“You got to make them want you,” he’d jabbered on in his thick New York accent every time she spoke to him.
It was great to know he had so much faith in her. But, impressing them with regular work meant her forking up money she didn’t have to travel the world in search of these idyllic destinations to wow them. Having a staff position would mean traveling the world with all expenses paid, and all she would need to do is write about her adventures. That was her dream.
So tin soup and budget bread it was, for however long she needed to impress them, and she supposed the occasional acceptance of dinner from her parents wouldn’t kill her, either. She would just have to be strict with money and keep an eye out for good opportunities. It was part and parcel of the risk she took last year when she left the Bay News and decided her life needed to change.
Working for the Bay was a bad mistake. It was so off the course of what she wanted that it threw her out of sync. She’d taken it to please her parents. It was a steady job that was recognized, and it had gotten them off her back for the four years she lasted there.
Last year she had an epiphany. It came to her after she was tasked with doing a series review on the different brands of pet food and supplies that were stocked in local supermarkets. She woke up one day and it was like she remembered the dream she had when she first started out: of traveling the world and writing about all the amazing adventures she was going to have.
So she quit. She quit the job and traded in her house for a one-bedroom apartment on the south side so she would have the money she needed to travel, and while she was at it she also ditched the geeky boyfriend her parents adored so much. She’d changed her life, setting it back on track to start afresh, and hadn’t looked back since.
Sensing the time was going, she finished the salad with a squeeze of lemon to give it a kick. Jake loved lemons.
The doorbell rang ten minutes later, and Savannah heard excited laughter in the lounge. She quickly dashed to the pantry to get some serviettes, thinking they would be needed with the amount of food that was going to be consumed. She gathered up a bunch to be on the safe side. On her way out she must have looked down for one second, just to fold the serviettes over her forearm, and didn’t see that the kitchen door was being pulled open at the same time she’d pushed it to go out. The motion made her lose her balance and stumble, colliding with someone and smashing her nose as she crashed into them.
“I’m so sorry,” came a deep male voice she didn’t recognize as two strong arms steadied her from falling.
She looked up to answer, but the words evaporated from her mind as she found herself gazing at the most gorgeous man she’d ever seen in her life.
Very few things left Savannah speechless. In fact, she didn’t think anything could with the way that she loved to talk.
But this guy…
Well, she found herself void of thought just from the sheer beauty of him, and her knees turned to water. He released his grip on her shoulders and offered a friendly smile, revealing a dazzling display of straight white teeth and striking dimples embedded in the smooth surface of his skin.
“I thought this was the bathroom, but clearly it’s a kitchen,” he was saying, but she was too consumed with looking at him to formulate a response.
Her friend, Breana, had told her that Japanese men had an uncharacteristically handsome beauty about them that could enchant you, but being told something and experiencing it first-hand were two different things. Her gaze took in his almond-shaped, deep-set, and slender brown eyes that were framed by thick, long lashes. The color reminded her of rich coffee.
And his hair. Wow, look at that. It was jet black, short and spiky with sharp sideburns, but styled in a messy sort of way that had that I just woke up sexy look.
With his athletic physique and mile-wide chest that filled out the white, long-sleeved T-shirt he wore, his display of rippling muscles quickened her pulse. Savannah thought he could have easily stepped out of a fashion magazine. Like GQ.
With her reaction, you would have thought she’d never seen a man in her life, let alone dated one. Granted, she hadn’t dated in a very long time with her lack of a social life, and the guys she’d dated could never dream of looking like this.
And yes, she realized she was totally embarrassing herself now by just gawking at him like some kind of weirdo. But, she just couldn’t help herself.
“There she is,” Jake boomed heartily in a sing-song voice, bursting in from behind her devilishly handsome stranger. It was only then that Savannah managed to break eye contact.
Jake looked thrilled to see her. He towered her mere five feet and four inches with his six feet, also standing maybe one or two inches taller than her new friend. He looked more and more like their father every time she saw him. While Savannah bore a striking resemblance to their mother, Jake was like a younger version of their father. Literally like the same person, but younger. Same smooth, dark brown skin with the tiny mole on his left cheek. Same large, chocolate brown eyes that held a warm glow, same crazy sense of humor, and, like their father, he kept his hair military short.
With one swoop he picked her up and spun her around. “My gosh, look at you. You look great. I love your hair like that.” Jake beamed at her adoringly in true big brother style. He lifted the ends of her long black hair to where it twisted into a ringlet, then put his arm around her. “Roach, I see you’ve already met my gorgeous little sister.”
“I have.” There was a sparkle in Roach’s eyes as he nodded in agreement. Her cheeks warmed as he focused on her, and she melted at his smile.
It was difficult to believe that anybody that looked that good, and dressed so well, could be called Roach. She remembered Jake talking about him, and she’d allowed herself to imagine someone entirely different to the person who stood before her. In her overly creative mind she’d conjured up a techie-looking guy like Jake, but gangly, and with long orange hair he’d tie back with a red bandana.
“Look at her, can you believe we used to call her Piglet when we were kids?”
And in came her first bout of humiliation. Savannah felt the color drain from her cheeks, and she stiffened with her eyes wide.
Jake laughed and continued, “She was absolutely massive and used to eat everything in sight. Heck, she’d even eat you if she could.” Poor Roach seemed like he was trying his best not to laugh. “We were all like, ‘everybody hide the food’, and quickly, too.” Jake put his hands up and waved them around for dramatic effect, then roared with laughter when he saw how embarrassed she looked.
If ever she’d wished the earth could swallow her whole, it was now. Anytime now. Or, maybe she should just go through the back door.
“Hence the name Piglet.” Jake continued to laugh. “We need a new name for you.”
“No thanks, Jake,” she said quickly, nudging him in his side. He’d done enough damage.
Why he felt the need to tell people that annoying story was beyond her. She hated it and would rather not remember her childhood trauma of being the fat one in the family. Usually, she’d shrug off his teasing, but this time she was mortified.
Roach smiled again, bringing out those dimples.
“I’m Savannah, and I wasn’t fat. I was plump.” She didn’t know if that saved her image in any way—it probably didn’t—but at least she tried. And she was sure that right now she at least looked good, and in shape, so that had to count for something.
“Nice to meet you, Savannah,” Roach said with a curt nod. She liked the way he said her name, lingering at each syllable. Despite her embarrassment, an odd little flutter flickered within her stomach. “I’m sure you were just plump.”
She smiled on hearing that. “Thank you.”
“Guys, come on, let’s eat,” her mother beckoned them from the hallway.
Minutes later they gathered in the dining room and sat around the artistically decorated dining table, which was now covered with the glorious food.
Unfortunately for Savannah, her mother s
eated her opposite Roach, and thanks to Jake’s colorful intro of her she lost her appetite and decided against serving herself anything other than the salad.
Great.
Chapter 2
Her father proudly kicked off the conversation by talking about the spices he’d used in the beef. This started off her mother.
They then spoke heartily about the work that had been done on the house, just like Savannah preempted, and insisted that Roach had to see it all after dinner.
When everyone somehow got on to the subject of the stock market, they lost Savannah completely. To her, they could have been speaking a foreign language. They droned on and on, and she grew incredibly bored, wishing she could say something to excuse herself from the table. It got to the point that she thought if she were any more bored she’d be dead. And now she was hungry.
Her eyes met with what remained of the succulent chicken on the platter. It sat right there in the center of the massive mahogany table with the colorful array of vegetables surrounding it. It would be cold now, but she’d take that over going home to her tin soup.
Roach’s hand was also just near the platter, so she’d either have to ask him to pass it to her or reach in front of him to pull it towards her. Then he’d probably wonder why she’d only just started eating when everyone else was on their second or third helping. It was her own silly fault; she should have just ignored Jake and that whole Piglet embarrassment, and eaten like everyone else.
Better not to look at the food; maybe there would be leftovers, and she could just have that. She tried to distract herself by looking past the tall silver candelabras next to her and across the room to the floor-to-ceiling French doors that had been left slightly open. Opposite that was the huge potted palm tree she’d gotten her parents for Christmas. It was positioned by the window next to the grand piano.
“I don’t know if I’m sold on the idea of the Fujita seven. Six works just fine,” her mother stated.
Savannah looked back to them. Finally, this was something she could understand, although she had an iPad and favored Apple products. The Fujita seven was exactly like an iPad, but with a few more functions.
“Me, too,” her father agreed, holding his palms out. “I don’t get all the extra applications and whatnots. I like to keep things simple.”
“Seven has a better operating system, which will allow you to work quicker and upgrade your apps with no glitches,” Roach pointed out. “There’s also more memory, and you can use the Microsoft Office suite on it exactly like you would on a desktop.” His eyes showed intelligence and independence of spirit.
Goodness, he might look like GQ’s poster boy, but he was one of those techie guys Savannah had imagined up. One who clearly loved his work, and probably treated the company like his own. She wondered what he did there.
“Seriously?” her father asked, looking quite impressed.
“Yes, Dad, I’ve only said this a million times,” Jake intoned, then went to give an in-depth explanation on how the device worked. A subject that was probably more boring than talking about the stock market. It would have been so great if they could just stick to something she could join into as well. As it stood, she hadn’t said a word throughout the whole time they’d sat here.
At least the time was passing, and dinner would be over soon.
She watched Roach take one of the smaller plates and pull the chicken platter over to cut off several slices. He then added some of the vegetables and French mash. Quickly, she focused her eyes back on her plate when she felt his gaze shift to her, but then she looked back at him as he pushed the plate towards her.
“I swear to God I won’t call you Piglet,” he told her with a soft smile, speaking just low enough for her to hear while everyone else chattered on. She noticed that his smile reached his eyes, and there was a gleam in the warm brown hue of them. “You have to have more than just salad. Unless, you’re a vegetarian.”
She held his gaze, staring at his amazing features, being reeled in like she was earlier. Willing herself to speak she said, “I’m not. And thanks.” She smiled back at him.
He answered with a wink that warmed her cheeks.
How sweet was that? To have noticed that she hadn’t eaten and served her food. Or, was it more embarrassing for her that he’d noticed she wasn’t eating for fear of looking like a pig? Somehow, it didn’t matter. It was nice just to have his attention and speak to him for a few seconds. She started eating straight away, grateful for the food.
He turned back to the conversation when Jake asked him something, but Savannah kept her eye on him, watching covertly under lowered lashes. There was a gentle warmth that came from his personality, and she liked his laugh, too. The more she looked at him, the more she felt like she’d seen him somewhere before. But where?
“Well, this was the best meal I’ve had in a long time. I think that might be the best roast chicken I’ve ever had, too,” he commented as their conversation died down. Everything was mostly finished. Except for a slice of beef and a handful of vegetables, it was just cutlery and empty plates that lay before them. “But don’t tell my mom I said that.”
Her mother laughed and looked absolutely delighted at the comment.
“Thank you for having me over,” he added.
“You’re very welcome,” her mother told him. “Come back anytime.”
“I certainly will.”
Savannah smiled to herself at the thought of maybe seeing him again.
“My good man you have to tell us, is Roach really your name or just a nickname they gave you?” her father asked with a deep chuckle. He was probably asking because Jake had a way of giving people some odd names. Savannah was certain that’s exactly what had happened here.
“I think we’re all imagining something to do with cockroaches,” her mother offered. “Or is it a tech thing? Like you could be The Roach because roaches are fast at whatever it is they do.”
“You guys.” Jake was shaking his head at them. “It has nothing to do with cockroaches. It’s not roach. It’s ROSH.” He spelled it out.
“Oh, right, so it’s short for something?” her mother asked.
“Oh, Mom, please. You’re kidding me, right? I told you years ago.”
“Tell me again, dear.” Her mother narrowed her eyes at him.
“This is embarrassing,” Rosh said, straightening up. “Sorry, I should have just introduced myself properly when I got here.”
Savannah focused on him, interested to hear his name. She thought it would be cool if he had a traditional Japanese name.
“Because Jake calls me Rosh, most people at work do, too. But my real name is Hiroshi. Hiroshi Fujita.”
Wow, that was a cool name. Wait a minute…
It wasn’t until she saw the stunned look on her father’s face that realization actually dawned on her and she nearly spat out the orange juice she’d started sipping on. He said Fujita. As in…
“Like Fujita Technologies? As in the family that owns it?” Her father took the words right out of her mind.
“Um, yeah.”
Her mouth dropped in complete shock. She couldn’t believe that for the last hour or so she’d been sitting inches away from a billionaire. A billionaire who belonged to one of the richest families on this planet, and there she’d been wondering what he did for the company.
“I don’t believe it,” her father stuttered. “We had no idea.”
“Oh, it’s cool.” Hiroshi looked a little uneasy at the sudden attention.
“But you own companies.”
“No, no, that would be my family. I just run the Washington branch, and I’m trying to set up a training center in Japan.”
If that was supposed to make him sound any less than he was, it didn’t work. The Washington branch was world famous, renowned for some of the best inventions and technological advances devised in this century. Even Savannah knew that with her lack of technical knowledge.
When most people thought of Fujita T
echnologies, they quickly drummed up the Washington branch in their minds. She only knew there were two other branches in the U.S. and their headquarters were in Japan because Jake told her. He just seemed to have conveniently forgotten to tell her he was friends with the boss himself.
Her mother whacked Jake with a tea cloth. “Boy, you never told me anything.”
“Must have slipped my mind,” Jake laughed. “But anyway, speaking of Japan. I’m going to be there for a year helping Rosh get things going with the training center. I also had a wild idea for little sister here.”
Savannah looked at Jake quickly and pointed to herself. “Me?”
He nodded. “How would you like to live in Japan for a year? All expenses paid.” His eyes widened with excitement. “And fly there by private jet?”
Savannah gasped. “What! Seriously?” The shock of the offer hit her full force and she stared, tongue-tied as her mouth dropped open. Her hands flew up to her cheeks.
“Unless if you have other plans,” Jake added.
She couldn’t think of any plan that could or would be better than that. Mexico would be brilliant, and so was the Turk and Caicos Islands, but that could wait for another time.
“No, I have no plans,” Savannah replied quickly.
“Good, then you should come,” Hiroshi offered with a broad smile.
She looked over at him, returning the smile.
This was it. An opportunity. Japan would definitely be the place to help her make a lasting impression on the magazine. It would be an incredible opportunity, and all expenses paid, too. What more could she ask for?
“Japan would be ideal for you. Imagine all the things you could write about,” Jake smiled with excitement.
Savannah beamed at him with deep gratitude. He might occasionally annoy her to no end with the Piglet story, but he knew her completely, and he knew what this could mean for her. She felt giddy just from the thought of the opportunity and imagined that going somewhere like Japan would indeed entice the magazine to create an opening just for her.
The sound of her mother clearing her throat broke her thoughts and Savannah watched her straighten up with that authoritative attitude she used in court.
I Only Have Eyes For You Page 2
