Jihae felt glued to the spot and none of her limbs obeyed her. Had she just agreed to go to the movies with Colin Song? It certainly wasn’t a date. People wanted to wine and dine her all the time. This was no different. He was only trying to get in her good graces so she’d partner with his company.
But Jihae had never even been to the movies at a public theater. She’d been sequestered to watch movies in her family’s private theater or at the office. It would’ve been a lonely, isolating experience, but the movies always transported her out of there. She couldn’t imagine how wonderful the experience would be with a room full of people. She was beyond excited about going to a real theater. Their home theater served five-star meals and beverages, but she wanted nothing more than some popcorn and a Coke. She wanted to experience the movies as they were meant to be, enhanced by the shared excitement of the other viewers. It was going to be amazing.
She couldn’t tell June. She wasn’t trying to keep it a secret from her friend. After all, it was nothing. But she didn’t want June to blow things out of proportion and call it a date. That was unacceptable. It was a casual business meeting to determine the quality of the screenwriter’s talent. It was necessary for her to make an informed decision.
After a short knock, June walked into her office, and Jihae stared at her with wide eyes, not saying a word.
“I’ve done more research into Colin Song and his production company, and everything comes up squeaky clean and up-to—” June stopped both talking and walking when she looked up from her tablet. “What the heck is going on here? What’s the matter with you?”
“Nothing,” Jihae replied in a tiny voice.
“Don’t even go there. I want you to spill it in five seconds.” She began counting off on her fingers. “One. Two. Three. Four—”
“I’m going to the movies with Colin Song,” she nearly screamed then clapped her hand over her mouth. When she resumed, her voice was at the right decibel. “It’s a business meeting.”
“Whoa.” June ran the rest of the way to Jihae’s desk and sat on a guest chair that faced her. “Is that why he called? To ask you on a date?”
“Are you out of your mind, woman? It isn’t a date. He called to let me know that he had something to sweeten the deal. He’d found the perfect screenwriter for Best Placed Bets. On that note, I want to know everything you can find on Charity Banning.”
“Got it. Now go on.”
“I told him I’d never seen anything Ms. Banning has written. He said there was a theater still playing her latest film and offered to take me to watch it. He wants to convince me how perfect the film could be with someone who could masterfully transform the story into a great screenplay.”
“All I hear is ‘blah, blah, blah.’”
“I’m serious, June. This is not a date. I can’t risk my professional reputation by having people believe that I have a personal relationship with Mr. Song. Can you even imagine what would happen if my father found out?”
Her parents would accuse her of being naive and frivolous for dating a colleague, and put her under complete lockdown and take Rotelle Entertainment from her. Sadly, she wasn’t exaggerating at all. When her father had agreed to let her work at Rotelle Entertainment, he probably thought she was seeking a fleeting distraction. He didn’t believe she’d excel at her job and become recognized as a successful businesswoman. According to him, it made her bigheaded and fed her rebellious nature. He would jump at the chance to remove her from her position over the slightest mistake, but she hadn’t given him the opportunity so far.
As for her rebellious nature, she had smothered it to ashes after her one flailing leap for freedom. When she’d finished her last term at Oxford, she had disappeared into the countryside instead of attending her graduation. Both of her parents had prior arrangements. Couldn’t they have made an effort to care for once? After all, her college graduation was a huge milestone. Their absence had made Jihae furious and reckless.
Even though she’d lived in Oxford for nearly eight years, Jihae had never been allowed to travel around Europe on her own. She decided if she didn’t take a chance then, she would never be able to be on her own, even for a few months.
She’d relied completely on the cash she’d saved up, and had taken Eurail to go from city to city, mostly staying in hostels. It had been the most freeing, exciting few months of her life. She had returned to the UK and settled down at a little inn in the Lake District when her father’s men had tracked her down. They’d escorted her home immediately, and she had never been out of her family’s and the security guards’ sight again.
After years of denying her entreaty to expand Rotelle Entertainment to Hollywood, her father’s sudden order for her to travel to the US was a godsend. Her parents’ unreasonable expectations and constant scorn had become unbearable to live with. Especially when her engagement to Garrett Song had come to an end. Jihae had been secretly overjoyed by the cancellation of her impending arranged marriage, but her parents blamed her for the broken engagement. For bringing shame to their family. They told her Garrett Song broke the engagement because he’d somehow found out about her selfish, wild nature. Just one, single rebellious incident as a college kid had permanently marked her as the family’s black sheep.
“I just wish you could have some normal moments in your life,” June said with somber understanding. “You’re like Rapunzel trapped in a tower. Even an ocean away, your father controls your every action. Why can’t you go on a freaking movie date?”
“Someday, but not with this man. Getting involved with a business associate is unprofessional and improper enough to give my father the excuse he needs to remove me from Rotelle Entertainment.”
Jihae reached out and squeezed her friend’s hand. It meant so much to have someone who understood that she wasn’t living a fairy-tale dream. She was grateful for the privileges she had, but being a jaebul heiress meant isolation and loneliness. It was like being imprisoned in a golden cage, tightly leashed at all times.
“Okay. Fine. Then you better make sure no one construes your outing as a date, either. You did mention him being on Hollywood Insiders.”
“That was because he was with Sandy Lim.” She’d almost forgotten that he might still be dating her. Yet another reason not to get involved with him. He wasn’t available. “I doubt they’d follow him around when he’s not with her.”
“You know there are Korean media plants tracking you in the US, don’t you?”
“Bloody hell. Should I just cancel the stupid thing?”
“No. The paparazzi don’t get to dictate what you do. It’s enough your father has so much power over you. You just have to make sure you look the part of a businesswoman.”
“Do I ever not?” Jihae sighed wearily. “But I know what you’re saying. I’ll make sure and wear one of my pantsuits, not even a dress suit, and low-key shoes. And I’ll shake his hand when we meet and as we part. Those will make good, boring pictures.”
“You’re a pro. But can you try to have a little fun? Just a little bit. Deep inside.”
Jihae burst out laughing. “I adore you.”
“I adore you, too.”
The next evening, Jihae smoothed down her jacket and made sure she didn’t have a single strand of hair out of place before she stepped out of her cherry-red Corvette. It was a bit showy, but there was no rule that said she had to buy a white car. When she was in Korea, she happened to be driven around in white cars, but it had never been specifically discussed with her PR specialist.
She was lucky enough to find a spot in the tiny parking lot behind the equally quaint theater. Her sensible, white wedge heels clacked against the sidewalk as she strode toward the ticket booth, and it took all her strength not to stop and gawk at Colin Song. He’d ditched his jacket and tie, and he wore a pair of khaki pants and a white button-down shirt with his sleeves rolled past his forearms. Manly, veiny forearms. Gah. That multiplied his sexiness tenfold in her book.
Without breaking stride, Jihae came to a stop in front of Colin and extended her hand to him. She braced herself for impact. Even as a frisson traveled down her spine, she kept a polite smile on her face and maintained direct eye contact. But she forgot to withdraw her hand, and Colin didn’t seem to have any intention of releasing it. Unable to feign calm a second longer, she took a hasty step back and her hand dropped to her side when he let go.
“I hope I haven’t kept you waiting,” she said in a steady voice. She was a freaking rock star. No one would be able to tell she wanted to climb all over the man in front of her.
“Not at all. You’re right on time. I just got here a few minutes early.”
“Did you say you already purchased the tickets?” she asked, not sure about the right protocol for their casual business meeting. It should be fine if he already bought the tickets. He could expense it.
“Yes, I have the tickets,” he said, extending his hand toward the entrance. “Did you want anything from the refreshment stand?”
She nodded a little too eagerly. She would finally get to try all the movie-theater goodies. “Yes, but I’ll get them myself.”
“By all means. I’ll stand in line with you.”
Colin stood beside her, keeping a respectable distance between them. Very businesslike. Soon Jihae was lost in the wonderland of choices. In the end, she ordered a small popcorn, a Coke slushie and some peanut M&M’S. She peeked over to where Colin was ordering, curious about his selection. He only had a bottle of water and some red licorice. She must look like a junk-food glutton.
Oh, screw it. It might seem a bit unprofessional, but this was her first time at a public movie theater. She was going to live a little.
“Are you ready?” Colin asked, coming up to her. He was obviously holding back his amusement at her bounty.
“No, I’m not done ordering. How are the nachos?” she said and snorted at her own joke. Then she gasped in horror. Oh, Lord. She instinctively lifted her hand to cover her mouth, but she was holding her Icee, so she stuck her straw in her mouth and took a long sip. Her public persona had slipped way off at the wrong time in front of the wrong person. She was grateful she didn’t get a brain freeze in front of him on top of everything.
“Horrible, but the pretzels aren’t half-bad,” he answered in a level voice, though he was grinning from ear to ear.
“Shall we?” She arched an eyebrow and bit hard on her cheeks to hold back her answering smile.
“Yes, we’re in theater three. There are only three theaters here, so it’s easy to get around.” He quickly reined in his smile, but his eyes still sparkled with humor.
He led them to their seats in the center aisle and several rows back from the screen. It was perfect, and it was all she could do to contain her excitement. It wasn’t until they were seated and the lights went out that she noticed how close they were sitting. He definitely wasn’t man-spreading, but he was a big man and his leg grazed her knee when he shifted in his seat. God, it felt so good. She really was a sad, lonely woman to get turned on by an innocuous brush of his thigh against her leg.
Before she could spiral into one of her self-pitying moods, the previews filled the screen. She couldn’t help but critique the trailers, but she promised herself she would lose herself in the feature film, let herself feel the full impact of the screenplay.
She drank half of her slushie, and ate almost all of her M&M’S and popcorn before the movie started. She hadn’t eaten dinner, so she only felt a little guilty. Colin extended his box of red licorice to her, and she took one with a sheepish smile. She was doing a horrible job with her Princess Jihae persona. Was she trying to get him interested in her? No. Not possible. She wasn’t hard up enough to risk Rotelle Entertainment for a man. Definitely not that hard up. She ripped off a piece of her licorice with her mouth and chewed vigorously. This attraction. It would fade. She would just book a date with one of her vibrators. Some good solo fun would do the job.
When the feature film started, all thoughts of lust and dirty fun were replaced by joy, tears and laughter.
In the name of all things holy...
Jihae was so close to him that he could feel the heat radiating off her body. She smelled fantastic, and that laugh of hers was doing strange things to his heart rate. And the cracks in her icy demeanor did nothing to cool him down.
It struck Colin that he was sitting beside an actual human being with a sense of humor, empathy and dedication to her work. He couldn’t fit her into the spoiled-villainess role he’d created in his mind. Of course, he still didn’t trust her, but it had been the idea of her that he’d despised, not the real woman. He wouldn’t go so far as to say that he liked her, but he would be lying to himself if he said that she still made his skin crawl. The problem was she made his skin feel tight and sensitive with awareness. He couldn’t have those feelings toward her.
His smiles and charm weren’t exactly feigned, but he had the partnership in his mind. He had to make that happen in order to earn her trust, and have her drop her guard around him. He cringed inwardly at using her that way, but this was the path he’d chosen. Hopefully, she would let something useful slip.
Colin wasn’t going to seduce her—he would never do something that abhorrent—but he would befriend her if necessary. She’d only moved to the United States several months ago and couldn’t have made many friends with her famous workaholic tendencies. Besides, he wouldn’t be acting based purely on his ulterior motive. If all went well and they ended up working together, they needed to get along to be the most efficient and productive team they could be.
That was why he watched her more than he watched the movie. He’d already seen it and knew Charity Banning was the one, but he wanted to learn about Jihae Park. For research purposes.
Unlike the professional mask she’d worn during their meeting yesterday, her face was an open book. Her smiles brightened up the darkened room, and the tears falling down her cheeks made his chest squeeze tightly.
At the end of the film, Colin knew he had her. She’d watched the movie with undivided attention and reacted exactly as intended in every scene. Rotelle Entertainment wasn’t what it was now because of her lack of good taste. Jihae knew Charity Banning was golden. He gave her some time to wipe her tears and gather her armor around her—because his gut told him that was what her ice-queen demeanor demanded—then spoke quietly to her.
“Ready?”
She nodded and he gave her his hand to help her up. He didn’t know why he did that, since she obviously didn’t need help to stand from her seat, but she was too polite to refuse and put her hand in his again. Maybe he was getting addicted to the sensations that flooded through him whenever their hands touched. Her long, delicate fingers wrapped around his palm—her hand was as soft as silk and just cool enough for him to warm up in his bigger, rougher hand. As usual, her eyelashes fluttered in response to his touch, and he felt his blood rush south.
Colin quickly dropped her hand and berated himself for the impulsive move. But he felt less panicked once they were out in the brightly lit lobby.
“So how did you like the movie?” he asked, already knowing the answer.
“It was just how a perfect rom-com should be. The jokes didn’t take away from the tender poignancy of the movie, and the dark moment didn’t shrivel up my soul, but made me empathize strongly with both main characters. It’s a very well-written, acted and directed movie. Thank you for introducing me to it.”
“Don’t forget,” he said with a teasing smirk. “I have ulterior motives.”
Her eyes widened for a second, then she awarded him with a small but genuine smile. “I have to admit you’re very convincing. I’m going to consider your proposal very carefully.”
“Why not say yes now?”
“That would be very impulsive of me, wouldn’t it? If we work together, you’ll learn that impulsivity isn’t one of my flaws.”
“Is impulsivity always a flaw?”
“Yes,” she said with a frown, as though she couldn’t believe he had to even ask.
“Hmm. I disagree. Sometimes impulsivity can make life more fun.” Colin wondered what Jihae would be like if she let down her guard and let spontaneity rule. He definitely wanted to see that. No, you don’t, idiot. Why did he keep forgetting his objective when he was with her?
“I never considered that a possibility.” She cocked her head and studied him with a bemused purse of her lips.
“Of course, being impulsive wouldn’t be a good business move, but I think trusting your gut instinct is something else entirely.”
“Do you think my gut instinct is telling me to say yes?” she asked in a contemplative voice.
He must’ve been crazy, because he could swear there was a double entendre in her question. One that turned him as hard as iron. “Hell, yes.”
She raised an eyebrow and a Mona Lisa smile appeared and disappeared from her face. “I like your confidence, Mr. Song.”
“Thank you. And please call me Colin.”
“Colin,” she said slowly as though tasting his name on her tongue. Said in that low, sexy voice of hers, it was a miracle he didn’t groan out loud. “I’ll take that into consideration, Mr. Song.”
“Oh, yes. You don’t want to be impulsive. Right, Ms. Park?”
“No. No, I don’t.”
Colin woke up the next morning, bleary-eyed and agitated. He’d dreamed of Jihae Park all night and was now painfully hard. She was one of the most beautiful and intriguing women he’d ever met. But he couldn’t let his inconvenient attraction to Jihae Park cloud his judgment when it came to the partnership and his duties to his family.
He scrubbed his hands over his face and threw back his covers. He took a cold shower to get his head on straight. Once he was ready, Colin visited two of his clubs and met with his staff. His clubs were well-oiled machines, but becoming comfortable with the status quo wasn’t an option. He worked continuously with his managers to move the clubs to the next level.
By the time he checked his watch, it was close to noon. He wasn’t someone who flustered easily, but his stomach churned as he waited for Jihae’s call. After how she’d reacted to the movie last night, she had to say yes. But she had a shrewd business mind and he couldn’t take her acquiescence for granted. The more he thought about it, the more unsure he became about the outcome.
Sitting around and fidgeting wasn’t his style, so he headed for Pendulum next. It was the first nightclub he’d owned, and its success had made all the other clubs possible. It was Pendulum that had allowed Colin to move out of his father’s house, where the decor had gotten more hideous with each new wife he married, and get CS Productions off the ground.
Twenty-five minutes later, Colin pulled into his parking space at the club and walked inside. He sighed with relief when Pendulum—his place of solace—welcomed him home.
“Hey, Tucker. How’s it going?” he greeted his manager, walking farther into the club.
“Everything’s going smoothly, As for me, I would like a month paid vacation,” Tucker replied, following Colin into his office.
“You and me both.”
“What brings you in? I wasn’t expecting you until Saturday.”
“I needed to relax,” Colin said with a rueful smile, delivering the truth like a joke.
For a brief second, Tucker frowned, as if he wanted to say something. Colin’s longtime employee and friend knew something was up, but he chuckled instead, giving Colin the space he needed. “Well, you go ahead and do that while I run your nightclub.”
Once Colin was alone, he logged on to his computer to get some work done. The distraction would do him some good. When the lights clicked off in his office, he waved his arms to alert the sensors. He was so focused on the clubs’ marketing plans that he must have been sitting like a boulder for the last twenty minutes. When the lights came back on, he rolled his shoulders and returned his attention to the screen.
After his office plunged into darkness for the fifth time, Colin stood up and gave in to the urge to pace. It was late afternoon. Maybe she didn’t plan to call him today. But he’d been so certain she was close to a decision last night.
“Damn it,” he muttered, frustrated with himself and the whole situation.
Colin continued to disappoint his grandmother by refusing to work for Hansol Corporation, but his love and loyalty lay with his family. They already knew that, but he wanted to do what was right. To protect them and redress the wrong done to them. And, of course, the partnership opportunity would be a giant leap forward for CS Productions. That had to be why he felt so impatient to hear from Jihae Park. His impatience had nothing to do with his desire to hear her voice again. None whatsoever.
His cell phone rang as soon as he finished his thought, and he picked it up on the first ring, barely registering the caller ID. “This is Colin.”
“Mr. Song, this is Jihae Park.” She sounded slightly winded and his gut tightened with worry. Was she okay? Was she nervous about telling him bad news? But that didn’t make sense. Why would she call him to deliver bad news? That was what emails were for. He took a deep breath through his nose and waited. “Rotelle Entertainment has decided to offer a partnership to CS Productions for Best Placed Bets.”
“That’s amazing news. CS Productions accepts the offer. We’re thrilled to work with Rotelle Entertainment.” His heart was beating hard enough to bruise his ribs, and he couldn’t stop the smile that spread across his face. “With the partnership sealed, we can lock in Charity Banning as the screenwriter. We’re going to make one hell of a film.”
“We certainly are,” she said. Her voice held a hint of a smile. “I’ll have my assistant email over the contract once we’re off the phone. Let’s make it official.”
“Thank you, Jihae,” Colin said in an unintentionally low voice. “Would it be all right to call you by your first name now that we’re partners?”
“I believe that’s perfectly appropriate, Colin.”
He didn’t know where his blood was rushing to—south or north—but he was light-headed with pleasure at hearing her say his name. He’d pierced one layer of her armor, and was one step closer to her.