TouchStone for ever (The Story of Us Trilogy) (23 page)

“Thank you,” Ayden
says, pointing at the table and issuing instructions in flawless Chinese. The
servers disperse, leaving the head waiter with the unenviable task of popping
the cork. He does so with minimal fuss and pours from the bottle of
Krug
Grande Cuvée.

“Champagne? What’s
the occasion?” I reach out for a toast.

“We’re on honeymoon -
isn’t that occasion enough?” The skin around his eyes wrinkles as he smiles and
so does mine.

“Of course it is.
Cheers.”  The delicious elixir tickles my tongue then slips down my throat like
liquid gold.  “It’s delicious.” I reach out for a cracker. “What’s this?” I
ask, placing a napkin across my lap.

“That’s sushi and
that’s caviar.” He seems disinterested.

I place a couple of
morsels on my plate. “I thought you didn’t know about food.”

“I don’t. One of the
waiters walked past me with that. I asked what it was and then told him to
bring it to us with the most expensive item on the menu. It was an easy
selection to make.” He sits back into the cushioned sofa.

“Aren’t you going to
have anything to eat? God knows it must have cost a fortune.”

He shakes his head
distractedly and checks his watch. “I can’t stay.”

I return a cracker to
the plate before it reaches my mouth. “You can’t stay where? In this bar?”

“I need to go and
check something out…”

“Didn’t you discover
the identity of your embezzler at the meeting this morning?”

“No.”

“It wasn’t Jake
then?”

“He wasn’t there. He
said he had to check out one of the manufacturing units.”

I shrug my shoulders
and continue eating. “In that case he probably did. So where do you have to go
now?”

“I plan on paying an
unscheduled visit to the same unit.” He checks his watch again.

“Please stop checking
your watch.” Disappointment is written all over my face. “Why did you order all
this if you knew we wouldn’t have time to eat it?”

“Just because
I
have to leave doesn’t mean
you
can’t enjoy it.”

“On my own? Up here
in the clouds?!”

He chortles. “Of
course not. I’ve arranged for you to have a companion.”

I take a long sip of
champagne, put down my glass and top it up. “Some honeymoon this is turning out
to be,” I huff, despairing of his lack of consideration.

“Would you prefer I
renege on my duties?” he asks, pinning me in place with a disparaging stare.
“To allow ASMI to suffer the indignation of a court case whereby the guilty
party is sought out by investigators and prosecuted in the full glare of the
media?”

I’m shaking my head.
“Of course not.”

He stands and fastens
his jacket. “Then, I have to go and sort it out.”

I inspect him from
his knees to the top of his head, not stopping to take in the cut of his
trousers or the way his jacket clings to his muscular body like a second skin,
but revering everything most sacrosanct in the male form. I find myself licking
my lips, coating my tongue in lip-gloss at the merest thought of him - and last
night.

He clears his throat
and walks around the table, eases back a couple of strands of hair from my left
ear and speaks softly. “You know how hard it is for me to keep this revving
libido under control as it is without you coveting me with your eyes.”

“I wasn’t,” I lie.
“Stop reading my thoughts” I’m giggling.

He licks my earlobe
and continues. “I don’t have to read your thoughts, Beth. Your eyes betray your
every desire.” He stands upright and adjusts his trousers as best he can to
conceal the bulge that just happens to be at my eye level. “Now look what
you’ve done.” He grins and shakes his head. “You’re a terrible flirt, Mrs.
Stone.”

“You’re a horny
bastard, Mr. Stone,” I reply, trying unsuccessfully to hold back a broad smile.

“This is true,” he
answers as naturally as breathing. Something or someone catches his eye over by
the bar. “Your companion is here.”

Companion?

Jake appears,
catching the eye of every female en route. When he and Ayden combine forces the
body heat in the room tends to increase a couple of degrees; I know mine has.

“Well if it isn’t Mr.
and Mrs. Stone enjoying an afternoon snack.” He winks at me and pats Ayden on
the back. “So, you have me baby-minding now?” he asks Ayden, sitting down and
kissing my cheek. “Hi, Beth. You look as lovely as ever.”

“Thanks, but I don’t
need baby minding,” I huff indignantly.

Jake is about to
place a cracker in his mouth but stops before it reaches his lips. “There’s
approximately one and a half million people over there on Hong Kong Island.
Take it from me, you’ll need a minder.” He taps my knee. “Stick with me, baby,
you’re in safe hands.”

I glance up at Ayden,
who has adopted a look of unaccustomed concern. It would appear he’s thinking
twice about leaving me in Jake’s
safe
hands.

Jake continues to dig
into the caviar. “How long you gonna be, Ayd?” he asks between mouthfuls.

“A couple of hours.
I’m hoping it won’t take longer than that to check out a couple of things.” He
looks over to me apologetically.

I offer a sympathetic
smile. “Go. We’ll be fine.”

“Right.” He leans
into me and kisses me softly. As he pulls away I see a furrowed brow and a
flicker of something grievous in his eyes; an uncertainty I haven’t witnessed
before. I have no time to speculate why before he leaves and I’m left with my
handsome companion.

“So, how’s the
honeymoon going so far?” Jakes asks, patting his mouth with a napkin and
throwing back a glass of expensive champagne.

“It’s not exactly
what I’d envisaged but I know Ayden won’t settle until this problem is sorted
out.”

Shit! Why did I say
that?

He’s on it in a
flash. “Problem?”

“Yes, nothing major.”
I displace my interest and focus on the selection of food. “This is rather
extravagant.”

“Yes it is, but he
can afford it.” Jake reminds me.

I say nothing and pop
a piece of sushi into my mouth.

Jake lounges back on
the sofa, his arms outstretched in an overly casual pose. “After we’ve finished
up here do you wanna go into the city? You can do some shopping or something…”

“Yes. That sounds
like fun. But only if you don’t mind.”

“No. I don’t mind.
You’ve come a long way to stay cooped up in this tower like some damsel in
distress. The least I can do is come rescue you for a couple of hours.” He
laughs out loud and I do the same.

“I don’t need
rescuing, Jake - but thanks for the thought.”

He nods his head. “I
believe you. You’ve been through a lot.”

 “I’m fine. Look! Not
a scar to speak of.” For some reason I turn my hands over.

He smirks. “I can see
that.”

I mustn’t draw
attention to myself.

He places his empty
glass on the table. “Ayden loves you, you know.”

What a surprising
thing to say.

I can’t conceal my
astonishment. “I know …”

“But that doesn’t
stop him being a fucking pain in the arse sometimes.”

I’m laughing at his
directness.

“The thing is, Beth,
he listens to you. I’m not saying you can change him overnight, but he’ll get
there. He’s been flying solo for a long time.”

I reach for his hand
and give it a squeeze. “Thank you. I think we’ve both been living the single
life for some years.”

He’s shaking his
head. “He’s had that fucking Elise to contend with and you had that psycho
bastard on your heels. It’s about time you had some R and R.”

“Yes, but things are
a lot quieter now, although Charlie will claim I’m neglecting her. She’s in
Brussels on business at the moment, so I suppose we both have things going on
in our lives.”

He’s genuinely
interested. “Good for her. She’s a real fire starter.” He tips his head to the
side and smirks.

His comment makes me
laugh. “I’ll tell her you said that. She’ll be thrilled.”

He tops up our glasses.
“I bet.” His attention shifts to something else. ” I try to take a break from
all this when I can.” He raises his glass to in the direction of Hong Kong
Island. “It can get kinda intense, you know what I mean? It’s what I do but not
who I am.”

“Yes. I know what you
mean.” I look away then back again. “Then who are you?” I ask, holding him in
place with a wide, blue-eyed stare.

He extends his right
hand. “I’m Jake Harrison, Mrs. Stone. Pleased to meet you.”

Playing along I shake
his hand, noticing how he holds my fingers for a couple of seconds longer than
is necessary. “So, Jake Harrison, what are your plans for the future?”

“To make as much
money as I can, as fast as I can, and to get out. Maybe buy a ranch and breed
horses.”

His declaration takes
me by surprise. “Oh! Not to have your own business?”

“Been there, Beth.
Worked the 18 hour days, had the ulcers. Thanks but no thanks.” He folds his
arms then rests his chin upon an upturned palm.

“Horses?”

“Yeah. Sounds crazy,
right?”

“No.” I’m smiling at
a distant memory. “I used to ride when I was younger. I can see the
attraction.”

He’s suddenly
animated. “You ride?”

“I did. Although I’d
need a much bigger horse these days.” The connection between us is palpable.

“I wouldn’t worry
about that. You’re perfect as you are.”

I hear the compliment
and, for the hell of it, decide to run with it. If I can get him to lighten up,
who knows, he might shed some light on the illegal dealings involving ASMI.
“Thanks. It’s always nice to get a compliment.”

He’s quick to interject.
“If you were mine, I’d shower you with them.”

I shake my head at
the thought. “Shower?”

He’s a little
embarrassed. “Not sure where that came from.”

“From the heavens,” I
declare humorously, suspecting Ayden is watching from above.

He nods his head and
smiles boyishly. “Yeah. Heaven sent.” He takes a sip of Champagne. “Ayd’s a
lucky guy.” He reaches for my hand. “Ready for some retail therapy?”

“Always!”

We gather our
possessions, he checks his phone and asks the bartender to arrange for a car to
be waiting 119 floors below. His easy, confident swagger is a visible contrast
to Ayden’s upright, self-righteous stance. Ayden exudes power and authority
whereas Jake steals it artfully right from under your nose.

It’s a long way down.
Our descent is punctuated with friendly smiles and we mentally count the
numbers on the neon blue panel to the right of the door. It seems an awfully
small space even though there are only the two of us. Out of nowhere Jake hits
the stop button and we come to a standstill. I turn to him for some kind of
explanation.

He clears his throat.
“I have to ask you something.”

I think I know what’s
coming …

“Have you noticed
anything kinda strange about Ayden? I can’t put my finger on it but he just
seems different somehow.”

I fabricate a look of
surprise. “What do you mean?”

“Not sure. It’s just
a feeling, I guess. Nothing obvious but … something.” He frowns and waits for
my reply.

All I can do is look
into his worried eyes and shake my head. “Really?”

“You haven’t noticed
anything … different?”

Oh, you have no idea
…

“He’s a little
stressed about this manufacturing problem but maybe you can help him with
that.” I watch for any signs of anxiety.

He leans back against
the mirrored wall. “Something tells me the shit is about to hit the fan again.
Only this time it might stick.“ He’s shaking his head and, to worry me further,
he runs his hand over his hair as a visual gauge of his unease.

“Why? What’s
happening? Can you tell me?” I touch his arm tenderly.

He begins to speak …
the alarm sounds, the lift jerks into life and we begin to descend.

Damn!

“I’ll tell you in the
car.”

We compose ourselves.
We don’t want anyone thinking we were doing anything other than talking while
the lift was at a standstill.

Outside, the
limousine is waiting and the doorman recognises Jake instantly. We climb inside
and head out in the direction of Pacific Place. It comes highly recommended,
apparently.

I’m eager to get back
on track with our conversation. “So, you were saying about the shit and the fan
…”

“I may be speaking
out of line here but Ayd seems so distant I’m not even sure he wants to hear
this from me … or anyone else, for that matter.”