Note: I'm sorry about the long wait, it's been a busy start to the year for me. I'll try to update more regularly from now on. Anyway, thank you all for sticking with this story. I appreciate the reviews. :)
As The Season Changes
Chapter Eight
Ai glanced at the clock on her nightstand as she finished dressing for the party. For once she might be ready when Keigo arrived. Grabbing the red clutch that matched her dress, she dashed downstairs, stopping at her computer to put the finishing touches on a presentation she'd been working on for the past week. Being the new producer of a top rated show was hard work, and she starting to feel the strain.
Getting out of bed at 3:00 am and getting to work directly was hardly conducive to a good night's sleep. But neither by word or deed did she intend Keigo to know that. She'd just have to become more organized.
They spent almost every night together, and every morning at three, Ai drove herself home. It was ridiculous, not to mention inconsiderate, to wake the chauffeur to have him drive her back to her apartment at the middle of the night. She didn't care how much he was paid.
That time of the morning was the loneliest Ai ever felt. If sometimes she needed to cry on the drive home, she wanted to do so in private. Months of being Keigo's lover, and she still wasn't...
"What am I doing?" she asked herself in disgust before flopping inelegantly into the comfortable chair by the window. There was no point anticipating failure. It wasn't over yet.
...
Tonight they were attending an engagement party and Ai was curious to meet his friends. She leaned against the brass handrail in the elevator; it felt cool on her bare back. She wore a bias-cut silk chartreuse dress and huge dull gold earrings that dangled almost to her bare shoulders.
"How do you know this couple?"
"Oshitari from school and I've never met Shizuka."
"How long—" Ai's eyes widened as Keigo took two steps to close the space between them the moment the elevator doors closed on the parking garage.
"There can't be a yard of material in that dress."
She clasped her hand around his wrists in warning, glancing at the flashing numbers above the door. "Behave yourself."
They were only few weeks away from the autumn season to kick in, the heat continued to be oppressive over the city of Tokyo. She couldn't wait for the cooler days to come and with it the yearly anticipated holidays.
"You look absolutely delectable in red," Keigo said huskily, surveying her from very close up. His hand went to the back of her neck. "What happens if I undo this little button right here?"
Undoing the halter neck would get him a pair of naked breasts against his chest. Which was exactly his intention. Ai's fingers tightened around his wrist. He grinned wickedly, hesitated, then removed the threat of his hand.
"You're creasing me," she admonished, grateful the party was in the penthouse, seventy-two stories up, and they were alone in the elevator. She wasn't sure she would have stopped him.
"Silk doesn't crease," he assured her, nuzzling her neck. Ai trembled as he pressed her gently against the back wall, her breasts flattened against the hard plane of his chest. He'd been in New York for the last three days and arrived home barely in time to change and pick her up tonight.
"We have about forty seconds before this elevator door opens, I'm just making the most of them," he murmured, a breath away from her mouth.
"Hmm..." Ai fluttered her long eyelashes, smiling seductively. "Is forty seconds not enough for you?"
Keigo made a sound deep in his throat as he lowered his head. Ai tilted her chin, offering her mouth. He brushed his open mouth against hers, then stroked her lips with his tongue.
She had a vague thought that she was playing with fire, but his mouth was so sweet all thought of propriety fled. He exuded pheromones like a musky cologne and her body chemistry always responded.
Ai slid her hands beneath his jacket to stroke his back. He kissed her harder, tilting her head back so he could slant his mouth and deepen the kiss. She whimpered helplessly.
He lifted his lips from hers a fraction of an inch, his breath warm on her face. "One more taste before the doors open."
"Living dangerously, Keigo-sama?" She could feel how much he wanted her. His need was in the depth of his kiss, in the press of his body, in the urgency of his hands.
When the elevator jarred to a stop, Keigo straightened the halter straps, used his thumb to remove her smudged lipstick from her mouth and then his own. All in time before the doors slid open.
The unexpected flash of a camera stopped them both. Ai started to laugh. "Oh, no, the paparazzi are here."
Keigo squeezed her hand against his body, sharing her smile, but asked nonetheless. "Worried?"
"Not at all." She grinned mischievously up at him.
They followed the noise to the open doors of the penthouse. Ai looked around hoping for a familiar face, there were few people she knew solely by their name and social status.
She turned back to Keigo. He had the strangest look on his face. His playful mood of moments ago evaporated. Once again he had that cold look. Now what?
Raising her voice above the noise, she stepped closer to Keigo as people surged around them. "Which is the engaged couple?"
"The joyous couple over by the ice sculpture." Keigo indicated with a nod. He slid his arm around her waist, anchoring her to his side.
"The brunette in a blue dress and the tall guy?" Ai observed the newly engaged pair. The bride to be was smiling rapturously to whatever the good-looking man was saying. Turning away, she looked wistfully at the elegantly draped tables groaning under elaborate canapes and soaring ice sculptures. "The food looks good. How 'bout we grab something to eat before we push our way over there?"
Greeted with silence, she turned to Keigo. He was in a strange mood. She searched his face for a clue to his change, Ai followed his gaze and immediately recognized the busty blonde making a beeline toward them. Her photograph had accompanied Keigo's in the press for ten months. "Stick by me. I'll protect you," she said dryly.
Keigo looked as suave and debonair as a man could, caught between this year's and last year's mistresses. "Perhaps we should save time. You go and congratulate Oshitari and Shizuka and I'll tackle Naomi."
Ai shot him a reproving glance just as the other woman stepped closer. "Naomi, hi." Ai gave her cheerful smile, stepping a little in front of Keigo, "I'm Saotome Aiko."
Keigo placed a hand firmly on her waist and eased her back to his side again. Out of clawing range, Ai presumed. He kept a proprietorial arm around her.
Naomi narrowed her eyes as she glared up at Ai. "Do I know you?"
"No," Ai said gently, seeing the high emotion under the other woman's flush. "I recognized you from that great photo of you in the Inquirer last December." Ai carefully removed her hand from Keigo's. "I'm sure you want to talk privately with Keigo, so I'll go over and—"
"You might as well hear this." Naomi's tone was pure hostility. Ai moved closer to Keigo, her eyes narrowing on the blonde.
The Glacier King was back in full force as Keigo bit out icily, "Say what you have to say and leave."
"I'm pregnant," Naomi said defiantly in a too loud voice as she crossed her arms over her plastic bosom. A very elegant tent dress effectively hid any hint of a baby.
Ai felt an immediate surge of anger. How dare this woman be carrying Keigo's child! Ai wanted to rip her limbs off.
She felt sick with jealousy and heartsore with disappointment Naomi was pregnant. Damn it, it wasn't fair. A heavy lump in her throat made swallowing impossible. She looked up at Keigo. He had a very nasty smile on his face.
"Congratulations. Who's the father?"
"You are, you bastard!" Flashlights popped. "What are you going to do about it?" the blonde demanded, not missing a beat.
"Ask you to lower your voice, for a start," Ai cut in, for a moment hating them both, "unless you enjoy having your private life speculated about over breakfast. Oshitari and Shizuka have invited every tabloid in the universe to their party. So smile nicely and behave like a lady."
Keigo looked at her as if she had sprouted another head. He turned back to his ex-mistress, his blue eyes frosty. "It's taken you an inordinate amount of time to come up with this, Naomi." Keigo tsked. "You used to be much faster than this at cooking up money-making schemes."
"I've talked to your lawyers," Naomi snarled, her cheeks scarlet, eyes flashing him a grim warning.
"Wise idea." Keigo rested his hand on the small of Ai's back. "They no doubt told you about the mandatory DNA test?"
"I refuse to harm my baby just because you don't believe me," she said caustically, glaring up at him.
"DNA testing can be done at twenty weeks without doing any harm to the fetus. I'm sure, Tarou, my lawyer gave you the facts." Keigo rubbed his thumb on Ai's bare back.
"This is obviously a private discussion," Ai inserted. "I'll wait for you over by the bar," she added to Keigo over her shoulder. She turned on her heel and walked away.
As if the world hadn't come crashing down around her.
...
Her lightly tanned back was very straight when Keigo found her on the other side of the room minutes later. She was by herself, ostensibly looking at a nightmarish painting. She made a spectacular picture herself in the barely there little number that showcased her gorgeous long legs and the sweet curve of her spine.
"Let's go." Keigo came up behind her, resting his hand on her naked back. Her skin was silky and smooth, shimmering with vitality.
"Let's say our goodbyes to the hosts first."
He glanced down at her set expression. He wanted to ask her if she was alright, but refrained when she shot him a look. After having quick words with Oshitari and Shizuka they walked towards the elevator. Silently descending towards the garage.
The paparazzi had gotten off several dozen shots of the three of them, he knew, in just about every configuration. Ai was going to have a million questions. Hell, if she wanted to know what he and Naomi had discussed she only had to buy one of the tabloids in the morning. Fuck, the next time he saw Oshitari he was going to hang him on a tree.
Ai rested her head on his stiff shoulder. Of course, she wouldn't pull away, Keigo thought bitterly, leaning back against the pliant leather. She was his mistress. Another woman was threatening her cash cow. What the hell, she only had to put up with him another few months and she'd be free as a bird.
Staring straight ahead, he said grimly, "She was lying—"
He felt her exhale before she said calmly, "I know."
Keigo looked down at her. The passing streetlight dappled her face, making her expression hard to read. "Did you hear what I said?"
Ai yawned. "Mmm. The baby isn't yours."
There was a heavy weight in his chest "How do you know?" His voice almost cracked in the middle of the question. Far from being concerned, Ai was almost asleep.
She squeezed his waist, snuggling closer. "You just told me."
"You believe me?"
"Of course," she mumbled matter-of-factly, although her voice sounded thick. "You're a man of your word. If you say the child isn't yours, it isn't."
He stared at her. There was no doubt in her voice, or on her even features. She believed him. No ifs, ands or buts. She just... believed him. Unequivocally. A wave of emotion swept through him. Disbelief. Acceptance. And something else too powerful, too impossible, to believe.
Ai rubbed her cheek on his upper arm, sweetly drowsy as she settled her arm across his waist eyes closed. "As a matter of curiosity, what would you do if she was pregnant?" she asked in a soft, casual voice.
"Thank God that can be proven one way or another in this day and age—"
"But what if—"
"She just got greedy."
"She's trying to blackmail you?" Ai asked indignantly, sitting up straight. "That little b—"
"Tarou will take care of her." Keigo tucked her back against his side, when the car stopped at a red light. Grateful he decided to bring Tanaka, his chauffeur, instead of driving himself.
"If he doesn't, I will," she said firmly, then snuggled against him again. Her hand stroked lazily up and down his side.
Ai tucked her thumb under his belt as they made a hard right at a corner. When Keigo looked down, her long lashes were casting shadows on her cheeks. He tightened his arm around her shoulders and held her close.
"I wish—"
"What do you wish, Ai?"
He felt her small shrug as she whispered dreamily, half asleep, "A little girl. I'd dress her in pretty clothes and keep her safe." Ai covered a yawn. "But most of all, I'd just love her."
Keigo felt the ache in his chest tighten a notch. Ai seemed unaware of what she'd just revealed.
He knew firsthand a mother's neglect, hell, he hadn't seen his mother since she walked away from him when he was a kid. His mother's pregnancy had been cold-bloodedly calculated to snag Keigo's very wealthy and totally unromantic father. Wife number three, the only wife to give him a child. The marriage endured for three years until the divorce, where Keigo became a pawn in their power-play game of revenge.
Both fought over him. Though he wasn't being volleyed from parent to parent for anything other than power and money. If his father had him, his mother toed the line. If his mother had him, her expenses skyrocketed as she squeezed his father mercilessly. Until the family lawyer had insisted young Keigo be sent to boarding school where he wouldn't expect anyone to care and therefore would never be disappointed. He'd never seen his mother again.
As a child, Ai didn't have that option. Her parents marriage had been arranged, and divorce wasn't a word thrown around the Saotome family. Her mother had miscarried several times before Aiko had been born. A miracle child that should have been loved, but instead was treated with anger, resentment. Hatred.
His hands tightened into fists until his knuckles turned white. The hate he once felt for that woman came back to him in a rush. He looked down at Ai. How had she, who had been rejected by the one person who should've shown her care and love, grown into a woman who trusted so easily?
He was basically a solitary man. He had few men he called friends, but he only met with them on special occasions. He had never had a woman trust him as much as Ai did, understand him as Ai did. It was a novel experience. Keigo savored it as Ai's body relaxed against his. He brushed a strand of hair off her cheek.
She was asleep in moments, her fragrant hair tickling his face as it blew about in the warm breeze through the open window. They left the city behind, and car moving leisurely up the road to his estate.
Half an hour later parking outside his home. He leaned his head against the plush leather upholstery, closing his burning eyes. Well, hell, Keigo thought, wanting to laugh out loud. She believed him. No fuss. No muss. How the hell could such an uncomplicated woman be so damned difficult to understand?
Sighing to himself, Keigo carried Ai into the house and upstairs without disturbing her sleep.
TBC...
