Come to think of it, that was pretty much what we were doing, taking a walk in the park. Just not the kind of walk most folks do. Let alone in a park next to one of San Francisco's most revered historic buildings. Especially in the midst of a party that was thrown by the city in your honor. This was a whole different kind of walk in the park.
But I felt certain that what had happened was no throw-away affair. Something in the way we connected made me certain it was much more solid than that. As I stood before the mirror, fixing my hair that had been manhandled into a rat's nest; I wondered if I could at last have found my man. It was too early to tell, of course. Way too early, I said to myself as I surveyed the damage his lovemaking had wrought. But a little voice inside my head said…maybe.
The rest of the party was a bit of a blur, with the usual toasts and calls for speech. Yu-Tang gave one about bringing San Francisco's greatest artist to Asian shores or something like that. I think I said something about being honored to be singled out by one of Hong Kong's most prestigious patrons. We said all the right things, all the while finding ways to quietly reach out and touch the other. A brush of the arm here, a simple hand on the elbow there, I think we saw it as a way to continue that breathless encounter beneath the tree. But somehow there was never the right moment to talk in private for the rest of the night.
***
When I got home I called Priscilla immediately, telling her about the kiss at the elevator and the lovemaking in the park. I needed that calm cool voice to assure me that I had not lost my mind. We talked about how you cannot determine anything based on one act, well two acts. It is one thing to be swept up in the passion of the moment, but was this real?
We agreed that how he acted at tomorrow's dinner, one planned weeks ago, would tell the tale. Everything I had heard of him said this was not his usual way, unless he just was really good at controlling everything around him. On the other hand, I knew he was a master at doing just that, could he be thinking that with this he was controlling one more person, me?
This thought made it hard to see if this meant he felt the same as I did, or if he just had wanted me that night. Wanted me with as much passion and insistence as I did, it turns out, but what about beyond that night? Doubt, that destroyer of promise, began to creep into my mind. I am usually so much stronger; the one who knows exactly what is going on in any situation. Why oh why did this man have to be the one that left me feeling like I was completely out of control? Was there any way to put my tiger back in his cage and did I even want to?
Yu-Tang
All evening I tried to find a way to talk to Marianne, to tell her that this was not some quick dalliance or spur of the moment event. I knew what she was thinking, I really couldn't blame her for thinking it was a maneuver to control her in the upcoming deal. She doesn't know me well enough to know I would never do that to anyone, let alone my golden goddess. But I was frustrated by the turn of events and constant interruptions if we did manage to get together. There was never a chance and all too quickly the night ended and I found myself alone with my thoughts.
And, of course, those thoughts turned continuously back to that magical moment under the tree. I had lost all control when we walked out there, and didn't care once it began. I pride myself on being patient, on waiting for what I want and always about being in control. But that night I was anything but that. What kind of strange power does this woman have on me to cause me to throw caution to the winds like that? Or was this just a game to her?
I thought briefly about the possibility she was playing the siren song to my investments, luring me to solidify my commitment to her gallery in Hong Kong by seducing me. But that made no sense; I knew she didn't work that way. Plus, she may have loved the idea of our working together to bring her vision to the high roller art crowd in Hong Kong, but she didn't need it. She could have found another way into that market; her reputation was golden in the art world and her work in demand around the world. I should know; I own quite a few of her pieces in my current collection.
We had a dinner set for the next evening with all the investors and even the legal teams, planned weeks in advance. It was to solidify our entire team as we worked together to bring this plan to fruition. I called Julian Yamamoto, an old friend who had been in as an investor from my first thought. He might be a few years younger than me and a bit of a wild card for many in the investment world, but I knew I could trust him. Luckily he was still up even if he had just flown in from Tokyo tonight. I could hear a card game going in the background, which is pretty standard for Julian when he is travelling. He is a notorious gambler.
"Julian, aren't you ready to call it a night yet? How long have you been up now?" I asked as he picked up the call mid-sentence with someone else. He laughed, "You old rogue, you know I had a game setup for when I touched down. Why don't you come join us?" I could hear talking in the background and glasses of probably very expensive liquor being clinked."No, I just got in from a presentation dinner and need to turn in. But I want to talk to you about something personal. Can we meet before the dinner tomorrow?"
I could hear him conferring with the others and then coming back. In the background was the sound of chairs moving and doors opening and closing. "I can talk now – we just decided to turn our chips in for the night." Julian had been through some tough times with me, especially when I quit acting to go into business and everyone thought I was crazy to walk away. He knew I wouldn't bring this up now if it wasn't serious.
"You aren't getting cold feet about the gallery, are you?" he asked. As usual, Julian hit pretty close to the mark. "No, Marianne and I hit it off well, in fact almost too well. I don’t know if I trust this. There is something about her that is just plain compelling Julian – something I can't ignore." It was the closest I had come to admitting I was smitten with her, even to myself. The moment I said it I heard Julian become still. "I knew this would happen someday. But you just met her, are you sure this isn't just a really foxy woman and you are tired of being alone?"
Julian has never been alone; it just isn't in his nature. But he knows and understands I am not that way. He continued, "You have kept women out of your life for so long, maybe it is simply time. Or is there more to her than that?" I tell him of the instant recognition in Mexico, the way she mesmerized me in the bar and the electric kiss on the elevator. I hesitate, unsure if I want to share with anyone what happened tonight.
But he knows."I am guessing that something went beyond that kiss tonight or you wouldn't be having this conversation. So let's see what tomorrow's dinner brings. You have always had good instincts Yu-Tang, trust them now as you did before." I knew he was right.
We chatted about his game, the dinner tomorrow night and how his latest conquest in the bedroom was miffed he didn't take her on this trip. Julian always has women miffed at him and they always forgive him in the end. It is part of his charm, that he loves women and is always "falling in love" with a new one each month. I could never understand how he manages to stay friends with all of them after, but he does.
Tomorrow's dinner would prove interesting as he turned that charm on. I had invited him not only because he was rich beyond imagining and a prime investor in my group, but also because he could read women like a book. My original intent was to have him read everyone's intent in the group, but now I was simply focused on Marianne.
Could I at last have found the woman I have wanted all these years? A woman who could not only keep up with me but push me to be more without making me the focus of her life. Marianne was certainly a strong woman with her own opinions and a life that was rich and full of promise right now. She was sexy in all the right ways. The question I found myself asking was, is she for real?
Marianne
My conversation with Priscilla the night before made me realize, this time around it could be serious. Love had never been on the top of my to-do list in life. Not that I have anything against it, just that I had other priorities such as my art, which is an all-consu
ming passion for me. Men are nice, don't get me wrong, but they come second or maybe even third in my life. Then, of course, there is that perfectionist in me that is a hard game to keep up with for most men.
So far, no one had shown up on the horizon for me the way Chrissie had for Buck. I smiled to myself as I recalled our dinner together the other night. They were so in love, it was obvious. They shared the same passions, loved the same land and couldn't keep their hands off of each other. Well, at least Yu-Tang and I had that much in common. I felt weak in the knees just thinking about last night under the tree. I knew I wanted more than just sex from him though. The question was what did he want?
I picked out a dress for the dinner that was a bit more conservative than what I had worn to the party the night before. Priscilla was over, chatting over martinis as I got ready, butterflies in my stomach over not only the prospect of talking with Yu-Tang, but just the idea that this team could make my gallery a reality. This was business, after all. I turned and asked Priscilla, "What do you think, is it too simple?" I had put on a bright green silk Terani cocktail dress that flowed over me like water. I had left my hair down and added some antique green glass chandelier earrings to dress it up a bit. Priscilla looked me over; smiling over her martini glass.
"Woman, you would look sexy in a brown paper sack! That little thing is perfect for tonight. Keep that man guessing and don't forget to flirt with some of his friends." I laughed at her obviously over-the-top advice. We have bantered over men for close to ten years now, and nothing gets past her eagle eyes. "But it does look business-like enough, don't you think? For an artist about to partner up with a bunch of unknown men to launch a new gallery that is."
"You know, you have the money to do this on your own," she answered, "You don't need these guys Marianne. As your attorney I need to remind you of that, from time to time. Even if I think you are being as sly as a fox getting others to pony up the cash for you on this venture." We toasted to my success and headed out the door. Negotiations and an interesting dinner awaited us.
When we walked in Yu-Tang was waiting. He hugged me and then whispered in my ear, "You look amazing, good enough to ravish right now if we had a tree!" Even as he said this his eyes betrayed his affection; they were not the look of a man who is only seeing you as a sex object. It reassured me and told me I was right to trust him.
He squeezed my hand and looked at me sideways as we entered the dining room. "You have been the best thing to happen to me in a long time," I said quietly, "and that has nothing to do with business." He stopped before we sat down and looked at me with such happiness I thought everyone must see it. He smiled and answered, "I feel the same way."
The dinner was a success. Yu-Tang and I talked, drank, ate and laughed our way through it, hands below the table busily touching when we could. The group found common ground quickly enough, and Priscilla and Yu-Tang's prime investor Julian seemed to hit it off from the start. Since he had the biggest part of the pie outside of Yu-Tang and Priscilla had to sign off on this deal for me to go for it; that was a good sign. In fact, they seemed to get along a little too well and I saw them head outside "for a bit of air" a few times more than I thought they really needed. But she looked happy, he seemed more than charmed by her and I had my own romance to think about.
The longer the evening continued, the more obvious it was that Yu-Tang and I shared the same hesitations as well as connections from the start. We would need to keep communications open between us, that much was going to be a given in this relationship. The gallery may be the impetus for this romance, but if it was to survive it would need to do it outside of that milieu.
The next few weeks were a blur, with every minute I wasn't in the studio painting or closeted with Priscilla over legal docs being spent with Yu-Tang. We made a pact, no business talk when we were on a "date", though sometimes we both broke it. He visited the studio often, sometimes just to sit quietly in a corner while I painted. Unlike with many of my lovers in the past, I didn't mind with my tiger man. He knew when to sit quietly as much as he knew when to let his passion fly.
Meanwhile, we had begun to notice that Julian and Priscilla were spending quite a bit of time together. Yu-Tang mentioned that he was surprised Julian hadn't returned to his home base of Tokyo right after the meeting, but my guess is he had something or rather someone keeping him occupied here. I tried to get Priscilla to spill the beans, but she wouldn't tell tales quite yet.
"It is too soon," she explained. "I don't know if he is just playing with me. He is a bit of a playboy, you know." I nodded as we meandered through our favorite flea market on a lazy Sunday morning, chatting and just being the old friends we were. "Yes, but Yu-Tang tells me that he has never seen Julian spend this much time with one woman before. He tends to have them on a string. Plus, he broke up with Kokoro his latest flame just last week."
She laughed, her tawny afro bouncing in the morning light and commented, "Well, he also told me his parents are very conservative and would never approve of "my kind" of woman for him." I raised an eyebrow at her. "He means black, darling. You can be so dense sometimes!" I protested. "But he has dated women all over the world, Prissy. You know he has!"
She nodded at me as we continued to hold up lace scarves and silk blouses from the last two centuries to the struggling sunshine. "Yes but they were either Asian or white; they could accept that. I don't know how they would feel about their darling boy spending his billions on a girl from the Bronx." At the time it was all just talk between girls. But when my phone rang a week later, it was to find a terrified Priscilla on the other end. It seems that Julian's parents had hired a hit man.
MOMENTS OF LOVE
Alpha Billionaire Romance
Moments Series Book 5
By Melanie Brandon
www.amazingromancebooks.com
Priscilla
I first began to notice that I was being watched a few days after the big dinner meeting with Marianne and Yu-Tang. A girl can't be too careful in a big city like San Francisco, even if you still see yourself as one tough mama from the Bronx. I like to think that I still have the street savvy I brought with me when I won that scholarship to Berkeley, the kind that tells me if something isn't right. And all my instincts were screaming at me when these two dark suited strangers just seemed to show up on the street, no matter where I went.
I know that the joke around here is all Asian guys look the same, but these two stood out. They were big, muscled and had tattoos, lots of them. That isn't all that unusual here in San Francisco. Normally I would just shrug my shoulders, but ever since I started spending more time with Julian it had made me more aware of my surroundings. You see, his Dad back in Japan is pretty well known, and not in a good way. Julian had explained to me about the Yakuza, Japan's answer to the Italian mobster of America. They were feared and his Dad had been the most feared of them all. They say he is retired but I doubt you can retire from something like the Yakuza, anymore than you can retire from the Costa Nostra.
Julian was proud of the fact that he had not used his father's questionable wealth to get his start. Despite his dashing good looks and devil may care attitude, when it comes to money Julian was always pretty serious. He understands money pretty well, both where it travels and how to make it work for you. True, Julian's early connections were family ones, people his Dad knew that would invest in Julian's software company. But the business itself was all his. He built it, he made it work and he knew just when to take its earnings and put them in the right places. That was how he came to be one of the youngest billionaires on the planet. But you certainly wouldn't know it if you met him at some club here in San Francisco. He is a charmer all right, and he has certainly been charming me the last week or so.
But now I was being followed by a couple of goons in conservative haircuts and tattoo sleeves that any hip artist in the Mission would envy. I didn't though; I knew that they were more than decoration. For with the Yakuza every tattoo had a meaning and they weren
't pretty ones. I didn't intend to become a new tattoo on some guy's arm. I was going to have to talk to Julian about his Dad and find out if he knew anything about these guys. I suspected he not only knew about them, he had ordered them. Meanwhile, I called Marianne and asked her if I could hide out in her studio for a while, just until I could lose the two. I was just starting a big case and didn't want to have this distract me. Well, that and I really didn't know what else to do.
Julian was doing his usual, hopping across the country checking out some software companies he wanted to acquire. I swear the man buys up companies like the rest of us pick out a new sweater. At first it felt a little intimidating. But when we are alone and he kisses me, I have to admit I tend to forget about anything but him. Boy, can that guy kiss. Of course, from what I hear he has had plenty of practice. What am I doing messing around with some Japanese billionaire playboy? That is the real question of the day. But every time I make noises about quitting him, he charms me out of it. He's a charmer all right; I just hope I haven't let myself get charmed into a big mess of trouble.
Julian
Life had been more hectic than usual the last few weeks. Yu-Tang had been in San Francisco more than his usual amount and I had been following his plans pretty closely. Sure, I had some money tied up in this new venture of his, but I wasn't too troubled by it. Marianne was a golden investment, and I knew it. I had done some research before I agreed to go in with Yu-Tang on this new business enterprise of his.
I knew he didn't need my money; he was just being cagey spreading the risk around. Truth is Marianne could have done the whole deal with her own money. I could see that and it gave me new respect for her. I don't mind taking risks when I know the odds. The odds were good on this one, plus I got to meet the awesome Miss Priscilla in the bargain. And what a foxy and amazing woman she turned out to be.
VAMPIRE:Vampire Guardian Series: Paranormal Mystery Vampire Alpha Male Romance (New Adult Contemporary Paranormal Royalty Fantasy Romance Collection)) Page 28