“All he cares about is money, not helping anyone else. He’d act nice at society and charity events we attended, but he’d tell me how stupid it all was. What a waste of time. He doesn’t care about anything other than his own needs.”
“Well, can’t cure stupid.” I shrugged again.
Emily chuckled quietly.
Sato arrived with a huge sushi platter with two small plates on the side.
“Domo arigato,” I said to thank him, handing Emily one of the plates.
He gave me a slight bow and then moved to the other end of the counter to talk with another customer.
We fell into silence as we ate our sushi. I watched her, thinking over the years she’d wasted with Lionel, a man so stupid and selfish he never even realized the treasure right in front of him.
* * *
Two hours later, we stumbled off the elevator and headed toward our rooms. Even though I’d had more sake than Emily, she could barely walk. Probably I drank a lot more regularly than she did, given that I was a businessman who needed to wine and dine people to close deals.
I fished out her key to slide across the door pad. The door beeped and clicked open. With my arm around Emily’s waist, I guided her into her hotel room.
“You?
?re so nice,” Emily said, her words slurred. “And you smell good, too.”
I chuckled. “Glad to know my cologne isn’t wasted.”
She pulled out of my arms and wrapped her arms around my neck. “And handsome. Really damn handsome. Kiss me.”
Red covered her entire face. I regretted not telling her to pace herself with her sake.
“Maybe you should lie down,” I said. My eyes drifted down. Her top button had become undone at some point, showing a hint of cleavage.
I might not have been as drunk as Emily, but I’d downed more than a few cups of sake. Alcohol clouded the edges of my thoughts, and even stone cold sober, it was hard to keep my thoughts away from what she’d look like flushed, lying underneath me, her great breasts heaving with her labored breathing.
Reluctantly, I reached up and pulled her arms off me. She stuck her bottom lip out.
“Why?” she whined. “I thought you liked me.”
I nodded slowly. “That’s exactly why.” The alcohol cut through a lot of my restraint but not all. “I do like you. I’m attracted to you, but I’m not going to do something with you when you’re drunk, and you might not even remember it.” I grinned. “When we’re finally together for the first time, I want you to remember it for the rest of your life.”
Emily stumbled over to her bed collapsed into it. “You’re too nice to me.”
I walked over to put a blanket over her. “You deserve it.”
She murmured something to herself and closed her eyes. I unlocked the door between the room from her side, before making my way back out into the hallway and into my room to unlock it on my side as well. I pulled the door open.
Emily was already snoring at this point, which summoned a chuckle from me, but I wanted to make sure she could call me if she needed me.
The memory of her arms wrapped around me and her body warm against mine lingered. The sake and my own arousal were burning me up, so I hurried into the bathroom and turned on the cold water in the shower.
Torture. Delicious torture. I decided it had been a mistake to bring Emily. The only time she’d shown much interest in anything more than friendship was when she was drunk, the one time I couldn’t make a move.
Still, I couldn’t help but imagine squeezing those huge breasts of hers and sucking on one. I groaned and all but ripped my clothes off. Once naked, I hurried into the shower, welcoming the cold spray, the shock pushing against the lust rippling through me.
Every conversation with the woman made me want her more. She was a good woman and a good mother who cared about her community. Her bastard ex-husband had ruined her, set up walls that she might not truly come down for years. I despised the man for what he’d done to her.
I took several deep breaths as the chilly water dripped down my face. At least I wasn’t hard anymore. I only hoped I could concentrate on my business meeting the next morning.
Chapter Seventeen