That One Time (11 page)

“It is true so I won’t deny it.” He surprised both of them by taking her hand as they started strolling. The park was a moderate size, spacious enough to make even the most claustrophobic feel free but not so enormous that it would require them the entire day to explore the place.

The first phase of the park looked like a recreation of an old Chinese city, with its sweeping colorful roofs, cherry wood walls, and scores of red lanterns hanging from every corner. There were tiny bridges and man-made lakes, all of them giving the park an air of nostalgic charm. Once in a while, bald-headed monks would walk past them, and the first one had Nic blinking.

“Monks here drink Starbucks?”

Ayah laughingly pointed to another monk to his right. “Not only that, but they enjoy DQ ice cream, too.” It left Nic shaking his head.

The artisan shops had been pretty fascinating. One shop was dedicated to tea sets and when Ayah oohed over one particular porcelain set, Nic secretly ordered it for her while she was browsing other shelves. In the jade shop, it was her turn to surprise him, buying them “couple charms”.

“So we’d be together forever,” she told him solemnly.

“Then I don’t have to marry you anymore?” he asked without missing a beat.

She gasped in shock, making Nic laugh.

Another shop sold only chopsticks – all kinds of them. One of the display tables had tiny beads and practice chopsticks. Ayah easily scooped up the slippery beads and put it back into its box, but Nic hadn’t been able to pick up one without dropping it a second after.

“Aww. Poor baby,” she teased him.

He cupped her face and kissed her then and there. “Say that again and I’m thinking of giving you a baby right this—”

She hastily moved away from him, her face flushed. “I’ve learned my lesson,” she told him quickly.

The second half of the park had them walking past huge statues of various Chinese gods. There were food stalls lining the sides, and Ayah treated both of them to hotdog sandwiches. A huge black wolf-like dog started following them, making Nic tense. He was not used to animals at all, and when the wolf-like creature kept dogging his footsteps, he gave up and tossed his half-eaten hotdog to the animal.

The dog picked it up from the ground and quickly dashed away.

“Scared?” she teased him.

“It looked like a fucking wolf,” he said in a chillingly cold voice.

She only laughed and tugged his hand to get him to follow her. “That wolf, my dear Luuk—” They reached one of the hedges and she pointed behind it. To Nic’s surprise, the black dog was there, along with some of the other dogs in the park. More surprisingly was the feast they had tucked out of sight – hotdog sandwiches, pastries, and all sorts of meat.

“—is one of the monks’ pets.” Seeing his stunned expression, she giggled and told him, “Think of it this way. They’re well trained when it comes to asking for donations.”

When he made a move to take the food back, just to get back on the devious canines, she laughingly dragged him away and urged him towards the shrine. She paid for their lunch, neglecting to tell Luuk that what they were about to eat was a vegetarian meal prepared by monks. She laughed at his pained expression after the first bite.

“It’s not that bad!”

He retorted coolly, “It is when you are used to eating like a human and not a goat.”

Oh, God, she loved this man, loved how he was so genuinely sophisticated about everything that it was both amusing and impressive at the same time.

When she brought them to the foot of the stairs leading to the two-hundred-foot high Buddha statue, he asked incredulously, “You want us to climb all the way there?” There had to be a thousand of steps for them to trek before they would reach their destination.
 

She beamed at him. “Yes.”

Now was the time to let her know he owned a copter that could take them to the top in seconds. But that would also mean telling her he was not Luuk.

When put like that, the decision was simple.

He took her hand. “Let’s do this.”

It was a spectacular day, ending with Ayah and him kneeling on the ground as she taught him how to pray to Chinese gods. They had bought giant incense sticks that were almost as tall as Ayah, and he had barked in laughter when her face turned red in her efforts to lift the burning incense sticks on her own.

After, when he asked Ayah about her familiarity with the city’s local culture Ayah explained, “My mother was a travel writer, but she liked spending most of her free time here in Hong Kong.”

“When she fell pregnant with me and my dad didn’t marry her, she went back home so she could have help from my grandparents while raising me. But she told me stories about Hong Kong all the time and she taught me how to speak all the Chinese dialects she knew. When I had the chance to come live here, I took it.”

“You weren’t afraid of living on your own in a foreign country?”

“It wasn’t as if I was leaving anyone else back home,” she answered with a wry smile. “They’re all gone.”

Nic had paled at her words, but she laughingly waved his apologies away. “It doesn’t hurt anymore. I’m just happy thinking they’re all at peace. Besides…” She peered at him under her lashes, eyes dancing with mischief. “You kind of remind me of my mom.”

He had a feeling he wouldn’t like her next words, but he said anyway in a dry tone, “I’ll bite, lieverd. Why do I remind you of her?”

“Because she tells the most awesome stories, and you do, too. With you it’s like I have my own Grimm and Andersen and—”

He shut her up with a kiss, seriously embarrassed at the way she was looking at him. She made him feel perfect, when he very well knew it was Ayah who was perfect. He couldn’t recall a day when he had this much…fun. And certainly, he couldn’t recall a day that he had been this tired or spent less than a thousand dollars. If he was back at home – or with any other person but Ayah – Nic knew what he would have spent on a few drinks would be more than what they had spent as a couple.

Day had turned into dusk by the time they took the cable car back to the city. They were surrounded by blackness, with only golden lights from the airport occasionally allowing them to see each other. For the return trip, she had booked them the standard cabin, and he was thankful for that because it gave him a chance to use the pole in the middle of the cable car for a quite inventive reason.

Before Ayah knew what he was planning, he had already unzipped himself, flipped her skirt up, and entered her from behind. In moments, she was clutching the pole desperately as he fucked her hard, and soon her screams echoed around the cabin.

Even though her mind knew that the darkness of the night completely hid them from view, she still felt thoroughly hedonistic about what they were doing. She felt that, but for the life of her she couldn’t make herself stop thrusting back, wanting more of Luuk’s cock.

After, with her entire being humming with contentment, Ayah could only sigh as Luuk wiped her clean and gathered her in his arms. He was seated at the bench, one leg stretched out, with Ayah draped across him.

His heart felt like it was about to explode, and he had a feeling it would do just that if he didn’t get the words out. “Ayah?”
 

“Mm?” She was in his arms, her head nestled against the crook of his shoulder.

“I love you.”
 

Ayah hugged him tightly. “I love you, too.”

It should have ended like that. Perhaps if he had been a good man, it would have.

But it did not.

When they arrived at his hotel, a woman walked swiftly towards Luuk, throwing her arms around him as she gave him a passionate kiss. Pulling back, the stunning woman said throatily, “I missed you so much, Nic.”

~ Eight ~
 

The broken silence between the three of them was exactly what Thelma Laarson had hoped for. She had been keeping tabs on the little slut for over a year now, doing her best to poison Nic de Koningh’s mind against marrying the cheap gold digger in subtle ways.
 

She had known from the very start that the two had an inexplicable connection, and she had also been smart enough not to mention it. Instead, she had played her cards carefully, doing her best to undermine the relationship by constantly making digs about love in Nic’s presence. She had needed him cynical about love because it was the only way to get him – and she had almost won. She would have won if not for that snooty and nosy Farica.

That girl was the only one who could have convinced Nic to fly here and take his chances on this nobody. If not for Farica’s interference, Thelma knew a little more time was all she needed before she had a de Koningh ring around her finger.

But she wasn’t giving up just yet, Thelma thought as she pasted a fake curious smile on her lips upon turning to the pale-faced girl next to Nic. “Is she a friend of yours?” She let her eyes go wide. “Oh, dear! Don’t tell me this is—”

Nic stiffened, realizing where this was heading. “Shut up, Thelma.”

“—
the
infamous Ayah Chandler?”

Ayah whitened even more at hearing her name fall from the other woman’s lips. There was too much tension in the air for her to ignore the words, no matter how badly she wanted to pretend that nothing was happening.
 

“Yes.” She forced a smile. “I’m Ayah. But I’m afraid—”

Thelma deliberately cut the girl off with a sneering laugh. “I know all about you, Ms. Chandler. I know how you’ve tried to seduce Nic on the plane and have forever pestered him since then with emails and calls—”

Ayah took a step back, the vitriol in the other woman’s words making her feel physically sick. “I didn’t…I’m not…” She looked at Luuk, and the only thing she could think of asking was, “Why is she calling you Nic?”

Thelma snapped, “Because that’s what his name is, you stupid slut.”

“Get the fuck away from us now, Thelma,” Nic growled without taking his gaze off Ayah’s stricken face. “Ayah, I can—”

She whispered, “Why would you lie to me?”

Thelma pushed herself between the two. “Oh, please. Isn’t it obvious? He’s just been fooling around with you.” She gave the younger girl a nasty smile. “Don’t flatter yourself into thinking you’re special, honey. Nic’s a billionaire and the flight here’s no more expensive than what he spends on his clothes.”
 

She tried to take a step closer towards the other girl, but Nic was suddenly holding her back. “Let go—”

“Security,” Nic barked.

Thelma turned red. “How dare you call security on me?”

“Because you’re making a fucking scene—”

The disgust on Nic’s face stung, and she poured out all of her rage on the other girl, turning to face her again. “Don’t think you’ve won, bitch!”

The hotel’s security crew had finally arrived and they took over holding her. Enraged, Thelma screamed, “He was always planning to dump you. In fact, he practically proposed marriage to me. Did you know that?” Seeing her words had found its mark, Thelma laughed. “Aww…did that hurt? Maybe he tried to propose to you, too? Well, I wouldn’t blame him for trying. It could be he was wondering if with marriage you’d finally give him your virginity—”

Unable to bear hearing anything more, Ayah turned her back and walked away.

“Ayah, wait—”

She nearly fell in her haste to get away from him.

Stunned, Nic slowly let his arm fall to the side.

“What’s your real name?”

Fuck. Fuck. FUCK. He didn’t like hearing her like that. “Ayah, let’s talk—”

She whirled around, crying out, “What’s your damn name?”

There wasn’t any sign of fury on her face. All he could see instead was hurt. “Nic,” he said tautly. “Nicolaas de Koningh.”

“And…you’re rich? Like she said?”

He gave her a curt nod.

She sucked in her breath at that, nearly doubling over at the pain his admission caused. “Everything she said was true, wasn’t it?” she asked tonelessly. “You never planned to marry me when you came here. You never…you never…” Ayah gasped out, the only way she could make herself breathe through the pain. “Oh, God, you…never…”

“Ayah, I didn’t mean to hurt you.”