Chapter 20
CHAPTER TWENTY
“FINE, I’LL ALLOW IT.”
Aldrich
Aldrich hadn’t expected Sorinah to be waiting when he disembarked. There had been no response when he told her his flight was delayed, and he’d assumed she was as preoccupied as he had been.
He’d been tense the entire flight. This was no way to start a vacation.
Months of negotiation had fallen through.
He delayed his flight to finalise a contract, only to have it all collapse at the last minute.
In the end, they weren’t comfortable managing so many locations, concerned they couldn’t maintain quality across the board.
And quality was essential to the brand. Any restaurant on-site at their hotels had to be the best. So Velkomst was no closer to having a flagship restaurant for all its locations.
Ma’s Kitchen could have been a great partner now that they’d parted ways with Lancaster, but Aaron Ma wouldn’t entertain the partnership because of their disagreement.
What a petty man! Aldrich had considered having Ambrose intervene, but it wouldn’t be Ambrose handling the negotiations or the day-to-day operations.
For the first time, Aldrich was entertaining the idea of different restaurants at different locations, which would mean selling the idea to the board and finding restaurants that complemented one another.
He’d spent the flight poring over information, leaving little time to communicate with Sorinah the way he would have liked. Still, she must have been as distracted as he was, since she hadn’t responded when he messaged about the delay.
By the time he landed, Aldrich was exhausted and wasn’t looking forward to the drive back to his house.
Then, as he descended the stairs of his private plane, he saw Sorinah standing in the receiving area of incoming private flights, her posture relaxed yet poised.
She wore a sexy, flirty yet sophisticated dress in a soft champagne colour, its flowing silhouette skimming her figure without clinging, perfect for travelling.
The dress hit just above her calf, and its subtle wrap detail added a touch of elegance.
Her short, buzzed pixie haircut accentuated her high cheek-bones, framing her features in a way he loved.
Confident, striking, and effortlessly chic.
Her makeup was understated yet polished, with a soft nude lip and a hint of shimmer on her eyelids that caught the light as she smiled.
Their eyes met, and her face lit up with a radiant smile that seemed to chase away the gloom of his day.
As he walked towards her, the tension that had been coiled in his shoulders for days unspooled, leaving behind a lightness that made his steps feel almost buoyant, as if he were walking on air.
A warmth spread through his chest, anticipation thrumming in his veins like electricity, quickening his heartbeat with every step closer to her.
By the time he reached her, all he wanted to do was sweep her up in his arms, a smile tugging at his lips as he imagined her inevitable protest. It would probably be half-hearted and accompanied by that small, exasperated huff he loved so much.
His heart raced at the thought of holding her again, as if he’d been holding his breath and could finally exhale, his body humming with the need to feel her close.
He dropped his carry-on and laptop bag with a soft thud on the ground.
“You know, being here has earned you some PDA,” he announced.
Sorinah’s smile wavered, her brows quirking before she sighed, tilting her head slightly as he pulled her close. He squeezed her waist, and she let out a small, reluctant sound—half protest, half surrender.
“Fine, I’ll allow it.”
He smirked, drawing her flush against him, his earlier plans of teasing forgotten as soon as she was in his arms. Her scent enveloped him—soft and floral mixed with the faintest hint of her cocoa butter —and it was like coming home after too long away.
The feel of her body against his sent a rush of longing through him, a need to hold her tighter, to never let go.
Her warmth seeped into him, grounding him in a way nothing else could.
God, he loved the taste of her. His mouth found hers hungrily, and she moaned softly into the kiss, her lips parting under his as if she’d been waiting for this moment too.
His hands slid down to grasp her ass possessively, as if to anchor her there, to keep her close, to make sure she knew she was his.
She pulled back with a sound that was suspiciously close to a giggle, her cheeks flushed, eyes sparkling with amusement and something warmer. “I guess you missed me.”
Of course he had missed her, and he told her so, his voice lower, rougher, as if the words came from a place deeper inside him, weighted with all the moments he’d spent thinking of her.
Lately, he’d been acutely aware of how much time they spent apart, the ache of her absence gnawing at him in quiet moments, leaving him restless and unsettled.
Once he sorted out the mess at work, Aldrich was determined to fix that, to close the distance between them for good, to make sure he never had to feel this hollow emptiness again.
“Where is everyone?” he asked, retrieving his bags and taking her hand, his fingers threading through hers with a possessiveness that surprised even him, as if he needed the physical connection to reassure himself, she was real.
“Now you ask after you practically jumped me in public?” she teased, her voice light but with an undercurrent of affection.
“You weren’t complaining,” he countered, unable to suppress the smirk that tugged at his lips. The tension from earlier had shifted into something softer, warmer—a mix of relief, desire, and the quiet joy of being with the one person who made everything else fade away.
She looked over at him and rolled her eyes.
“They went ahead to the house, and I figured I’d wait for you and keep you company.”
His step faltered, a flicker of unease tightening in his chest. He wasn’t sure how he felt about the idea of her waiting for him at the airport by herself. “How long were you waiting?”
“It’s been three hours since we landed, but the others only left when your flight landed. I wasn’t alone.”
They shared a look, Sorinah knowing without him having to spell out his concern. She always seemed to understand his unspoken worries, and it both reassured and unsettled him.
“Have you eaten?” Aldrich asked.
The tiredness he’d felt earlier was gone, replaced by a quiet eagerness to steal whatever moments he could with her. At least they would get some time together before he dropped her off, and if he could squeeze out a little extra, that would be even better.
“I haven’t, but we are all having dinner at your parents’.”
Well, so much for the idea of grabbing something to eat alone with her, but at least they’d have some time. There wouldn’t be much of that on this trip. He’d got her to commit to one day with just the two of them.
Sorinah had been so preoccupied with her worries about becoming an empty nester. He tried to be her sounding board, as supportive as he could be, even when her anxieties felt like they were spilling over.
Mars going off to school was causing her a lot of stress, and it had really hit her hard yesterday. He could see the weight of it in her eyes, even now.
“Want to drive?” he asked her when they reached the car.
“No!” she shrieked, her hands flying up as if the very idea was absurd.
Of course he’d known she’d object. She still couldn’t wrap her head around driving on the left side of the road, no matter how many times he teased her about it.
Aldrich felt at ease behind the wheel with Sorinah at his side, especially when he noticed she was wearing the matching necklace and tennis bracelet he’d gifted her the last time they were together.
She was getting more comfortable with accepting gifts from him, and it warmed him to see her wearing them so naturally.
“The necklace looks beautiful on you,” he complimented, his voice softening as he glanced at her.
“I’ll be happy to wear just it for you at a later date.”
Aldrich groaned at the thought, his pleasant, relaxed mood suddenly edged with tension.
Images of her nude flooded his mind, turning the drive from pleasant to almost torturous.
He didn’t think he’d ever get enough of her—her teasing, her presence, the way she could shift his entire mood with a single look or word.
He stole another glance at her, his focus sharpening on the way the necklace lay against her skin, and he wondered, not for the first time, how he’d ever gotten so lucky.
The last three days had been inundated with family activities, leaving Aldrich and Sorinah only a few fleeting moments alone.
He’d been looking forward to their one-day excursion with an almost palpable anticipation, having put in meticulous planning to give her a perfect day.
Their stay wouldn’t include the usual accommodations at Velkomst Tobago.
Instead, he’d rented them a remote private villa, a quiet retreat where they could escape the noise and simply be together.
Aldrich smiled as he arrived to pick up Sorinah at five in the morning.
She was standing on the veranda in the soft glow of dawn, her bag packed and slung over her shoulder, looking lovely even at this early hour.
Her hair was tied with a colourful scarf and she had that sleepy, unguarded look he found so endearing.
“Good morning, Kitten.” He pressed a kiss to her cheek, savouring the softness of her skin along with the faint scent of lavender with a hint of cocoa butter body lotion. It was a small, familiar comfort that eased the tightness in his chest, a reminder that this day was just for them.