Beyond Bliss (16 page)

Her lips slightly parted as she stared at him in wonder. Of course she had planned on driving him to distraction with her work attire, but his reactions had been bland, she figured she’d hardly put a dent in his armor. A rush of feminine satisfaction swept through her at the knowledge he’d been as agonized as she.

Irony etched itself onto his handsome face. “I had you right where I wanted you. I lived for those moments where I’d run into you or catch a glimpse of you in the hallway or when you’d come storming into my office, pissed off about something with your chest heaving, face flushed, and eyes wild … and I lived in fear of them, too. Each and every time I saw you, you pulled me in harder. And sweetheart, that was tough. For the first time, I wondered if I was making decisions about my business with the wrong head, and it pissed me off. I know the work I gave you to do was obnoxious, and I know you haven’t had much to sink your teeth into yet, but there’s a pretty major deal I’ve been working on that I’m about to close and one right after that too that I need your help with. I just needed to work some things out before I could bring you in the loop.”

She regarded him silently as her mind raced. Everything that he said made a strange sort of sense. Maybe it was because she was desperate to believe him, desperate to justify why it felt so easy to give into him. His face was hopeful as he waited for her reaction.

“You know, mixing business and personal affairs is a recipe for disaster,” she warned. “Plus, now I have to change that stupid handbook again.”

In an instant, his expression turned darkly sensual, and he prowled towards her, closing the distance between them in no time. Her pulse went wild when his warm mouth latched onto it at the base of her neck and sucked lightly. He raised his head when she let out an inarticulate sound, and his gaze consumed her. Softly, lightly, the callused pad of his thumb pressed against the center of her bottom lip, opening her for him.

Her body hummed with anticipation as his head descended once more, so much so that she barely caught his next words.

“See, we don’t have to break the rules, pretty little Sophie. We just have to change them.”

Chapter Fourteen

The words swam together on the menu. She tried to focus on her order, but she could swear her thighs were still trembling from the crazy intense orgasm he’d given her before they’d left his hotel room for their meeting.

It had turned out that Lucas did, in fact, have business matters to attend to on the lush island. They were now meeting with one Mr. Kai Hiliau, the owner of several small, exclusive hotels that dotted across Hawaii and California.

Hotels in which Lucas intended to purchase a majority stake and expand globally. She’d spent the majority of the day—minus the time she’d spent tangled in bed with Lucas, pouring over the financials and the company charter. He and Kai had already met several times in New York, but now that they both intended to make it happen, there were mountains of paperwork, both to go through and file.

“You seem to be overwhelmed by all of our options, Miss Harlow. If I may be so bold as to suggest a recommendation, the seared halibut is excellent.”

She looked up gratefully. “Please, call me Sophie,” she murmured.

“Then you must call me Kai,” he said, his gaze warm with appreciation.

Even though Lucas sat next to her, she could practically hear the tic in his jaw pulse at the other man’s frank appreciation. Earlier, when he sat after seating her, he’d lightly placed his hand over her thigh under the table, away from prying eyes.

Now that same hand tightened possessively. “You could also try the sushi too. Kai employed one of the most sought after sushi chefs at this location.”

She knew it was bad of her, but she couldn’t help the tiny flare of feminine satisfaction that coursed through her at his jealousy. She said nothing, but nodded and scanned through the menu once more.

When the waiter returned with a cocktail for her, and beer for the men, ready to take their order, he looked at her expectantly.

“I’ll have the salmon sashimi, the spicy island honey roll, and a dragon tsunami roll.” As the waiter turned to Luke to for his order, she smiled apologetically at Kai. “I appreciate the recommendation Kai, but I had a large lunch earlier, and I felt like having something light for dinner.”

His eyes regarded her thoughtfully over the menu, but when he moved it away, a knowing smirk graced his handsome face. “As you wish, Sophie.” He looked up at the waiter. “I’ll have the usual, Len, thank you.”

The waiter nodded and discreetly slipped away.

Kai turned serious and focused on Lucas. “As you can see, I know I’ve mentioned it before, but I’ve made it a point to know each and every one of my employees personally. This deal only happens if they’re protected. Meaning no one loses their jobs, and any of the staff who live on the properties get to remain there.”

“You know your staff is overpaid, and you’re losing at least two million in revenue each year by not using that space for paying guests.” As he pointed this out, Lucas sounded almost bored.

Sophie frowned. She knew for a fact that he took care of his employees and not just by paying them well. Why would he object to Kai doing the same?

Kai’s gaze hardened. “I pay them well because they do a hell of a job taking care of guests, and they have mouths to feed. I don’t tolerate poor performance or mediocrity. You should know this by now.”

“And you should know that I don’t go back on my word, so I have no fucking idea why you’re bringing this back up again. You know the money and resources I bring to the table are going to turn your brand into an international powerhouse. I’m talking on the scale of the Mandarin here.”

Kai nodded. “I know, but I’m bringing it back up again because I want this built in, hard-wired. I’m okay with you setting the other terms from here on out, but this is my deal-breaker.”

“That’s not how this is going to work. I get this is a family to you. I’m not going to set the terms, you are. If I agree, we move forward. As much as I can see you feel otherwise, Sophie isn’t here as eye candy, she’s my legal counsel. She’ll structure the deal, and in the process, help us mitigate risk and exposure. Even though I’ll own the majority, I still expect you to be hands on and run the operation with autonomy. I’m not going to get in your way, but this needs to be a profitable operation. Current employees will be grandfathered into the types of annual increases they’re used to, in addition to the living arrangements. Future staff will be paid competitively as determined by going rates in the market. If we have space that doesn’t interfere with guest operations, we can offer reduced rents for them on space built exclusively for employee housing.”

His voice was low and hard, but it set off something unidentifiable in her.

Something crazy, something
wild
.

He was a shrewd businessman, considered a ruthless shark by many … or so she’d determined after Googling him.

She should have been paying attention to the quick words that flew between the men, but all she could do was feel everything that was him seep deeper into her soul.

Her reverie faded when Len, the waiter, returned balancing several plates. When he finished setting the plates in front of them, Kai spoke once more.

“You’ll also know that my lawyers will be involved in reviewing the deal as well. No offense, Sophie,” he added with a small smile her way.

The corners of her lips tugged up. “Honestly, I’d be wondering about you if you didn’t.”

He tilted his head towards her. “Touché.”

The conversation turned once more towards the plans for expansion. Even though she wasn’t really hungry, the food was delicious, and she consumed every bite while listening to the discussion. Once the deal was finalized, they would start with breaking ground simultaneously in London, Hong Kong, Dubai, and Mumbai. All those days when she’d wondered what Lucas was up to with his office door shut started to make sense. He’d already purchased land in all of those locations, and he had a team already sourcing contracts and bids for construction of the new hotels.

When the remnants of their meal had been cleared away, Lucas excused himself to the men’s room, but not before giving her a meaningful, lingering look that left her panties drenched.

“I normally don’t do this, especially when my business is involved, but now that we’ve established that you’re not here as Sinclair’s date, what would you say about being mine at dinner tomorrow night?”

Her eyes widened in shock as she turned to face Kai. “I’m sorry?”

His eyes pierced into hers, and she would be lying if she said she didn’t feel at least a tug of attraction to the other man.

The dark, golden skin of his native Hawaiian heritage contrasted sharply against the open collar of his crisp white shirt. Said shirt also did little to conceal the defined muscles of his arms. Dark hair, a cross somewhere between brown and black was shorn close to his head, likely due to the climate. His clean-shaven square jaw complemented his sharp nose and high cheekbones beautifully.

Simply put, he was a beautiful man.

But even though she could appreciate his raw masculinity, she felt … nothing.

She opened her mouth to let him know she was flattered, to let him down gently when a harsh voice intruded the silence. “She’s busy tomorrow night.”

Dread settled in her stomach as Lucas took his seat next to hers.

“How about the night after tomorrow?” Kai asked smoothly.

“She’s not available then either. Sophie is in a relationship,” Lucas said bluntly.

The expression on Kai’s face was more amused than surprised, but he composed it into a blank expression so quickly she almost didn’t catch it. “Ah well, I can’t say I’m surprised. You’re a very beautiful woman, Sophie. I hope whoever has you knows how lucky he is,” he murmured.

“He does, not that it’s any of your concern,” Luke muttered, not bothering to hide the annoyance in his tone.

At his words, warmth expanded in her chest, but she felt her own annoyance grow, and she shifted in her seat and pointedly glared at him. “Thank you, Mr. Sinclair, but I can also speak for myself.”

“Oh really?” he challenged. “So what would you have said? Do you want to go to dinner with Kai?”

Her teeth clenched so hard, she felt the beginnings of a tension headache start to set in.

Was he insane?

She channeled every ounce of willpower she possessed into composing herself before she responded. In law school, one of her professors had shared a technique for managing conflict by visualizing it into compartments, putting the compartments into a brown paper bag, folding it closed, and leaving it at a door before walking through the door and shutting it closed. Since then, it worked well to calm her nerves, especially when she’d been faced with an adversary.

Right now, everything she’d ever learned flew straight out of her head.

Except for her rage.

Aware that she was breathing heavily, she tossed her napkin onto the table and rose. “Kai, I’m wiped out, and I need to head back to the hotel. I do want to let you know that I’m deeply flattered, but I’m currently unavailable.” She picked up her bag and slung the strap over her shoulder, before she added, “But if things stay on this track, it looks like I might not be unavailable for very long. I’ll let you know.”

She coached each foot to keep moving, one in front of the other as everything else faded into the background. By the time she’d made it to the door, she could faintly hear Kai’s laughter, but she was too angry to process it or wonder what had caused it.

The entrance to the restaurant wasn’t far from the hotel entrance, where a cluster of cabs were parked. Her tall, thin heels clicked sharply against the cobblestone, and she cursed her choice in footwear when one of her heels caught in a groove of cement between the stones.

Fuck.

A second, maybe two, passed as she wiggled her foot to free her shoe before a strong arm gripped her arm.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

Now, she struggled both to free her arm and foot, but as she twisted, she lost all grip and her body started to fall. Right before she crashed into the pavement, her body was suspended mid-air, before she was thrown bodily over Lucas’s shoulder.

She ignored the fact that he’d saved her from a nasty spill and instead chose to pound her clenched fists against his lower back. “Put me down, you jerk!”

He didn’t respond directly to her, but she heard him muttering about stubborn females and how he couldn’t seem to escape them.

She kept pounding ineffectually, until he stopped moving. Before she could blink, she’d been shoved into a black leather seat of a town car while he barked out instructions to their hotel.

She shifted closer to the edge of the door and crossed her arms over her chest, stubbornly staring out at the lush island landscape as the driver weaved through other cars.

“You going to tell me what that hissy fit was about?”

She turned for a moment, staring at him incredulously, before she turned back to her window. Was the man stupid? After all she’d shared with him, could he really still be so obtuse he wouldn’t recognize that treating her like a voiceless doll would set her off? Who the fuck did he think she was?