Marissa is now more relaxed, thinking she got through. Adam waits for him to speak up.

She sees him put his cup down and meet her gaze, making her teasingly smile on instinct.

He opens his mouth to speak.

"No," Adam says.

Marissa’s eyes widen a little, maybe from disappointment, but also knowing that he might reject.

Marissa doesn’t think Adam’s dumb to accept such an offer, but she hoped he did because she would love to do those things with Adam that she heard from Mark.

Imagining herself in a similar situation made her pussy wet.

"I think you already know why I will not take you on this offer, the risk is too high for the reward you promise," Adam says.

Marissa looks at Adam and then smiles; she doesn’t seem to be that bothered by his rejection. In fact, she somewhat expected it.

"Are you sure?" Marissa asks.

"I am," Adam says without hesitation.

"Such a shame, and here I thought you were a man of action, but it turns out, you are just a pretender, scared to go against my husband," Marissa says, goading Adam into a reaction.

"You know such cheap tricks won’t work on me, right?" Adam questions.

Marissa continues to smile, once again expecting similar results.

If Adam had gotten angry or reacted, she would have lost some interest in him, as it would show her that Adam has no control over his feelings.

But now the more she speaks, the more he desires for himself grows.

"You can’t fault a girl for trying," Marissa says, chuckling.

"As for me being scared of your husband? No, I am not scared of anyone. Cautious, maybe, who knows what your husband is capable of, given who he is and how he got here. I am not going to start a rivalry with someone whom I have no understanding of," Adam says.

Marissa likes what she hears, but this also makes things difficult for her, as her attraction for Adam is rising, but so are her chances of ever getting physical with him.

She has never found herself in such a scenario. Men went crazy to be with her, and some still do. But now, before her sits Adam, a young man whom she finds irresistibly handsome, rejecting her.

Never has she been rejected, but now that she is being rejected, her desire to be with Adam has only increased.

"Then what do you plan to do?" Marissa asks, curious as to where this conversation is going. If Adam were outright rejecting her, he wouldn’t have given the excuse of wanting to be cautious around her husband.

So he must still be interested, right?

Adam looks at her with his hungry eyes, in which he doesn’t hide his desire.

Marissa feels a chill run down her spine as she feels his intense gaze; it makes her feel as if she’s just a helpless deer that is about to be pounced upon by a hungry tiger.

The feeling is so intense, she can’t help but get goosebumps all over her skin.

"I don’t plan to do anything. It’s you who has a problem trusting me. As for us and what we could be, well, I will decide that on my time," Adam says.

Marissa doesn’t immediately answer; she takes her time processing the words Adam just spoke.

As she expected, he isn’t completely denying her, but he isn’t giving her what she wants either. Saying that he is going to do whatever he wants on his time makes it even more frustrating.

He is right about this being her problem, her not being able to trust Adam’s words, and wanting to bind him with her in this mess she created herself, as of any other options, she doesn’t want to change.

What she offered Adam is the only right option in her mind.

She looks at Adam. Sees that he is confident in his decision, but so what?

So what if he rejected her today and plans to drag this out as long as he wants? All she needs to do is win once.

She has made men fall on their knees and beg before her. How much of a challenge can an 18-year-old young man be?

"I think you got it all wrong, Adam," Marissa says, speaking up.

"Oh, and how’s that?" Adam asks.

"This," she says, pointing her finger between him and her, back and forth, she continues, "This thing between us is not over, and you saying it’s going to happen on your time is also completely out of your control," Marissa says.

Adam chuckles, "Oh, so what? You gonna seduce me?" Adam asks.

"Why not? I don’t think it would be that hard. I see the way you look at me with those striking eyes of yours, the way they undress me, wanting to see me naked. Depraved thoughts running behind them, wanting to do things to me that would make a grown man shy," Marissa says.

Adam smiles. She is not wrong about the things Adam wants to do to her, but she would be dead wrong if she believes she can actually succeed in seducing Adam.

"You can try," Adam says in response.

As soon as those words come out of Adam’s mouth, Marissa brings her hand closer to her chest to drag Adam’s attention towards her cleavage, and is successful in doing so because Adam’s eyes are always observing.

Marissa seems to be getting right to the action as she inserts one of her fingers into the strap of her dress and begins running it down while pulling outwards, revealing more of her breast.

Adam didn’t expect Marissa to immediately go on the attack, but if the woman wants to give him a show, then he will welcome it with open arms.

He doesn’t look away as Marissa begins pulling her dress down to reveal more of her breasts.

Adam has to give it to Marissa, for a woman who is a mother of a son the same age as him, her beauty has not faded one bit.

Her skin still looks smooth and soft, clearly a product of all the money she must have put into her looks to keep herself looking young.

Her breasts are still perky, and there are very few wrinkles on her face, suggesting she is no older than a woman in her early 30s.

Just as her areola is about to be exposed, she stops and puts her hand away as she catches her son walking up to them on her peripheral view.

As she does this, she sees a smirk appear on Adam’s face, which annoys her. She saw that Adam’s eyes were glued on her breasts; if not for her son, then maybe things could have escalated a lot further.

She has full confidence in her beauty, charisma, intelligence, and in her ability to seduce a young man like Adam.

’You got lucky,’ Marissa thinks as she turns to look at her son and smiles like a mother who loves her child, which is not hard, given that she does actually love him.

"Hey, what are you guys talking about?" Danny asks immediately as he steps into the gazebo.

"Marissa was just asking me about the type of girls I like," Adam says.

Marissa raises an eyebrow, giving him a look as she recalls a similar conversation she and Adam had in the elevator about each other’s preferences.

She can see that Adam’s clearly trying to make her a little uncomfortable with the choice of his words, but she is an experienced woman and isn’t someone who loses her cool with such simple taunts.

"Sorry about that, my mom can get a little nosy," Danny says.

"Sweety, you came back earlier than I expected," Marissa says.

"Didn’t want to leave you guys alone," Danny says.

"That’s so sweet of you, but I think Adam and I are done with our talk. Isn’t it so, Adam?" Marissa asks, turning towards Adam.

As much as she would love to stay here and continue with her attempts to seduce Adam, she won’t do it in front of her son, so it’s better to postpone her actions to a later time when she finds herself alone with Adam again.

"Yes, sorry, dude, can’t stay any longer. I need to leave," Adam says, getting up from his seat.

"Already?" Danny asks.

"Ya, can’t keep my coach waiting," Adam says as he gives Marissa one last look, an exchange of their gazes, a silent exchange of words between their eyes only they know of.

"Alright then, see you soon," Danny says, bidding farewell to Adam as Adam walks past him.

Adam gives him a small wave before walking into the mansion while Danny and Marissa watch.

Marissa looks at her son, wanting to ask him some questions about Adam, but stops herself as she doesn’t want her son to get suspicious about her.

"Come join me, tell me about your day and what’s gotten you so excited," Marissa says, deciding to listen to her son’s day rather than interrogate him about his new friend.

______________________

Adam walks out of the mansion with a smile on his face. He knew he would come face-to-face with Marissa someday, given Danny’s relationship with her; he didn’t expect it would be today.

He also would have never expected the conversation between them would go the way it did.

From offering herself to him to threatening to seduce him when he said no.

The woman was a rare species.

Now he is curious as to what she will do.

The balls in her court.