Chapter 326

326 The Next Level
Dalton slid the plate of steak he had sliced up over to Wynter. “She
wanted to marry into the Yarwood family, but I turned her down.”
Wynter stared at him speechlessly.
“I figured I should tell you myself before you get the wrong idea,” he
explained, though exasperation filled his sparkling eyes. “You’re
unnervingly fl*ppant for someone I’m rumored to be dating.”
Wynter gave the steak a cursory look before saying, “I have yet to hear
about your valiant effort of turning down a young woman’s
affections, but I still care about you enough to tell you to stay away
from her.”
“Got it,” Dalton replied in amusement, wondering if Wynter was
jealous of Naomi.
But jealousy was not the reason behind Wynter’s warning. “She has a strange scent on her that could
be bad for your health.”
“That’s it?” he asked incredulously under his breath.
“Sorry, what was that?” Wynter couldn’t hear him over the saxophone.
“Nothing,” Dalton dismissed with a pleasant smile. “Do you think. she’s plotting against the Yarwoods?
What did you find out after you
visited the Quinnell residence?”
Sometimes, Wynter thought Dalton was too smart for his own good. He could read between the lines
even though the information she had
given him was vague.
Chaty 126 The Next to yel
“Grandpa’s condition is a result of toxins. In other words, he’s been
poisoned.” Wynter left out the strange set-up she had seen in the
Quinnell residence.
“It’s almost impossible for outsiders to bring in the poison, which
means it’s an inside job.”
Dalton suddenly thought of something and asked, “You once told me
that medical incense was bad for me if I breathed it in over a long
period. Do you think she had something to do with that too?”
“You need to ask yourself that.” Wynter’s clear gaze fixed on him. ” The medical incense has relaxing
properties but can overwhelm your
system. Who gave it to you?”
He didn’t bother lying to her. “My sister got it from a church.”
“Someone’s targeting the Yarwoods,” Wynter concluded. She set her utensils down and dabbed her
m*uth with a napkin. “It’d make sense
for them to come after you first, and they’re using such a roundabout way to keep you from getting
suspicious.”
Dalton stared at Wynter thoughtfully. “You’ve saved me again.”
Again. Wynter considered this while sipping her water. “I’m not that
heroic.”
“You are,” he answered, laughing. “If these were medieval times, I’d have to marry you to repay your
kind debt.”
She almost choked on her water. Putting the glass down, she met his gaze and confessed, “I have
intermittent explosive disorder.”
“I know.” He tapped his slender index finger against his neck. “You
326 The Next Level
left your mark here.”
Wynter gave him a withering look. Why did he have to bring up such embarrassing memories?
“My disorder could be hereditary,” she continued solemnly like she was giving out medical advice.
“Could you accept that?”
Dalton chuckled. “With a lifespan as short as mine, I doubt I have any right to discriminate against your
condition.”
She opened her m*uth to say something, but Dalton fed her a spoonful of crème brûlée before she
could speak. “I’m physically unwell, and you’ve got a mental disorder. We’re a perfect match.
Wynter chewed on the silky-soft crème brûlée and nodded at him to feed her another spoonful. “But I
don’t like having others breathing down my neck all the time. I bet your family has a plethora of rules
and traditions.”
“I don’t know where you heard that from,” Dalton countered with mo disapproval, though he laughed.
“Why is it that the things you about my family are never good?”
“You might want to hear the things you said in the past,” she shot back, her chin resting in her palm.
“I didn’t know you paid such close attention to me,” Dalton pulled out a couple of tissues and began
wiping Wynter’s face. “That was a facade I put on for the public. You, on the other hand, are special.”
She thought it was unfair for someone as handsome as Dalton to be this charming.
“After I’ve sorted out the problems plaguing the Quinnells, I’ll visit your
Chap 324
grandfather with you,” Wynter offered.
She had never been one to lack initiative, especially since she and Dalton had already made this much
progress in their relationship.
She also hated stringing someone along, though Dalton’s handsome face was a more convincing
reason for her to want to take things. between them to the next level.
With that in mind, Wynter poked Dalton’s ch*ek and said, “I like your
face.”