by Linda Verji
The reality of what they’d just done sunk in and the inevitable questions rushed in. Why had he kissed her? He knew as well as she did that their relationship was a ruse. Why would he kiss her? She could only think of one reason.
It was only once they were on their way that she found the courage to ask, “Did-” She cleared her throat. “Did you do it because of your brother?”
Orion blinked. “My brother?”
“He was watching us,” Vina guessed. “That’s why you kissed me, right?”
It was the only explanation that made sense, the only explanation she could accept. The thought of Orion being forced to kiss her was more palatable then him kissing her just because he wanted to. The latter reason implied that their relationship had crossed the ‘business-only’ boundary that she’d marked.
“That’s why you kissed me, right?” This time it was more of a plea than a question.
Orion remained silent for what seemed like an impossibly long time before he finally said, “Yes.”
“He was there?” Relief pulsed through Vina.
Orion nodded curtly without looking in her direction.
“No wonder,” she said even as she noted how tightly he was gripping the steering wheel. Part of her knew that there was something off about his behavior but she didn’t want to question it. Who knew what hidden and unwelcome answers she might dig up.
They were both silent for quite a long while before she said, “I think we need to redo our agreement so that it has a clause on kissing and physical contact.”
“No we don’t.” This time he glanced at her. His lips quirked in smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “You can kiss or touch me any time you want.”
Horrified at his boldness, Vina protested, “That’s not what I mean.”
“Then what do you mean?”
“I mean-” She pushed her hair behind her ear nervously. “I think we should limit it.”
“Limit it how?”
“Like… no kissing or unnecessary physical contact.”
His smile widened in a way she recognized well enough to distrust before he said, “I can’t agree to that.”
She dragged in a sharp breath. “Why?’
“Because it’s a natural part of dating.” His tone was calm and rational as he explained, “Our families will never believe that we’re dating if there’s no physical intimacy.”
“Maybe your family wouldn’t.” She scoffed. “Mine would.”
She’d never once seen her father kiss her mother, never once heard him say the words ‘I love you’ to her mother. They’d probably be more shocked if she and Orion were touchy-feely.
“Okay, fine. Your family’s conservative. Mine’s not.” He snatched a glance at her before turning back to the road. “And they know me too well. They’ll never believe that you and I are dating if all we do is hold hands. If we want to convince my mom and brother that we’re dating, then you should allow kissing and hugging.”
Vina shook her head. “I don’t want to.”
“Why?”
Why? So many reasons. How about the fact that his kiss had left her feeling like her world had shifted beneath her feet? How about the fact that, even now, minutes later she could still feel the imprint of his lips against hers? How about the fact that when he’d stopped kissing her she’d almost begged him not to stop? How about the fact that she still felt hot and bothered?
But she couldn’t tell him all that, so she hedged, “I just don’t want to.”
Without looking at her, he asked, “Didn’t you like it?”
“Of course, I-” She slapped her hand over her mouth to stop the flow of words. Nothing good could come from telling him just how fantastic the kiss had been. She shrugged. “It was okay.”
“It was okay?” he mimicked with a grin.
“It was okay!” she insisted. “But that’s not even the problem. The problem is that our relationship is supposed to be fake.”
“Then you can just think of it as fake kissing like the way we’re fake-dating.” Eyebrows raised, he turned to her, “Or was this your first kiss?”
“No. Of course not.”
“Then what’s the big deal?” He glanced quickly at her before turning back to the road. “It’s just kissing Vina. Nothing more.”
The big deal was that it hadn’t felt like just kissing. It had felt like more. It had felt a little too real to be fake. Still, Orion didn’t seem in the least bit affected by it… and she shouldn’t have been. The more she thought about it, the more she realized that she was being ridiculous. Even though she was still physically shaken, mentally, she knew that he was right. It was just a kiss. Something normal between a couple and it would make their relationship seem genuine. What was the big deal anyway? He was only asking for kisses, not sex.
“You’re right,” she finally agreed. “It’s not a big deal.”
He tipped his head to study her. “So it’s allowed?”
“It’s allowed.” Struggling to keep her expression mild, she added, “But within boundaries. We only do it when someone is watching.”
Orion’s eyebrows shot up. “You do realize how kinky that sounds, right?”
Despite her mildly agitated state, she found herself grinning. “You know what I mean.”
“Yes, I know.” He smiled back at her, and for some reason that smile eased some of her confusion and left her feeling like she’d made the right decision.
*
THERE WAS A reason Orion hadn’t made any promises last night when Vina had said that they were only supposed to kiss when someone was watching. It was because he knew that he’d already broken that promise. He hadn’t kissed her because he’d seen his brother. He’d kissed her because he wanted to.
It was an instinctive move, driven by need rather than rational thought. After spending the whole day talking to her, watching her and admiring her, kissing her had felt like the next natural step. The only reason he’d lied that he’d done it because of his brother was because she’d seemed a little freaked out. It’d seemed like she was ready to start running if he didn’t give her the answers she wanted. So he’d lied.
But he refused to lie again. When she’d tried to get him to agree to limit their kisses, he’d deliberately stopped short of making any promises that he had no intentions of keeping. Deep inside he already knew that he was going to kiss her again, whether they had an audience or not..
He could still remember the sweetness of their kiss. Vina had tasted better than the purest of honeys. And her body had fit so perfectly against his that he couldn’t wait to hold her again. Even now, he was already imagining having her in his arms again. How could he promise not to kiss her?
Frankly speaking, he wasn’t even sure what he was doing. Vina had made it clear that she wasn’t interested in a real relationship. If he was sane, he’d be working hard to maintain a businesslike distance between them. Yet the thought of putting any distance between them left a sour taste in his mouth. He wanted to get closer to her – much closer.
Given her anxiety the previous day, he expected her to avoid him for a while. He was pleasantly surprised when at around lunchtime, she called him.
“Are you free on Saturday?” she asked once they were done with the obligatory greetings.
“Depends.” Orion barely managed to quell the hope in his voice as he asked, “Did you want to do something together?”
“Not really.” She immediately crushed that hope under her heel. “Buuut, The Wizards are playing against the Saint Louis Bloodhounds this Saturday and I scored front-row tickets for you. Hopefully, they’ll make up for that barre-asana class.”
“It wasn’t that bad.” Orion smiled, “The tickets are great. But are you sure we can’t go together? That way we can count it as our date for the week.”
“Sorry.” A note of regret in her voice, she added, “I’m supposed to be working on Saturday.”
“You can’t get the day off?”
“I’m not s
ure… hmm.” She paused as if thinking it over. “Let me see if I can trade my shift with one of my colleagues. But I’m not promising anything.”
“Crossing my fingers,” he joked, but the truth was that he really hoped she could find someone to cover her shift. Though he was a baseball fan, something told him that the game would be more fun and thrilling if Vina was beside him.
To his delight, his prayers were answered. The following day, she called to let him know that she was home-free, and on Saturday afternoon, he drove to their usual meeting spot to pick her up.
The moment he spotted her, he couldn’t help his instinctive grin. She’d gone fully Wizard. She was wearing a baseball tee with the team colors, a forest-green cap to match it and distressed jeans. She was even carrying a baseball mitt and a backpack that no doubt contained more baseball paraphernalia. When she saw his car, she straightened from the wall she was leaning against with a grin. By the time he got out of the car, she’d already started towards him.
“Where’s the war paint?” he teased as he met her halfway.
“In my bag,” she countered cheekily. Giving him a slow onceover to take in his light-blue tee, khaki chinos and navy, canvas trainers, she said, “You’re looking nice.”
“Not as nice as you.” He plucked the backpack from her shoulder. “Let me get that for you.”
“Thank you.”
“Feels heavy,” he said as he hauled the backpack into the back seat. “You moving or something.”
“Ha-ha. Funny man.” She chuckled. “It’s just our beer, snacks etc. They charge an arm and a leg for this stuff down there. I’m surprised no one has been arrested for daylight robbery.”
Soon, they were on their way. Several minutes later Orion parked his car then led the way into the stadium. It seemed that all of Santa Barbara had decided that this was a game they needed to watch. The stands were packed with people who kept bumping into Orion and Vina as they made their way to their seats.
Normally, Orion would be annoyed by the unwelcome body contact, but not this time. All that bumping meant keeping Vina close, holding her to prevent one of the rowdy fans from knocking her down. And the way she clung to his arm as they went down the stairs… well, all he could say was that he was very glad the stadium was packed.
As baseball matches went, this one was outstanding. The Wizards were a better team than their competition and kept their fans roaring in approval. If it was any other match, Orion would’ve been cheering just as enthusiastically, but today he was distracted. And it was all because of the woman seated beside him.
It was obvious that baseball was Vina’s game and that she wasn’t just pretending to be a fan to impress him. It was in the way she cheered enthusiastically every time their team scored a homerun, it was in her ear-blistering cusses whenever someone in the other team did something to mess with theirs. It was in the way she never once took her eyes off the game. Her enthusiasm was contagious as it was thrilling. He couldn’t take his eyes off her even if he wanted to.
The more he watched her, the more attracted he was to her. It was almost as if she was a magnet and he was mere metal, unable to resist the smile that kept appearing every time their team did something to impress her.
He wanted to taste that smile… no, he needed to taste it.
Without conscious thought, he touched her face. Startled, she turned to face him. As soon as she did, he swiftly lowered his lips to her. It was just a brief peck but sudden enough that Vina stiffened. When he pulled back, he found her staring at him in wide-eyed surprise. She opened her mouth, probably to protest or berate him, but before she could a sudden excited roar eclipsed the stadium. Her gaze whirled back to the pitch. And just like that the game had her attention again. Orion smiled.
By the time the game ended, she seemed to have forgotten all about his stolen kiss. Her mood was light and cheerful as they made their way out of the stadium. Tossing the ball he’d bought her up and down, she said, “You’re buying dinner.”
His eyebrows shot up. “I am?”
“Yeah. I got you the tickets for this game. The least I deserve is a nice dinner.”
“From what I could tell, you enjoyed those tickets more than I did,” he reminded her. “Besides I thought you were trying to make up for that barre-barren disaster.”
“But I bought our beers and snacks,” she whined.
“And I bought you a ball,” he countered.
“Ri-on-a,” she cajoled. “I’m broke. Please buy me dinner.”
The sound of his Korean name on her tongue, said so affectionately, sent pleasure coursing through him. He couldn’t help smiling as he asked, “How can you be broke? You’re an Executive Chef.”
She drew her lips into a pout. “That’s just a title. They pay me peanuts.”
Before he could respond to that ridiculous assertion, his phone rang. A glance at the screen revealed that Eric was calling. Orion picked up. “What’s up?”
“Tell me you’re somewhere close to the office,” his partner.
“I’m not far from it.”
“Great.” Eric sighed in relief. “I forgot to send SBS the revised ad. Do you think you could do it for me?”
Orion frowned. “Is it urgent?”
“It is,” his friend said. “They’re running it tomorrow.”
“I’ll see what I can do.” Once the phone call with Eric was over, Orion turned to Vina, “Do you mind if we drop by my office for a couple of minutes? I need to send an urgent email.”
Vina smiled. “On one condition.”
“What?” he asked. When all she did was waggle her eyebrows suggestively, he laughed. “Fine. Dinner’s on me.”
His office wasn’t far and fifteen minutes later, they got off the elevator.
“So this is where Lee Ri-on works his magic?” Vina said, taking in the rows of desks as they walked down the hallway to his office. “Nice.”
“It’s small but enough.”
While he was on the computer sending the email, Vina explored his office. Somehow, she ended up by his bookcase thumbing through his collection of books on architecture and other assorted topics. Sending the email took less than five minutes, but even after he was done he stayed at his desk, watching her.
This was becoming a habit, he thought to himself. Why was he so drawn to her? What was it about Alvina Song that had him so enthralled? Every time he was within breathing distance from her, he felt like a drugged man. High and unable to think clearly.
“I didn’t know you do this too,” Vina cut into his thoughts. She was holding an open book in her palm.
“Do what too?” He leaned back in his seat.
“This.” She plucked one of his mother’s talismans from the middle of the book.
“Ugh! Hong Yoon-ah!” He groaned and buried his head in his palm. “What am I going to do with you?”
Amusement glittered in Vina’s eyes. “This is your mother’s?”
“Yeah.” He stood from the seat and strode towards her. “She always finds a way to sneak these annoying things in here.”
“So you don’t believe in them?”
“Of course I don’t believe in them.” He plucked the yellow paper from Vina’s hand, crumpled it into a ball and shot it into the bin. “It’s just superstition.” He turned curious eyes to her. “You don’t believe in them, do you?”
“No.” Vina guffawed. “But my maternal grandmother does. And she is just as sneaky as your mom when it comes to dropping them off.”
“I doubt it,” Orion said. “When I was in high-school, Madam Hong used to pack them in my backpack every day without my knowledge. I didn’t know what she was doing until our principal conducted an impromptu drug search.”
Vina’s eyes widened. “Oh no.”
“Oh yes.” he nodded. “A boatload of those things fell from my backpack’s side-pocket.”
“Nooo.”
“Yes.” He nodded. “Everyone thought I was into devil worship or something.”
&
nbsp; Vina winced. “That’s awful.”
“Not really.” Orion grinned. “For some reason it made some kids think I was cool. And those who didn’t think I was cool were too scared to come after me. I actually made some money telling kids that I could read their fortunes.”
“Talk about making lemonade out of lemon juice.” Vina’s laugh rang in the room as mirth shone in her eyes.
Maybe it was her laugh, maybe it was the residual feelings from that baseball match, but Orion found himself edging towards her. She didn’t notice how close he was until he was really close… toe-to-toe with her.
Frowning, she looked up at him. “What are you doing?”
He smiled. “East or West.”
“Huh?” She frowned.
“East or West,” he repeated.
She should know how to play this game. She was the one who’d taught it to him. Already, he’d decided what each choice meant. East was he kisses her. West was he pretends not to notice how lush her lips were, pretends not to notice the thread of sexual tension that seemed to haunt them every time they were together, and walks away.
Please choose East, he silently begged even as he repeated, “East or West?”
Vina studied him with narrowed eyes. The way she nibbled on her bottom lip as she watched him only made him pray harder for her to choose East.
After a long pause, she made her choice. “East.”
Without pause, he bent his head and took her lips. He expected her to resist him, even push him away. He was pleasantly surprised when she melted against him instead, like she’d been waiting for this kiss too, anchored her arm around his neck and drew him closer. Her lips danced beneath hers, her tongue fluttered against his lips before dipping in teasingly to toy with his tongue.
Dear God, but she was sweet. Normally, he could summon the self-control of a monk when needed, but with Vina he was powerless. Whenever she was close to him, control was the last thing on his mind. Hungrily, desperately, he drunk from her, reveled in that sweet, sweet taste. The touch of her tongue sent his already raging libido through the roof, shattered the last bit of his sanity. With a groan, he gathered her deeper into his arms and kissed her like his very life depended on it.