The Contract: Sunshine (4 page)

“I want to meet her,”
 
Leslie surprised
 
Yoon by saying.

“Pardon me?”

“Our families are close friends.  Begin by introducing her to me first,” Leslie replied. 

“I think it would make her uncomfortable considering you came here expecting to leave with some marriage agreement between us.”

“If she is to marry you, we will be running into each other from time to time.  If I like her, I will become your ally when you go up against your parents,” Leslie reasoned with a serene smile.

Yoon knew she was calling his bluff and if he didn’t produce a fiancée real quick, he was screwed.

Maybe being with her would prove entertaining after all. 
He silently surmised.  However, if there was one thing Yoon didn’t like, it was being manipulated and he was beginning to believe he was the one who had been played.  Leslie Lee wasn’t the demure socialite she had led him to believe.

Yoon’s eyes drifted to the restaurant entrance and saw the ladies room door crack open and the woman that was trying to ditch her bill peep her head outside the door.  Her hair was a shimmering auburn and too rich not to have come from a bottle.  It swung about her shoulders with silken strands clinging to her fitted blazer as her head pivoted from side to side scoping out the traffic of people in the area.

She made an agitated face and ducked back into the washroom as the
maître’d
gave her a haughty knowing stare.  He found the animation of her character humorous and as if by divine intervention, the most delicious idea entered his head.

“Leslie, please tell the server to wait right here when he returns with my credit card; there is something else I need him to take care of,” Yoon requested. 

“Where are you going?”

“To see if my fiancée has arrived yet,” he stared her in the eyes.  “You did say you wanted to meet her.  Have you changed your mind?”

Yoon noticed the woman had emerged from the ladies room blending into a crowd of people leaving the bar area of the restaurant.   He rushed forward in heavy pursuit.

As he dashed through the revolving door, the lingering effects of winter hung in the evening air and he shivered from the back draft as it ruffled his tailored black dinner jacket and blew the swoop of blue-black hair off his broad brow.

He smiled in appreciation seeing her racing up the sidewalk.  For a woman wearing stiletto heels high enough to cause serious injuries if she were to trip, she moved very fast.  Her back was rail straight and her stride was confident for one that had just committed a crime, Yoon thought to himself.

Without breaking a sweat, Yoon caught up to her, reached out to cuff a small wrist with his hand, bringing her to a jolting stop that pivoted her around to stumble against his chest.

She released a breathless gasp and her expressive eyes went wide in alarm.  “I’m sorry!”

“Miss, didn’t you forget something?”  He asked.  When she wasn’t sneaking past as she had been earlier he was able to see not only did she have a nice bottom, but a somewhat pretty face to match.  However, if he were to pick out something on her face that stood out the most, it would have to be her amazing sleepy deep-setting eyes.

“I will give you my driver’s license with all my information on it and you can hold it until I return with your money,” she answered.

He admired the fact she didn’t seem to be nervous or intimidated by the fact even in her high heels he stood at least another four inches over her.

“I will pay your bill if you pretend to be my fiancée,” Yoon said bluntly. 

“Huh?”  Her sexy eyes widened with surprise and as she realized he wasn’t an employee of the restaurant, she struggled against his hold.

He dropped his arm that had wrapped around her instantly to keep them from tumbling when he grabbed her, but kept his hand around her wrist.  He wasn’t in the mood for anymore criminal pursuits this evening. 

“I need you to come inside and pretend to be my fiancée,” he repeated.

“Yeah, I got that,” she remarked, her voice coolly disapproving.  “My question is why should I help you
—
do what?
—
ditch some unsuspecting female that you’ve probably duped into sleeping with you and now that you got what you want, you’re trying to dump her and worse yet, in a public place?”

“It’s not like that.”  His voice was cold and exact.  He was offended she would think he would do something like that.  Well in a way he was doing something like that, but he hasn’t slept with the woman and he had no intentions of doing so.

“Let go of me and I won’t scream,” she had the nerve to threaten.  She showed her disbelief in the tone of her voice.

Yoon didn’t know why but he was aroused and pissed at the same time.  “If you scream, I will just be another good Samaritan doing my civil duty bringing a thief to justice and turning you over to the proprietor of this restaurant, who is a very good friend of mine I might add.”

“You’re hurting me,” she gave him a pretty pout and fluttered those damned long lashes at him.

She was lying, but Yoon eased his hold.  Yet he wasn’t foolish enough to let go.  She was ready to bolt like a trapped rabbit and since he went through all this trouble, he damn well wasn’t going back in there without a fiancée.

“What will it be?”  He asked, spacing the words evenly.

“Why did you pick me?”  She eyed him suspiciously.  “Did you really see me not pay my bill or do you think because I’m a Black woman in a hurry to leave this
snazzy
overpriced five-star restaurant I’m skipping out on the bill?”

“I was in the booth dining next to yours and heard everything.  Don’t try to play the
race
card on me.”  The words were playful but the meaning was not.

“Okay,” her voice hardened as she retorted tartly, “What do you want me to do exactly?”  

“Just in case Leslie did see you in the next booth, you will tell her that you were here having dinner with a friend and keeping an eye on me,” he explained.

“What if she starts asking me a lot of questions about us?”

“You won’t be in there long enough for that.  Just a brief introduction and we’re out of there.”

“How about I just pretend to be your girlfriend?”

“Girlfriends come and go,” he reasoned the obvious.  “Being my
fiancée
will tell Leslie you are the woman I choose to be with for the rest of my life.”

“Shouldn’t you be beating your chest when you say words like that?”  She snorted on a chuckle.  “I am Tarzan and she’s my mate!”  She mocked in what she thought to be a masculine sounding voice.

Yoon sighed.   “This is serious business here.  I need Leslie Lee to go back and tell her parents that I’m no longer a viable candidate for marriage,” he voiced sternly.

“Have her parents met you?”  Her eyes twinkled.

He hesitated to answer but he couldn’t help himself.  “Yes.  Why?”

“You mean to tell me meeting
you
wasn’t enough to make them change their mind about you being good enough for their daughter?” 

“This is not funny.  I have no time for
nonsense
,” he added for her benefit.  She shouldn’t push him too far.  His expression was so strained it was almost comical. 

“You don’t know me well enough to determine if I am joking or not.”  The woman reminded him and he couldn’t argue the point. 

“How about I make this even more profitable for you?”  Yoon’s eyes swept over her.  “I will pay your bill plus add another thousand dollars for your trouble.  I’m sure you would love to be able to waste your money on another pair of those expensive
Jimmy Choo
shoes you’re wearing.” 

“How did you know these are
Jimmy Choo’s
?”  She came back with her surprise evident on her expressive face.

“I had an ex-wife with taste as expensive as yours,” Yoon found himself answering honestly.  “However, the difference was
she
could afford them.  What kind of work did you have to do to pay seven hundred and fifty dollars for a pair of shoes?”

“I didn’t buy them,” she snapped.  “And I don’t like what you’re implying.”

“Hah!  Did you run out of the store with them like you were trying to do with a belly full of food you stole from this restaurant?”

“No.”  She smiled cleverly as if he had paid her a compliment.  “I got mine the same way your wife probably got hers.”

“How is that?”

“Someone I know met a sucker like you and put them on his charge card.”

“Well my wife didn’t need a ‘sucker’ to buy them for her.  She had her own charge card.” Yoon’s eyes narrowed on her lovely brown face.

“Who paid the charge card bills in your household?” 

“I did of course,” Yoon replied.  “Of course I would take care of my wife’s needs,” he shrugged his shoulders. 

“Of course you did,” she nodded.  “Why else would she marry you if you weren’t making it worth her while?  You think it’s your blooming personality that won her over?” 

Yoon winced at her remark.  It was closer to the truth than he cared to admit.  His marriage had been one of finances.  His family name had money attached to it and her family name came with political entitlements that his father had desperately needed while running for office.

“I’ve come to realize everyone has a price; so name yours.” Impatiently he added, “Surely there is something you want that I can give you.”

“Hmm...”  She eyed him from head to toe.  “I will take one night of hot sex with a
Chinaman
so I can see if the
rumors
about you guys are true or not.”

“Okay,” he murmured through clenched teeth.  She winced and he realized he was still holding her wrist.  He quickly let go.  “I will find you one.” 

She rubbed her wrist with her other hand and took a step back from him.  Warily she asked, “Aren’t you one?”

“I’m South Korean.”

After a long quiet moment, she shrugged and said, “You will do.”

He realized she was intentionally being obtuse.  He would show her it took more than insults to get under his skin.

Yoon waited for her to say more.  When she didn’t, he decided to call her bluff, “I’ll bite, sweetheart.  If you do your part by helping me tonight... tomorrow night I will show you anything you’ve heard about Asian men is pure conjecture on the part of other races of men to keep their women from us.”

“You will?”

“Do we have a deal?”

“Are you serious?”  Her eyes grew round and her mouth grew wide.  “You really would sleep with me just to get me to help you out?”

“No, I will have sex with you,” he corrected.  Yoon leaned closer and softly whispered, “All night.  Then the next morning, I will take you home and you can
sleep
in your own bed after we’re done.”

“Oh man!”  She snapped her fingers together.  “If you’re willing to do all of that, I should have asked for a million dollars.”

“A night with me is worth so much more,” he teased.  A dimple flashed.

He was pleasantly surprised by the blush that spread across her face.  It was quite unexpected from a woman that had just propositioned him for a night of hot sex.

Being a man in his position of wealth and connections, Yoon was accustomed to all sorts of propositions from women and men, but this had been the first time a Black woman had propositioned him.  He could only assume the
hearsay
about Asian men that she spoke of must have not been too flattering in the sex department or he might have been propositioned from other women of color a lot sooner. 

Yoon wasn’t aware he could appreciate a woman who spoke her mind so boldly until now and admittedly there were a few myths about Black women and sex that he too was curious about.

“You do know I’m joking, right?”

“I’m hoping you’re not because now you got me looking forward to it.”  He pointedly looked at her luscious mouth.

Yoon got the pleasure of seeing her luscious impertinent mouth drop wide.

“You can’t be serious.”

“I never joke about money or sex, Miss...by the way what
is
your name?”

“Nunya.”  Her forehead puckered in a frown.  Her words spaced enough to insult a lesser man, but he wasn’t fazed.

“Nun-ya,” Yoon repeated.  “That’s an odd but pretty name.”

“None-ya-business is what I was saying.”

Yoon released a long sigh.  “You really are beginning to get on my nerves.”

“Join the club,” she muttered.

Yoon laughed and shook his head.  What a mouth she had on her.  It was shaped for all kinds of sinful things he thought but yet he would be too scared to put parts of his body precious to him, which was all of it, near anything that housed a set of perfect sharp teeth.  Her flawless smile was probably another thing some “sucker” paid for.