Bad Boy vs Millionaire

by Candy J. Starr

  “Why aren't you eating, Hannah?” Eric-Mama asked. “Are you unwell? Did you pick up some horrible Japanese disease?”

  “I'm fine,” I replied. Damn groupies. I hated them all. How could I compete with groupies? They just wanted sex and nothing else. While I wasn’t even sure what I wanted. It was like having the candy store open with help yourself service compared to having to prepare a gourmet meal. Then I smiled and felt better, remembering that I was a gourmet meal and worth the effort.

  “Did Jack help you make this lot of kimchi?” I asked Eric-Mama.

  “As if. He is the worst kimchi helper ever. Next time, you can help me. You would be better than him. Not you though, Metal Face. All that metal might make the cabbage taste bad.”

  “Poor Angie.”

  “She is not poor. Why would such a pretty girl do such things to herself? She makes herself look weird.”

  Angie just laughed. “I like my piercings.”

  Eric-Mama shook her head, totally unable to understand.

  “I love your skirt,” Angie said, turning away from Eric-Mama. “Did you buy it there?”

  I launched into a story about my shopping trip, then realised I needed to edit the bits about Tamaki out. I hated not being open with Angie but what could I say in front of Jack? Especially like that. It wasn't as if I wanted to keep it a secret. I'd not done anything wrong but somehow I didn't want to talk about it.

  Chapter 12. Hannah

  I woke up in Jack's bed. Alone. But the pillows smelt of him and the bed held the indentation of his body.

  After dinner the night before, we'd sat around talking and drinking until late. Jack had played us his new song. And, as he strummed his guitar, his glances at me made me buzz inside. But we'd not had a chance to be alone all night and I'd been so exhausted after the flight home that I'd crashed before everyone had even left.

  I grabbed my stuff and headed downstairs for the shower.

  Jack was in the kitchen, making breakfast. How could a man look so good first thing in the morning? With his tussled hair and baggy PJ bottoms… and I didn't even want to think about his arms in that tank top. That curve from his shoulders down his arm. A classically trained ballerina could not move as gracefully as that curve in his muscle. If I thought too hard about it, the only decision left in this world would be whether I wanted to trace that indent with my fingertip or my tongue.

  “Want a coffee?”

  I jumped, hoping he couldn't read my thoughts.

  “Ha, after the last one you made me, I don't think so. I am still traumatised by it. It may have possibly been the worst coffee in the history of coffee. I'll make the coffee but you can cook me some eggs.”

  “That's fine. I'll make coffee. You relax.”

  I sat at the kitchen bench with my gaze fixed firmly on my hands.

  “So, what's the plan for today?” he asked.

  I hadn't really thought about it. I had to drop the contracts off to Frank but other than that, I had nothing to do.

  “I guess I should start looking for a place to live.”

  “You can stay here as long as you like, you know. It's okay.” He grinned at me. I'd add that to my collection of the other four or five genuine Jack Colt smiles I'd gotten in this life.

  “With you sleeping on the couch, I don't think so.”

  The words hung in the air. Emotions flitting over both our faces, words we didn't want to put out there. Jack didn't have to sleep on the couch. I had taken over his bed and that bed had a huge Jack Colt-shaped emptiness that had haunted my dreams.

  He squeezed by me to get cups out of the cupboard. In the small kitchen space, I couldn't help but be aware of his physical closeness, the feeling of his body almost brushing against mine and the smell of his skin that even the fresh coffee couldn't overpower. I wanted to press against him and feel his heat. I wanted him to be mine to touch and caress but he wasn't. Too many questions hung over us. He'd told me that he wanted me, he wanted to be with me but I still had no idea if I could trust him.

  I moved to sit on the sofa, putting some space between us.

  Maybe I should just ask, I thought. Bring it all out into the open. Tell him how I felt, my fears and worries. Let him know what was holding me back. But the words didn't exist in me. This wasn't some talk show. We were real people and real people didn't let it all out. They held it deep inside, hugging it to themselves. When you told people how you felt, that gave them the power.

  What did I feel? Like I'd missed him every moment we were apart. Like I’d thought of nothing but him. Then I remembered the night at karaoke. I hadn't been thinking about Jack then. But that had just been a bit of fun. It wasn't as if Tamaki had touched me.

  If I was a normal girl, I'd have straight forward emotions that I could talk about. I'd be able to lay it out on the table, take it or leave it. But, instead my emotions squirmed inside me, burrowing deeper and deeper.

  “So, what's been happening while I was gone?” I asked to break the tension.

  He sat a plate of food and the coffee on the table in front of me.

  “Not a lot. Mostly work.”

  And the silence became totally awkward.

  I ate my breakfast and tried to think of a way to bring us closer. I wondered if I should mention the thing with Tamaki but it was over anyway. It seemed stupid to bring up that whole mess that I'd been dumped in when it was just some nutty scheme of my father's that I'd left far behind.

  “Do you think we need to do a new photo shoot for the tour?” I asked. Because that was so what was on my mind. I took another bite of toast and avoided looking at him.

  “Maybe. How much will it cost?”

  “I'm not sure. We could get it done cheaply, I reckon.” Why didn't he look at me? If he started, it would be so much easier. He could just say a few words, tell me how much he missed me and that would break down the wall in my heart.

  “It might be a good idea.”

  We both stared into space. This is so stupid, I thought. We are idiots. I had to say something. I had to reach out for him instead of letting it all build up.

  I could do it. I'd tell him…

  “Good morning.” Eric stumbled downstairs, rubbing his eyes. “Did you make me breakfast?”

  The moment disappeared. I gathered my strength and took a sip of my coffee. It would be undrinkable but it was the only coffee on offer.

  “Oh. My. God. This coffee is great.”

  “Yeah,” Eric said. “Jack's been practicing so he can make the perfect coffee. He must be thinking of getting a job as a barista or something.”

  I tried to catch Jack's eye but he busied himself making breakfast for Eric. Had he done it for me?

  After Jack and Eric left for the rehearsal studio, I cleaned up the kitchen and showered then went online to look for apartments. I looked at luxury apartments, way out of my price range. Actually, I didn't know what my price range was. I'd get some money in from the tour and I had a bit saved in the bank but I had no steady source of income and that would be a big negative on my side when I went to apply.

  I realised I could hear my phone ringing upstairs. I raced up to the bedroom to answer it.

  It was Frank.

  “Can you drop by my office today?”

  “Sure thing. I was planning to drop a contract over for you to look through so it's good timing.”

  I figured the reason Frank wanted to see me was that Dad had decided to cut off my credit card or something like that. Boy, was I in for a shock.

  ***

  I’d taken the apartment key that Frank offered me but the whole thing made my stomach feel queasy. How come it was suddenly so easy for Dad to set me up with an apartment when he'd been happy for me to live on the street before? I had a good mind not to even move in, to tell Dad to stick his apartment. But then I remembered the whole living on the streets part of it. Not that I’d be really living on the streets but I couldn’t sponge off Jack and Eric forever. After all the closeness in the kitchen t
hat morning, I didn’t know if I could even trust myself with Jack Colt so close to me.

  Still, Dad could've let me pick my own place instead of landing me with some place in the middle of the business district, away from all my friends. I knew I should be grateful but it seemed like there’d be a price I’d have to pay for this.

  I figured I’d take the key with me and see what Angie thought.

  “Sublet it and get a decent place,” said Angie. “You just need to get someone in to rent the fancy apartment and you’ll have the cash to do what you want.”

  She seemed so emphatic about it, I wondered if she was really some kind of real estate mogul in disguise.

  “Isn't that a whole lot of trouble?”

  “Yeah, probably. I don't know. It's not like people give me fancy apartments. They don't even give me non-fancy apartments. People give me nothing. Well, except for you. You give me boots and that's why you are the second most awesome person in the world.”

  “Second best?” Was that some kind of Eric love confession?

  “Second best. I have the awesome boots, so I win.”

  “I guess it will be okay living there.” At least I would be out of danger with Jack Colt. I’d have my own space without creepy neighbours and possible rats too.

  “You'll probably have water views. Water views are good.”

  “I can't help but wonder why he's doing this. It's not like being caring and considerate are big in his books.” He'd definitely been angry with me when I'd left so I wondered if this was meant to be a bribe.

  “Maybe he feels guilty.”

  “Maybe.” I wasn’t convinced though. “If he had that part of your brain that feels guilt.”

  “Let's go check this place out. Aren't you curious?”

  “A little.”

  “Let's go.”

  Angie gulped down her coffee and jumped up. She was more enthusiastic about the apartment than me.

  It didn’t take as long as I'd thought to get to the apartment. Just a short train trip.

  “It's near the train station. That's a good thing. It'll make it easy for you to get around. And there's some shops nearby.” Angie looked around the neighbourhood. “There’s even a few cafes. That'll be handy. I bet though they are the kind of cafes that are always busy with office workers who get all snarky because they are in hurry to get back to their desks.”

  “True. I hope the apartment isn't some hideous monstrosity for businessmen though.”

  We took the lift up to the 14th floor.

  “Nice lift. It's fast and quiet.”

  “Wow, you should become a real estate agent. You are good at this thing.”

  “Yeah, can you see me as a real estate agent? Maybe for the unemployed and unemployable. It's not like they have a lot to spend on rent though.”

  We walked down the corridor to the door and I put the key in the lock.

  “Are you ready?” I whispered to Angie, with no real reason for whispering.

  Angie nodded and I opened the door.

  “Wow,” said Angie. “Is this place just for you? You could fit a whole herd of elephants in here.”

  We walked in. The place was furnished but the furniture was non-offensive. The red and white colour scheme looked fresh and included a huge cabinet containing a massive television. The lounge room had two giant sofas and a massive coffee table. Off to the side, was an open plan kitchen and the doors to the rest of the apartment.

  Angie flopped down on the sofa.

  “That TV is amazeballs. I'm so coming over here for movie night. Like every night. Is it a smart TV? Because I’m sure as hell sick of watching stupid TV all the time. And the sofas are comfy. Wow, Hannah, this place is tops. Not sure about that painting though. It's a bit blobby and wrong.”

  Angie jumped up and opened the red curtains, sliding the door open to the balcony.

  “This is amazing too. We could drink cocktails out here and look at shit. Maybe get binoculars so we can see into other apartments. And I can smoke out here when I come to visit you. That works for me.”

  The place did indeed have water views. I walked out on to the balcony, which was big enough for a dinner party.

  “Wow, the view is great. I bet on a clear day you can see Mount Fuji.”

  Angie cocked her eyebrow.

  “Oh, nothing…”

  I went back inside and opened one of the doors. It led into the bedroom. The bedroom was minimalist with a large bed. One wall had a build-in wardrobe.

  “The wardrobe is massive.”

  I sat on the bed and bounced around.

  “And the bed is super comfy.”

  “Hey, check out the bathtub. You could swim laps in it.” Angie's voice echoed from the bathroom. “It's a bit lime in here though. Wow, they even give you towels. Lime green towels.”

  We both headed for the kitchen. It had an awesome coffee machine.

  “Not bad, not bad at all. I bet you'll miss having breakfast with Jack though. ‘Accidentally’ walking in on him in the shower. Having him creep into your bed at night.”

  “Hey, it's not like that.” That was exactly what I was trying to avoid.

  “So, how are things going? With the two of you. Any steamy reunion moments? I need all the dirt. And all the dirt about the weird marriage guy since I couldn't ask you last night. Was he cute? Were you tempted? If I had a rich millionaire potential husband, I'd be tempted as hell.”

  I was about to tell Angie all about the awkwardness with Jack, I needed some advice about how to deal with it, but a knock at the door interrupted me. We looked at each other.

  “No one knows I'm living here yet. It has to be a salesmen or something. Ignore it.”

  They knocked again.

  “Maybe it's the agent. You should answer it.”

  “Okay, but if I get stuck with a religious nut, you have to do my dishes for a month!”

  I opened the door and stood speechless for a moment.

  Tamaki!

  “Hello, Hannah. Didn't your father tell you? I'm living next door.”

  Chapter 13. Angie

  It was a good thing I had my shit together because Hannah just stood in the doorway like a stunned mullet, white-faced and unable to talk. I had to jump up and greet the poor guy. And when I say “poor”, I mean about as poor as a guy with stunningly handsome, prince-like good looks could be. Also, not poor when it came to money either, if that outfit was anything to go by. I guessed this was Tamaki, the guy from Japan.

  “So, what brings you here?” I asked. I mean, what was this guy doing suddenly popping up on Hannah’s doorstep in another country? I could see what Hannah meant by him being stalkerish.

  “Work. I have some business to do for the next month.”

  “Weird that you are living next door to Hannah, all coincidence-like.”

  Tamaki walked into the room and looked around. It kind of annoyed me that he'd walked in uninvited like that. This was Hannah’s apartment. Or was it? Who was actually paying for it? Hannah had thought it strange that her father suddenly organised an apartment for her. Now I could see why.

  “Not so strange. When Hannah's father found out that I need somewhere to stay, he asked me to organise something for Hannah as well. I hope the apartment suits you, Hannah. If not, I can arrange to change it for you.”

  “I'm not sure I want…”

  “Maybe you don't want me living next door?”

  Hannah didn't reply. This situation was getting even worse. She obviously thought she'd put it all behind her when she left Tokyo. Now Tamaki was here, right in front of her and living next door. This was not going to end well, I could just feel it. Hannah looked like someone who was in the dangerous stages of a bad stomachache. There was definitely still something between her and Jack, so this would be a huge complication. Tamaki would be right there with nothing to stop him from dropping over whenever he felt like it. The alarm bells were going off loudly in my head.

  I looked pointedly at Hannah then back
at Tamaki. Hannah looked pointedly, as though she wanted to say something but couldn't with Tamaki's presence in the middle of the room. She was doing weird things with her eyes. I wondered if she was trying to blink a message to me in Morse code or something – which would be pointless because I didn’t even know Morse code.

  “I guess we should go, Angie.” Hannah turned to Tamaki. “We just dropped by for a look at the place. All my stuff is elsewhere.”

  Tamaki grinned. Wow, that was a killer grin. It changed his whole face from prince-like to loveable, and made his eyes sparkle. If Hannah didn’t want this guy, I’d have him. It wasn’t fair that she got all the hot guys. Even Eric. I couldn’t even consider Eric because he’d liked Hannah first and I didn’t want to be sloppy seconds.

  “I can drive you. If you have a lot of stuff to bring over, you will need help.”

  The panic rose in Hannah’s eyes. You didn’t need to know Morse code to read that. It was the international language of “holy shit, I can’t turn up at Jack’s place with my hot new potential boyfriend”.

  She was never going to get away from Tamaki. Ever. Well at least not today. Still, I couldn’t help myself. I wanted to get closer to this guy. I wanted to smell his nice smell. I wanted to curl up on his lap like a kitten.

  “That would be great, wouldn't it, Hannah?”

  Hannah glared at me in a way that said SHUT UP but I kept talking, getting her further and further in the shit. What was I thinking?

  “I'll get the car and meet you out the front.”

  When Tamaki left, Hannah glared at me.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Hey, what are we going to do? Carry all your stuff over here on our backs? You have a lot of stuff, Hannah and it's going to be much easier this way.”

  I was pretty pleased with myself for thinking about this.

  “What about Jack? He knows nothing about Tamaki. I can't just turn up with this strange guy who suddenly lives next door. And what if Tamaki says something ― about the marriage stuff or, I don't know, anything that might seem dodgy. I was hoping I could just forget that ever happened.”