by Kat Cantrell
He and Viv clearly should have spent less time “practicing” and more in deep conversation about all aspects of potential questions that might come up this weekend. Which they’d have to rectify tonight before going to bed. In the same room.
His mother shot him a glare. “Grandchildren are not personal. The hope of one day getting some is the only reason I keep you around, after all.”
That made Viv laugh, which delighted his mother, so really, there was nothing left to do but throw up his hands and go seek out Grandfather for his own version of the third degree.
Grandfather held court in the Kim living room, talking to his son. The older Jonas’s dad got, the more he resembled Grandfather, but the similarities ended there. Where Brian Kim had adopted an American name to match his new homeland, Kim Jung-Su wore his Korean heritage like the badge of honor it was.
Kim Electronics had been born after the war, during a boom in Korean capitalism that only a select few had wisely taken advantage of. Jonas loved his dad, but Grandfather had been his mentor, his partner as Jonas had taken what Jung-Su had built and expanded it into the critical US market. They’d created a chaebol, a family-run conglomerate, where none had existed, and they’d done it together.
And he was about to lie to his grandfather’s face solely to avoid marrying a disaster of a woman who might cause the Kim family shame.
It was a terrible paradox and not for the first time he heard Warren’s voice of reason in his head asking why he couldn’t just tell Grandfather the truth. But then he remembered that Sun’s grandfather and Jonas’s grandfather had fought in the war together and were closer than brothers. Jonas refused to out Sun and her unsuitable lover strictly for his own benefit. No, this way was easier.
And it wasn’t a lie. He and Viv were married. That was all anyone needed to know.
Grandfather greeted Jonas in Korean and then switched to English as a courtesy since he was in an English-speaking house. “You are looking well.”
“As are you.” Jonas bowed to show his respect and then hugged his dad, settling in next to him on the couch. “It’s a pleasure to see you.”
Grandfather arched a thick brow. “An unexpected pleasure I assume? I wanted to meet your new wife personally. To welcome her into the family.”
“She is very honored. Mom waylaid her or she’d be here to meet you, as well.”
“I asked your mother to. I wanted to speak with you privately.”
As if it had been some prearranged signal, Jonas’s dad excused himself and the laser sights of Jung-Su had zero distractions. The temperature of the room shot up about a thousand degrees. One misstep and the whole plan would come crashing down. And Jonas suddenly hated the idea of losing this tenuous link with Viv, no matter how precarious that link was.
“Now, then.” Grandfather steepled his hands together and smiled. “I’m very pleased you have decided to marry. It is a big step that will bring you many years of happiness. Belated congratulations.”
Jonas swallowed his surprise. What was the wily old man up to? He’d expected a cross-examination designed to uncover the plot that Grandfather surely suspected. “Thank you. Your approval means a lot to me.”
“As a wedding gift, I’d like to give you the Kim ancestral home.”
“What? I mean, that’s a very generous gesture, Grandfather.” And crafty, as the property in question lay outside of Seoul, seven thousand miles away from North Carolina. Jonas couldn’t refuse or Grandfather would be insulted. But there was an angle here that Jonas couldn’t quite work out.
“Of course I’d hoped you’d live in it with Sun Park, but I understand that you cannot curb the impulses of the heart.”
Jonas stared at his grandfather as if he’d suddenly started speaking Klingon. The impulses of the heart? That was the exact opposite of the impression he’d wanted to convey. Sure, he’d hoped to convince everyone that they were a couple, but only so that no one’s suspicions were aroused. Solid and unbreakable would be more to his liking when describing his marriage, not impulsive and certainly not because he’d fallen madly in love.
This was the worst sort of twist. Never would he have thought he’d be expected to sell his marriage as a love match. Was that something that he and Viv were going to have to practice, too? His stomach twisted itself inside out. How the hell was he supposed to know what love looked like?
Regardless of the curveball, it was the confirmation Jonas had been looking for. Grandfather was on board with Viv, and Jonas had cleared the first hurdle after receiving that ominous text message the other day. “I’m glad you understand. I’ve been seeing Viv for almost a year and I simply couldn’t imagine marrying anyone else.”
That much at least was true, albeit a careful hedge about the nature of his intentions toward Viv during that year. And thankfully they’d become good enough friends that he felt comfortable asking her to help him avoid exactly what he’d suspected Grandfather had in mind. Apparently throwing Sun in his path had been an attempt to get Jonas to Korea more often, if not permanently. It was counter to Jonas’s long-term strategy, the one he still hadn’t brought to Grandfather because the merger hadn’t happened yet. Once Park Industries and Kim Electronics became one, they could leverage the foothold Jonas had already built in America by moving the headquarters to North Carolina, yet keep manufacturing in Korea under the Park branch.
It was also the opportune time to pass the reins, naming Jonas the CEO of the entire operation. The dominoes were in much better position now, thanks to the huge bullet Viv had helped him dodge without upsetting anyone. It was...everything.
Grandfather chatted for a few more minutes about his plans while in the US, including a request for a tour of the Kim Building, and then asked Jonas to introduce him to Viv.
He found her in the kitchen writing down her cupcake recipe for his mother.
“You got her secret recipe already, Mom?” Jonas asked with a laugh. “I guess I don’t have to ask whether everyone is getting along.”
His mother patted his arm. “You obviously underestimate how much your wife cares for you. I didn’t even have to ask twice.”
Viv blushed and it was so pretty on her, he couldn’t tear his gaze from her face all at once, even though he was speaking to his mom. “On the contrary, I’m quite aware of how incredibly lucky I am that Viv married me.”
“You didn’t have to ask me that twice either,” Viv pointed out. “Apparently I lack the ability to say no to anyone with the name Kim.”
An excellent point that he really wished she hadn’t brought up on the heels of his discovery of how much he enjoyed it when she called him Mr. Kim. All at once, a dozen suggestions designed to get her to say yes over and over sprang to his lips. But with his mom’s keen-eyed gaze cutting between the two of them, he needed to get himself under control immediately.
“Come and say hi to my grandfather,” he said instead, and she nodded eagerly.
She was far too good to him. For the first time, it bothered him. What was she getting out of this farce? Some advice about how to run her business? That had seemed inadequate before they’d gotten married. Now? It was nearly insulting how little he was doing for her.
She had to have another reason for being here. And all at once, he wanted to know what it was.
Four
Ten minutes into dinner, Jonas figured out his grandfather’s angle. The wily old man was trying to drive him insane with doubt about pulling off this ruse, especially now that he had impulses of the heart echoing through his head. Jonas was almost dizzy from trying to track all the verbal land mines that might or might not be strewn through random conversational openers.
Even “pass the butter” had implications. Grandfather hated butter.
And if Grandfather failed at putting Jonas in the loony bin, Viv was doing her part to finish the job, sitting
next to him looking fresh and beautiful as she reminded him on a second-by-second basis that she was well within touching distance. Not just easily accessible. But available to be touched. It was expected. Would a loving husband sling his arm across the back of her chair? Seemed reasonable.
But the moment he did it as he waited for his mom to serve the kimchi stew she’d made in honor of Grandfather’s visit, Viv settled into the crook of his elbow, which had not been his intent at all. She fit so well, he couldn’t help but let his arm relax so that it fully embraced her and somehow his fingers ended up doing this little dance down her bare arm, testing whether the silkiness felt as good all the way down as it did near her shoulder.
It did.
“...don’t you think, Jonas?”
Blinking, Jonas tore his attention away from his wife’s skin and focused on his dad. “Sure. I definitely think so.”
“That’s great,” Brian said with a nod and a wink. “It wasn’t a stretch to think you’d be on board.”
Fantastic. What in the world had he just agreed to that had his father winking, of all things? Jonas pulled his arm from around Viv’s shoulders. At this point, it seemed like everyone was convinced they were a couple and all the touching had done nothing but distract him.
Viv leaned in, her hand resting on his thigh. It was dangerously close to being in his lap. One small shift would do it, and his muscles strained to repeat the experience. But before he could sort her intention, she murmured in his ear, “We’re playing Uno later. As a team. You’ll have to teach me.”
Card games with a hard-on. That sounded like the opposite of fun. But at least he knew what he’d absently agreed to, and shot Viv a grateful smile. Her return smile did all sorts of things that it shouldn’t have, not the least of which was give him the sense that they were coconspirators. They were in this farce together and he appreciated that more than he could say. At least they could laugh about this later. Or something.
Grandfather was watching him closely as he spooned up a bite of stew, and Jonas braced for the next round of insanity. Sure enough, Grandfather cleared his throat.
“Will you and your bride be starting a family soon?”
Not this again and from his grandfather, too? Obviously Jonas’s mother had a vested interest in the answer strictly because she wanted babies to spoil, but Grandfather wasn’t asking for anything close to that reason. It was all part of the test.
“Not soon,” he hedged because family was important to the Kims. It was a source of frustration for both his parents and his grandparents that they’d only had one child apiece, and Jonas imagined they’d all be thrilled if he said Viv wanted a dozen. “Viv owns a bakery and it’s doing very well. She’d like to focus on her career for a while.”
Yes. That was the reason they weren’t having kids right away. Why had he been racking his brain over that? Except now he was thinking about the conversation where he had to tell everyone that while he cared about Viv, they were better as friends, so the marriage was over. While it soothed his sense of honor that it was the truth, he’d never considered that the annulment would upset his family.
“We’re having her cupcakes for dessert,” his mother threw in with a beaming smile. “They look scrumptious.”
Perfect segue and took some heat off a subject that Jonas suddenly did not want to contemplate. “The lemon are my favorite. One bite and that was when I decided I couldn’t let Viv get away.”
The adoring glance she shot him thumped him in the gut. The little secret smile playing about her lips worked in tandem, spreading tendrils of heat through him in ways that should be uncomfortable at a table full of Kims who were all watching him closely. But the sensation was too enjoyable to squelch.
“Honestly, that was when I knew he was special,” Viv admitted, and Jonas nearly did a double take at the wistful note in her voice. “He appreciates my cupcakes in a way regular customers don’t. A lot goes into the recipes and I don’t just mean my time. It’s a labor of love, born out of a desire to make people happy, and I can see on his face that I’ve done that. Most customers just devour the thing without stopping to breathe, but Jonas always takes one bite and immediately stops to savor it. Then he tells me how great it is before taking another bite.”
Well, yeah, because he could taste the sunshine in it, as if she’d somehow condensed a few rays and woven them through the ingredients. How could he not take his time to fully appreciate the unique experience of a Viviana Dawson cupcake?
Jonas blinked, dragging his lids down over his suddenly dry eyes. He didn’t do that every time, not the way she was describing it, as if a cupcake held all that meaning.
He glanced at his mom, who looked a little misty.
“That sounds like a magical courtship,” she said.
“Oh, it was,” Viv agreed enthusiastically. “It was like one of those movies where the hero pretends he only wants the cupcakes when he comes into the shop, but it’s really to see the baker. But I always knew from the first that the way to his heart was through my frosting.”
His mother laughed and Jonas checked his eye roll because the whole point was to sell this nonsense. Everyone was eating it up, no pun intended, so why mess with the ridiculous story Viv was spinning?
Except the whole thing made him uncomfortable.
Surely his grandfather wouldn’t appreciate hearing his successor described with such romanticism. If anything, Viv could help Jonas’s case by telling everyone how hard he worked and how difficult it was to pry him away from his cell phone when they went to lunch.
He sighed. She couldn’t say that. It would be a big, fat lie. When he did anything with Viv, he always switched his phone to do not disturb. He loved listening to stories about her sisters, or a new recipe she was working through. But it didn’t mean he was gaga over her like a besotted fool.
Yet...that’s what he needed his grandfather to buy, as difficult as it was to envision. Grandfather hadn’t accepted Jonas’s marriage to Viv because she’d helped him increase profits or created an advantageous business alliance. Viv was an impulse of the heart.
How had he gotten caught in the middle of trying to prove to his grandfather that Jonas was a committed, solid CEO candidate, while also attempting to convince him that he and Viv had fallen in love? And Jonas had no illusions about the necessity of maintaining the current vibe, not after his grandfather smiled over Viv’s enthusiastic retelling of what would probably forever be called the Cupcake Courtship. It was madness.
“Will you bring your wife to Seoul to visit the Kim ancestral home?” Grandfather asked in the lull. “It’s yours now. Perhaps you’ll want to redecorate?”
Jonas nearly groaned. He hadn’t had four seconds to mention the gift to Viv. Her eyebrows lifted in silent question and he blessed her discretion.
“We’re actually looking for a house together in Raleigh,” Jonas improvised much more smoothly than he would have guessed he could. Viv’s eyebrows did another reach-for-the-sky move as he rushed on. “So probably we won’t make it to Korea anytime soon. But we do both appreciate the gift.”
Nothing like a good reminder that Jonas’s home was in America. The future of the company lay here, not in Seoul. The more he could root himself in North Carolina, the better. Of course the answer was to buy a property here. With Viv. A new ancestral home in North Carolina. Then his statement to his grandfather wouldn’t be a lie.
“Yes, thank you so much, Mr. Kim,” Viv said sweetly. “We’ll discuss our work schedules and find a mutual time we can travel. I would be honored to see your ancestral home. Mrs. Kim, perhaps you’d advise me on whether the decor needs refurbishing?”
Jonas’s mom smiled so widely that it was a wonder she didn’t crack her face. “That’s a lovely idea. I would be thrilled to go to lunch and discuss the house, as I’ve always loved the locale.”
S
peechless, Jonas watched the exchange with a very real sense of his life sliding out of control and no way to put on the brakes. In the last two minutes, he’d managed to rope himself into shopping for a house in Raleigh, then traveling to Korea so Viv could visit Seoul with the express intent of redecorating a house neither of them wanted...with his mom. What next?
“While you’re in Korea,” Grandfather said, and his tone was so leading that everyone’s head turned toward him, “we should discuss taking next steps toward increasing your responsibilities at Kim Electronics. The board will look very favorably on how you’ve matured, Jonas. Your accomplishments with the American market are impressive. I would be happy to recommend you as the next CEO when I retire.”
The crazy train screeched to a halt in the dead center of Are You Kidding Me Station. Say something. Tell him you’re honored.
But Jonas’s throat froze as his brain tried to sort through his grandfather’s loaded statements.
Everything he’d worked for had just been handed to him on a silver platter—that Viv was holding in her delicate fingers. The implications were staggering. Grandfather liked that Jonas was married. It was a huge wrinkle he had never seen coming.
Now he couldn’t annul the marriage or he’d risk losing Grandfather’s approval with the board. How was he supposed to tell Viv that the favor he’d asked of her had just been extended by about a year?
And what did it mean that his insides were doing a secret dance of happiness at getting to keep Viv longer than planned?
* * *
The spare bedroom lay at the end of a quiet hall and had its own en suite bathroom. Nice. Viv wasn’t too keen on the idea of wandering around in her bathrobe. At least not outside the bedroom. Inside was another story.
Because Jonas was on this side of the closed door. Time to ramp it up.
If she hoped to build her confidence with a man, there was no better scenario to play that out than this one, especially since she already knew they were attracted to each other And headed for a divorce. None of this was real, so she could practice without fear.