“Yet still a workday for most in Japan,” Kimi reminded. Her gaze wouldn’t meet his. “And did I tell you that I want a raise?”
Everyone laughed.
Everyone but Greg and Kimi.
And Kimi’s father, Greg realized, seeing the tall man from the corner of his eyes.
Fortunately, Helen announced that dinner was served, and in the mass exodus to the formal dining room, the awkwardness passed. Also what passed was Greg’s opportunity to make an easy escape, and he found himself seated between Jack and his gregarious wife, Samantha.
Kimi was across the table, several chairs down.
That ought to have made enjoying the meal personally prepared by Chef Lorenzo an easy task.
Instead, the food tasted like straw, and he kept watching Kimi, waiting and sweating like some besotted idiot for her to look his way. But she didn’t. Instead, she stayed busy holding her own among the general teasing she continued to get, particularly from her stepbrothers who treated her as if she were still an incorrigible schoolgirl instead of the grown woman she’d become.
The meal seemed like it would never end, but of course it did, and when everyone meandered back into the living room, taking up one spot or another around the enormous tree, he thought his escape was at last in sight. It was apparent that this family Christmas celebration was complete all the way down to gift exchanges.
He quickly started making the appropriate thanks to his host and hostess for their hospitality, but Helen squashed his notion of working his way to the door. “Kimi, scoot over so Greg can sit on the couch, too.”
“Really, Helen, I should be getting back—”
“—to where?” In complete disregard for her couture, she sat down on the floor right next to the Christmas tree. “We’ve seen for ourselves just how capable your assistant manager is, now be a good boy and sit.”
Greg heard the muffled sound Kimi made. She scooted, though, and he reluctantly took the spot she cleared.
Andrew, on the other side of her, leaned over, grinning. “Look out, Greg. You’ve earned your way into being one of Helen’s boys. It’s a phrase that tends to stick no matter how old we get.”
“Of course we keep getting older,” Evan added from his perch on the arm of the chair where his wife, Meredith, sat. “But the women in this family just all stay the same.”
“And what is wrong with that?” Helen grinned. She began checking gift tags on the wrapped packages beneath the tree and doled them out with the panache of a Las Vegas dealer.
When Greg ended up with an oversized box on his lap, he immediately started to pass it on.
“No, no, Greg.” Helen barely hesitated in her activity. “That one’s yours.”
Kimi, miraculously having managed to keep several inches of space between them on the silk-covered couch, ruined the effort by leaning her shoulder against his side to look for herself at the small tag nearly obscured by an enormous gold bow. “‘To Greg. Best regards from Helen and Mori’. I guess that says it all.” She retreated to her space.
It annoyed the hell out of him that he wanted to scoop her back against his side once again.
“You really shouldn’t have,” he told Kimi’s parents.
Helen just smiled and waved off the sentiment. “If someone doesn’t begin opening gifts, we’re never going to get to bed tonight.”
“Forget that,” Andrew drawled, giving his wife a meaningful look. He tore into one of his packages.
“Open it.”
Greg eyed Kimi. “Do you know what it is?”
She shook her head. “That is the point of opening a present, Greg,” she offered mildly. “To see what is inside.”
“I don’t have anything for them in return.”
“Another point about gifts. They are freely given with no expectation in return.” Her mild facade broke momentarily, and she looked away, busying herself with rearranging the assortment of boxes and festive bags around her feet. When she straightened, she held a narrow wrapped item. “Here is another.” She thrust it toward him. “Merry Christmas.”
He could tell by the shape that it was a CD. “What is it?”
She sighed a little and wiggled the disc. The shiny white curls of ribbon on top of it bounced. “What did I just say about opening gifts? Do not worry. I just thought it would be something you might enjoy.”
He took it from her. “I don’t have anything for you, either.” He should have been more prepared.
It was Christmas.
He’d just never really celebrated the holiday in the normal way before. Ordinarily, he was the one on the job, leaving all the festivities to those who had people in their lives that mattered.
“I did not expect anything from you.” She frowned. “That did not sound right.”
Considering the situation between them—the situation that he should have known enough to avoid in the first place—he figured it sounded pretty much “right.”
But sitting there in the middle of her family was not exactly the place where he wanted to get into that debate. Particularly when she’d already blasted him with her own particular take on it.
I am in love with you.
The words circled inside his head again with all the delicacy of a jackhammer.
He cleared his dry throat and slid the crisscrossed mass of ribbons off Kimi’s gift and turned it over, finding the taped edge.
She made a muffled sound. “I should have known you were one of those.”
“Those?”
“The type who unfastens every fold, who never shreds the paper, never rips a ribbon.”
“While you’re the type to impetuously tear it all apart to get at what is inside.”
Barely an inch of bare shoulder showed above the clinging dress, but it was an inch that still managed to torment him as she shrugged slightly. “Look around you,” she suggested. “It is part of the fun.”
Certainly, most of her family was tearing into their gifts with what looked like sheer abandon. Strips of wrapping paper in every color and pattern were strewn about, shining ribbons and bows were being batted around like tennis balls.
“Some of us prefer to savor the anticipation.” He slid his finger beneath the paper, coaxing the adhesive free.
Her lovely throat worked in a swallow, and her eyes seemed to darken even more. “I like anticipation, too,” she murmured huskily. “As well as the…culmination.”
The paper suddenly ripped beneath his finger.
Kimi smiled faintly, looking as satisfied as a sleek cat. “It is nice to see that you are not always in control.”
It was a good thing that she didn’t know just how uncontrolled he did feel where she was concerned. But tearing the paper accomplished one thing. He could clearly see that the item was indeed a CD. “Who is it?”
“Just a CD I managed to find for you.”
He peeled away the rest of the wrapping paper, looking at the label with no small amount of surprise. “The children’s orchestra?” He eyed her. “I didn’t realize they’d had anything recorded. That’s what they were doing all the concerts for; to raise money so that they could get out a recording.”
“It was very recent.” She busied herself with selecting a package to pull onto her lap.
His suspicion was swift. “Kimi. What did you do?”
She gave him an innocent look that wouldn’t have bought a cup of coffee. “I don’t know what you mean.” She tore open the package on her lap and tossed the paper onto the growing collection of it in the center of the floor. The box quickly followed, while she held up the pink blouse she’d extracted to her shoulders. “It is lovely, Meredith. Thank you.”
Across the room, Meredith grinned. “I overruled Evan’s choice of a stuffed koala bear.”
“I appreciate that.”
“I thought you liked stuffed animals,” Evan complained. “God knows you always had enough of ’em in your bedroom. And it was from Australia when Meredith and I were there.”
Kimi r
olled her eyes and picked up her next gift. Greg, however, couldn’t get past the CD. Beneath the cover of wrapping paper and packages, he closed his hand over hers. “Did you arrange the recording?”
She looked startled, then slid her hand free. “I made a phone call,” she allowed.
“To whom?”
“Kobayashi Media saw the value in making a gift to the orchestra’s fund.” She toyed with the velvety red bow atop her package. “And, um, my grandfather saw fit to match it.”
“When?”
“The recording was made last week at Kyoto University.”
“I meant when did you do this? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“After we heard their concert. I…I did not want you to think I did it merely to gain your approval. The children’s orchestra was just something that seemed to matter to you.” She cast a quick glance at his face. “You should open your other gift,” she prompted. “Everyone is nearly through.”
Everyone but her. Despite her contention that she was the rip-and-tear type.
He was a lot more interested in her than the gift from Helen and Mori, but he quickly unfolded the gold wrapping paper to reveal an extremely fine, leather attaché. His initials, along with the Taka insignia were engraved on the locking clasps.
It was a well-chosen executive type of gift. One that made him feel like a fraud. “Looks like I should be able to retire my old briefcase,” he told Helen. “Thank you both.”
Helen looked thoroughly pleased and satisfied sitting there in the midst of her family. Mori, sitting in the chair behind her, had his hand on her shoulder. His expression was much more difficult to read, but he, too, looked content.
Beside him, Kimi had pushed aside all of her packages but one. Looking suddenly nervous, she rose and stepped through the debris. “I have one more gift for you and Helen, Papa.” She handed the velvet bow-topped parcel to him.
“What is it?” Mori asked.
Kimi let out a soft exclamation, glancing back at Greg. What was it about the men in her life? “Between the two of you—” she broke off, shaking her head. Greg had made it plain that he did not want to be in her life. “Open and see.”
Her father’s gaze narrowed on her face. He began to slowly pick open the paper but Helen tsked and reached up to rip it away, leaving Mori to lift off the top of the box.
Then he went still, looking at the contents. Helen went up on her knees to look, as well. “Oh, my—” She suddenly jumped to her feet, closing her arms around Kimi in a swift hug. “It’s your college diploma!”
Her father rose more slowly. He set aside the box, only to have it snatched up by Jack, who pulled out the diploma Tanya had helped her get matted and framed. “I thought you quit.” He handed off the frame to his wife who handed it off to Meredith.
“I went back.” Kimi stated the obvious.
“You should have told us.” Her father looked down at her, clearly suspicious.
“If I had told you, I would not have been able to surprise you.”
“Hai. After everything it most assuredly would have been a surprise.”
“Oh, Mori.” Helen clasped Kimi’s face in her hands. “Is that the only reason you finished? As a surprise to please us?”
“At first.” Of all the eyes in the room, Kimi felt Greg’s most keenly. This is what she got for making such a public announcement. “But somewhere along the way, I realized I wanted to finish. For me.”
Helen smiled. Her green eyes were soft. “And that, my darling, is the very best reason.”
“Were you working here at all, then?” Mori asked.
She tried to squelch her surge of defensiveness. “Of course I was.”
“Then how did you have time to make up your classes?”
So much for squelching. “What do you think I did, Papa? Forge my own diploma? This is not junior high school. I have not changed a D to a B to avoid your wrath.”
“She did her class work when she was off duty,” Greg answered, before she could lose her composure altogether. “Which wasn’t all that often considering all the times she’s pitched in wherever we needed someone.”
She turned around to face him. “I do not need you to fight my battles, Greg.”
He rose from the couch, still holding the CD. “Good, because I don’t intend to.” He eyed Mori. “Your daughter has become a valued member of my staff. She’s everything you should wish for in a representative of the Taka hotels. And while I have no right to be, I’m still proud of the work she’s done here.”
“I am pleased to hear your opinion,” Mori told Greg evenly. “But I think this is a family matter, now.”
“Papa!”
But it was too late.
“Of course.” Greg tilted his head slightly. “Thank you, again, Helen, for your hospitality this evening. I wish you all a merry holiday. Everyone here at the hotel is, of course, at your disposal.” With that utterly practiced, smooth smile that he had, he walked out of the suite.
Silence reigned, broken only by Helen. “Well. I cannot imagine what he thinks about us now.”
Kimi could imagine. “He thinks he is not good enough for us,” she said huskily. “And you—” she turned on her father “—have given him proof of it.”
Her father’s eyebrows drew together. “What are you talking about?”
“Maybe we all should give Kimi some privacy with Helen and Mori,” Jenny announced hurriedly. “It’s long past time that Richard and I got Jason into his crib for the night.”
“Do not run away on my account,” Kimi said. “I’m leaving, anyway.”
“Oh, Kimi.” Helen’s concern was plainly evident as she stood between Kimi and Mori. “Don’t hurry off, too. This is such a thing to celebrate. You’ve finished college!”
“And I thought that if I did, you would allow me to come back to Chicago and work there.”
Her father’s lips thinned. “Returning to Chicago was always your choice, Kimiko.”
Her lips parted, disbelieving. “Right. With my tail tucked because I managed to fail you, yet again. That is what you expected. I thought if I could find my place within the family business, the way the boys have, that it would no longer matter to you that I was not the very proper Japanese daughter you always wanted. But you know what, Papa? I no longer worry about failing you. Or failing myself because someone might see beyond the almighty Taka-glitter to the very ordinary person that I am inside. What matters is doing your best. Trying. And I learned that working for the man who just walked out of here!”
“He is an excellent manager,” Mori said stiffly.
“Yes, he is,” Kimi said swiftly. “And he is also the man I love.”
Silence, broken only by Andrew’s faint “Whoa,” and Delia’s quiet “shush,” followed.
Kimi faced her parents, head-on. Mori, typically, looked fierce and disapproving. Helen, also typically, looked concerned. “Does Greg share your feelings,” she finally asked.
“I don’t know,” Kimi admitted painfully.
Helen cast a quick look up at Mori. “But the two of you are…involved? Personally?”
“It is not a schoolgirl crush,” Kimi assured quietly. More than that, she had no intention of saying. “I think I have had all the celebrating I can stand for one night.” She glanced around, taking in the varying expressions of shock on her family’s faces. “I’m sorry if I have ruined your Christmas celebration.”
“Oh, Kimi,” Helen murmured. “You’ve never ruined anything.”
But Kimi was already walking out the door.
Chapter Twelve
In her room, Kimi pulled open her side of the connecting door and knocked softly. “Greg? Please open the door.”
Silence.
She leaned her forehead against the smooth wood. “I am not going to give up.”
More silence.
She could not even be certain that he was in his room.
She picked up the phone and rang his room. Through the door she could faintly hear
it ringing on his side.
But no answer.
She tossed down the phone and went back to the door, knocking again. “If you ever want some peace, Greg, open the door.”
It suddenly yanked open, and she nearly tumbled into his room. He caught her shoulders, keeping her from landing on him. “Peace? That’s a good one. What do you want, Kimi?”
You. She managed to keep the thought to herself. “I wanted to see if you were all right.”
His lips twisted, and he let go of her, turning away. “Touching. But I’ve been taking care of myself since long before you were bouncing on your daddy’s knee.”
She followed him into his room. Despite the similarities to her own, it was distinctively his space, and she could not help casting a painfully curious look around it. From what she could see, he displayed no personal effects at all. No photos. No mementos. Just a small stack of books on his nightstand and a pile of what looked like professional journals and newspapers scattered on his desk. “I am sorry for what my father said.”
“Why?” He leaned back against the desk, crossing his arms and making the fine weave of his shirt strain at the shoulders. “I wouldn’t want my family matters aired to all and sundry, either.”
“You are hardly all and sundry. And if he had wanted a private conversation, he could have been more polite about it.”
“Your father is Mori Taka. He doesn’t have to worry about offending anyone with his bluntness.”
“He did offend you, then.”
He let out a sigh. “No. Kimi, I understand your father perfectly well. I understand his position, and God knows I understand mine.”
“That is more than I can say, then.” She pressed her hands together. “I…told them how I…how I feel about you.”
His jaw tightened. He shoved his hand through his hair. “A great time for you to decide not to keep anything else secret from them. Your father probably has some Samurai sword he keeps under his bed for just these situations.”
“You need not fear my father.”
“Fearing and having a healthy respect for him ain’t the same thing, honey.”
No. She supposed that fear had not been the correct word. “Helen asked if you shared my feelings. I told her I did not know.”
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