“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 shewas 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.”