Chapter 30
chapter thirty
Kai
Waking up with Denali in my arms for the next two days is heaven on earth. And then life comes along and crashes in like a wrecking ball, ruining the solitude we'd been enjoying with each other on our days off.
Currently she's standing in my room, naked except her underthings, holding up two separate but equally attractive dresses for me to look at.
"I don't know, Kai," she mutters, eyeing herself in the mirror for the hundredth time. "I can't pick which one."
If this is a test, I'm determined not to fail.
"The black one feels too sexy for work. Not that I'd complain, just that if you expect me to get anything done and to keep my hands off of you for at least half the day, you should probably wear the other one.
" I eye the pink number with the big bow at the back and sigh.
"Although on second thought, I'd touch you in this one, too. "
I realize I failed twice when she storms back into the closet we now share and starts rummaging around for another outfit.
I sent Roger and Anton after her clothing and some other essentials back at her apartment that the police said we could collect.
It's not much, but I hope it helps make her feel more comfortable staying here.
There's still the matter of renting her her own space, if she's absolutely firm on that condition, but I don't expect her to spend much time in her new place, when we get it set up.
I plan to invite her over as often as I can get away with.
I want to have her over here, staying with me, every second of every day.
When she wants to go home, I'll convince her to stay.
I'll do whatever it takes to show her that she belongs here, with me.
And maybe eventually she'll feel brave enough to tell me she loves me back.
Baby steps.
My phone rings and I answer it slowly, watching her as she walks back out of the closet with more in her arms for me to pass judgement on. "Hello?"
"Oh, great, Kai, just the man I wanted to talk to." It's Arista. "Wanna tell me why you've been avoiding my calls for the past two days?"
"Nope, not particularly," I sass, smiling as I cover the receiver and mouth instructions over to Denali, who is holding up a black and white number that looks very Kennedy-era, and a pantsuit that feels like it's a bit much for the office ad a bit underwhelming at the same time. The black and white one, kara.
"Oh, well that's unfortunate, but I can't twist your arm," she says with a huff in my ear, and I can feel the amusement in her voice as she clears her throat and chuckles.
"Well then, why don't you and your new paramour come down to my office today before you go to the interview with DailyPlate?
" It's phrased as a question, but it most definitely is not a question. It's a demand.
"Paramour?"
Arista, usually a bubbly jokester, sighs. "Bring Denali with you."
"Denali and my paramour?" I'm not making it easy on her, and I know, I just know, she's going to kick my ass when we get there for it.
"Kai, I'm going to hang up the phone now. And I'll let you interpret that exactly how I mean it, you prick." I can practically see her pinching the bridge of her nose. And then the line goes dead, just as Denali's phone goes off.
"Will you see who that is for me, Kai?" She's still buried in the closet.
It's an unknown number. I hesitate between setting it down and answering it, but my curiosity wins out. If this is that Theo fucker, I'll give him a piece of my mind, let him know he might think himself above the law, but I'll fix that for him.
"Hello?"
I stay quiet so Denali won't hear me answer.
Silence. And then, after a few moments—
"I knew she was a whore."
I don't say anything, because I don't want to alert Denali, or let him know I'm still here. He knows, though.
"She can't hide forever. And you can't keep her safe from me. When I find her—and I will—she's a dead woman."
The line goes dead.
"Who was it?" Denali says with a frown as she peeks out of the closet.
"Unknown caller," I say, shrugging. "Nothing to worry about. Now come out here and let me see what you're going to torture me with today while I'm trying to work to feed our new love child."
"Love child? Kai, I dunno that we talked about this, but between your condom and my birth control, I think we're pretty protected—"
"Taco, you goofball."
She blinks, her frown turning to an embarrassed smile. "Oh, right. Him."
We finish sorting out our new morning routine, and in honor of our newly forming relationship, I take her out to breakfast and coffee since our schedule doesn't start until noon.
Which puts us in Arista's office at around ten thirty on the nose.
And she's not thrilled, but she's not mad. Denali, though, looks like she might faint when the woman herself walks in the room and shuts the door.
That might be because I forgot to tell her who we were meeting with.
"So, you two are bumping uglies, huh?"
Or that she already knew.
Denali pales, her hands twisting in her lap. "I didn't mean for any of this to happen—"
"I've had eyes for my assistant since you gave her to me. But I suspect you knew that would happen, didn't you?"
Arista's lips spread into a grin. "I had a suspicion that you wouldn't know what to do with all that bossy big girl energy she has. And you men seem to take the same solution to any problem you think needs solving: fuck it. So I kinda suspected it'd sort itself out."
Denali looks at me like she neds support before she falls over. "Kai, you—" Her gaze turns to Arista next. "And you–complicit in—what the hell?"
A trainwreck is heading straight for the station, and I don't know if I should stop it or just stand by and watch.
"Oh, don't misunderstand," Arista says quickly, holding her hands in the air.
"I didn't give you this job to set you up with my old friend here—far from it.
But I'd be stupid to assume that the two of your personalities wouldn't end up in bed together.
So many idols and their staff have arrangements—hell, Jun and I worked together before we started seeing each other. "
"Told you so," I mutter toward Denali, who proceeds to kick me under the table. "Ow."
It doesn't hurt, but I want her to think it does.
"Well, if you two are going to be dating now—"
Denali opens her mouth in protest. "Who said we were dating?"
I do. Me. I say we're dating. You're mine, baby, and I wanna tell the world how special you are to me already. And it's only been two days.
"Aren't we?" I say pitifully, just as Arista chimes in with, "well the photos in the tabloids make it look that way."
We both stare at each other while Denali processes things. I hold my breath, but I don't think Arista's holding hers. She doesn't need to.
It's not her happiness on the line here.
"Okay," she finally says with a hint of hesitation. "What do we do now?"
"Well, for starters, you'd make a statement, or rather, the company will.
It's up to you two how it's handled." She shoves a folder in Denali's direction, sensing she's taking the lead on this.
It's not a wrong assumption. "You pick one of those.
We can edit it however we need to. And then we move on. "
I blink slowly, eyes wide. "That's it?"
There's no way—
"Yeah, that's it." Arista takes in my stunned silence and grins.
"When you're over there, Kai, things are different.
Here in Nocturna Beach, nobody's gonna blink at the idea of you having a girlfriend.
They don't care, as long as you still show up to performances hot and horny and appropriately thirst-inducing. "
"Yeah, but what about when he goes home?" Denali voices the thing I haven't wanted to put a voice to. Sure, I had planned to go home one day, but—
But now that I have her, I don't know what I'd do without her. And if she isn't willing to go back to Japan with me, I'm not leaving.I just haven't told anyone that decision yet.
"If he decides to go home, that'll be a decision he has to make.
And how you progress with your relationship there will be up to you two.
" Arista steeples her fingers, watches us like we're children in front of her.
And I suppose to someone who had their idol boyfriend's baby before they were even stars, maybe we are just children fumbling at a concept we haven't quite thought through.
But I'm ready for this. I'm prepared to lose it all for the chance to be with Denali.
"I couldn't care if I woke up tomorrow and had no fans, I'd still choose Denali."
Let her wonder about that. I'm sure I know what I want.
Denali's hands clench in her lap again, but this time, I reach over and take them in mine, pulling them atop the table for Arista to see.
"I don't want to hide her. I don't like the idea of her being in danger, but I don't want to hide her.
She's living with me, by the way, because she's got a crazy stalker of an ex-boss who trashed her place the night of the gala.
" Which she already knew, because I told her as much.
"How long have you two been—"
"Oh god," Denali moans, putting her head on the table. "Only since the—the night of the gala."
"Mentally, I've been with Denali since she first bossed me around."
It earns a grin from Arista, and another groan from Denali.
"Well," Arista finally says with a wink in my direction, "you two move fast, but that's not the end of the world. When you know, you know, right?"
The barest hint of a smile cracks the edge of Denali's cringe. She's coming around to the idea, finally.
"Ah, and the real reason why I called you in here: there's an awards show in Khula City, and you're being nominated, Kai.
Or rather, your old group, LoveTalk. So you'll need to attend.
" Her eyes trail over to Denali, now that she's turned to business instead of pleasure.
"I'll send the details to your email, Denali. You'll be his plus one, I assume?"
She mumbles something incoherent and blushes again, but doesn't hide this time. "Sure, yes, I suppose I will be."
"Good. I'll CC you on the invite and all that jazz, and send you the names of the staff you'll be traveling with. That'll just be hair and makeup, stylist, and manager, as well as a few extra members of security."
"Where are we staying?"
Arista types on her phone for a second before she hands it over, and I see an advertisement for a local resort thingy. It'll be packed, and we're short notice guests, so I have no idea how they managed to secure us a room—or two—
"You'll be staying in one of the detached cabins. The hotel and resort lodge were full up. As were most other hotels in town. The rest of your group won't be far. I think they're staying in the actual lodge."
Ah.
"So we're the afterthought?"
"Don't think of it as an afterthought." She grins that disarming smile of hers, the same one I bet a million bucks she uses on Jun whenever he won't let her have her way on something.
"Think of it as a vacation. That starts tomorrow, by the way.
It was cheaper to rent the damn thing for a weekend than it was to rent it for a day, so you two get two extra days there on your own. "
"What are we supposed to do for the extra two days?" I think Denali means work-related, because to be fair, any time we go to one of these, events or whatever, we have to do something, but this time Arista shakes her head.
"Nothing. Each other. Whatever you want." She shoots Denali a wink, and I'm instantly on edge, hesitant to know what this is all about, what it means. "Consider it hazard pay for having to deal with him on the regular. And doing it well."
We leave the office quietly, folder of prepared statements in hand, so that we can sort through them and make a decision. But honestly, the announcement isn't shit to me. Whatever makes it so I can spend as much time with her on my arm as I want is my choice.