Rochelle lifted her chin proudly. “I wasn’t startled.” She met his eyes like a woman with complete certainty.
“Is that right?” A smile played about his beautiful lips.
Rochelle wanted to lift her head the few inches it took in order to take those lips in a kiss.
“That’s right.”
“Is that why you dropped the banana and the apple and are clinging to the front of my shirt?”
“What?” She glanced down and moaned releasing him quickly. She stepped back and turned away from him to grab the fallen fruits. Without saying a word she stuck the banana back and loaded a bag with apples and placed them in the cart. She felt like an idiot. When she looked up, eyes stared back at her from all around the place. At first it didn’t sink in what happened until a woman began whispering to her companion. Rochelle fought not to roll her eyes.
They think I am his girlfriend.
It wouldn’t be a bad thing to be Raiden’s girlfriend—he is sexy, sounds intelligent and so damn handsome. Shaking her head she grabbed some vegetables before stopping at the freezers.
“You’re not a vegetarian...are you?”
Raiden shook his head. “No.”
“Good because I wouldn’t know what to make you for dinner.”
“I am not fussy, Rochelle. You can make me anything and I will at least try it.”
His eyes danced at her and she felt as though she had just done something wonderfully good and he was rewarding her. With a grin she turned back and grabbed some chicken breasts. She dug through the pile to the bottom for the good, fresh ones and loaded the cart with a few packages. By the time they paid for all the food and exited, it started raining slightly with the sun trying to peek from behind a cloud.
Quickly, they piled their purchase into the back of her vehicle and stowed the cart.
When they arrived at her house, he carried groceries into the house while she wheeled in his suitcase.
“I knew you wouldn’t stop until you got to carry my suitcase,” he teased.
Rochelle smirked. “I am trying to be hospitable.”
“I see.” He smiled and exited the house once more in the rain to grab the final bag of food. When he returned, Rochelle frowned. She knew even though there was no snow on the ground outside, walking around in the rain during winter was liable to cause hyperthermia.
“You’re soaking wet!”
Taking the bag from his arms she placed it on the counter and took his hand. Without thinking she led him up the stairs and into the bathroom. She grabbed a towel and placed it over his head.
“You’re going to have to take a shower,” Rochelle said, meeting his eyes. “While you do that I’ll make you soup. I really don’t want you catching a cold.”
“You worry too much, Rochelle. I have had colds before. This one would be no—” he sneezed, “—different.”
“Yes, but not on my watch. Catching a Canadian cold is unlike any you’ve ever had before. Now, strip.”
She rested a hand against her hips while she watched him. He didn’t move and Rochelle arched a brow. Did he not understand her? She didn’t know how to speak Japanese so she motioned to his wet clothes. “You have to take them off.”
“I know what stripping means, Rochelle. If you want to see my body so bad all you have to do is ask.”
She realized what she said and why he hesitated and it hit her like a brain freeze.
What is wrong with me?
Ever since she saw him she’s been doing one brain-dead thing after another. Then again, in all fairness, she had been doing brain-dead things all morning. Asking him to strip while she stood there was just taking her absent-mindedness to a whole new level. The smirk he gave her after his comment told her something she didn’t want to believe. It spoke of a naughty streak within him. That couldn’t be right. She didn’t know any Asian men who were overly sexually liberated. They were usually shy and quiet.
She left the bathroom without saying a word and descended the stairs wondering why the way he just looked at her turned her on. He had lowered his head to meet her gaze causing his long, wet hair to fall into his face. Ever so gently, he used his fingers to rake the hair back and that did it for Rochelle. That was one of the sexiest things a man could do before her—along with rolling up his dress shirt sleeves and tugging at his tie. She grabbed a pot and tried to fill it with water but her hands shook horribly. Instead, Rochelle placed the pot on the stove, filled a bowl partway and dumped it into the pot. She couldn’t risk moving a full pot of water with her trembling hands. She tried desperately to block Raiden Rei from her mind for that moment just so she could focus on what had to be done and not screw up. If she did, soup would taste like crap. She didn’t want any complaints to ruin the business deal she had going.
Rochelle found the perfect way to keep her mind occupied without losing a finger while chopping onions. She would figure out where in her office she would put him. He could fill in for Jeff. But if he was as good as they said he was, then perhaps he could go somewhere else.
Yes, your bed.
“Shut up brain,” she muttered. The sound of the shower upstairs told her he took her advice. Now if only she could keep her hands off her sexy guest, things should work out just fine. When the soup started to simmer she set about seasoning the meat and finding her best frying pot. She set the pot on the stove, dumped some oil in and left it to heat.
“Rochelle,” Raiden called. She turned around to look at him. With his wet hair slicked back, he resembled every man from every wet dream she’d ever had.
“Did you find everything?”
“Yes, I did. I didn’t want to startle you by stepping in without saying anything.”
She laughed. “I guess I deserved that.”
“Here, let me help you,” he offered and Rochelle shook her head.
“You said it yourself, you are the guest.”
“This means you are not to deny me anything.” He removed the piece of chicken from her hand and walked over to the stove. She watched as he gently placed the meat into the searing oil. To her shock, it didn’t even pop at him. No splashes of oil—nothing.
“How’d you do that?”
“Do what?”
Rochelle pointed from the chicken bowl to him to the pot. “Without the splashing?”
“Very gently.” He arched a brow at her. “I figured the last thing I need is a face full of hot oil—right?”
“Right.” Rochelle handed him the bowl with the meat in it and turned her attention to chopping carrots into tiny pieces for the blender. “Did Jeffrey settle in yet?”
“Ah yes. He has settled in very well. He is even fancying a girl. Nia Morimoto. The two make a lovely couple but I think Jeffrey is scared.
Rochelle arched a brow and glanced at him. “Why’d you say that?”
“Well, he gets flustered when she’s around, wiping his palms against his pants and stuttering. “
“Is she beautiful?”
Raiden smiled. “Very”.
“Well he has every right to be nervous. Not only is he just visiting, but he is out of her culture. That is a problem.”
“How is that a problem? They are not within the same culture but the heart wants who it wants. There is no stopping that. You do not believe in interracial love, Rochelle?”
“Yes, but that is way beyond the spectrum of interracial love. Jeff is black. Nia is Japanese. Those combinations are rare.”
“Ah yes. But not impossible.” He chuckled. “You are saying if I fancied you, you would not be interested because of where I was born?”
Rochelle opened her mouth to say something but quickly clamped it shut. There didn’t seem to be an answer that wouldn’t get her in trouble. No matter what she thought, it would only end in her blushing and him smirking at her. She eyed him. “It doesn’t matter. It really doesn’t. Besides, it’s not the same thing.”
“Really? Because to me it is the same thing—love is love.”
�
��All I’m saying is I’ve never met a Japanese man who wanted a black woman. And I know my best friend Maylee has never been in love with a black man and she’s Japanese.”
“Perhaps she has not met the right one yet, have you thought of that? Love, Rochelle, comes when it wants. It does not come when you want it to, or when your parents want it to. It has its very own timing and yes, sometimes it sucks and sometimes it seems to come with who we may think is the wrong person but you just have to learn to live with it.”
“Thought you were going to break out with Confucius said for a minute there.”
“No.” He smiled sadly. “That one is one of mine. Besides, Confucius was Chinese.”
Rochelle let the conversation hang in the air and went back to blending her carrots. She thought about what he said about love and timing. He is absolutely right—love never had good timing for her. Love walked right around her and picked the person behind her in line. She’d gotten used to that a long time ago, accustomed to the fact that she would die alone. Over the years it had become less and less of an issue and she felt less and less depressed about it.
She hoped eventually it wouldn’t bother her anymore. Taking a deep breath, she poured the blends into a bowl through a strainer. The silence that hung around them while they worked drove her mad. An interruption came with the sound of hot oil soaking through meat and with the occasional dropped utensil and mixings. She didn’t know what to say to Raiden after the deep conversation they’d had.
“Are you sorry we just had that conversation, Rochelle?” Raiden questioned from behind her.
“No…I just didn’t want to offend you with injecting what I thought about Jeff and Nia’s story but somehow it happened. That’s something you’ll learn about me. Most often I’ll say things—”
“That you do not mean. We all do it, Rochelle. Sometimes it is not that we do not mean what we say; it’s just that we do not mean to say what we mean.”
“I can see you’re going to be one riddle after another.”
He shook his head. “No. No riddle. At times we have something in our minds that we do not want others to know. We are ashamed of what we are thinking even if what we are thinking is correct. Then something happens and it brings this thinking into the open. We mean it but we just did not mean to say it.”
Rochelle nodded. No riddle in that.
The two carried on less volatile conversations through the preparation of dinner. They spoke about the weather in Canada and Japan amongst other less threatening things. Rochelle was making Raiden laugh and she felt a form of pride knowing she caused his mirth. She didn’t mean to do it, for of all the things she could say about herself, being funny wasn’t one of them. While she spooned dinner into serving bowls, Raiden busied himself setting the table.
“Where are your forks?” he asked.
Taking the vegetables from the pot, she stopped and peered down. She noticed she was blocking the drawer he needed to open in order to get the forks.
“Right here.”
She tried stepping back to give him access to the drawer but he simply walked up behind her and reached around. She moved back slightly but bumped against his chest. He reached to find the forks with one hand while trapping her with the other to take the bowl of vegetables from her hand. Rochelle bit down against her lip and pressed her eyes shut. She could smell his cologne, Winterswept. She adored that fragrance on a man. It made them smell wild and dangerous.
Their connection lasted mere seconds but in Rochelle’s mind it lingered longer. In her mind it transpired in slow motion with Raiden tasting her neck and blowing in her ear. After he released her and left the kitchen for the table once more, Rochelle gripped the counter for dear life. If she hadn’t, she would have most definitely fallen to her face. Her knees felt like jelly and her heart slammed against her chest. She winced, hauled in a breath and picked up the plate with the fried chicken. She stood there for a moment, steadying herself before walking into the dining room with a smile plastered on her face. Raiden took the platter from her and placed it on the table. She stood back and looked at the meal. Her mother would have been proud.
“Everything looks delicious.” Raiden pulled her chair out. Shock surged through her but Rochelle sat down.
“Thanks. I had good help.”
Raiden chuckled and sat across from her.
Rochelle watched him dig in. He knew what fork to use and when. He laid his napkin in his lap instead of tucking it down the front of his shirt, which made her smile. All the guys she’d dated thought the napkin should be used as a bib.
“Why did you choose graphics and animation?”
Rochelle pulled herself from admiring him, knowing full well he’d caught her staring. She looked down at her plate and thought about his question. “I loved to doodle as a child.” She shrugged. “And throughout high school they put me in charge of graphics for the year book and anything else they might need. I figured it was the only sensible way to go.”
He laughed softly. “That sounds logical.”
“Yeah. Logical. Only now because I’m doing the business stuff I rarely, if ever, have time to draw anything. What about you?”
“Well, I figured being in a boy band wouldn’t work out for me—I am not smooth enough. I have no rhythm and I have a tattoo.”
Rochelle arched a brow at the mention of the tattoo. “Where?”
“That, Rochelle, you’d only find out if you manage to get me naked.”
Chapter Two
Elbow deep in his monthly rifling through submissions, Raiden Rei frowned. There were so many people who thought they had what it took to be a part of his company—so many that thought they knew what would make the next great Manga series or Anime series. But most of them had no idea. The drawings, for the most part, are usually all wrong or they weren’t mature enough. Sometimes someone would send a graphic novel and he wanted to meet the person, whack them over the head with their own notepad and explain the difference between a graphic novel and Manga or Anime. All the while it never seemed like the pile of submissions got any smaller. True, he could hire someone to do it but he had to be hands on in everything. He started the company as a teenager, doodling in the back of his notebooks in class and getting in trouble for it. He wasn’t about to let some newbie come in, contract their friend and ruin his life’s work.
He dropped another submission package in the rejection slot and picked up the next. He rubbed a tired hand over his eyes and wondered when he’d actually had a good night’s sleep over the past few months. He tried not carrying work home but after the past month the work piled up—he didn’t have a choice. He brought home some edits for the latest Manga they would release in special edition and worked on it in bed. He would end up spending the whole night going through edits and by the time he realised it, the sun would be shining through his window. Sometimes he took cat naps in this office but those were never enough to replenish the body after a missed night’s sleep.
A loud crash came from outside his office and Raiden glanced up. The secretary had dropped a coffee pot. Needless to say brown liquid spilled everywhere. She looked on the brink of tears. Closing the sketch pad he’d been so busy filing through, he exited his office and stooped down before her.
“Here, let me,” he told her, helping her up and leading her back to her seat.
“Arigatou,” she whispered feebly, staring at her hands. “I don’t know what got over me. I just feel so, jittery today.”
Raiden picked up the phone and stared at her while waiting for maintenance to answer. “You sure you didn’t drink too much coffee already? You’re shaking.” He pointed to her hands just as someone picked up on the other end of the line. “Hi, could you send someone up to the thirtieth floor? We have a broken coffee pot. Thank you.”
He hung up and Nia frowned at him. “No. I haven’t had any coffee all morning. I didn’t want the coffee breath.”
That got one of Raiden’s brows to shoot upward. “Oh? You have a hot
date?”
“It’s nothing really—” Nia looked up and gasped, quickly looking down pretending to be working all along. Raiden glanced around to see their new exchange worker walking toward them. He smirked.
“Watch out for the coffee!” Raiden called and Jeffrey nodded and side stepped the mess.
“Oha!”Jeffrey greeted Raiden, leaning over the counter to stare at Nia. Raiden couldn’t help it. He hopped off the counter where he had been sitting, muttered something about shampooing a cat and escaped into his office.
It’s about time someone saw what a beautiful creature Nia is.
Nia had a good soul; loyal, honest and breath-taking when she smiled. Most of the time, his brother, Daitaro would ask him why he didn’t ask Nia out but Raiden couldn’t. Not because she worked for him but because he wasn’t attracted to her in that way. She was too petite and shy for his liking. But the new worker seemed smitten—he saw it in Jeffrey’s eyes—the way they danced when he caught sight of Nia. Raiden stood in his office and watched the way Nia giggled and flushed while Jeffrey spoke to her. She never did that—anyone tried hitting on her before would have pulled back with a busted lip.
She may be shy and nice but she didn’t tolerate certain behaviours. All the guys that ever paid her any attention wanted one thing and Nia wasn’t into that. Raiden remembered the time they all went to a luxury club while on a business trip to Shanghai. Things hadn’t gone well for a man who tried grinding against the little Japanese woman without permission. Raiden’s anger flared. He started walking toward the scene but didn’t make it to them in time. By the time he got to them, the man was on his knees clutching his groin and Nia was in the process of kneeing him in the throat. Raiden gripped her around the waist and pulled her away kicking and screaming.
“I hope you asked permission, Jeffrey,” he said to himself
Shaking his head, he closed the blinds. He knew if he didn’t he would stand there all morning watching them. He had some work to do and since no one agreed to go take Jeffrey’s place in Canada, he figured he had no choice but to do it himself. His brother could take care of things while he was away. Flopping down into his overstuffed chair, he dumped a couple more submissions in the rejection pile just because they hadn’t followed submission policy and gave up trying to find anything good. He instead pulled out the information he had on Hayes Graphics and Animations and read it over again for the millionth time. Why they agreed to exchange with such a small company compared to Emiko-San Ai perplexed him. But then he figured it would be good to help an up and coming company that he saw great potential in. Feeling a bit better about his predicament he picked up the phone and hit the blue button.
For the Love of Rei Page 2
