Her Unexpected Affair (The Robinsons) (4 page)

“Cousin! Didn’t expect to see you here.”

Meilin sighed and carefully set down her drink before looking up at Jack. “Jack Ling. Fancy seeing you here. Finals over already?”

“Graduation is a week from tomorrow, which I’m sure you know. Hope you buy me an appropriate gift. Come, Meilin, let me introduce you to some friends of mine.” His hand on her shoulder urged her to turn on her stool until she faced the young couple. “I’ve been teaching Drew here some phrases in Chinese.”

Internally, her muscles tightened. Jack had done this before, taught a white friend a ghastly phrase while saying it was nothing more than a greeting.

“Meilin, may I present to you, Drew Robinson and Courtney Ferguson. Brother and sister raised far apart. Long story but very entertaining.”

She extended her hand to the girl first. “Pleased to meet you, Courtney.”

“Likewise,” the girl replied with a wide-open friendly smile and gentle handshake. Warm and exactly appropriate, she didn’t cling a moment longer than necessary.

Next, Meilin extended her hand to the man called Drew. “Drew, pleased to make your acquaintance. Do you both know my cousin from the university?”

Drew’s large hand enclosed hers, and the flash of heat that surrounded her hand before zipping up her arm stole her breath. Enough so her eyes blinked wide open. In response, his blue eyes dilated in a flash, and his hand flexed a little, almost as if he wanted to pull her closer. Not that she’d mind, she was surprised to realize. The feeling left her disconcerted and breathless. She tugged her hand from his grip.

“Meilin. Did I say that correctly?”

“Yes, yes you did. You both may call me Mei, if you like.” Flustered, she folded her hands in her lap, her gaze politely on his when she wanted to look anywhere but at his too handsome face. That was a lie. She wanted nothing more than to gaze upon his beautiful, perfect features now that she had a clear view, up close and personal. Blue eyes, golden hair, strong chin, chiseled jaw, perfectly shaped lips, hard body. This man was the total package.

His large hand rose and rubbed his perfectly sculpted chin. “Let me see if I have this right…
Wo hen gaoxìng dài qiánbao
.”

Holding back the smile and chuckle so desperate to break free, she replied, “I am sure, but the contents of my purse will remain where they are. You should slap Jack for playing such a trick on you.”

The flush burning Drew’s cheeks as he dropped his hand was almost disguised by the low lights and the flashing dance spotlights. Almost. The wicked twinkle in Jack’s eyes was merely enhanced while Courtney lifted a hand to muffle her giggles.

“
Xièxie
, at least I’m pretty sure that means ‘thank you.’ I just may have to cause Jack some harm,” Drew said easily. “I meant to say I was honored to meet you. Guess that’s not even close, and I probably should forget the rest of the phrases he’s been teaching me.”

“No doubt.” Meilin allowed her smile to break free. “Don’t trust a word that trickster says. Especially when it comes to Chinese lessons, either language or culture. However, you did get ‘thank you’ right.”

Jack held up his hands. “No harm intended, just a little fun for me.”

The dark glance Drew directed at her cousin promised some sort of retribution. The twinkle in his blue eyes reduced the severity. He had a sense of humor. That endeared him to her more than she expected. Jack had a sense of humor, but as far as she knew, Shan did not. Much like her own father and brother seemed to be missing funny bones.

“Looks like we found a table,” Drew said.

“Yes, yes,” Jack agreed. “Let’s pull it closer. Have you been abandoned by your giggling friends?”

Resigned and a little thrilled at the prospect of them sharing, she pushed Yuahua’s chair away. “Not abandoned. Someone had to hold down the table.”

Once the table was situated, Meilin couldn’t help but notice Drew sitting next to her, an act that further caught her gaze. The man was that beautiful. At the end of the table Jack sidled up to Courtney. Meilin hoped the girl could see Jack for the restless boy he was. Then again, if Drew knew Jack, he’d probably already warned her Jack was often described as a player.

Jack waved for the waitress, then leaned over the table. “What are you doing here?”

“Girls’ night out.” At Jack’s slow nod, she knew he’d figured it out. “How do you all know each other?” She redirected the conversation before it revealed too many details. She did not want to discuss her pending engagement.

“Drew’s in the law program and we shared a room last fall. He and Courtney share an apartment now. She just started her MBA program while we just finished our law degrees.”

“Congratulations,” she said to Drew. “Are you two twins?”

All three of them laughed, but Drew answered. “Same father, different mothers, born a few months apart. Long story.”

Meilin raised a brow. “As Jack mentioned, it sounds like an interesting tale.”

Drew shrugged his wide shoulders, shoulders that moved with the grace of honed muscle beneath the fine cotton of his shirt. “A broken engagement, a relationship with an exchange student, marriage to the ex-fiancée brought on by pregnancy, departure of the exchange student who kept her pregnancy quiet… We all connected quite by accident last fall. Now her widowed mother is married to our widowed father and we’re one big happy family.” He turned just enough to grin at his sister. “Always wanted a sibling. Just had to wait a couple decades to meet her.”

Meilin almost envied the cheeky grin the younger woman aimed at her brother. “Just trying to keep you on your toes.”

Drew snorted and leaned toward Meilin to mutter, “That she does. And her mother too. Her mission is to drive our father bonkers and he loves it.”

A stab of jealousy knifed Meilin in the heart. Other people found grand passion, and here she was about to commit the rest of her days to a union with a man who failed to inspire the rush of heat she’d experienced by just shaking Drew’s hand. Insane. She didn’t know these people well enough to envy them so fiercely. And yet, that emotion was a thousand times stronger than any emotion she’d ever felt for Shan.

It confused her.

And when confused, she turned to small talk.

“I detect more than a little pluminess in your accent, sir, but none in your sister’s. I’m guessing you were raised in England? Father and mother both British?”

“Good ear, not that it’s hard to decipher. I did the whole boarding school with proper elocution thing while Courtney was raised here in California as wild and free as a bird.”

“How very interesting. Are you to the manor born?” She did her best to say it in a British accent. Not that she’d had much practice, but who didn’t love a good BBC program from time to time?

Drew laughed. “No fancy titles in our branch, but we do have the biggest house in the district. My father likes to pretend he’s a lord of some sort at Christmas.”

The notion wasn’t foreign to Meilin.

Junlei arrived with the second round of drinks for her table and turned to Jack’s party to take their orders.

Her own father, directly descended from minor nobility turned laborer in California, liked to do the same. The reminders of how the family had started high born, fell to the lowest depths of society, then rose to the upper ranks were drummed into them all, chapter and verse at each large gathering. Come to think of it, at almost any gathering, large or small. The ancestors were well revered.

“Tell me about yourself,” Drew said. “Jack has told us nothing about you.”

Before she could open her mouth to politely turn the conversation again, Jack leaned across the table in order to be heard. “She’s an interior designer. One of the best in the city. Possibly in all California if not the west coast. Big time bigwig woman.”

Frowning at Jack did no good. She always let her work do her bragging for her, never did she need to toot her own horn. The wave of girls, fluttering like butterflies, returned to their table, relieving her from answering
.

“Jack, what a surprise.”

“Hey, cousin.”

“Jack, you mangy dog, what are you doing here? Spying on Meilin’s last night out? We should kick you out of here.”

“Not while he has friends here.” Sunchu, one of her few remaining single friends, leaned over from the far side of the table to extend her hand to Drew. “And who might you be, tall, golden, and handsome?”

Drew stood and exchanged handshakes all around as the entire group of five women settled at the table. Sure, they included Courtney, but Drew had ninety-nine percent of their attention. And why not? Exactly as Sunchu had said, he
was
tall, golden, and very handsome. Not only did he have a perfect tan, but he smelled good too. Not one whiff of heavily scented aftershave teased Meilin’s nose. He was as fresh as a forest. Clean water and towering pines came to mind. Maybe a hint of citrus, possibly lime, but his scent was light and refreshing. She’d have to find out what he used.

What in the hell was she doing sniffing him up like that? No, she would not ask him what scent he wore. Especially because his proximity made her pulse thrum wildly in her veins. His thigh brushed against hers and she swallowed a gasp, as the contact acted like a raindrop landing on a smooth lake, sending ripples of goosebumps down her leg and up her body.

It took only a second to drain her first drink, set it down, and reach for the second. This was all she needed. A short, intense attraction to a foreigner on the eve of her engagement. Sort of like a very short-term foreign exchange. Surprised at her comparison to a semester abroad, she laughed to herself.

Not happening. Not now, not ever.

And then he had to ask, “Would you like to dance?”

Hand extended to her, Drew stood close enough she could feel the heat from his body.

It took strength pulled from her center of calm to nod coolly and accept his offer. With the support of his gentle grip, she slid from the seat and followed him, dodging the crowded tables to the packed dance floor. Wasn’t it just her luck the DJ chose to slow things down with the next song?

The fact Drew had been raised a gentleman was evident in the way he held her in a classic dance pose, one hand lightly resting on her waist, the other holding her right hand not too close to his body. A few inches separated them. Discreet. Respectful. However, both contact points tingled with awareness such that she wanted to press her body against his. The care with which he guided her to the rhythm of the slow tune indicated many hours of dance lessons. Better than most of the men she’d danced with. Following his lead was easy and comfortable. Rather it would have been easy and comfortable if not for the high voltage energy zinging back and forth between them. Not at all what she’d expected. Better than she’d ever dreamed a dance partner could be.

There, in the middle of the floor, she could better see the blue of his eyes. The blue pulled her in, much like a cool mountain lake on a hot day.

Ha! The ancestors and deities were having fun with her by throwing this prime specimen of man at her at this moment. He moved with athletic grace, his body talking to hers, the flexing of strong muscles moving under her hand, seducing more than the twinkle in his eyes. Eyes that held a faint shadow that looked suspiciously like exhaustion.

“So, you just completed your degree?” Anything to distract her from the surprising warmth purling around her limbs.

“International law. Everything was checked off this afternoon. I’m allowed to graduate with my class. Next stop is a ten week Chinese school. Guess I’ll have to unlearn everything Jack tried to teach me, won’t I?” A small smile played around the corners of his mouth.

“Not everything, I’m sure. Mostly you’ll have to work on your tones and inflections.”

He nodded. “I’ve learned that much. I don’t have the best ear, so that will be tough. Not all I’ve learned has come from Jack. I had a bit of exposure at school, although now I’m suspicious my roommate at Eton may have also been playing tricks on me.”

Meilin laughed lightly. “I’m sure you’ll do fine. So you’re entering this program where?”

“Stanford.”

“I know the program. Have even substituted on occasion. Why learn Chinese?”

“The family business. My father would like to be more confident in the interpretations when we do business in China. I’ll spend a few years over there learning my way around, expanding our contacts, gaining new contracts. Any chance you’ll show up at the school this summer?”

Meilin ignored his last question. Undoubtedly, Arnie, better known to the students as Professor An Cheng Chung, would call on her to sub at some point. Or help with tutoring. “And the business is?”

“Import. With an eye toward the higher end. Beyond tea and trinkets. I’m pretty sure my mother wants some authentic antiques in our catalogue.”

At her raised brow, he clarified himself. “My stepmother, Randi. But already she’s accepted me as if she’d given birth to me and I’ve adopted her back.”

“Indeed. I’m not sure many women would so readily accept a grown man as their son.”

“Is that a polite way of asking my age?” An elegant brow, slightly darker than his golden hair, rose enticingly.

Feigning disinterest, she shrugged one shoulder. “Making conversation. I’m not experienced with stepmothers and the like.”

“Well, for clarification, I’m twenty-three. I know better than to ask your age, but I would place you close to twenty-five.”

Meilin laughed. “Nice try, but no, I won’t confess. A woman who will tell her age will tell everything. And I never tell everything.”

The grin on his face widened. “That’s fine by me. I like a woman full of mystery. Makes the getting to know her much more interesting.”

“You’re young to have completed a law degree. Although it happens, Jack’s two years older than you and he’s considered young for a JD. I’m surprised.”

“I grew up spending school holidays working in the offices, and I skipped a few levels at school.” He shrugged as if it were nothing unusual. “My experiences and scores got me into the program a few years ahead of my peers. All the better to be here at this point in time.”