He swallowed, a lump forming in his throat. He felt… humbled.
“In fact,” she said, her voice mischievous, “I’d like to make a rule. For the rest of the week, you don’t get to spend more than fifty dollars on a date with me.”
He frowned, doing the math. “Per person?”
“Total.”
“Total?” he croaked. “Which leaves me with exactly where to take you?”
“Maybe you don’t have to take me out to dinner,” she said. “Maybe we could grab burgers one night, or go to a movie. Or maybe you could cook for me.”
He thought about it. Cooking for her – that could get her over to his place. Of course, she had the no-sex rule in place already, so that could be torturous.
“I’ll work with it,” he agreed, squeezing her hand. Her answering smile told him that it would be difficult, but God willing, it would be worth it.
Chapter 5
After their luxurious dinner and dessert, Rachel felt cozy and pampered. They went back down to the waiting driver and the limo.
“I wanted to hang out, spend some time with you in the back,” Ren said, with a small smile. “It’ll be at least a half an hour, probably more in this weather. That’s time we could spend together.”
The partition was up, and she smirked at him. “Is that what you tell all the girls?”
“Never before,” he said, then patted the seat next to him. “C’mon. I was just thinking a little snuggling. We can still take it slow.”
She worried at the corner of her lip with her teeth. He did things to her self-control. Of course, she was already this far…
What the hell.
She snuggled up against his side, breathing in his spicy cologne, and the car pulled out into Seattle traffic. She felt him tilt his head, nuzzling her.
“God, you feel good,” he breathed, and he sounded grateful. “Have I mentioned recently how glad I am that you’re seeing me again?”
“Jury’s still out,” she said, even though she felt more and more attracted to him. It felt like putting up a battle was more and more futile.
“I mean just seeing me for dinner and things.” And he really did sound happy about it. He stroked her arm, fitting her tight against his side. “And talking to you on the phone. And… I don’t know. Just being with you.”
She felt her chest warm, and it had nothing to do with the heating controls in the limo. “It’s weird. It’s been a while since I’ve been with anyone but my girlfriends, or my sisters.” She smiled. “I still hang out with the same girls from high school, can you believe it?”
“Really?” He pulled back to look at her. “Stacy?”
“And Hailey’s friend Kyla, and Mallory,” Rachel reminded him. “We all hang out at least monthly at the bookstore. Girls’ night, although almost everyone’s paired off now.” She frowned, realizing that.
Almost everyone I know is in a relationship.
That didn’t mean she had to be. She wondered absently if she was reacting to Ren because of loneliness, on top of all the other baggage she had about him.
She felt him brush his mouth against her hair, and then against the curve of her ear. “It’s great that you’ve stayed in contact,” he said. She shivered at the sensual feel of his breath against her earlobe, and the sensitive skin behind it, near her neck.
“Y-yes. They’re the best.” What was she talking about? She felt a small moan emerge, and she squelched it as best she could. His lips brushed lower, sucking gently. He pressed a kiss at the little hinge of her jaw, on her now wildly pounding pulse.
“I wonder…” he started, then cursed softly when his phone went off. “Sorry. I meant to shut it off, but there have been some work crises lately. I told my brother I’d keep it on.”
“It’s okay.” And it really was. She was being drawn into his spell, like hypnosis. She needed a little distance. “I mean…”
He went straight for her, his mouth brushing against hers, but gently, like a butterfly. She gasped. That went on for some time. It was like he was exploring a strange new world, even though they’d spent a lot of their formative years learning to kiss from each other.
She loved the feel of him. The taste of him.
Oh, why keep fighting it?
She closed her eyes, then leaned forward, returning the kiss with one of her own. It was tentative. The last thing she wanted to do was tear off her clothes in the back of this limo and ravish him.
Is it, though? Is it really the last thing you want to do?
Well, she thought to herself. It was still on the list, apparently.
Ren wove his fingers into her hair, keeping her in place as his mouth carefully and thoroughly devoured hers. His tongue moved forward, stroking against hers gently, lovingly. She made an aching sigh that his mouth captured, and her hands clenched his shoulders, holding him tight.
She wasn’t sure when he’d undone the buttons on her coat, but she quickly shucked it off and tore at his jacket, shoving it off of his shoulders.
Keep your clothes on!
She groaned a little. She wanted to rebel against that, so badly.
He was pressed against her, and he twisted her until they were face to face. She moved, straddling him, her skirt billowing over his knees. She moved until she could feel his hardness, notching into the junction of her thighs, and she tilted her head back.
“Ren,” she said sharply, moving her hips, and she was gratified when he groaned with her, his hips lifting, his hands smoothing down the lacy panels over her breasts, down to her hips, holding her even tighter against his cock.
“Oh, God, Rachel,” Ren said, through gritted teeth. His hips jolted up, and she felt herself going slick, her clit a hard little bead.
She’d forgotten how much she missed this. Not from just any man – she could have sex with other men if she wanted – but with Ren. The way he’d made her feel special. The way he’d simply wanted her, like no other man had ever…
Buzzzzzzzz.
She frowned. Was that his phone? Again?
After a few minutes, it stopped. Then started up again.
He pulled away, breathless, his eyes angry. “I am so sorry,” he said, then looked at his phone, glaring at it before answering. “What the hell, Jian?”
She shifted off his lap, already feeling the absence of his erection with a definite pang of disappointment. But she wasn’t going to stay on his lap while he took a business call, or family call, or whatever the hell this was. It had to be some kind of emergency, like he said.
Ren’s eyes narrowed. “He called the meeting without me? I told him I had plans tonight!” He sounded angry. “And he called Mom and Dad? Fucker.”
Rachel sighed. Well, it was a business emergency, apparently. She was glad it wasn’t a medical emergency or something like that, but – well, she’d been getting pretty close. It might not have taken too much more rubbing to get her there, she realized.
Not that it was a good idea, if she was trying to keep some distance. But it wouldn’t be sex, per se.
You are so making this shit up as you go along.
She grinned at herself, and at her excuses. She still wanted Ren, she had no doubts about that. She just wasn’t sure if her heart could take him.
He kept on talking, something about meetings and a factory and software stuff. Then she heard him say: “Fine. I’ll be back tonight and talk to them then.”
She blinked. It was already nearly ten.
He hung up, then turned back to her. He looked tired, and irritated. “Sorry. Where were we?”
“We’ve stopped,” she realized.
They looked out the window. Between their make-out session and Ren’s phone call, and the driver’s skill, it had only taken them half an hour to get to her house. Now, the bookstore loomed at the top of the walk.
She turned to him. “So – I guess a nightcap is out of the question?” she asked, knowing if she got him into her bedroom, she’d probably make some bad decisions that wouldn�
��t let him leave until morning.
He must’ve read the intent on her face, because he looked truly regretful. “I can’t,” he said, with a low, soft curse. “I have to go back into the office.”
She tilted her head, considering that.
He’s saying no to you, so he can go back to work.
Her eyes narrowed.
I’m going to be too busy for you…
Red flag, she thought. Huge, serious red flag.
“But I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said. “I don’t have the place set up, since you just instituted the whole fifty-dollar cap, but…”
“It’s not a big deal,” she said. “I’ve got my test tomorrow, anyway.”
He frowned. “Let my driver take you,” he said. “It’s supposed to snow tomorrow, and the roads are going to be a mess.”
She shook her head. “I was taking care of myself for years before you were here, with your fancy dinner and limos and drivers,” she said, with a little laugh. “I can manage driving myself to school, thanks.”
He huffed. “I’m really sorry I have to go.”
She leaned forward, kissing him lingeringly, until she felt him reach for her. Then she pulled away.
“It’s probably just as well,” she said. “I might’ve broken my no-sex rule, and then where would we be?”
The look on his face was priceless. She was chuckling to herself all the way up the stairs to the house. But as she closed the door behind her, she realized: she was right. She was falling for him, again. And it sounded like his job made college look like a picnic.
He’s going to hurt you, she told herself.
And like any good train wreck, she couldn’t seem to look away.
#
Ren fumed all the way back to the city, all the way back to Chu corporate headquarters. He waved to the security guard as he stalked through the empty hallways. It was ten-fucking-thirty at night, for pity’s sake. Why was he here?
Because the Chief Operating Officer has a bug up his ass.
He hit the elevator button, then ascended all the way to the thirtieth floor. He headed out. The cleaning crew was there, vacuuming and emptying trash cans. “Hey, Ren,” one of the custodians, Paul, said with a nod.
Ren nodded back. “Have a good holiday?”
“Great one,” he said, then gave Ren a glance. “Back to working late again, huh?”
Ren sighed. “Looks like it.”
“Well, don’t work too hard.” Paul’s laugh was rasping.
Ren smiled back as best he could. He didn’t feel like laughing. He felt like strangling somebody.
He closed his eyes for a second, Rachel’s familiar scent filling his nostrils, the feel of her satiny dress under his fingertips. His body tensed momentarily, as he thought of her, spreading over him, swaying against him…
No. He growled at himself silently. No time for that kind of indulgence.
He was here to kick some ass.
He headed for Peter’s office, saw the light was on. He headed inside, knocking on the doorframe. “Peter, I…”
He stopped abruptly, taking in the other people in Peter’s office.
“Hello, Ren,” Ren’s mother said, her smile small and calm. No matter what hour of day or night, she always looked impeccably dressed and ready for a photo shoot. She was wearing what looked like a Chanel suit tonight. She got to her feet, giving him a small hug and pressing her cheek against his.
His father was sitting in another chair and nodded to him curtly. He was broad-chested, wearing a similarly impeccable suit. No off-the-rack for his father, not even couture. Everything was privately made by his personal tailor in Hong Kong.
“I knew he’d called you, but I didn’t think you’d both be here this late,” Ren said.
“It’s the family business,” his father said, sounding surprised at Ren’s surprise – and reproachful. “Of course we came right away.”
Ren couldn’t stop himself from glaring at Peter.
“What really surprised me,” his father continued, “was that you weren’t here. That you knew there was a meeting, but you refused to be here.”
So that’s how Peter was spinning it, huh? Ren shook his head. “I didn’t need to be here. Honestly, Dad, neither do you.”
“That’s not how I see it,” Peter said, his smile catlike and smug. “I told you there were issues that needed to be addressed with the factory, and you told me you wouldn’t be able to deal with it for a week. That’s hardly the kind of assertive, problem-solving approach we use here at Chu.”
He sounded like a kiss-up. He was being a kiss-up… and he was trying to discredit Ren in front of his own family.
“The factory is going to need work, no question. But that’s going to be a matter of both process and hiring,” Ren said. “Which we’re not going to get nailed down tonight. We’re not solving anything in the next twenty-four hours. We don’t even have key people in place, with the information they need, to start making the decisions that would solve the problems.”
Ren’s father pinched his mouth a little. “Peter mentioned that you were out with a girl tonight, instead of dealing with the factory. Is that true? And that you’ve cleared the rest of the week to be available to her?”
Ren winced. So Peter had known about that, huh? He’d have some fucking words with Stephen about that little tidbit, as well.
“I did have a date tonight, yes,” he said. “I am hoping to see her more, not just this week. Not that it’s any of Peter’s business.”
Peter’s grin widened a fraction.
“Of course, Peter, I told you this afternoon that I’d talk to my parents about everything that was going on. I told you that the meeting ought to be rescheduled until everyone who needed to had the information that they needed actually got it. But instead, you run around like a chicken with its head cut off, acting busy just so you can justify your job, putting in a late night so you think you can look good. Tell me: what did the discussion with the Zhuhai factory lead come up with tonight?”
Peter’s complexion turned ruddy with anger as Ren’s parents turned to him.
“We’ve got some promising ideas,” he said, his voice tight.
“Really? Can you name one? Just one.”
“The… the… uh…” He cleared his throat. “We were talking about replacing the head engineer.”
“We talked about that two weeks ago. It’s in my email of recommendations that I made to you then. It might still be in your inbox,” Ren added uncharitably. “Anything else of value come out of tonight’s late-night session? Because I’ve been in the office since seven this morning, and I knew that there wouldn’t be any point to staying until eight or later tonight, just to have a meeting that nobody was ready for!”
Ren knew that his voice had raised. His mother looked at him, her eyebrows arching. She didn’t like being demonstratively angry. It was what made her such a fierce businesswoman. She was brilliant, and often underestimated.
His father was nodding. “Well, it does feel like you’ve got your arms wrapped around this problem,” he said to Ren, then looked at Peter. “I’m sorry that you feel like Ren isn’t taking this seriously enough, but I assure you, nobody takes our business more seriously than our family.”
It was a rebuke, but a subtle one. Given the need, the Chu family would stand behind their own. Peter must’ve put that together, as well, because his reddened complexion turned a pale white.
“I just thought you should know,” Peter said. “I’ll be in early tomorrow, and we’ll get these problems ironed out.”
“I feel certain you will,” Ren’s mother said, and her tone, though even, brooked no argument. “We promised stockholders that the problems would be addressed by this year.”
Which put a ticking clock on the time bomb that was the Electronics Division. Ren saw Peter swallow hard, then nod.
“Come on, walk us out,” his mother said, looping her arm through his and walking with him out of Peter’s office. “I wan
t to hear about this date. Anyone we know?”
“No, Mom.” He winced. Goddamn Stephen. What was he thinking, letting that detail slip?
“Good family?” By his mother’s definition, a “good family” was one that was nearly as wealthy as theirs, or at least one with serious business and/or social connections.
“I think so,” he dodged, and her little mouth pursed as she read between the lines.
“You are taking this seriously, aren’t you?” his father said, flanking him on the other side. “Peter can be an ass, you and I both know that, and he’s on thin ice so he’s getting desperate. But the bottom line is, you weren’t here when the software went down the other day, either. Jian told me. You were on a date, then, weren’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Same girl?”
He thought of Rachel. Beautiful, sensuous, wonderful Rachel. Her laugh, her smile.
He sighed.
“Yes,” he admitted.
His father looked disgruntled. “Now is not the time to get distracted,” he warned Ren.
“When is?”
“Don’t be a smartass,” his father barked. “We moved you to the Electronics Division because it needs help. You know that. If that means you sleep in the office, you goddamned sleep in the office.”
“We have made promises,” his mother added, her voice firm.
“You went to all those internships, you’ve done work in all the other divisions, preparing you for just this kind of challenge,” his father said. “Someday, you’ll be taking over for me as head of the corporation. If you can’t handle this, what makes you think you can take the reins when you’re overseeing the entire corporation?”
Ren grimaced. “I’ve trained my whole life for this,” he quipped.
“Yes, you did,” his father said, and Ren winced. Rachel would’ve gotten the reference, he thought. And abruptly, overwhelmingly missed her.
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