Prologue: Andi
I was sitting in a beautiful bar in a luxurious hotel in the exotic city of Hong Kong feeling dejected and angry about it. Who did Noah Strong think he was to treat me like that? And the fact that I felt rejected by him, only served to piss me off. I was a smart, independent woman. I didn't need a man in my life. It was part of the reason Noah’s grandmother, Margaret Strong, had hired me right from my internship. She hadn't been looking for a regular secretary, she'd been looking for someone who was dedicated to her career and could be a sound advisor for the decisions she was making. She trusted me so much that she had given me her game plan as she got ready to retire and urged me to help her prepare her grandsons for the roles they were taking as they moved up in the business and she made her exit.
All the Strong men were handsome, smart, and talented. Ryan was the smart, silent, straightlaced one as dedicated as I was to the company, although now he divided that dedication to his wife, Kellie and their newborn baby, Maggie. Hunter was driven with a side helping of horndog until he met his wife, Natalie. Carter was the gentle, kind traveler, who just embarked on his latest adventure marrying Jess and getting to know his son, Tanner. And then there was Noah.
Sure, Noah was smart especially when it came to technology, but he was immature and unreliable. He behaved like a petulant child, throwing little temper tantrums every time his grandmother or his brothers encouraged him to take his place in the family business. He didn't want to be here in Hong Kong doing the Strong business, even as a consultant. I suppose I needed to give him credit for at least caring enough about his grandmother to make this trip to figure out what was hurting the business.
I'd known that coming here with him as Margaret’s surrogate was a bad idea, but I had thought it was just because he was childish and irresponsible. I fully expected him to be spending his nights carousing and his daytime sleeping it off. As it turned out, he was taking the work seriously, which was good. The bad part was that I discovered that all the negative energy between us wasn’t just irritation, it was also sexually charged. At least on my end, and that's what angered me.
I was a woman focused on my career. Over the last three years, I had no personal life by choice. I loved my work and my boss. The only time I did something that wasn't work related, I was still usually with the Strong family, either at Margaret’s son, Alex’s house at the beach, at one of her grandsons’ weddings, or at Carter and his new wife, Jess's house. I wasn't just Margaret's dutiful assistant, but she also made me feel a part of the family.
A disgusting thought ran through my head. If I was like family, that would mean Noah was like my brother or my cousin or something. So how gross was it that he and I had kissed? Not a peck, but a full blown, hot, wet tongue tangle?
I downed the shot sitting on the bar and then waved at the bartender to give me another one. I wasn't working at the moment, so what would anyone care if I drank too much? It's not like Noah would notice. God. Why would he kiss me like that and then act as if nothing happened? And why did I care so much?
What I needed to do was take my mind off of Noah. I had to consider that the only reason I was thinking about him was because we were having to spend so much time together, and he did have a certain sex appeal to him. I was a strong woman, but I couldn't imagine any woman out there that would be immune to him.
So, the answer was to distract myself. I thought of Marcus Chen, the distributor Strong Incorporated worked with here in Hong Kong. He was handsome and rich, just like Noah. But even better, he was showing an interest in me, I thought as I looked at the business card he’d given after we’d had drinks tonight.
I downed the next shot, disgusted at myself for pinning over Noah. I didn't even like him, so why was I so bent out of shape?
I waved over the bartender and this time, I ordered a mixed drink because I didn’t want to be so out of it that I couldn’t get myself back upstairs to the s
uite. As I waited, I noticed something on the television that involved people gathering in what looked like a protest. Another hotel employee went behind the bar and whispered something to the bartender, who immediately looked towards the lobby of the hotel as if he was worried about something.
When he bought me my drink, I asked, "What's going on?" I pointed to what was going on the television screen.
"There's some civil unrest, and out of an abundance of caution, the hotel is going to be going on lock down," he said in immaculate British-toned English.
"Are we in danger?"
He shook his head. "Not here at the hotel. It has nothing to do with us."
"How long will the left lockdown last?" I asked, thinking about Noah, who was in a meeting outside of the hotel. Would he be able to come back? He was with Phil, the man that ran the office here in Hong Kong, so I supposed Noah would be able to go with him if he couldn’t get back in the hotel.
"I don't know. I imagine it won't be for too long," the bartender said.
I took another sip of my drink, but then left it there, deciding I could access the mini bar in our suite. I left the bartender a tip and then made my way up to the suite.
Once back, I called Phil's office so I could let them know what was going on. There was a part of me that thought Noah was spending so much time there to avoid me. Well, he wouldn't have to bother because I wasn't going to let myself get ensnared by him again.
I told Phil what was going on and he assured me that he would get Noah back safely, so I wasn't going to worry about it.
I set my phone down next to Marcus' card and went to rummage around in the minibar. I'd make myself a drink and then I would retire to my room, so I wouldn't have to look at or talk to Noah when he got back.
I took the drink into my bedroom, and decided that maybe a long soak in the tub would ease away my tension and put me back on an even keel. I wasn't the type of woman to be affected by a man, so it was really annoying the way Noah kept coming back to my brain. It was one more thing to put on the Noah Negative List.
I filled the tub putting in some of the bubble bath that the hotel offered. I undressed and climbed in, sinking down into the bubbles. I was able to enjoy it for about ten minutes but then the quiet and the stillness started to irritate me. I remembered that I wasn't really a woman prone to long baths or idleness. I was a doer.
I reached to the side of the tub to grab my phone thinking I could run through my email to see if there was anything important that I needed to address. Then I realized I left my phone back in the main area of the suite. "Dammit."
I reminded myself that the goal of this bath was to relax and wash away Noah from my mind, if not from my life. I closed my eyes and tried to think of serene things, but of course that was nearly impossible.
Eventually, I had no choice but to give up. I got out of the tub and wrapped myself in a towel. I padded back out to the bedroom and went through my suitcase trying to figure out if I should just go ahead and put pajamas on or get dressed again. It was a little too early for bedtime, but it wasn't like I was going anywhere.
I’d just put out a pair of panties when my phone started ringing in the other room. It was Margaret's ringtone so it wasn't one that I could ignore. Clutching the towel at my breast, I rushed out into the living area and picked up the phone.
I poked the answer button. "Hello?"
The line was dead. I hurriedly called Margaret back. "Margaret, I missed your call."
"I was just checking to see if you'd gotten that email I sent you earlier today?" she asked me.
"I did, and I've been working on it.
"And everything's going alright there?" she asked.
I decided not to tell her about the hotel lockdown because I really didn't know what was going on and I didn’t want her to worry needlessly. "Everything is fine here."
"Is Noah there?"
"No, but he's on his way back from working with Phil. Do you want me to have him call you when he gets back?" Maybe I could just leave him a note instead of having to talk to him.
"No, that's all right. Just be sure to keep me updated on what's going on there."
"You know I will, Margaret."
I hung up the phone and looked out the window at the unrest below. I didn’t much like Noah, but I did hope he was able to get back here safely.
My head felt a bit foggy and I began to rethink the wisdom of drinking so much this evening. It wasn't very professional of me since I was here on a business trip. And here I was, standing in the living area in my towel, again. God if Noah walked in and scolded me about being unprofessional again, I don’t know what I’d do. I needed to get myself together.
I was turning to go back to my room to get dressed when the door to the suite opened and Noah strode in. He stopped short when he saw me, his eyes taking a long glide from my head down to my toes and back up again. When his gaze reached mine, there was a feral fire gleaming in them.
It was the same the first time he caught me in a towel, but apparently, he didn’t like what he saw, and he’d chewed me out. This time however, he didn’t appear to be angry, as his gaze took another tour of my body.