For Morgan Hayes to suddenly hold her so cautiously, there had to be a special reason.

’Isn’t this how it always plays out in TV shows? The police officer hero suddenly hugs the heroine. It looks intimate, but it’s really a cover.’

Annabelle didn’t ask any more questions. She just leaned against Morgan Hayes’s chest and shamelessly copped a feel, her hands roaming here and there.

Morgan’s attention was focused entirely on the other side of the lake; he had no time to worry about what the woman in his arms was touching.

He and Levi Quinn had come to Brieridge on this business trip because they’d received a tip from an informant that Black Rat, a suspect in a major criminal case in Meritopia, had recently been spotted in Brieridge.

The dark figure just now closely resembled Black Rat’s cousin in build. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

Morgan Hayes watched as the shadow glanced left and right before darting into the alley behind the hotel.

"You go upstairs first. Lock the door and don’t wander off." After giving his instructions, Morgan released Annabelle and chased after the figure into the back alley.

"Hey, where are you going?"

Morgan didn’t answer. In an instant, he had vanished into the darkness.

Annabelle did as she was told and went back upstairs, locking her door. But her thoughts were still on Morgan Hayes. She knew a police officer’s job was inherently dangerous, but she couldn’t help but worry about him.

’Morgan will be okay, right?’