Chapter 12 - Rurik
In spite of being horrible at golf, Clem managed to charm the Koboyashis, and I lost by just enough to make Shin feel like he had achieved a worthy victory.
They had a late-afternoon meeting with one of our competitors, but Clem got Erina hyped about a live-music club because she knew from her research that they were both big fans of classic American jazz.
After hurrying back to the office to change, we showed up at the club, staking out a table that had a view of the entrance as well as the stage.
The dusky lighting and low, smooth music would have been perfect for a date with Clem if we weren’t both so impatient to see if the Koboyashis would ditch their previously planned dinner to spend more time with us.
“If they’re meeting Holden-Clayton Industries, they’ll be here,” I said, waving for the server.
“Are you having them followed?” she asked, but in a teasing tone, so I didn’t answer.
Of course I was. This was my company’s big break, and in a way, it was Clem’s too.
The confidence she put forward was an unstable facade she kept propped up with hard work and determination to never give up.
As much as I wanted those hundreds of millions that would pour in once we started importing the new game system, I wanted to see Clem truly feel proud of herself and stop worrying.
It wasn’t just her job she worried about, although I knew she still had money problems. Those would soon be over, as well as her housing woes. It bugged me that she kept spotting my guards and that they were inadvertently scaring her when they were only there to keep her from harm.
Was it the normal fear of living in a bad area in a huge, crime-ridden city, or was it more personal? I could only hope that if something was wrong, she’d soon confide in me. Either way, she was close to being completely safe and where she belonged.
“Look,” she squealed in an undertone shortly after we started sipping our first cocktails.
Her hand clapped onto my arm, and as soon as I saw the Koboyashis coming in behind a crowd of newcomers, I couldn’t help but drag her close for a quick, celebratory hug.
She turned her face as I pulled her against me, and my lips brushed hers.
Why not? I had been starving for her. Every peck at the golf club only made me hungrier.
Her hands brushed my chest as I let my mouth slide to meet hers more fully.
Her lips were soft, tasting slightly of fruity lip gloss and a hint of martini.
With a sigh, her fingers tightened around the lapel of my jacket. The bass strumming as the next band warmed up thrummed in my ears. In a moment, my hands were in her hair, feeling the silky strands as I ran my fingers down the length. She sighed again, soft against my lips.
We could have been anywhere, all alone instead of a crowd. All thoughts of deals flew out of my mind. I yanked her closer, her lush body tight against mine as I locked my arm around her back. Our tongues met, and a growl rose up my throat.
“Rurik,” she murmured, sliding her hands up my shoulders and holding on. She was half off her chair and half in my lap, one of the pins holding her hair back falling loose and pinging off my hand.
Hearing her breathe my name as her chest heaved against mine only made me wilder. My hand slid up and down her back, aching to feel the heat of her skin. Her fingers tightened, digging into my shoulders as she pressed closer.
Laughter interrupted us, too close, and too familiar. We weren’t alone. There was an important deal in the works and a conservative couple to impress. Clem pulled away with a gasp, her face turning red.
“Oh my goodness,” she said, patting her hair and frowning to find that one of the clips was gone. “Erina. Shin. What a surprise.”
Instead of looking shocked at our blatant public display in the small, packed club, they only beamed at us.
“Were we ever like that, Erina?” Shin asked.
“Oh, you know we were,” she answered.
“You two have to stop acting like you’re on the verge of your fiftieth anniversary,” Clem said, motioning for them to join us. “Now what are you drinking? The best band is on after this one.”
As I tried to recover from the surge of lust still pumping through my veins, I sipped my drink and watched Clem work her magic. She had done the work, learning what they enjoyed, then learning all about that, down to which jazz bands would most impress them.
Her friendliness was real. Almost too eager, as if she were lonely by herself in this city she now called home.
Why she left Vermont was something she’d never brought up, and I hadn’t asked, thinking she came to LA for the same reason anyone did.
More advantages, the chance at success beyond what a smaller place could offer.
Now I wasn’t so sure. I didn’t go out much because I preferred the company of a book, or at most, my family. But she was clearly more of a social creature, and it was like that fact was just coming back to her.
“So what made you decide to join us?” I asked.
I already knew the company they were supposed to meet was going through something that put the power couple who ran it at odds with each other.
They might have put up the perfect front, but the man was constantly at my cousin Aleks’s club and had recently started an affair with one of the servers.
It wasn’t difficult to get that information in front of the wife, now that I had reason to, so I was positive the dinner was strained.
“We weren’t impressed at all with them,” Shin confirmed.
“They acted like they couldn’t stand each other,” Erina said, shaking her head. “That makes us worry about instability within the company.”
Clem and I reached for each other’s hands at the same time, sharing a smile.
If she knew about my setup, maybe she wouldn’t be so happy.
But then again, maybe she would. After all, I didn’t make the guy cheat; I only made sure his poor, long-suffering wife found out about it before he publicly made a fool of her.
Clem and I were in perfect sync, like a real married couple. I couldn’t hold back a smile or keep myself from leaning over and giving my wife another kiss.
The band impressed the Koboyashis, and after that, the tiny club converted the stage area to a dance floor, piping in music as couples converged on the small square of wood.
“Oh, should we?” Erina asked her husband, looking longingly at the dance floor. “It’s been ages.”
I rose and held out my hand to Clem. “Shall we set an example?”
She jumped up immediately, but was it because of the act, or because she wanted to be back in my arms?
I barely noticed anyone when her body was pressed to mine, and we were swaying to the music.
My hands moved a little too low on her back, hers tightened around my neck, but the Koboyashis were lost in the crush, so there was no need to lay it on so thick.
I lowered my head, and she rose on her toes at the same time. “You’re amazing,” I said.
Her smile was wistful. “You’re not so bad yourself. They’re having a great time.”
“I’m having a great time,” I told her, capturing her gaze as we swayed. “What about you?”
“Can’t imagine anywhere else I’d rather be,” she said.
Teasing? Going along with the game? Or telling the truth?
We ended up shutting down the club, only leaving right before the lights snapped on, and they shoved us out the door. The Koboyashis left ahead of us, arm in arm, her head resting against his shoulder.
As we waited for the weary valets to fetch our cars, Shin turned to me, his expression turning serious. “Our company is an extension of our family, and just as important to us. We haven’t expanded as much as we know we can, because we only want to work with people who have the same values.”
“Absolutely,” I said, tightening my grip on Clem’s hand. “Family always comes first. That’s why Clem is my right-hand woman in the office as well as at home.”
Shin bowed his head. “That’s why we’ve decided Gavrik Imports is the company we want to entrust our American launch to.”
Their car rolled up to the valet station, and we agreed to talk more the next day, or rather, later that day. As soon as they had rounded the corner, I turned to scoop Clem into my arms just as she was launching herself at me.
“We did it,” she said, her breath warm against my neck.
“You did it,” I told her. “This was all you.”
I ducked my head for another celebratory kiss, lifting her clean off her feet. Our mouths collided, hers opening to me the moment my tongue swiped along her lower lip. With her arms wrapped tight around my neck, she pressed the full length of her body against mine.
Every soft, curvy inch of her burned through my clothes. Lowering her to the ground, I slid my hands up her sides, my thumbs brushing the undersides of those perfect tits I’d been struggling not to ogle for the last months. Her fingers tangled in my hair, a soft moan muffling against my lips.
Tugging on her hair, I dragged my kiss along her jaw, then back to her eager mouth.
She rose on her toes, gasping when she felt my hard bulge pulsing against my pants.
Groaning at the exquisite friction of her slowly lowering herself again, I tightened my grip on her hair.
My other hand didn’t know where it wanted to go, roaming down her back to slide over her taut little ass, up her side again, everywhere it could reach.
Someone behind us cleared his throat loudly. Shaken, her eyes at half mast, her lips swollen, Clem stumbled out of my grasp. The beleaguered valet held my keys out to me, resolutely not making eye contact, but very clearly wanting his shift to be over.
On the way home, I turned to Clem before I had to take the exit to her new apartment. “Come home with me,” I said urgently. “You shouldn’t have to face unpacking when the sun’s only a few hours from coming up. We’ll get some real rest at my house.”
Or not.
She was mine, her kiss had told me as much. But there was that flash of fear in her eyes again. “I’ll be fine. I won’t be able to sleep with everything hanging over me.”
That was the point.
She swore she just wanted to get it done, her words firm while her voice shook. I pulled up in front of her new apartment building, ready to make some calls to confirm my plans had been put in place. Maybe now I’d find out none of it was necessary. I reached for her hand before she got out.
“Clem,” I said. Was I going to push? Lay it on the line so soon?
“Oh, right,” she said, flustered. Sliding her rings off her finger, she pressed them into my palm. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Or later on, I guess.”
What the hell?
She was gone in a flash, pounding in the security code on the gate to her new place like her life depended on getting to the other side as fast as possible.
I waited until my guard showed up, telling him not to interfere with anything that happened next, but to make sure she was never in any danger.
I had done all I could to keep her safe, and yet she was still afraid. Of me? Or something I knew nothing about? There wasn’t anything in her past that my sister-in-law’s software could find, and it was better than what most governments used.
Exhausted, exhilarated by one win and torn up by this most recent loss, I headed home as soon as I had everything in order. Clem’s fears must boil down to being a single woman in a dangerous city. She was smart to keep her guard up.
I just had to be patient a little longer, and she’d see that she never had anything to fear again.