Whatever You Like (18 page)

L
ena stood at the windows staring out at the rain that had been falling steadily since early that morning. She was back home. Back in her own apartment, back in her own world. But as she gazed through the rain-streaked glass, it wasn't Chicago's familiar skyline she was seeing. It was Tokyo's. Worse, she couldn't stop humming the words to “Stormy Weather.”

Don't know why there's no sun up in the sky…

“Wow, Lena! These photos are amazing!”

Lena's gloomy musings were interrupted by her sister, who sat cross-legged on the sofa clicking through photos on Lena's laptop.

As she turned from the windows, Morgan sighed enviously. “Aw, man. These pictures make me want to visit Japan more than anything.”

“You should go. I think you'd really enjoy yourself.”
Lena grinned. “Between the Ginza and Shibuya districts, you'd be in retail heaven.”

“Don't tease me,” Morgan groaned. “That's so mean.”

Lena laughed. “Mean? Aren't I the one who brought back bagloads of clothes and shoes for you?”

“You sure did.” Morgan grinned, preening in one of the new designer shirts that she'd insisted on wearing immediately. “Those bitches at work are gonna be so jealous.”

Lena grinned, clucking her tongue. “Now, now, that's not very nice. Besides, I thought you patched things up with them.”

Morgan scowled. “I thought so, too. Until they stabbed me in the back again.”

“What happened?” Lena asked, joining her on the sofa.

Morgan waved a dismissive hand. “We'll talk about it later. Right now I want to hear all about your trip to Japan. It looks like you and Roderick had a wonderful time together.”

Lena smiled softly. “We did.”

“Mmm-hmm. I bet you did.” Morgan grinned lasciviously. “You still haven't told me why you changed your mind about seeing him again. As I recall, you were adamantly opposed to the idea. And then the next thing I know he's showing up at the hospital, then whisking you off to another country. What happened?”

Lena smiled wryly. “Let's just say he made me an offer I couldn't refuse.”

Morgan looked intrigued. “What kind of offer?”

Lena instantly regretted the slip of tongue. “It's a long story. I'll tell you about it later. Now finish looking through those photos so we can go grab dinner.”

Morgan glanced dubiously out the windows. “I ain't going back out in that downpour.”

“You have to,” Lena said with a chuckle. “I haven't had a chance to go grocery shopping yet, so I don't have any food.”

“Ever heard of takeout?”

“Wimp.”

Morgan chuckled, returning her attention to the photos. “You certainly did a lot in one week. Oh, look at those beautiful mountains!” She turned the laptop toward Lena. “Where was that?”

Lena glanced at the screen and smiled. “That was an island called Hokkaido. Very scenic lakes and forests. We went hiking through one of the national parks and bathed in the hot springs.”

“Out in the open? Naked?”

Lena bit her lip, blushed and nodded.

Morgan grinned, and began clicking eagerly through the slideshow.

“What're you doing?” Lena asked.

“Trying to see if Roderick shows up naked in one of these pictures.”

Lena laughed. “You wish!”

“I do. I
really
do.”

Grinning and shaking her head, Lena rose from the sofa and started toward the kitchen. “I'm getting a takeout menu. What're you in the mood for?”

“Japanese food, thanks to these pictures. But I'll settle for some deep-dish.”

“Pizza it is, then. Do you want the usual—”

Suddenly Morgan gasped.

Alarmed, Lena spun around. “What? What is it?”

Morgan lifted her head from the laptop and stared at Lena. “Come look at this photo.”

With a puzzled frown, Lena retraced her steps to the sofa and peered over her sister's shoulder. The moment her gaze landed on the photograph in question, she understood why Morgan had reacted so strongly.

It was one of the pictures that had been taken by the friendly tourist at the Imperial Palace East Garden. He must have snapped off a shot before Lena and Roderick were ready, because they weren't looking into the camera. Roderick was smiling tenderly at Lena. And she…oh, God. In that brief, unguarded moment she'd gazed at him with her heart laid bare.

With just one press of a button, a complete stranger had exposed a truth Lena had been trying to outrun for days.

“Oh. My. God.” Morgan gaped at her. “You're in love with him.”

Lena pressed her fist against her mouth, but the choked sob escaped anyway.

Morgan's expression softened with concern. “Lena?”

She shook her head helplessly, tears scalding her eyes and blurring her vision. “I don't know what I'm going to do,” she whispered.

“What do you mean?” Morgan asked gently.

“I thought I could handle it, but I was wrong.”

“Handle what?”

“Our arrangement.” Lena gulped painfully. “The damn deal we made.”

Morgan rose from the sofa, draped a comforting arm around Lena's shoulders and steered her back to the sofa. “Tell me what's going on.”

And just like that, the story came pouring out of Lena, along with the tears. She told her sister everything, starting from the night she and Roderick met to their
bittersweet goodbye at the airport yesterday morning. By the time she was finished, she'd gone through half a box of tissues and sobbed through Morgan's new designer shirt. Morgan, God bless her, didn't seem to mind.

“Oh, sis,” she soothed, gently rubbing Lena's back. “I'm so sorry. I had no idea.”

“I know,” Lena mumbled miserably. “I was ashamed to tell you. Not only had I slept with a client, but then I agreed to
continue
sleeping with him for money. I could only imagine what you'd think of me.”

“I would have thought that you're human,” Morgan said with wry amusement. “Only a superhuman could have resisted such a tempting offer from Roderick Brand. As you may recall,
I'm
the one who told you to let him be your sugar daddy.”

Lena managed a teary laugh. “You weren't serious about that.”

“Says who?”

Shaking her head, Lena drew away and leaned her head back against the sofa. Staring up at the ceiling, she whispered hoarsely, “God, I'm such a mess.”

“Yes, you are,” Morgan agreed softly. “So what are you going to do about it?”

“I don't know. I honestly don't know.”

“You could start by telling him how you feel,” Morgan suggested.

Lena swallowed hard. “I could. But I don't think I could handle it if he didn't return my feelings.”

“Well,” Morgan said speculatively, glancing at the laptop screen, “judging by the way he's smiling at you in this photo, I'd say your chances are pretty good. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words.”

Lena followed the direction of her sister's gaze. Her heart squeezed at the memory of what Roderick had
said to her as they posed on the bridge.
I want as many souvenirs as possible.

Did she dare hope that he felt the same way about her?

“Even if you don't tell him yourself, he'll know the moment he sees this picture.” Morgan smiled quietly. “I did.”

She had a point.

Lena pushed out a shaky breath and raked a hand through her hair. “Okay. Suppose I tell him how I feel, and he asks me to quit my job at the agency?”

“I'd fully expect him to,” Morgan said pragmatically. “Why would a guy like that want to share his girlfriend with other men?”

Lena frowned. “But what about Poppa? Even if you and I pooled our resources, we couldn't afford to pay for Lakeview Manor on our salaries. We explored that option before, remember? We couldn't make the numbers work.”

“Okay,” Morgan said slowly. “Here's another thought. If you and Roderick were dating,
he
could pay for the retirement home. Hell, he could build Poppa his own private facility, something even bigger and better than where he is now.”

Lena's frown deepened. “Poppa's my responsibility, not Roderick's. There's no way I'd ask him to foot the bill just because we're dating—”

“And he happens to be filthy rich.” Morgan grinned.

Lena scowled.

“Anyway,” Morgan pointed out, “you probably wouldn't have to ask Roderick to do it—he'd do it on his own. For you, and for Poppa. Didn't you see the way they bonded?”

Lena groaned. “Let's not get ahead of ourselves. I haven't even told the man how I feel about him.”

“When does he get back from Japan?”

“I don't know. Monday, at the earliest.”

“That's almost a week away! You can't wait that long to tell him, Lena.”

She sighed heavily. “I know.” Hell, if she waited another hour—let alone five days—she'd lose her nerve and talk herself out of saying anything.

Rising from the sofa, Morgan said, “I'd better let you get to it.”

On second thought.
“No, Morg, don't go yet.”

Her sister hesitated. “Why not?”

“You braved the nasty weather just to come over here and have dinner with me, so that's what we're doing. I'll call Roderick later.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.” Lena mustered a wobbly smile. “Family first.”

Morgan's dark eyes twinkled. “If my hunch is right about Roderick's feelings, he'll soon be family, too.”

 

After Morgan left, Lena summoned the courage to call Roderick. She knew it was after 7:00 a.m. in Tokyo. With any luck, she could catch him before he headed to the office.

Her heart thudded while she waited for him to answer the phone. One ring, two, three—

“Hello.” His deep voice sounded clipped, distracted.

Lena swallowed and tried to calm her shaking nerves. “Good morning.”

There was a pause. Then, in a gentler tone, he said, “Hey, beautiful.”

Her knees went weak, and she sank to the sofa. “Hey, yourself. I thought I'd try to reach you before you left for the office.”

“I'm on my way now. Just marinating in traffic.”

“Oh.” She felt a pang of guilt. “I guess if you'd taken one of those other penthouses, you'd have been closer to the office.”

“Pretty much.” He paused, then added softly, “But none of those other places had a teahouse.”

Her heart soared. “I'll never forget—”

The rest of her declaration was drowned out by the sudden cacophony of blaring horns, followed by Roderick's muffled expletive. A moment later he came back on the line sounding disgusted. “Sorry about that. Damn crazy drivers.”

“Worse than Chicagoans?”

“Most definitely.”

She grinned. “How'd I know you'd say that?”

He hummed a noncommittal note, distracted again.

She heard papers rustling in the background. She envisioned him in the backseat of his chauffeured car, dressed in one of his impeccably tailored suits, leather briefcase open on his lap, his black brows furrowed in concentration as he perused documents on his sleek, high-tech laptop.

“If this is a bad time, I can try you later,” she offered.

“No, this is fine. I'm in meetings all day, so this is probably the only chance we'll get to talk.” She heard tapping as his fingers flew rapidly across the computer keyboard.

Inwardly she sighed.
Great.
She'd called to pour out her heart to him, to tell him that she loved him and didn't want to live without him. And he was multitasking.

“I'm sorry,” he muttered darkly. “It's been one of those mornings.”

“I understand. Really, I can just call you tom—”

“No, it's okay. I just had to send off that last message. The rest can wait until I get to the office.” He blew out a deep, ragged breath. “How are you?”

“I'm fine.”
I miss you. I miss hanging out with you. I miss falling asleep in your arms and waking up with you inside me. I don't think I'll ever be the same without you.

“Did you go to work today?” he asked her.

“I did.”

“You should have stayed home. You got in late from a twelve-hour flight.”

“I know, but I had that professional development training that I promised Ethan I'd attend if he gave me the week off. Tomorrow's Friday, so at least I have the weekend to catch up on sleep.”

“You won't, though. You're like the Energizer Bunny.”

She laughed. “Look who's talking.”

He chuckled softly. She waited for him to make a suggestive remark about his staying power, but instead he asked, “How's your grandfather?”

Ignoring a stab of disappointment, she replied, “He's doing great. I called him when I got back and told him I'd see him on Saturday to give him his souvenirs.”

“Cool.”

“Of course,” Lena drawled wryly, “Morgan couldn't wait till Saturday to receive the gifts I brought back for her. All I had to do was mention clothes, and she rushed right over after work.”

Roderick chuckled. “A clotheshorse, just like my sisters.”

Lena grinned. “They'd probably get along fabulously.”

“Probably.”

Lena found herself holding her breath, hoping he'd suggest that their sisters should meet. But he said nothing more.

She cleared her throat. “I was just, um, showing Morgan the photos from my trip.” She hesitated, biting her lower lip. “Have you looked at them yet?”

“Honestly, I've been so busy I haven't had a chance. All hell broke loose after you left yesterday.”

“Really? I'm sorry to hear that.” Guilt gnawed at her. Maybe things had slipped through the cracks while he was spending so much time with her. “What's going on?”