by Jerilee Kaye
“You can add some potted flowers here,” Jin said. “One wall, you can create a hanging garden.”
“That is a great idea!”
“Now, aren’t you glad I tagged along?” he asked in a smug tone.
She rolled her eyes and continued typing on her phone for additional items she would need to buy.
“It’s only seven,” he said. “We can have breakfast first and then we can go to the hardware shop.”
She shot a brow up at him. “You’re coming?”
“Of course,” he replied. “Why else am I here?”
“Jin… you don’t have to.”
“I want to,” he said. “I told you I would support you on this. That includes me helping you decorate your house.”
“I’m planning to do this myself. I won’t hire extra help. Are you sure you know how to get your hands dirty?”
He laughed. “Oh, ma belle. There’s so much you need to know about me. I’m not all brains, you know. I just might surprise you.” He took her hand in his and pulled her towards the front door.
She had to admit, it would be faster and easier if there was enough muscle around to help her do the heavy lifting. She was planning to ask Gian to help, but he was out of the country for some business.
“I can’t pay for your services, Mister Starck,” she told him.
He grinned at her and then he leaned forward and kissed her gently on the lips.
“There,” he whispered. “You’ve already given me a deposit.”
“Deposit?” she echoed. “You mean there would be more kisses to come?”
He chuckled, “Didn’t I tell you before? I would never stop kissing you.”
She sighed, “Jin…”
He gave her a smack, effectively silencing her. “Can we forget our issues for a while? Even for just this weekend. You’re making a home for yourself, and I want to help you as much as I can. I don’t want to argue about us all weekend.”
She realized he was right. One of the reasons she wanted to get her own place was because she wanted freedom, without anybody seeing her or judging her. This is her house now. And she can kiss whoever she wanted and no one should give a damn.
She sighed and then she nodded.
He kissed her again. Then he leaned his forehead against hers and breathed, “You’re mine, ma belle.”
She pulled away from him and said, “Only for this stolen moment.”
He gave her a wistful smile and then he nodded. “Okay. Let’s make the most out of this, then.”
***
After having breakfast at a nearby twenty-four hour café, Jin and Julianne headed towards the hardware and furniture mall in the city.
She picked out a carpet for the living room, throw pillows and throw blankets, and curtains in combination of red and white. She also picked out lamps and matching dark red coffee table and book shelves. For the backyard, she chose a metal outdoor chair and table set.
She found a section with hand-blown glass vases and trays. They come in a swirl of different colors. She picked out the ones in red and orange hues.
“You would make a better design than that,” Jin said behind her.
She smiled widely. “I think I would. But unfortunately, that’s not the career I currently have.”
“Why didn’t you ask your father to invest in your idea? I’m sure he should have seen your potential. I don’t understand why he didn’t finance your dream.”
She felt a twist in her chest again at the mention of her father.
“My father had an entirely different dream for me. That was the only one he was willing to invest in.”
“What dream was that?”
She shrugged. “One that would gain his business a more distinct advantage, increase the family wealth.”
“I understand that,” he said.
“I’m sure you would,” she murmured.
He, himself, is marrying a woman to gain a certain advantage for his family’s business.
He fell silent for a moment. When she looked at him, he had a sullen expression on his face.
He wouldn’t find that offensive, would he? It is true, anyway. He will marry for business advantage. Then why did he look so annoyed?
“Your father must have been very pleased when you started dating Patrick McAllister,” he said in an even tone.
Julianne turned around and picked out another vase. She didn’t answer him.
She remembered what River told her before. That she must correct every wrong notion Jin had of her. But she didn’t care.
What good would it do? Absolutely nothing. We have no future together.
They were both quiet for a moment, while she went around to look for more decors.
Then he told her he was going to get some tools while she decided which color she would use on the living room, and on Jared’s bedroom.
“Julianne?” she heard a voice say behind her.
She turned around and saw a guy, almost the same age as her, standing behind her. He looked familiar.
“Julianne Sanders?” he repeated.
She raised a brow at him, trying her best to recognize him.
“Aaron. Aaron Addleton. We were on the debate team together in high school.”
Now, she remembered him.
“Sorry,” she said. “I didn’t recognize you.”
She wouldn’t. In high school, he was skinny. Now, he packed a few pounds and toned a lot of his muscles. He looked different from the nerdy debate team captain she knew.
“How have you been?” he asked.
“I’m good,” she replied. “How about you?”
“Oh, I just came back to town. I was based in Italy for a while,”
“Really? What do you do?”
“I make software programs,” he replied.
“That’s different from debating,” she said. “You must be doing good.”
“Yep. I’m putting up a new branch right here.”
“That’s great.”
“How about you? Are you running your company with your brother?”
She cleared her throat and then she replied, “No. That’s all Gian’s. I’m working for Adams Industries.”
“For Justin Adams, your cousin?”
She nodded.
“Fancy meeting you in a hardware store. Do you live around here?”
“Soon. I’m decorating,” she replied.
“Well, I just moved around here too. Maybe we’ll be neighbors.”
“Oh, imagine that,” she said.
“Are you… married?” Aaron asked.
She shook her head.
“Are you… seeing anyone?” he asked quite boldly.
Before she could answer, she heard a cough behind her. She didn’t have to turn around to see who it was. Then she felt a possessive arm around her shoulder.
Aaron stared back at her and then at Jin. “Oh, shoot. I’m sorry, man.”
“Aaron, this is Jin. Jin, this is Aaron. Aaron and I were debate teammates in high school,” Julianne introduced the two men.
Aaron held out his hand to Jin. “Aaron Addleton.”
Jin shook it, saying, “Jin Starck.”
Aaron blinked back at him. Obviously, his name rang a bell.
Oh, God!
“As in the Jin Starck of Starck Corp.?” Aaron asked.
Jin just gave him a slight shrug.
“Oh, wow!” Suddenly Aaron looked star struck. “It’s… it’s nice to meet you. You were one of our biggest clients in Italy. You purchased one of the enterprise programs I wrote. You got it for your F&B department.”
“Really? You created Acuma?” Jin asked without blinking, as if the information had been automatically available in his brain.
Aaron smiled proudly. “Yes. Yes, I did.”
“That’s a good software. Fast. User-friendly. You must market it on a wider audience.”
“That’s the plan. That’s why I’m branching out here.” There was pride in Aaron’s voice.
/> “Well, good luck. I’m sure you’ll do well,” Jin said.
“I hope so too. Anyway, I’ll be on my way.” Aaron turned to Julianne. “Nice seeing you again, Julianne.” He turned to Jin. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mister Starck.”
“You too, Mister Addleton.”
Julianne smiled at Aaron before he went off, then she turned and glowered at Jin.
“What?” he asked innocently.
“What was that about?”
“What was what about?” he blinked back at her.
“You know what I mean, Jin Starck!”
Jin shrugged. “Well, he was asking if you were seeing anyone.”
“And?”
He pulled her to him gently. Then he whispered, “And you are. This is our stolen moment, ma belle. You’re mine, remember?” Then he leaned forward and gave her a kiss on the lips.
“Well, he was a bit bold,” she remarked after the kiss.
“He was going to ask you out if you said you weren’t seeing anyone.”
“And I was going to say no.”
“Really?” Julianne didn’t miss the delight in Jin’s voice.
She nodded. “I have bigger battles to fight. Dating is not on my list right now. I’m busy with work and saving up for Jared’s future. Any free time I get, I want to spend with Jared.”
He smiled. “Well, I don’t think Aaron Addleton would be bothering you anymore.”
“Yeah. Because he sounded more interested in you now,” she teased.
He chuckled. “You should thank me then.”
She smiled at him and then she tiptoed and kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you.”
Then she turned and walked ahead of him to hide her violent blush. He was right. This was a stolen moment. And maybe there would be nothing wrong if she allowed herself to enjoy it. Follow her heart, allow herself to feel appreciated. It had been a while since she felt this way.
Jin caught up with her. He took her hand in his and kissed her fingers.
“I just hope we don’t run into anybody we know,” she said wearily.
“I highly doubt that,” Jin said. “Justin and any of your cousins are too busy to go to a hardware shop. They have people doing these errands for them. So, relax. And besides, it’s me they will beat up when they find out about us. And I’ll take those punches in exchange for your kisses any day, love.”
She didn’t answer. Jin had no idea of the type of beating Justin, Gian and Jordan would be planning for him the moment they found out that he was the guy who stole her future away from her.
“Have you chosen your colors?” he asked.
She nodded. “Brown on the accent wall. On Jared’s room, it would be red, blue, yellow and green. He’s obsessed with a Rubik’s cube, thanks to you.”
Jin laughed. “You’re welcome.”
“Jin, are you sure you’re going to help me paint? Don’t you have better things to attend to? You have at least a dozen hotels to run.”
“Six dozen, actually,” he corrected her.
“You have more than seventy hotel properties?” she blinked back in surprise.
“We wouldn’t be one of the top hotel properties in the world if we don’t have at least fifty,” he explained. “And it’s okay. They’re running on solid routine. And I have a very efficient assistant. They can do without me for a few days.”
“Days?” she echoed, “You mean, you intend to sleepover?”
He smiled at her mischievously. “Now, that’s where the fun starts, right?”
She gave him a jab on the stomach again.
“Owww!” he yelped. “I’m just kidding.”
“You weren’t!”
“I am. I promise, I’ll be the perfect gentleman. I won’t do anything...” he paused and then he added, “That you wouldn’t want me to do.”
Her heart pounded in her chest, and she felt the thrill shooting up from every vein in her body. Three days alone with Jin Starck?
Well, that’s the problem.
There’s a whole lot of things I wanted him to do!
23.
Jin and Julianne finished their shopping and reached the counter to pay for her purchases.
“We have some items for delivery. We’d like them to be delivered within the day,” Jin instructed the guy on the counter.
“Sure, you can arrange that on the way out once I give you the bill. There might be a premium for rush delivery.”
Julianne was about to say it’s okay to have them delivered the next day, but Jin was quick to say, “No problem. We want them today.”
Yeah, I forgot. He’s rich. I’m not!
The cashier finished punching all the items and told them the total. Jin took his wallet from his pocket, but Julianne gave him a warning look, “Don’t even think about it!” she hissed. “This is my stuff.”
He held his hands up in surrender. “Okay, fine.”
She handed the cashier her debit card and she tried it on their machine. Julianne turned to Jin. “It’s fine if they can’t deliver them today. Tomorrow is still okay.”
“It’s easier to move and decide how you want to put things around once you have everything on hand,” he reasoned.
He reached out to push a lock of stray hair away from her face. Julianne was surprised by the tenderness she saw in his gesture, and in the way he looked at her now. It was different from the way he looked at her the first time he found her again. She thought he was becoming more and more like the Jas Mathieu she met and fell in love with.
“I’m sorry,” the cashier said. “Our system is offline again.”
“Do you want to try another card?” Julianne asked.
The cashier shook her head. “I don’t think it’s gonna work. Our systems have been having problems since yesterday. If you have cash, it’s better.”
“Can you hold it? I’ll go get cash from the ATM,” she told the cashier.
Before the cashier could say something, Jin handed her a wad of cash in one hundred dollar denominations. She didn’t even see him pick that up from his wallet. He must have taken it from his jacket’s inside pocket.
The cashier looked surprised.
“Jin, I told you…” Julianne started but he silenced her with a kiss.
“We’re holding up the line, love,” he said. “You can pay me later if you want.”
She sighed in defeat. She let the bagger pack her stuff as she wondered, Who carries at least four thousand dollars of cash in their pockets?
Jin arranged for the delivery of the items they ordered.
“Did you pay them a premium?” Julianne asked when he was finished.
He shrugged. “Don’t worry about it.”
“Jin!”
He groaned. “What’s the big deal, ma belle? It’s a small amount of money.”
“It’s small for you, maybe. But I don’t want anybody spending money on me.”
“Arabella, can you just let it go?” he pleaded. “I want to do this for you, okay? You can pay some other way.”
“Like how?”
He shrugged. “Cook for me. Bake for me. I have a sweet tooth. Or give me a massage tonight because my muscles will be sore from all the lifting and the painting. Money is nothing to me, ma belle. But those little things I ask of you… they would be priceless.”
She realized that he had a point. He is doing her a favor. She had planned to do this alone, but now, she was glad for a helping hand. And her complaining about money wasn’t really a nice way to thank a busy guy like him, who had better things to do with his time. He looked like he genuinely wanted to help and she was being childish with her complaints.
“Okay,” she murmured. “What would you want me to cook for you?”
He smiled widely at her, obviously pleased with her change of mind.
“Surprise me,” he beamed. “I’ll eat anything, as long as they do not have nuts on them.”
“Nuts?” she echoed.
He nodded. “Allergies. I got it from birth.”
Julianne nodded and turned away from Jin to shield her reaction. Jared has nut allergies from birth too and she had always wondered where her son got it. None of the members of her family had allergies. Now she knew. A child whose parent has an allergy has fifty percent chance of catching the same.
“Okay. Let’s go to the grocery first,” she told him.
“No problem.”
She picked out food, canned goods and other grocery items. The house came with a double door fridge. She planned to stock it.
Jin patiently walked beside her, pushing the trolley and reaching things for her.
“Aren’t you bored?” she asked.
“Never,” he replied automatically.
“Have you done this before?”
“What? Grocery shopping? Yeah, five or six times. When I was a kid. How about you? I’m sure you also grew up having maids and butlers at your beck and call. How often do you do this?”
“More than a hundred times,” she replied.
“A hundred times?” he echoed.
She nodded, picking out puddings for Jared. “In Italy,” she explained. “When I was pregnant, I went with Mason’s wife, Abi, whenever she shopped for groceries. And when I delivered Jared, I shopped for supplies, diapers, milk and other stuff at least twice a month.”
“Doesn’t Mason have helpers?”
“He does. But he hired them for his purpose. Not to babysit me or do my grocery. I didn’t want to impose.”
“Why did you live with Mason? Doesn’t your family have your own place in Italy?”
She shook her head. “No, they don’t. Only Mason and Justin do.”
“Why did you choose to live in Italy?”
She stared at her for a moment and then she turned back to the line of cookies in front of her.
“The change of scenery was good for me,” she replied. “Besides, breaking an engagement with a high profile guy like Patrick McAllister could be taxing for a pregnant lady.”
“That’s very wise,” he agreed. “Particularly since McAllister didn’t seem to take it well.”
She couldn’t say that she didn’t really have a choice. Her father kicked her out of the house and during that time, Mason was the only one who could provide her a safe refuge.