She wondered how she could tell Bennett that she was full and needed to buy a box of digestive enzyme pills. As if he had read her mind, he took out a boxful and passed it to her.

Claudia felt stunned for a while, then a feeling of embarrassment washed over her. Her cheeks felt hot as she blushed deeply.

She took the box from his hand while she tried as much as possible to avoid eye contact. She took three pills and ate them. She then leaned against the chair, closed her eyes and said nothing.

“Are you all right?" Bennett asked.

Seeing that no reply came from her, he stopped the car and placed his hand on her cheek.

Claudia turned her head slightly to face him and was about to speak when she abruptly burped. "Not really..."

Before she could stop herself, she burped for a second time, and then a third. Covering her face with her hand, she said, "I can't talk now."

She couldn't believe what had just happened. She promised herself that she would be mindful of how much she ate from now on.

As the enzyme pills got to work, she continued to burp for a while.

She hated it when it happened, but at least, with each burp, her stomach felt less uncomfortable.

Bennett had his eyes focused on her. As he let his eyes wander a little, it fell on her red ears. After a while, he looked away with a smile and continued driving slowly.

"You shouldn't cover your face with your hands. It's not like I'm going to laugh at you."

His words only made Claudia blush even more. She put down her hands and said, "That congee was the best I've ever had. It was delicious."

"Yes, it was delicious, he said with a smile as he repeated her words.

His not so subtle jibe hadn't escaped Claudia's notice. Though he had meant it as a joke, she didn't see it that way. "What happened to not laughing at me?"

“Laughing at you? Did I laugh?" he asked as he turned his head to look at her.

"Of course, you did!"

It had been pretty obvious.

He was smiling at the moment. His eyes were looking at her and the corners of his mouth were curled up.

She was a bit annoyed.

Bennett stopped the car as he approached a red light and turned his head. He was about to say something when he realized just how angry and shy she was. He swallowed hard and restrained himself from saying anything.

He didn't want them to get into an argument in the car.

Claudia could almost feel his eyes boring into her. When she couldn't take it anymore, she turned her head to look at him.

She had expected to see him still laughing at her, but when she turned to look at him, her eyes got locked into his, which were filled with faint lust.