In Deep Kimchi (33 page)

“I don’t care.”

She sniffed at him. “Are you drunk? You should care. What if Amaya hears you?”

“She’s in the ladies room.”

“You still shouldn’t say it.”

He touched her face with his finger. “You don’t seem to have a problem with Ichiro seeing you in it.”

Shaundra rolled her eyes at him and moved away from his hand. “No one is going to see me in it. I plan to get out of it as soon as I get to my room.”

“Do you need any assistance getting out of it?”

Heat roared up through her body like a hot flash. “Stop teasing me, Yori. You are on a date with your fiancée. Should you be taking such liberties?” Damn her traitorous body.

“No, but I’m not stupid enough to pass up an opportunity like this.”

“Sorry, but you had the chance and you chose your fiancée.”

Yori removed his finger.

Ichiro and Amaya walked back into the ballroom together just as the party ended. Ichiro winked at her.

Anticipation rushed through her. This was really going to happen between the two of them. She smiled back. In less than an hour, she’d have him naked and ready. Finally, this trip to the other side of the world was starting to be fun.

Masaaki approached as the group walked toward the exit. He called the band members aside and told the rest of them to get into the limousines.

Ichiro squeezed her hand. “I’ll be back in a second.” He left and she followed Harper and the others out the door and into the waiting cars. Her cell phone went off. Shaundra dug into her clutch and retrieved it. “Hello.”

“It’s me, Ichiro. You’re going to have to go back to the hotel without us. Mr. Niigata has arranged a business meeting for us at this very moment.”

“Crap.”

“What’s wrong?” Harper asked.

Shaundra pounded the seat next to her with her fist. “Nothing. Aomori isn’t coming back to the hotel with us. Mr. Niigata has called a meeting.”
Stupid meeting
.

Harper pushed the button and relayed the message to Kenshin.

The driver moved the car away from the curb.

“I’m sorry, Shaundra,” Ichiro said to her through the receiver. “It’s my job.”

“Yes, I know. I’ll see you later.”

“If it’s not too late. Sometimes these meetings go on to the wee hours of the morning.”

“Then I’ll see you tomorrow.” She disconnected the phone call.
Damn Mr. Niigata
. Once again, Ichiro had been torn from her grasp. She shoved the cell phone back into her purse.

Dorothy patted her hand. “A cold shower will help.”

She leaned her head back against the seat and through her hand over her forehead. “Am I that transparent?”

Dorothy fanned the air around her. “Girl, I could feel the heat from the two of you all night.”

Harper moved into the seat next to her. “It’s business. You do understand that Mr. Niigata has to keep them in the public eye?”

Shaundra lowered her hand and straightened up in the seat. “I don’t know what’s you are implying.”

Harper chuckled. “Mr. Niigata has put a cramp in your plans to get busy with Ichiro.”

Shaundra placed him playfully on the shoulder. “I think both of you are mean and are just doing things to torture me. First, you put those pretty men in my face and now you’re taking them away. I think both of you are using me for your own selfish reasons.”

“Now would I do something like that?” Harper asked, lying back in the seat.

“Hell yes,” Shaundra and Dorothy answered. Riley and Jackson laughed.

Harper patted her hand. “You know me so well. Don’t think I don’t know what’s been going on between you and those over-sexed boy toys.”

Shaundra turned up her nose at the term. “Nothing has been going on.” She looked at Dorothy for sympathy and Dorothy just shrugged her shoulders.

“You’ve got them competing to see who you’re going to sleep with.”

“I have nothing to do with that. I can’t help it if they have overactive imaginations.”

“And overactive sexual appetites. I happened to run into Ichiro in the men’s room earlier. He was in a bit of a fix and wearing lipstick the same shade as the one you’re wearing right now.”

Shaundra rolled her eyes. “It was just a kiss.”

“And what I saw was just an erection and a pretty impressive one, if I might add.”

“Damn, how did I miss that?” Jackson replied.

Shaundra giggled. “He is so cute. He makes me feel like I’m twenty-one again.”

“I just bet he does,” Harper replied. “Just remember that you’re not.”

Boy, did she hate her boss right at that very moment. “So what are you trying to tell me?”

“Just think how you would feel if someone was doing this to one of your sons.”

“You’re not going to lay a guilt trip on me, Harper. You know I wouldn’t care if my sons dated someone older than they are. Look at what they’re dating now. Those lazy heifers don’t care about anything except getting their hair and nails fixed.”

“You’re leaving for the United States in a couple of days,” Harper reminded her.

“What does that have to do with now?” She knew what he said was true, but her raging hormones weren’t listening.

They arrived at the hotel and parted ways after the elevator dumped the others on their floor. This was one time she was thankful that she didn’t have to talk to Harper any more about her morals. He was just pissed that she didn’t want him. She went into her room, undressed and put the gown into the cleaner bag. The shoes got deposited into a box and then she returned calls to both her daughters who had left her messages. She also called her mother down South to see how she was doing. Other than the usual eighty-year-old aches, she was well and asked Shaundra to bring her back a kimono to impress her friends at the senior citizen center she visited a couple of times a week.

She still hadn’t heard from Donald, and she hadn’t expected to. She guessed he was having a grand time with his new girlfriend. Having nothing better to do, she donned a robe, pulled out her laptop and went back to writing her new novel for KiNii. The book involved two young men who met while on a cross-country trek to Taiwan. She glanced over at the clock several hours later. It was two in the morning. Her telephone rang. Shaundra reached over to answer it.

“I saw your light was still on when I passed your room.”

“Ichiro?”

“Yes, can’t you sleep?”

“I’m working on a book and lost track of time. How was your meeting?”

“It went well. Mr. Niigata introduced us to some entertainment people from China. They liked the songs we performed tonight and want us to do a concert in China next year when we return from the United States.”

“That’s great. Aomori is going to take the world by storm and you’ll make plenty of money and friends.”

“What are you wearing?” Ichiro asked, abruptly changing the subject.

“A robe and a smile.”

“Are you tired?”

“No.”

“I’ll be there in five minutes.” He hung up before she could stop him. He was at the door in four minutes still dressed in his white suit. Shaundra pulled him in quickly. “I hope you weren’t followed.”

He wrapped his arms around her and lifted her off the floor. “No, I was stealth. Everyone thinks I’m in my room.”

Shaundra raised her head and kissed him. He tasted so innocent and delicious, and he showed amazing upper body strength by carrying her into the bedroom. He placed her on the bed, removed his jacket and tie and tossed them on the chair.

“Ooh, I think I like this new side of you.” He was down to his black bikini briefs faster than any older, more experienced man. He had a nice body—brand new, young man muscles, a developed chest and a narrow waist. The legs weren’t bad either. A healthy erection strained against the briefs. “I think I have died and gone to heaven.”

He reached up and unloosed his hair and it cascaded down past his shoulders.

The little triangle piece of cloth between her legs moistened.

He helped her off the bed and sat down on it. “Please, remove the robe now.”

Shaundra untied the belt and opened the robe just to give him a peek. She wasn’t prepared for the look of shock on his face when she fully removed the robe. “Is something wrong?” she asked. “Do I not please you?”

His head bobbed up and down quickly. “You please me more than you’ll ever know.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“You’re the first naked woman I’ve ever seen.”

“Well, technically, I’m not naked.” She pointed to the thong. “Oh my. Did I just hear you right? You mean you’re a...?”

Ichiro blushed.

“I am honored.” Ooh, hot damn, she had hit the mother lode. Everything was falling into place. Everything was perfect. She turned, giving him a full glance at her buttocks as she started peeling the band of the thong from around her waist and over her hips. “Are you sure you’re ready for this?”

“Yes,” he said huskily.

Shaundra moved the thong down her legs and then she kicked them away and turned around to face him.

Ichiro gulped and reached for her, burying his face into her stomach.

Shaundra shuddered from the softness of his lips on her abdomen. The fire alarm in the room sounded. She groaned. “Do you think it’s a real fire?”

Ichiro said something in Japanese that no doubt was a swear word. “It probably is. Let’s get dressed.”

Shaundra hurried into some clothes while Ichiro put the white suit back on. They slipped out of the door and into the hall. The alarm sounded much louder out there. They followed other people from the floor down the stairwell and out the hotel. Harper waved them over.

“We’re just trying to account for all our people.”

The rest of Aomori arrived along with their manager, their chauffer and Mr. Niigata.

“Everyone is here,” he told Mr. Niigata.

The fire truck arrived.

“This better be real,” Ichiro said as he hugged Shaundra from behind.

Shaundra nodded her head in agreement. Ichiro still had a semi-hard erection.

Satoshi inched over toward them. “What’s up?”

“My patience,” Shaundra replied.

“Nothing,” Ichiro said.

“Why are you still in your suit?”

“I had just taken it off when the alarm went off. Then I had to put it back on.” He kissed Shaundra on the back of the head and released her.

Satoshi reached up and tenderly touched Ichiro’s hair. “You better put that away before you start a couple of fires out here. Can’t you see how all those women are gawking at you?”

Ichiro looked around quickly. “Damn.” He took a band out of his pocket and fixed his hair.

The firemen went into the building and left them standing outside for a couple of hours.

“I am so damn tired,” Dorothy said as she sat down on a curb. “I had just dosed off.”