by C. C. Gibbs
‘I believe so.’
‘In the Cathay Suite?’
‘She might be.’
Then Dominic had put her there. It was his favourite. ‘For long?’
A cool blue gaze. ‘That I don’t know.’
‘I’m surprised. It sounds as though you have everything under control.’
Dominic leaned forward, carefully aligned the pen on his desk, then looked up and smiled tightly. ‘There are limits to what I can do.’
Max laughed. ‘That’s exactly why she intrigues you. You didn’t just leave her, she left you, didn’t she?’
‘Is there no privacy in the world?’ Dominic remarked drolly.
‘Not a whole lot. When are you leaving for Singapore?’
‘Tonight.’
CHAPTER 5
Kate was sitting with a male colleague at a table in Raffles Bar and Billiard Room when she saw Dominic walk in.
Or rather walk as far as the doorway where he came to a stop and surveyed the room. He wore a dark polo shirt, dark slacks, and a dun-coloured sports jacket and looked cool and collected and beautiful as sin.
She went still, her heart grabbed at her ribs, hot desire dive-bombed her brain. Left her breathless.
Even at a glance Dominic’s shocking physical beauty, the raw energy spilling from him, the arresting, electric blue of his eyes pushed all her buttons, switched on every playing-with-fire impulse, made her suddenly conscious of all she’d missed.
He stood utterly motionless, his stance deceptively easy as he looked around – a dominant lion contemplating his kingdom.
Every eye in the room was trained on him – on the unequivocal power beneath the careless pose, the hard-edged swell of muscle beneath the fine tailoring, the extraordinary beauty, the quiet confidence. The women were fascinated, the men envious. Even the bartenders stopped their work. You could have heard a pin drop.
Dominic appeared immune to the adulatory hush.
Then he saw her, smiled faintly and advanced into the room.
When he came to a stop at their table, he said pleasantly, ‘How nice to see you, Miss Hart. What brings you to Singapore?’
‘Work.’
‘Ah.’ He smiled. ‘I should have known. Could I buy you and your companion a drink?’
‘No.’ She’d only just managed to put all the pieces of herself back together. She refused to unravel her hard-won normalcy.
‘We’d be honoured!’ Her companion spoke at the same time, his expression one of wide-eyed awe.
The disparate answers broadened Dominic’s smile. ‘Why don’t we go with the yes. Another round of the same?’ He half turned, nodded and a waiter appeared as though by magic. After a quiet exchange, Dominic turned back to the table and took a seat, thrusting out his hand to Kate’s companion. ‘Dominic Knight. Pleasure to meet you.’
‘Johnny Chen. I know who you are.’ Beaming from ear to ear, Kate’s young associate vigorously pumped Dominic’s hand. ‘My family’s from Hong Kong.’
Dominic spoke to him in fluent Cantonese, Johnny replied, both men laughed and Kate fumed. Damn him, Dominic was going to charm the hell out of Johnny, who’d been an amiable, good-natured colleague during her time at CX Capital, and she was going to have to pretend to be at least minimally courteous. When she wasn’t sure she was capable of speech let alone politesse with her heart beating like a drum and her libido doing the happy dance. Jesus, do you mind? she reflected, bitch-slapping her libido. This is the man who walked out on you.
Johnny explained that they were celebrating the completion of the project they’d worked on together.
Dominic urbanely replied, ‘I’d say that calls for champagne.’ As though on cue, the two bottles of champagne he’d ordered were carried over.
Kate knew what Dominic was doing, and watched in silent exasperation as he kept refilling everyone’s glasses, as he gently persuaded Johnny to talk about their project at length. Johnny explained how he and Kate had worked together all night at times, how they’d worked on weekends too when they were on the trail of something good, how he’d learned so much from her.
Dominic’s jaw clenched whenever Johnny pronounced Kate’s name with puppy dog adoration. Then he’d reach over, top off Johnny’s glass and politely ask another question.
Four bottles later, Johnny was slurring his words, swaying in his chair and regularly losing his train of thought. Coming to his feet, Dominic beckoned a waiter over for assistance, then leaned over and spoke to Kate under his breath. ‘Stay where you are. I’ll be right back.’
She should have left. Really, any sensible woman would have. She wasn’t mentally or emotionally ready to deal with Dominic. Everything was still too raw, her feelings not up to the challenge. It was also insulting how he casually trespassed into her life – uninvited. Zero for five. She ordered a sandwich. Or maybe her hotspur libido did the ordering. If you don’t want to stay, I will, her little voice whispered. A month with only your vibrator is long enough.
‘Some people can’t hold their liquor,’ Dominic said on his return, sitting down and smiling at Kate. ‘Nice kid, though. I know his uncle.’
Just because her libido had no boundaries didn’t mean Kate was willing to cave. ‘That was masterful to watch,’ she said. ‘I’m impressed.’
‘Apparently Johnny was impressed with you as well.’ Dominic leaned back in his chair, gave her a nod. ‘Did you fuck him?’
‘I really couldn’t say. Have you been fucking anyone interesting?’
‘Actually, I’ve been abstinent. My friends think I’m dying of something.’
Fortunately her sandwich arrived just then because she was speechless. Either Dominic was lying or … She was speechless.
Dominic smiled a thank you to the waiter, then pointed at the sandwich as the man walked away. ‘We can do better than that. Dinner somewhere? What would you like to eat?’
The phrase hung in the air. Potent. Lush with possibility.
She flushed, feeling an unwanted desire leap inside her and forcibly tamping it down.
‘I really haven’t fucked anyone since you left,’ he said quietly.
‘Since you left.’
‘We could argue the point. We both left.’
‘Speaking for myself – for good reason.’
He wasn’t touching that. ‘I missed you.’
She valiantly resisted the urge to reply in kind; she wouldn’t so easily succumb to hope. ‘You knew I was here,’ she said instead, narrow-eyed and accusing. ‘How?’
‘Someone I know saw you in the lobby a few days ago. I decided to take a chance. Could we please not argue? You look wonderful.’ His sudden grin was sexy and sweet. ‘I could show you a good time, Miss Hart. After thirty-six days of no sex, I think I could last all night and the next day and’ – his grin widened – ‘however long you want.’
‘That’s it?’ she said coolly. ‘I’m just supposed to say yes and forget all the … whatever you call those kind of Christmases, your leaving and—’
‘I’d like that, yeah.’
‘I suppose you would,’ she said tightly. ‘Just move past the train wreck and keep on fucking.’
‘Jesus, Katherine, I’m ten kinds of sorry if it helps. Everything was moving too fast. I couldn’t handle it. I wish I’d done things differently, but I didn’t. And you were leaving too so don’t pretend you were looking for some long-term relationship. You even put it in writing, babe. Never do that. It’s always a mistake.’
A cocked brow. ‘Advice from an expert?’
He started to say something, then stopped himself. ‘I don’t know. But I do know my fucked-up life isn’t yours. You’re not one of those people who deliberately damage someone just for the hell of it. And your reasons for leaving’ – he ran a hand over his hair, sighed – ‘I’d probably do the same. But I don’t want you mad at me. I’m doing my pathetic best to apologize. So stop glaring at me, talk to me. Let’s work this out. I’m not a complete prick.’
A tiny sm
ile formed on Kate’s lips, half rueful, half real. The tightness in her shoulders eased. That was major conciliation. ‘You look tired,’ she said.
‘No shit. I’ve barely slept in weeks.’
A small silence. A slow exhalation, her first impulse was to say, Come, I’ll hold you; sleep. But she’d suffered too much heartache in the past weeks, cried too many tears. ‘I suppose now that you’ve gotten rid of Johnny I might as well have dinner with you,’ she said, not entirely sure she was doing the right thing. Not entirely sure about anything with Dominic close enough to touch.
His smile was instant, the dazzling one that always made her feel like the luckiest woman in the world.
‘Would you like dinner at the trading station? Or anywhere. Literally. My plane is ready to go.’
‘Jesus, Dominic, you could turn a girl’s head.’
‘If it’s yours, I’m good. Otherwise, I don’t give a damn. And I mean it about going anywhere you want.’ He took a small breath, started to say something, and stopped again because he felt as though he was navigating across an ice floe blindfolded. He said instead, ‘It’s really nice to be with you.’ He shifted slightly in his chair, glanced upwards quickly, the blue of his eyes shot with happiness. ‘Really, really nice.’
She could barely breathe. Everything she wanted was hers for the asking. Weeks of wretchedness erased if she only said yes to the blissful fantasy he offered. She’d live happily ever after if she said yes. Or more likely the dream would bleed away and the world would turn cold when he left again. Because he surely would.
He leaned forward, his butane-blue eyes suddenly dead serious. ‘Could we go somewhere else? Anywhere else.’
She tried to rearrange the chaos in her brain but her overtaxed mind had slowed to a crawl. She said, ‘Where?’ when she didn’t mean it. When a subconscious thought had surfaced and she’d impulsively spoken.
He reached for her hand; she jerked it back.
‘Sorr—’ He stopped himself, remembering how she’d accused him of meaningless apologies the night of the party in Hong Kong. ‘We could go’ – a flick of his finger – ‘you name it. I don’t care where it is. We’ll just talk. No strings, no agenda, you can tell me to go to hell and I’ll listen.’
‘How about we stay here?’
She hadn’t told him to go to hell. Things were looking up. ‘Fine. Dinner here then.’
‘I’ve missed a few of my birth control pills lately so I’m really not available for anything but dinner,’ she said, giving him an expressionless green stare, needing to ink in the boundaries for her own peace of mind.
His bland gaze hid the bombshell exploding in his head. ‘Not a problem. Dinner’s fine. I had no expectations.’
‘Of course you did.’
Of course he did. And he’d heard of condoms even if she hadn’t. ‘Let’s not argue. Would you like to have dinner in the bar or in the dining room?’
She suddenly smiled. ‘I like it when you’re being nice.’
‘Then I’ll see that I’m on my best behaviour for you.’
A sudden, treacherous rush of affection warmed her senses. She almost said, I don’t want dinner, I want you. ‘Super,’ she said. ‘And the dining room will be fine.’
There was no question Dominic was on his best behaviour at dinner. She was tempted to take notes – his well-mannered charm and affability so polished, his conversation so agreeable, she marvelled at such clean, pure brilliance.
It wasn’t until they were having after-dinner drinks that she began to feel guilty. Regardless of his motivation, Dominic was truly sweet and attentive, careful not to make any moves on her, never mentioning Hong Kong. She felt as though she was taking advantage of him and his kindness when she’d decided in the past few weeks that if she just kept on keeping on, eventually her life would return to normal. And still marginally capable of repressing her longing and acting maturely, she knew that Dominic, no matter how sweet tonight, would only bring heartache in the end. She should make her position clear; it was only right.
Setting down her port glass, she mentally braced herself, then said, ‘I don’t want to lead you on. I’m not good at pretence. I appreciate your’ – she gestured at the largely untouched food on the table, a combination of nerves and desire having stolen their appetites – ‘hospitality, but you and I are looking for different things. You want me wrapped up neatly, tied with a bow and shipped to you whenever you feel like screwing me. I can’t do that. Sometimes I wish I could. You’re far superior to my vibrator. But I can’t. Understand?’
No, because if he was honest, that’s what he wanted. Drinking down his port, he set down the glass, pushed it out of the way before looking up. ‘Would you be interested in an exclusivity contract? Your terms.’
Her jaw dropped. ‘You can’t be serious.’
‘That sounds like a no,’ he said with impeccable calm, too smart to take offence, already moving his next chess piece.
‘I cried too much and too long after Hong Kong,’ she said, the misery still raw. ‘Why would I want to relive that?’
‘I drank too much and slept too little after Hong Kong. I’m trying to reach some compromise with you so neither of us has to relive the last month.’
‘A compromise about sex?’ She tried to keep the rebuke from her tone; after all, she’d been a willing participant in Dominic’s sexual games.
‘Partly,’ he said, careful not to respond to the unmistakable censure in her voice.
‘And the other part?’
Now that was catty as hell. But he merely shrugged. ‘I don’t know.’ Another smaller shrug. ‘You have to admit, after knowing each other only a few days, full clarity was never going to be on the cards.’
‘So you ran,’ she said, each word bitter and metallic.
There was a hard flash of his eyes. ‘Don’t start. You ran too.’
He had new hollows under his cheekbones, faint shadows under his eyes, a coiled restlessness beneath his disciplined facade. Was it possible he’d been as wretched as she? That he’d not slept with other women? She was suddenly drained of anger, as if a timer had run down on some monumental struggle and she was left weak but alive. ‘Have you really not slept with anyone since Hong Kong?’
He shook his head. ‘I haven’t.’
‘I don’t know if I can believe you.’ But the most amazing wave of happiness washed over her like a fresh breath of sea air.
‘Believe me. Ask Max. I’ve been a total ass to everyone at our Paris office.’
‘Because you missed me?’
‘Like crazy.’ That at least was true; all the rest was pure anarchy.
The word crazy bulldozed away the entire devastating mess of Christmas pictures, the blood lust for vengeance, the flood of sadness that had swamped her life. The word was shorthand for the turbocharged intensity of their relationship, for their occasional pitched battles over her birth control pills. ‘How crazy,’ she whispered.
He smiled, knew what she meant. ‘Almost – but not quite – that crazy. We’ll buy some condoms.’
‘I haven’t said yes yet.’ But her breath was coming fast.
He saw it, heard it, saw as well her bright green eyes that held the sunshine missing from his world, her lush red mouth that offered the promise of pleasure he’d come halfway around the globe to possess, the beauty of her pale face that had filled his dreams. He leaned forward, reached across the small table, and took her hand. ‘Say it.’ A low, hushed command. ‘Say yes.’
She pulled her hand away, his touch electric, her body responding like Pavlov’s dogs. Her mind, fortunately, was still partially open for business. ‘Tell me what you mean by exclusivity,’ she said, a wilful jut to her chin.
He sat back, gratified and relieved, understanding that it was just a matter of negotiation now. ‘It means anything you want it to mean.’
‘Then I want a mutual exclusivity. One that either of us can revoke by email.’
A soundless whistle. ‘That’s cold.
’
Low stoked anger glowed in her eyes. ‘You’d know about cold.’
So not interested in renewing the argument of who left whom, his voice was smooth as silk. ‘We should be able to manage that.’
‘I should hope so. What’s the point otherwise? You do what you want and I wait for you? That would be stupid of me.’
He smiled. ‘Agreed.’
‘This isn’t amusing, Dominic. I’m not even sure I believe you can fulfil such a requirement,’ she said, crabbed and spleenish. ‘So if this is all just bullshit so you can get me into bed, I’d rather not play this game.’
‘Forgive me. I’m dead serious. Have security follow me. I’ll pay for it.’
She gave him a jaundiced look. ‘Why would I trust them when you’re paying them?’
‘I’ll give you the money,’ he offered, quickly adapting. ‘Hire whoever you want.’
‘I don’t want your money.’
Fortunately for Dominic, there was something he had that she wanted or she would have left long ago. ‘If you have a better idea, I’m listening.’ Unruffled, accommodating to infinity.
She grimaced. ‘To be honest, all these details are missing the point. I’m sceptical you can change.’ She was no prude, but Dominic had no scruples when it came to kink. It was a major part of his life.
‘I told you I’d give up all that. I did.’
‘For me? Oh, hell, bleep that. I’ve been drinking.’
‘No, that’s OK. It was mostly for you, although maybe it was just time to shut it down. Don’t ask me to understand. I don’t. I just know I’ve missed you.’
Maybe he’d pushed all her pity buttons. More likely she’d been delusional in thinking she could withstand temptation when he was so close and so beautiful it made her heart ache. ‘I missed you too,’ Kate said softly. ‘The Johnny Chens of the world just don’t cut it.’
‘Did you fuck him?’ A sudden uncongenial edge entered his voice.
‘No. Tell me about your love life,’ she said, equally acerbic.
‘Fair enough. The only time I even came close to a woman was when a friend in Paris asked me out for dinner. Way before the meal was over, I knew I’d made a mistake. I gave her some excuse and had my driver take her home. That’s it.’ He didn’t mention Tatiana because it was meaningless. ‘Otherwise I jacked off and drank at night. Now, tell me about your love life. Was there someone other than Johnny Chen trying to get in your pants?’ That hard edge to his voice again.