A Deal for the Di Sione Ring

by Jennifer Hayward

  “Of course it is. Let me show you up.”

  Another glass elevator, a signature of the Grand, sent them swishing up to the fifty-second floor. Mingmei ushered them into the large, opulent suite, its muted, ambient lighting setting off the luxurious interior done in rich jewel tones. The view of Hong Kong through the floor-to-ceiling windows was breathtaking. But Mina’s gaze was fixed on the massive, king-size bed that dominated the adjoining room, rose petals strewn across its ruby-red silk coverlet.

  There was only one bed.

  Nate turned to Mingmei, a wry look on his face. “You’ve outdone yourself. Really you didn’t need to do this. We can have a regular suite.”

  Mingmei gave him a pointed look. “You may not be a romantic, but I’m sure Mina appreciates the room.”

  Mina forced a smile to her frozen face. “Sì. It’s...amazing. Mille grazie.”

  Mingmei smiled. “I’ll leave you to freshen up. I’ll meet you in the executive offices at noon, Mina. We can have some lunch and go over the marketing plan.”

  Mina nodded. Stood staring at the giant, rose petal–covered bed as Nate walked Mingmei to the door.

  He had taken a soul-searing possession of her with his kiss that night in Capri. She’d relinquished all common sense, all rational thought. Nate had been the one to call it off. What was going to happen when they shared a bed together?

  The side of her she was desperately trying to avoid, the newly discovered part of her that clamored to feel more of that sensory overload Nate had evoked in her, knew it for a bad idea. But the desire to experience that kind of passion again—but this time more, all of it—was shockingly strong.

  “We can’t share that bed,” she blurted out as Nate walked back into the room.

  An amused smile twisted his lips as he came to stand in front of her. “I’m afraid we have no choice.”

  She glanced around in desperation. “I’ll sleep on the floor.”

  His smile deepened. “No one is sleeping on the floor, Mina. But just for the record, is your adamant proclamation we can’t share that bed because you think you can’t restrain yourself? Because I have proven I can be a good boy.”

  Her jaw dropped. “Do women actually find this...this arrogance appealing?”

  “Yes,” he murmured, bending to bring his mouth to her ear. “You’re doing an admirable job of trying to hide your curiosity, Mina, but not quite good enough.”

  Her heart leaped into her mouth. She stepped back, away from all that testosterone. “This is not solving our problem.”

  He nodded toward the bed. “That problem I will solve by wearing boxers just for your benefit. Our other problem? We go with avoidance. It’s been marginally effective so far.”

  That Nate ordinarily slept in the nude was disturbing enough to her senses. What he would look like in boxers more so.

  “You’ve seen me in a towel,” he reminded her. “Same thing. Out of curiosity,” he ventured, tilting his head to the side, “what would you have done if the towel had fallen off?”

  “Sued you for indecent exposure.” Spinning on her heel, she headed for the bathroom. Nate’s laughter followed her.

  “I wouldn’t have been much good as your knight in shining armor sitting in jail now, would I?”

  * * *

  You couldn’t think of beds and boxer shorts when you were presenting the global marketing plan to your husband’s ex-lover. A respite it would have been if Mina hadn’t felt so intimidated in the other woman’s presence. Mingmei was as brilliant as she was exquisitely beautiful, asking probing, thoughtful questions about the marketing plan that never would have occurred to Mina. By the time they finished, she felt like a rank amateur.

  Her mouth tightening, she clicked out of the presentation and sat back in her chair. “Any further questions?”

  Mingmei crossed her arms over her chest. “None of my questions were a criticism, Mina. I wouldn’t have expected you to know the answers. They were discussion points to take back to the global team for further thought.”

  Her chin dipped. She really needed to master that tightly schooled expression her social behavior coaches had failed to conjure up in her.

  When Nate texted to say he was running late with his investor lunch, Mingmei’s executives had already started to show up for their scheduled meeting. “Why don’t you present the marketing plan?” Mingmei suggested. “Nate can do the rest when he comes.”

  A wave of panic enveloped her. She knew the presentation. But to present it to a team of executives after being on the job for a week? Nate had made it clear she was to stay within her role.

  “You want my advice?” Mingmei directed a pointed look at her. “Seize every opportunity you get. If you don’t feel comfortable doing something, do it, anyway. Fake the confidence until you have it.”

  Mina swallowed past the tension climbing her throat. She knew the presentation inside out.

  “Sì,” she said. “I’ll do it.”

  Her knees knocked together as she stood at the front of the conference room, Mingmei introducing her to the half dozen executives who ran the sales, customer service and marketing teams. Her mouth like sawdust, her hands clammy, she clicked the remote to start the presentation. A gladiator, she told herself. She was a gladiator.

  Her voice tight, her delivery far too rapid, she began. It was a friendly room, thank goodness, with the executives stopping her to ask a question when they wanted to explore a point further. She felt her shoulders and voice loosening as the session turned interactive. By the time Nate walked into the room fifteen minutes later, she was midway through the presentation and firmly in her groove.

  His gaze widened, moved from Mina to the table of executives and then back again. She thought he might interrupt and take over. Instead, he pulled up the chair closest to the door and sat down.

  Mina kept going, thinking he didn’t look angry like he had in the meeting with Giorgio, so maybe she’d made the right choice. Nate watched her from the head of the table, his dark gaze inscrutable as he joined in wherever he was needed, but let her take the reins with the rest.

  When she’d finished the presentation, she sat down, her legs like jelly. Her heart was pounding, her head buzzing, an extreme high enveloping her. She hadn’t let fear rule her, the fear she wasn’t good enough, as it had so many times in her life, and it felt good. Molto bene. As if she’d begun to slay her demons.

  Nate said nothing until their meetings concluded and they rode the glass elevator skyward to their suite.

  “Whose idea was it for you to present?”

  “Mingmei suggested I do it.” She threw him a sideways look. “Is it okay that I did?”

  He nodded. “You did a great job.”

  She exhaled. “I was worried you’d be angry.”

  “If you’d gone up there and presented the financial results for the year I would have been, yes. But you presented material you knew.” He rested an appraising gaze on her. “I’m thinking of offering you a dual role when we get back to New York. Part of the time as my protégée and part of the time on the global marketing team. If you want to go in that direction.”

  “Sì.” She gave a sharp nod of her head. “I do. Mille grazie. That means so much to me, Nate.”

  His mouth quirked. “See what you think when you meet my director of marketing. She’s a fire-breathing dragon. But the best in the business.”

  They joined Mingmei for dinner in the rooftop restaurant with its spectacular view of the city. Watching Nate’s former lover more closely, she determined Susana had been right. Mingmei’s repartee with Nate was utterly professional, but every once in a while Mina caught a glimpse of something in the other woman’s eyes. A wistfulness? An admiration that extended to the man beneath the title.

  “Mingmei is lovely,” she said as they walked into t
heir suite.

  Nate flicked a glance at her. “You should know we were once lovers. In case you hear talk.”

  She shrugged off her wrap. “Susana told me. I think she thought it was better I knew.”

  “It was three years ago, before she came to work for me. There is nothing between us now.”

  On his part. She pressed her lips shut, her gaze dropping away from his. “You don’t have to explain your personal life to me.”

  With that, she took her irrational jealousy off to the bathroom to wash up before bed. Nate was still working when she wished him good-night, offering an absent-minded one in return. Determined to be asleep by the time he joined her, she quickly swept the rose petals out of the bed and into the trash can and curled up with a book to put herself to sleep. An hour and a half after she’d gone to bed, she was still awake, staring at the ceiling, when Nate came in.

  She averted her gaze as he stripped, hung up his suit and got into bed.

  “Can’t sleep?”

  “No.”

  “Want me to tell you a bedtime story?”

  “No.”

  Laughter rumbled from his throat. “Likely a good thing. The only ones I can think of would be strictly X-rated.”

  “Nate!”

  “Go to sleep, Mina.”

  She squeezed her eyes shut. He turned on his side and all was quiet. The clocked ticked loudly on the mantelpiece over the fireplace. Dannazione, but she was restless. Rolling on her side she hugged her pillow. It was too soft—she hated soft pillows. Reaching for the other pillow she’d dropped on the floor, she tried that one out. It was too hard.

  A sigh left her throat.

  “Good God.” Nate reached over and flicked on the light. Which put his amazing, sculpted chest on display. She’d never seen anything like it, muscle and sinew converging in a mouthwatering work of art.

  His gaze raked over her face. Dropped lower to the lace nightie Susana had insisted she buy for her honeymoon. The look on his face sent all the blood in her body rushing to her twin heated cheeks.

  “I don’t sleep much,” he said grimly, returning his gaze to her face, “but I do need a few hours. So let me assure you I am not crossing the center line tonight. Despite that enticing scrap of lace you’re wearing. Despite the fact that it has Take me written all over it and it’s not helping by adding to my list of fantasies.”

  Her gaze tangled with his. His eyes were so dark she could walk right into them and lose herself completely. It was tempting, so tempting, to do so. To throw common sense out the window.

  “Susana made me buy it,” she whispered. “Not my idea.”

  His laser-like stare said that fact was inconsequential.

  She turned her back on him, clutching the hard pillow to her, her heart slamming in her chest. She wanted so badly to know what those fantasies were. Wanted his beautiful hands on her as he acted them out. Wanted to feel as alive as he’d made her feel that night in his arms in Capri. To know for once in her lonely life what it was like to be the center of someone’s orbit—a man like Nate’s orbit. To experience that heady, inescapable passion...

  But she wasn’t going to be the one to cross the line, either. She had far too much at stake.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  THE WEEK IN Hong Kong flew by at a blindingly fast pace. They had an initial meeting with Sheng Zhu the following day in which the celebrity chef outlined his vision for a new avant-garde restaurant at the Grand that, he promised, would be the talk of the city.

  Mina got a chance to see the razor-sharp, ruthless side of her new boss as Nate systematically picked Sheng Zhu’s proposal apart and pressed for additional exclusivity. She had no doubt he’d walk away from the partnership if it wasn’t tailored to his liking, and apparently neither did Sheng Zhu, who promised to return the morning they were to fly out with an updated proposal.

  She spent the rest of the week learning the operations of the hotel alongside Nate and Mingmei. By the end of the week her head was so crammed full of information she had almost been able to forget about her and Nate’s sleeping arrangements.

  Almost. Not that Nate slept. He worked more than any human being she’d ever encountered, coming to bed long after she’d fallen asleep and rising before she did. She had no idea how he functioned with such little rest, but it did the trick, minimizing the contact between them.

  Tonight, however, their last night in Hong Kong, was going to be a challenge. Mingmei had prepared a special honeymoon dinner for them in their suite. Unless they wanted to look ungrateful they were going to have to go through the motions.

  She eyed the suite warily as she and Nate returned from their meetings. The dining table near the windows with the spectacular view of the harbor had been set for two, tall, tapered candles flickering in the center of it, champagne cooling in an ice bucket. The lighting had been muted, a classic piece by Ella Fitzgerald playing in the background, a tray of oysters at the ready.

  Her mouth went dry. Ignoring her attraction to Nate was one thing in a room full of people. Another entirely in the middle of a seduction scene.

  A sparkle caught her eye. Moving further into the salon she found an evening gown draped over a chair, a delicate pair of glittering stiletto heels beside it and a card that said “Wear me” propped up beside the dress.

  Nate strolled over to pick up the embossed envelope that sat beside it.

  Sliding the card out, he read its contents. “‘A 2002 Piper-Heidsieck is on its way. Enjoy the music and some dancing before your six-course dinner featuring some of Hong Kong’s great delicacies.’”

  Nate raised an eyebrow at Mina’s expression.

  “Afraid I’ll step on your toes? I happen to be a very good dancer.”

  He knew exactly what it was she was afraid of and it wasn’t the dancing! She tossed her hair over her shoulder in what she hoped was a nonchalant gesture. “I am sure you are very smooth. Part of your lady-killer image.”

  An openly amused look crossed his face. “Lady-killer? Where did you get that from? An old movie?”

  She ignored him and picked up the dress. The Asian-inspired design was done in a deep buttercream color with the most exquisite beadwork and embroidery she’d ever seen.

  “Go put it on before the champagne comes,” said Nate.

  She did, if only to distract herself. The dress might have encompassed plenty of material, but it was snug, molded to her body in a perfect fit that emphasized all her curves. The only nod toward daring was the low back that left much of her skin bare.

  That Mingmei clearly had a perfect eye for style didn’t surprise her in the least. Slipping on the sparkly stilettos, which fit perfectly, she returned to the salon. Nate had taken his jacket off, elegant and minimalistic in a silver-gray shirt and black trousers that molded his muscular body to perfection. His inescapable virility in the suddenly very small space rolled over her in a heady wave of awareness.

  His gaze ate her up in a frank appraisal that made her lungs tight. “I should have left my jacket and tie on. In the face of such perfection...”

  The breath whished from her lungs. “You’re far more relaxed when you’re not in a suit and tie.”

  “I’m not sure relaxed is the state of mind I should be aiming for right now.”

  Her stomach plummeted. “This...talk,” she pointed out weakly, “is not helping the situation.”

  His mouth curved. “I think being self-aware is not a bad thing at the moment.”

  A discreet cough alerted her to the fact that they were not alone. Turning, she found a black-coated waiter at her elbow, holding a white cloth–wrapped champagne bottle and glasses. Apparently they had their own personal waiter for the evening, a fact that eased her nerves considerably. A chaperone was exactly what she and Nate needed.

  The waiter filled
their glasses, returned the bottle to the ice bucket and stepped back to stand unobtrusively by the door. Nate set a hand to the small of her back and guided her out onto the terrace with its spectacular views of Victoria Harbor, Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. The press of his strong fingers against the bare skin of her back sent a tremor reverberating through her.

  Dannazione. She needed to get a handle on herself.

  She focused on the view in front of her. Found herself transfixed by the light exploding over the city. Laser beams and searchlights in a rainbow of hues shot off the tops of the buildings, casting rays of light into the inky sky and harbor. Fireworks dazzled the eye, timed to music she could just make out from this distance. It was a choreographed spectacle the likes of which she’d never seen.

  “Fantastico,” she breathed. “What’s the occasion?”

  “It’s called the Symphony of Lights. It happens every night. It’s meant to celebrate the energy and diversity of Hong Kong.”

  Mina watched, transfixed. Thought about how spectacular, how foreign, it was. She might have been a whole planet away from her home rather than just on another continent.

  It struck her then how much her life had changed in two weeks. How exhilarating, terrifying and irrevocable those changes were.

  “That’s a contemplative look.” Nate rested his elbows on the railing and looked over at her.

  “This,” she said, waving her hand at the view, “feels bittersweet. I wanted it so badly—my freedom. The chance to make my mark. But I also feel...torn. Homesick.” She sighed. “How silly is that? For a mother who barely tolerates me...a life that made me miserable.”

  “It’s what you know,” he said quietly. “Walking into the unknown, even though you know it’s the right path, is scary. Sometimes you want to retreat. To stay with the known even though it makes you unhappy.”

  “Did you feel like that once?”

  “More than once.” His mouth curved. “I’ve taken a lot of risks in my life. You don’t achieve success without them. But that doesn’t mean I’ve never been afraid—afraid of making the wrong call, afraid the magic will disappear someday just like it appeared. It’s human to be afraid. It’s what you do with the fear that defines a person.”