The Trouble with Valentine’s (7 page)

‘You’re wrong. I know Jasmine’s an innocent, Hallie. That doesn’t make her without wiles. You do need to be here. And there definitely needs to be more touching.’

‘Touching?’

He slid an arm around her waist and drew her gently towards him. ‘Like this.’

This
was enough to set every bone in her body to melting. Hallie put her hands to his chest, striving for some distance, even as the lower half of her body betrayed her and settled snugly against him. ‘Kai’s watching us,’ she muttered. He was opening the driver’s side door of the Mercedes; maybe he was off to put the car away. But he was looking up at them.

‘I know.’ Nick was hardening against her as they spoke and making no secret of his affliction as his hands slid from her waist to the base of her spine and pressed her even closer.

‘Kinky,’ she said lightly.

‘It may not be the audience.’ His lips were curved in a familiar half-smile. ‘It could be you.’

Hallie slid her hands to his shoulders, delighting in the feel of him, in the rich musky scent of his skin. ‘You mean you don’t know?’

‘Nope. And there’s not enough blood left in my brain to figure it out.’

‘Maybe it’s both,’ she said breathlessly.

‘Now you’re trying to confuse me.’

‘Actually, I’m trying to distract you.’

‘Try harder,’ he said, and set his lips to her neck, sending a jolt of pleasure straight through her. Role
playing, that was all, but she tilted her head to allow him better access, gasping when the heat of his lips was joined by a whisper of tongue as he teased and tasted his way along her neck.

This was madness, she thought, as she buried her hands in his hair and demanded more. Utter madness, as Nick cupped her buttocks and surged against her as his lips rushed over her shoulder, her collarbone, the swell of her breast and it was all she could do not to whimper when his mouth found the peak of her breast through the thin layers of silk. All she could do not to scream when his teeth and tongue came into play.

‘Nick.’ He’d found the clasp on her trousers, his fingers at her waist setting off feathery tremors of sensation. ‘Nick! He’s gone.’

‘Who’s gone?’ His eyes were black, his breathing was ragged, but comprehension dawned. ‘Oh, yeah. Him.’ His hands stilled, and his big body shuddered as he struggled for control. ‘Just give me a minute here.’

No problem. She could do with a minute or two herself. Not to mention a few more metres of unoccupied personal space.

He let her go, let her put some distance between them, but her skin was on fire from his touch and her breasts ached for the feel of his hands and
his lips on them again. Half blind with unfulfilled need, she staggered towards the centre of the room. And stopped.

The floor was the palest marble streaked with grey. The furniture was intricately carved cherry wood inlaid with mother-of-pearl. The furnishings were red. Not dull red, not blood red, but a bright primary-colour-wheel red. The floor rug, the curtains, the bed … yes indeed, the bed was undeniably red, with enough cushions and pillows piled against the headboard to furnish a small orphanage.

‘I thought you said there was a sofa as well,’ she said at last.

‘There was,’ said Nick, frowning. ‘It used to be over by the far wall.’

Well, there certainly wasn’t one there now. Nothing in this room but a bed. A big red bed.

‘The Chinese consider red a fortuitous colour,’ said Nick. ‘It’s supposed to bring good luck.’

‘Good,’ she muttered. Cause they were definitely going to need it if they were going to be sharing that bed. ‘Mind if I take first shower?’

‘Go ahead.’ Nick gestured towards a door to her right.

The bathroom was marble too, all marble, with gold taps, red towels and the biggest glass walled
shower cubicle she’d ever seen.
Two
shower heads in that there cubicle. Two of them, side by side, commanding her attention the way the bed had in the other room.

‘Or we could shower together and save time,’ he said from the doorway.

Did he honestly think that getting wet and naked with him was going to save time? She slid him a glance; he was leaning against the doorframe, his smile crooked and his eyes dark.

No, he didn’t think that either.

‘W
HAT DID HE DO
to you?’ The question came at Jasmine softly, sneaking beneath her defences and opening her up, laying her bare. Kai had always been able to do that, even with a glance, and when he used words it was worse.

‘What do you mean?’ Jasmine turned her attention from the perfectly prepared trays of finger-food on the kitchen bench and glanced towards Kai, knowing full well that her heart would trip when she made eye contact, because it had done for years.

‘Nicholas Cooper.’ Kai’s narrowed black gaze told her he wouldn’t be dissuaded. ‘Last time he was here you couldn’t get enough of him. This time I see fear in your eyes when you look at him. So what did he do?’

‘Nothing.’ Truth and only truth, ‘He did nothing.’

‘Then why the fear?’

‘There is no fear.’ Nick hadn’t said anything and neither had his wife. His wife had actively tried to set Jasmine’s mind at ease with her teasing about the effect Nicholas had on the fairer sex. No one had mentioned anything about Jasmine’s shameful lapse of judgement. Maybe they never would. That was the ideal Jasmine clung to now. ‘I like his wife.’

Kai just leaned against the kitchen counter beside her. Close enough that she could smell the clean citrus and ginger scent of him, close enough to marvel at how long his eyelashes were, and how beautifully shaped were his lips.

Yes, Nicholas Cooper was handsome and she’d been momentarily dazzled by him, but
this
man was the one who had fuelled a thousand teenage fantasies, was still fuelling them, and Jasmine had a sneaking suspicion that Kai knew it.

Awkward.

‘That hair,’ Jasmine murmured by way of distraction. ‘Such a beautiful red.’

‘Yes,’ murmured Kai with the kick of a smile. Superstition would have it that Hallie Bennett-Cooper had supernatural powers on account of
her hair colour. Jasmine didn’t believe it, but still …

Hallie Bennett-Cooper had something.

‘If he hurt you I need to know,’ said Kai, never one to be guided in a different direction for long.

‘He hasn’t hurt me.’ Just saying the words made Jasmine realise the truth of them. ‘I acted the fool last time Nicholas Cooper was here. Nicholas listened to me and I liked that. He laughed with me and I liked that too. He’s very handsome. A little bit undisciplined.’ Jasmine smiled ruefully. ‘He was new. Interesting.’ Diversion and defiance and so very, very different to Kai. ‘I misread friendliness for flirting and easy charm for encouragement and now I’m embarrassed when I look at him because I know he never meant to mislead me.’

Give Kai a taste of the truth in the hope that he would be satisfied.

And when those penetrating black eyes of his doubted her, give him some more.

‘I’m nineteen years old, I live with my father and I never go anywhere without you. I make mistakes. I don’t know love.’ She barely knew kisses. ‘Allow me that.’

Kai shifted his gaze from her to the floor. His
profile was as beautiful as the rest of him, his cheekbones cut with a master’s blade.

Finally he nodded, still not looking at her. Explanation accepted.

‘You want those trays out on the terrace?’ he asked.

‘Not yet. I thought to wait another ten minutes or so – Nicholas and his wife may wish to shower and change clothes first.’

Kai ran a hand through his short cropped black hair, too short to make a mess of it but an uncommon enough gesture that Jasmine stared all the same.

‘I’ll talk to your father again about allowing you more freedom,’ he offered. ‘More contact with people of a similar age.’

‘You should save yourself the trouble,’ she said. ‘I know how that conversation goes and so do you.’ She felt the hitch in her breath and prayed that Kai couldn’t hear it. ‘My father says no.’

Nick knew women. Knew the feel of them in his arms and in his bed. More than that, he liked women and they could generally be counted on to like him right back. But he’d never met a woman who affected him the way Hallie Bennett did. Hell,
when she was in his arms it was all he could do to recall his own name let alone the terms of their agreement.

So she was amusing … women often were.

So she was beautiful … there were plenty of women out there who were that, too.

But since when had he ever wanted to watch a woman’s face forever, just so he wouldn’t miss whatever she came out with next? Since when had a woman ever distracted him from his work and his goals for the company? Since when had a woman ever had
that
kind of power over him? Since never, that was when. And he didn’t like it, not one little bit.

Hallie Bennett was here to
solve
his woman problems, not cause more.

By the time she emerged from the bathroom, sleek and elegant in a moss-green sheath, he was thoroughly riled. It didn’t help that he knew he was being unreasonable, that she’d only been doing what they’d agreed on in the first place. It certainly didn’t help that she took one look at him and judged his mood in an instant.

‘Pick a topic, any topic,’ she said airily. ‘Religion, politics, whatever you like … I’m sure we can come to a disagreement about something.’

‘Sport,’ he said abruptly. There wasn’t a woman
of his acquaintance who could talk sense when it came to sport.

‘Of course, there’s only one real sport and that’s soccer,’ she stated firmly.

‘Football,’ he corrected.

‘Whatever. I favour Brazil, myself.’

‘Because they win?’

‘Because Australia has no world cup team and Brazil wear green and gold shirts. Green and gold is very Australian.’

‘You support Brazil because of the colour of their shirts?’ Now they were getting somewhere. ‘That’s ridiculous.’

‘Would you rather I supported them because they’re fascinating to watch and they have the best striker in the world?’

‘Er, no.’ That would defeat the entire purpose of the conversation. ‘I’m trying to find something to dislike about you.’

‘Ah.’ And with a very sweet smile. ‘About the shower … I’m afraid I used all the hot water.’

‘Hmph.’ Even that wasn’t a problem, he thought glumly as he gathered up his shaving kit and stalked towards the bathroom. A cold shower was just what he needed.

‘Nick,’ she said from the other side of the bathroom door, just as he was about to step under the
spray. ‘I think I’ll go down and find Jasmine. That okay with you?’

‘Why?’

‘Well, for starters you didn’t take any clean clothes into that bathroom with you, which means you’re going to come out wearing a towel or less, which I’m sure is a very good look for you but frankly, it’s going to damage my calm. Secondly, Jasmine Tey is scared stiff of you at the moment and I need to find out why.’

‘Couldn’t you just ask
me
?’

‘Do you know?’

‘No.’ Nick turned away from the shower, opened the bathroom door a crack and peered out, keeping most of his naked self hidden.

‘That’s what I thought.’ Hallie was pinning her hair up and using the dresser mirror as her guide. Her gaze met his, sweeping quickly downwards, before she remembered herself and refocused on his eyes. ‘I’m thinking that if she’s surrounded by overprotective alpha males – which she is – the thing she’ll be worried about most is
them
finding out.’

‘Well, they won’t find out from me.’

‘But Jasmine doesn’t know that. She’s a baby, Nick. You need to reassure her that you’ll keep your mouth shut.’

‘I will keep it shut. I
am
keeping it shut. Incident forgotten. Crisis averted. Wife on board. That would be you.’

Hallie sighed. ‘Just … if you get a chance to reassure her that her secret is safe with you, do it.’

‘Okay. I will.’ Nick turned on the shower taps ever so slightly too hard. ‘Nag nag nag.’

‘
Hello.
’ He could still hear her, even with the door shut and the water running, and the exasperation in her voice made his smile grow wide. ‘Wife.’

Nick’s shower helped. Helped enough so that when they went downstairs he was back to thinking that having a wife on board was going to solve a multitude of problems. He could do this. They could do this. Besides, it was far too late to back out now.

He found them in a light filled room that opened onto a terrace overlooking the Teys’ hillside garden. This much land, this close to Hong Kong was a clear indication of John Tey’s astonishing wealth, and the spacious, fortress-like home that sat on the land confirmed it. Nick didn’t know why John Tey had invited him to stay in his home while doing business together. John Tey had offices in the city centre and most of the hotels had business facilities
for hire. They could have kept their dealings more businesslike and all of this could have been avoided.

Next time, thought Nick grimly. Next time he’d know to do just that. Right now he settled for nodding at the ever present Kai, accepting the long tall glass of lime water from Jasmine with a thank you and what he hoped to hell was a reassuring smile, and heading in Hallie’s direction, which was over by the terrace wall with John Tey. No need to launch straight into business here, that was not the John Tey way, so Nick took a back-seat and watched his new ‘wife’ at work and quite clearly at play.

Within five minutes she’d discovered that their host clipped his own hedges and spent an hour every morning practising Tai Chi. That he owned an extensive art collection and that Jasmine was an accomplished silk painter. Five minutes and Jasmine was giggling, John was smiling, and even the po face Kai had relaxed his guard and it was all Hallie’s doing as she charmed them with her warmth, wit and enthusiasm for life. Whatever the moment held, she embraced it; be it a computer game or a kiss, she gave it everything she had.

Damn but the woman could kiss.

‘Do you collect antiquities?’ John asked her as
she bent to examine a little jade horse set on a marble pedestal.

‘My father does. John, this is exquisite. Early Qing dynasty, isn’t it? I’ve never seen one in such good condition.’

Nick blinked at her knowledge of little green horses. John beamed at the compliment.

‘Kai will drive you to some of our smaller private galleries in the morning if you wish. There you will find many beautiful pieces. Perhaps even a memento of your stay with us.’

‘Perhaps.’ Hallie smiled easily, her glance encompassing them both. ‘I don’t want to disrupt any plans you have in place but I’d love to see a little more of the city. And the lion dancing … Maybe buy some oranges …’

Jasmine was nodding her head in vigorous agreement. John’s gaze was wry as it rested on his daughter.

‘My daughter has also suggested she show you these things. Would tomorrow be suitable?’ And to Jasmine, ‘You will let Kai know when you wish to leave.’

‘But Father, surely we can go alone.’

‘No.’ It was the first time Nick had ever seen him refuse his daughter anything.

‘But Father—’

John Tey held up his hand and there was instant silence from Jasmine.

‘Kai will accompany you.’

Jasmine bent her head in acquiescence. ‘Yes, Father.’

‘So it is settled.’ John was back to playing the charming host. ‘Come, Nick. You must try the spring rolls. Jasmine makes them herself.’

As far as Hallie was concerned the evening passed pleasantly and far too quickly, the problem being that as soon as they retired for the evening, she and Nick would have to confront that big red bed. The sofa was gone, that much was certain, and the floor was made of marble.
She
certainly wasn’t going to sleep on a marble floor, nor did she expect Nick to. No, they were going to have to share the bed and somehow she was going to have to keep her hands to herself.

So she was slightly nervous as they headed for the guest suite, slightly bug-eyed as he followed her into their room, loosening his tie as he closed the door before automatically proceeding to the buttons of his shirt. Habit, that was all, there was nothing sexual about it. But she couldn’t let him continue.

‘Bathroom,’ she said sternly, pointing the way.

‘Right.’ Nick scooped up his toiletries
and
his pyjamas and headed for the bathroom without another word.

One week. Be professional. She could do this.

Hallie’s gaze slid to the bed.

How on earth was she going to do this?

By the time he’d finished in the bathroom and Hallie had had her turn and slipped into her Mickey Mouse singlet and boxers-for-girls she had it figured. Fortunately, Nick wasn’t in bed yet. He was standing at the window, a dark silhouette against the night sky and if she thought he looked good in a suit, it was nothing compared to what he looked like in tight black boxers.

‘I’ll take the floor,’ he said.

‘You can’t take the floor. The floor is too hard. Anyway, I have a plan.’ Hallie strode over to the bed and began stacking cushions straight down the middle of it.

‘
This
is your plan?’ he asked, somewhat sceptically.

‘
This
,’ she said, busily stacking cushions, ‘is the Great Wall of China. You are the Mongol horde and I am the Emperor’s finest troops.’

He looked like he wanted to laugh, caught her glare, and must have decided against it.

‘Well, that hardly seems fair,’ he said finally.
‘Why can’t I be the Emperor’s finest and
you
be the barbarians?’

‘Fine. Just stay on your side of the wall, okay?’

‘I will defend this wall with my very life.’

‘Whatever.’ That’d teach her to mix metaphors with a computer games master. She slipped beneath the covers and lay down. Moments later Nick approached the bed and the mattress dipped as he lay down. Her plan was working. And then Nick’s head and torso appeared above the cushions, his elbow skewing them haphazardly.

‘The Emperor’s troops are allowed on the wall, right? I feel like I should be patrolling it.’

‘Trust me, you don’t have to patrol the wall. There is nothing happening on your northern border tonight. Get some sleep.’

He disappeared behind the wall of pillows only to return again almost immediately.

‘No raiding party?’

‘No. There is nothing on your side of the wall that the barbarians want.’ This was a lie. She knew for a fact that there were enormous treasures to be found just a cushion’s length away.