Lovers Premiere (Kimani Romance) (4 page)

She dropped her hand again and pulled up straight, but the one thing she had trouble doing was getting her mouth to work.

“See you later.”

“OK.” Her hand flew back to his arm. “I'm…I'm…” She started coughing.

“You have to be kidding me.”

“Oh God, I need some water.” She clutched her throat as if it needed massaging to get the words out of it.

“You need to stop wasting my time.” Irritation had finally crept into his voice. “I'm not going to stand for you talking and treating me like I'm something stuck on the bottom of your shoe. Whether you want to recognize it or not I'm a man that has worked and earned a certain level of respect. If you can't deal with that then I suggest you march your butt out there on the runway and hitch out your thumb and see if you can catch a ride that way.”

She blinked and then finally whispered. “I'm sorry.”

Ram cupped a hand around his ear. “Come again?”

Sofia sucked in a deep breath, closed her eyes and spoke louder. “I
said
I'm sorry.” After a long pause of silence, she peeled open her eyes. Ram looked as if he was still weighing whether to accept her apology or tell her just where she could stick her apology.

“I mean it. I'm sorry,” she added.

Ram nodded. “Fine. I'll give you a lift on one condition.”

She should have known. “What is it?”

“That you keep your mouth shut. I don't want you to so much as utter a sound,” he said with a narrowed gaze that made it clear that he was being serious. “Think that you can handle that?”

“Ye—”

“Ah. Ah. Ah.” He waved a finger in front of her face. “When it comes to you, as far as I'm concerned, silence is golden.”

Sofia clamped her mouth shut and then angrily nodded her head.

“Good. Then you got yourself a deal.”

F
orty minutes. Sofia just needed to keep her mouth shut for forty minutes. How hard could that be? Turns out, it was pretty hard. Given the fact that she had lost her parents in a plane crash, flying was never her favorite thing. But for the most part, she could deal with it because of all the travel that was needed for her job. But climbing into this plane, much smaller than anything she'd ever flown in, was another thing all together.

“How long did you say that you've been flying?” she asked, clutching her seatbelt.

Ram cut her a look.

“I mean…” She glanced around as they neared the runway. “You're sure of what you're doing, right?”

“It's not too late for you to get out,” he said.

Sofia opened her mouth but Ram signaled for her to zip it.
Now look who is being rude.
She sulked down in
her chair. But when the plane raced down the runway, she slammed her eyes closed and prayed. Five minutes later, she finally felt safe enough to pry her eyes open. By then they were coasting smoothly through the clouds. “Well…okay. This isn't so bad.” She exhaled and tried to relax. “I can do this.”

Ram just sighed.

“What? Are you going to threaten to kick me out now?”

“Don't tempt me.”

Sofia pulled in a long breath while she stared at his strong profile. She tried to hold on to the years of anger that she'd felt for the Jordans. In her head, she could still hear her father yelling and accusing Emmett Jordan of being a backstabber. From that day on, she grouped father and son together.
But was that really fair?

She jerked at the rogue question and then squirmed in her seat because she didn't really want her subconscious to answer it.

Ram snuck another glance to his right and noticed how stiff Sofia looked in her seat. “Unbelievable,” he mumbled under his breath.

“What?”

“Nothing,” he lied with a shrug.

“That was not nothing,” Sofia challenged. “What is it? Spit it out.”

After a couple of more shrugs, he decided to come clean. “I was just noting how…uptight you are.” He looked over at her again and shook his head. “You've changed so much.”

She raised her chin indignantly. “I have not.”

“Puh-lease. I'm willing to bet that this is the longest you've gone without talking on the phone.”

“No it's not.”

“I'm not counting when you're asleep, though I'm willing to bet that you don't do that for very long, either.”

“That's not true.” Even as she challenged his assessment, Sofia reached for her cell phone to check her Caller ID.

Ram laughed. “Look at you.”

“What?”

“If you don't know then I'm not going to tell you.”

Suddenly self aware, Sofia shoved her phone back into her purse. “Whatever.”

“All I know is that the Sofia that I grew up with knew how to have fun,” he said with a note of sadness. “She used to let her hair down. Run. Laugh. Play in a field of wild daisies…and even sneak kisses beneath the big oak tree in her backyard.”

Sofia's heart skipped a beat. The picture of that long lost girl sprung vividly into her mind and there was a twinge of longing that came swiftly and overwhelmed her. She pulled her face away and stared out at what seemed like an endless sky of white clouds.

“It's like we're floating in a dream,” she whispered.

Ram smiled. “That's why I like flying. When you're up here, the world and all its problems just fade away.”

Sofia sucked in a deep breath and listened to just the steady hum of the plane's engine and single propeller. It did sort of have a calming effect and there was no
denying the beauty surrounding her. “I see what you mean.”

He chanced another look at her and was pleased to see the tension in her face had disappeared and her posture had relaxed. Sofia turned her head, met Ram's gaze and fluttered a smile before she remembered that she was supposed to be keeping her distance. Jerking her head away, she then looked at the time.

Twenty minutes.

“I should have known that that wasn't going to last long,” Ram commented. “What?”

“You keeping your guard down.” He let a wave of silence drift over them. “Do you really hate me that much?”

Sofia's mouth sprang open, but then her words got caught up in her throat.

“I see.” Ram trained his eyes back onto the sky in front of him and pretended that he didn't feel the slight pinch in his throat.

“I don't hate you,” Sofia whispered and cleared her throat. “It's just…” She struggled for the right words and then just ended with, “I don't hate you.”

“That's good to hear.” He shrugged his big shoulders. “Even though I don't quite believe it.”

Sofia squirmed in her chair.

“I guess it doesn't matter,” he said, but then thought about it. “But it would be nice if we could somehow figure out a way to have some kind of cordial relationship since we are going to be working together.”

She sucked in a deep breath.

“And yes, it's still duly noted that you're against the merger. But that's already behind us. Moving forward I think the best thing we can do for our employees is to show a united front. I know that's what your uncle and I both want.”

Silence.

“Or not,” he amended, feeling his frustrations re turning. “It's up to you. We can pit the Limelight employees against the A.F.I. employees and see how far that gets us. But I'm willing to bet not far.”

Sofia took another deep breath and then said, “I'm being stubborn, aren't I?”

“That's…one word I would've used.” He smiled. “If I was going to keep it PG.”

That won a second smile from her. Still she was conflicted about letting go of a grudge she'd held for so long against the Jordans. “How about we strike a deal?”

Ram laughed. “It's always about the deal with you, isn't it?”

“What can I say? Negotiating is in my blood.”

He nodded. “All right. What kind of deal are we talking about?”

“My client list,” she said, crossing her arms. “No dividing it up. My people are my people.”

Ram threw his head back and laughed. “Now why didn't I see that coming?”

“I don't know. Maybe you had mistaken me for someone who gives up.”

“Never that, baby girl. Never that.” He shook his head.

“Well?”

He tugged in a breath. “The point in me taking the list was to lighten your workload.”

“Do you want to end the stalemate or don't you?”

His eyes narrowed. “I do, but—”

“Good. You want something and I want something. Let's negotiate.”

Boxed into a corner, Ram considered his options. The fact that this is the longest conversation they've had without her storming off or tossing in a few choice words his way forced him to recognize the sweet carrot she was offering. “Your list for peace?”

“That's pretty much it in a nutshell.”

“But there's still the issue of you working too many long hours,” he said, hedging. “I admit that you're one hell of an agent and a great asset to the company, but let's face it. You can't sustain this workload. You need help and you're too stubborn to admit it or acknowledge it.”

Sofia's jaw clenched. “Fine. I'll cut back on my hours.”

“To forty hours a week.”

“What? Don't be ridiculous. I can do…seventy.”

“Lower.”

“Sixty-five.”

“Lower.”

“Sixty?”

“Lower.”

“Oh. I give up. You're totally being unreasonable.” She shifted in her seat in an attempt to give him her back.

Ram was too busy laughing.

“What's so funny now?”

“You are,” he said. “I recall us almost having the same exact conversation when you were telling me that you wanted to date a gazillion boys.”

“What?” And then the memory hit her. “Oh.” Her face warmed as she blushed. “You remember that?”

His smile returned. “Well I had asked you to marry me for like the millionth time.”

“You were persistent. I'll give you that.”

“All the good that did me,” he mumbled under his breath. “I believe that was the last day we were technically friends.” He paused. “In retrospect I think a simple ‘no' would've sufficed.”

Sofia started squirming again.

Ram felt he was finally getting to her. “What happened?”

The angry voice rising from her father's den played in her head, but she forced it out and lied. “Nothing.”

“Yeah. Okay. I believe that.” He clicked and rotated a few buttons. “Buckle your seat belt. I'm taking us down for a landing.”

Sofia closed her eyes and for the first time felt really ashamed of her behavior. It had to be jarring for a young Ramell to have his best friend suddenly stop talking to him. And the way she'd treated him since. She almost groaned out loud. She had been so wrapped up in her own feelings and angst that she didn't allow herself to see things through his perspective. Stealing another glance in his direction, she made a decision. “All right. Fifty hours,” she said. “And that's my final offer.”

Ramell cocked a smile. “Sounds like we got ourselves a deal.”

 

When they landed, Ramell offered Sofia a ride to Mandalay Bay, where the 11th Annual Latin Grammy Awards would be held. It was also where Limelight Entertainment would be hosting their pre-award party and where Stewart had booked her room.

And if Stewart was involved in anything that meant that things were screwed up.

“What do you mean we're sharing a room?” Sofia asked the young gentleman with the Justin Bieber haircut behind the counter. “There must be some kind of mistake.”

David, according to his name tag, checked his screen again and then shook his head. “You are with Limelight Entertainment, correct?”

“Yes. But—”

“Then, no. There's no mistake. We have you and Mr. Jordan booked for the Media suite.”

“Sounds great to me,” Ramell said, smiling and grabbing the envelope with their plastic keys.

“Whoa. Wait.” Sofia grabbed his arm with a troubled frown. “We can't share a room.”

He stared at her and shrugged. “Why not?”

“Real funny, Slick. I don't think so.” She turned back toward the counter. “I need another room.”

David blinked and then started typing in the computer, but even as he did so he was shaking his head. “I'm sorry but due to the Latin Grammys this weekend, we're all booked up.”

She huffed. “Then I'll just have to go to another hotel.”

He shrugged. “You can try, but I'm pretty sure that they're going to tell you the same thing. With press, artists and industry people in town for the ceremony, they'll all tell you the same thing. You might find something out on the old strip.”

“Oh God,” she moaned. Her cell phone started ringing, but she quickly put it on mute.

“Sofia, it's no big deal. The media suite is a huge room. It's at least…what?” Ram asked David.

“Two thousand square feet,” David answered. “There are two bedrooms in it.”

“See? It's like an apartment. I'll have one bedroom and you'll have another.”

He had a way of making it seem reasonable, but alarm bells were ringing so loud inside her head she could hardly think.

“C'mon,” Ram said, turning away. “We both have half a million things to do to get ready for the party tomorrow night.”

Sofia remained rooted by the counter as she watched him stroll off toward the elevator bay.
This could not be happening,
she told herself.

Ram stopped, turned and looked at her. “Are you coming?”

Still trying to turn off the bells ringing in her head, Sofia slowly pushed one foot in front of the other while she mumbled under her breath, “I sure hope you know what you're doing.”