❦Jason ❦

Sitting at the head of the conference room in The Lavinia Hotel, I listened to the discussion that was going on around me. My architect team sat on either side of the conference table. Kate was sitting across from me at the end of the table. They were discussing layout plans, design concepts and other important matter that needed to be considered before work started on the site.

I jumped in to the discussion from time to time when my opinion was needed but other than that, I left everything to them. Papers, files and laptops were scattered around the table along with a blueprint of the hotel.

My gaze landed on Kate, who was listening to something one of the architects was saying. Loose tendrils of hair framed her face. She kept brushing the strands away but it kept falling back.

She suddenly laughed at something one of the others said. It lit her face up and made her look more beautiful. I realized I liked seeing her like that. Always with a smile on her face.

As I watched, she leaned back in her chair and reached for her hair, no doubt annoyed with the loose tendrils blowing in her eyes. When she pulled the hair band off, the red mass of hair cascaded down.

I couldn't tear my gaze away from her. I absolutely loved her hair, loved watching the red curls bouncing around her shoulders as she walked. As she went about it in fixing it into a ponytail, my gaze travelled down her body.

With her arms raised up, the soft material of her blouse stretched over her breasts and I could clearly see the imprint of her lacy bra showing through. My mouth went uncomfortably dry at the sight.

For an instance, I imagined myself going over to her and tearing that damn blouse off her so I could feast my eyes on her. I imagined my mouth on her body and wondered if she still tasted as sweet as I remembered.

The people in the room seemed to fade away as I descended deep into the fantasy. I pictured her bent over the conference table, her skirt bunched up around her hips as I drove myself deep into her.

Sharp stabs of lust that pierced through me at that mental picture. My fingers bit into the leather of my seat as I willed the images to fade away. Now was not the time to think of how much I wanted to fuck her. Not when I was with a roomful of people.

I was glad I was sitting down because that hid how hard I was. Shifting uncomfortably in my seat, I tore my gaze away from Kate and tried to pay attention to what my head architect was saying.

But it was no use. My eyes kept going back to her. I clenched my jaw in frustration, something I seemed to be doing a lot in her presence.

I felt pissed off at myself for letting her get under my skin. Every time I saw her, I wanted to touch her. It was pure torture trying to keep my distance when all I wanted to do was pull her into my arms and kiss her. Whenever she was in the same room as me, I wanted to push her against the nearest surface and fuck her brains out.

My self-control had been stretched to the limit on the 18-hour flight from LA to here. That was why I had ignored her, hoping the distance could help diminish the raging lust that took over me every time I saw her. But that hadn't worked.

I kept reminding myself she was off-limits but my libido gave no fucks about the fact that she was engaged to another man. I wanted her. And I knew from the way she reacted every time I got close to her that she wanted me too. It was there in her eyes. I doubted she was even aware of it.

The meeting ended ten minutes later and I was glad for it. I needed some time away from Kate. It was our last day in Bali and the following morning we would be flying back to LA.

I went back to my suite, planning on spending the entire evening working. I had several emails that needed my urgent attention and a couple of conference calls scheduled. Since I wasn't planning on heading out, I gave the night off to Ben. He had some friends in Bali and I wanted to give him the chance to spend time with them.

After a shower, I sat at my desk checking my emails when I heard a knock on my door. Annoyed at the interruption, I went to answer it.

The annoyance was replaced my surprise when I found Kate standing outside.

She gave me a nervous smile. "Um...I'm heading out for dinner. So, I was wondering if you would like to go with me. I mean, if you want to."

I smirked, enjoying her nervousness. "Are you asking me out on a date?" I deliberately wanted to fluster her more.

"Of course, not." Just as I had expected, she flushed. "It's just that I want to thank you for, you know, giving me this project. And I thought I could treat you to dinner."

A lot of other ways she could thank me flashed through my mind starting with an image of her on her knees with my hand fisted in her hair as I fucked that mouth of hers. Mentally cursing, I shook my head to clear the image.

Kate was watching me closely. "You okay?"

"Yeah." I cleared my throat, wondering how she would react if she had any idea what kind of thoughts went in my head regarding her. "Let me just grab my jacket."

Kate wanted to try out a small restaurant down by the beach. Since it was just 10 minutes away from the hotel, we decided to walk there. The restaurant was too crowded for my taste.

Being surrounded by people was not something I enjoyed particularly, not that I was an introvert or antisocial. I just didn't like crowds, hated being stared at by strangers wherever I went, hated the constant noise of chatter, so I preferred quiet, intimate settings. But Kate seemed to love the place so I didn't say anything.

We sat at a corner table by a large window and I was relieved it provided some privacy. We decided to try some local food and ordered Patang Satay, Chicken Congee, Siomay Dumplings, and Lapis cake.

We talked all throughout dinner and as we waited for dessert I decided to ask her about her family.

"My parents got divorced when I was in college. I was glad when that happened." She played idly with the stem of her champagne flute. I knew she was thinking about her father's affairs. "After the divorce and dad married a Malaysian woman and moved to Kuala Lumpur."

"What does your sister do?" I knew I was being nosy but I really wanted to know about her family. Paige had been in college when I dated Kate so I had never met her.

"Paige started working as an accountant in a Chicago law firm right after college. That was why mum moved there. So that she could be close to her."

Her face showed love when she talked about her family. "You must miss them."

"I really do. But I'll be moving there at the end of next year."

When I shot her a curious look, she elaborated. "Peter lives in Chicago. So after getting married I'll be moving there with him."

"How did you meet him?"

She looked surprised at the question but answered with a shrug. "He works in the same law firm as Paige. I was visiting mum and her for Christmas and she introduced me to him."

I knew I should stop asking questions but I was curious and Kate didn't seem to mind telling me. "Have you set a date for the wedding?"

"Not yet. But we are thinking of sometime next year." She gave me a small smile. "Now enough about me. Your turn."

I didn't really want to talk about me but since she had answered all my questions it was only fair that I give something in return. "Sure. Ask me anything you want."

"Tell me about your family."

"Nothing much to say. You know I'm an only child."

She nodded. "Were you lonely growing up?"

It occurred to me suddenly that Kate and I had never talked like this when we were dating. No wonder we didn't know much about each other.

I thought about her question. "I guess I was. I don't have any uncles or aunts on either side of my family, so there were no cousins. And both set of my grandparents passed away before I was even born so it was pretty much just me and my parents. But then I met Nathan and Cheryl and they instantly became part of the family." I smiled thinking of them. "In fact, my parents think of them as their own."

Our conversation was interrupted when the waitress brought the check. Automatically, I reached for my wallet and pulled out my credit card.

"I told you, it's my treat." Kate said taking the check holder away from me. Because I could see how much it meant to her, I let her have her way. To an extent.

"Okay, but let me cover the tip." Ignoring her protests, I tucked a couple of hundred dollar bills in the leather holder.

She narrowed her eyes. "You always have to get your own way, don't you?"

"Pretty much." I smirked. She rolled her eyes but I could see she was trying not to smile.

As we walked back to the hotel it was around 11 in the evening and the narrow street was almost deserted. Kate was telling me about her plans for the furniture of the hotel and I had my attention on her so I didn't notice the man who jumped out from behind a parked car before it was too late.

My instincts told me he was trouble but before I could act on it, a fist caught me on the side of the face. The force of the blow spun me and I staggered back.

❦ ❦ ❦

❦ Kate ❦

I couldn't move. I couldn't scream. I watched in horror as the man dressed in the black hoodie land a blow on Jason's abdomen.

A voice in my head screamed at me to go and help him but it felt like the voice was coming from far away. It was like I was frozen and the only thing I felt was the dark bitter taste of fear in my mouth.

When the man tried to land another blow on him, Jason ducked and sent his fist flying into the man's gut, knocking the wind out of him. He lost his footing and fell on his ass. The next second he scrambled up and took off running in the other direction.

All this happened within a few seconds.

Jason was by my side immediately. "Are you okay?" His voice was laced with concern.

I gulped in some air and whispered. "I...I wanted to...help but..." My voice broke and suddenly I was trembling.

I heard him swear softly under his breath before pulling me into his arms.

I clung to him and buried my face in his neck. "I'm sorry."

He pressed a light kiss on my temple and rubbed my back trying to comfort me. "Shh. It's over. I'm okay."

I held on to him, not wanting to let go. He was alright. Nothing happened to him. Even in my emotional state my mind registered that it felt good to be held by him. It felt good to be comforted by him. I felt safe in his arms.

"We should get going. Can you walk?" Jason asked softly easing back and holding my face in his hands. When I nodded, he pulled me to his side and kept one arm wrapped around me as we started walking.

By the time we reached the hotel I was able to pull myself together.

"There should be a first aid kit around here." I said heading to the bathroom in Jason's suite.

"It's just a small cut, Kate. The guy had a ring and it caught on my jaw. I've had worse from shaving." He said leaning against the door as he watched me open the bathroom cabinet.

I ignored him and rummaged through the cabinet until I found a kit. "I'm going to get some hot water. Stop trying to talk me out of this and go and make a drink for me. A stiff one."

Jason raised his eyebrows in amusement as I brushed past him. "Did I tell you that I like my women bossy and in control?"

I rolled my eyes at him and he headed to the bar, chuckling.

When I came back into the sitting area, Jason had two glasses of whiskey ready and was sitting on the couch.

"Are we playing doctor?" He teased taking in the bowl of water, towel and first aid kit I had arranged on the coffee table.

"Will you be quiet?" I sighed in exasperation but couldn't help smiling. "Stay still. I'm going to clean that cut." It was on the underside of his jaw, almost one inch but it wasn't too deep.

I soaked the towel with warm water and bent over him. My fingertips brushed his jaw as I tilted his face and cleaned the cut with the towel. The intake of his breath was like a gasp in my ear. It was as sudden as that. My whole body tingled with awareness of being so close to him. He smelled of cologne mixed with a faint hint of sweat, and so very male.

Focus. I ordered myself. Now was not the time to be getting distracted.

"You won't have much of a scar." I mumbled as I applied antibiotic cream to the cut. Then I did the mistake of meeting his gaze.

His jaw was clenched and he had that half smile on his face but it was the look in his eyes that stilled me. His gaze swept the bare skin of my shoulder, up my throat and settled on my lips. It was the same look he got in his eyes whenever he kissed me.

A shiver went through my body and I scrambled back, hitting the back of my legs against the low coffee table. As I lost my balance he sprung up from the couch and grabbed me around the waist preventing my fall.

I gasped as my body collided against his hard chest. My body froze, my breathing stopped and all I could do was stare at his lips. He was going to kiss me. I could feel it. I knew I had to move away but I was held transfixed.

I could feel his heart beating rapidly and his hand tightened on my hips. He bent his head down and I realized I wanted this. I wanted to feel his lips on mine. I wanted him.

My mind was screaming at me that what I was doing was wrong but it paled in comparison to the loud beating of my heart. My eyes fluttered close with anticipation and lifted my face up. Wanting, needing what his lips could only do to me.

His breath fanned my lips and my fingernails bit into his forearms as I waited...waited for him to drive me crazy.