To be discreet, they hadn’t appeared in public together more than once a week, and they were even more careful about spending time at each other’s places. They took advantage of as many chances as possible to see each other in their business capacity, but it was a far cry from spending time alone with her. The curtailed opportunities for privacy were frustrating, but it made each meeting all the more precious.
The script was close to being finalized—it was even better than his highest expectations—and the auditions were scheduled to commence in the next month or so. Other than relaying the author’s suggestions to the director, he and Jihae would be relatively hands-off in the initial creative process. They trusted Cora, and the casting director she brought on board, to do an amazing job.
But they definitely wanted to be present when the candidates for the female and male leads did their readings. In a romantic comedy, the hero and heroine’s chemistry was crucial to whether the movie worked or not. They wanted sparks coming off the lead actors when they were together on screen. Cora had some strong favorites she wanted to work with. He and Jihae also saw great potential in her choices, but they wouldn’t know for certain until they saw the candidates read together in person.
He leaned back in his chair and stretched out his stiff neck and shoulders. The clock on his monitor told him it was already past seven thirty in the evening. Damn. He’d wanted to mix business with pleasure with Jihae tonight, but she might already have had dinner. He sat upright and texted her, his pulse picking up speed.
Hungry?
Her response was almost immediate. I’m starving, baby.
He choked on a laugh even as his shifted uncomfortably in his chair. He loved her sexy sass.
I could fix that. What about for food?
Hungry for that, too.
Then allow me to fix that, as well. Where should we meet?
Somewhere that serves cheesy, decadent pizza.
He gave her the name of the perfect place for her craving. She was a bit closer to the restaurant than he, so he only had time to write one more email before he closed shop. That minuscule act of discipline made him feel a bit more in control of himself, and he was able to stop himself from running to his car.
Despite his attempts to slow down, he arrived early at the restaurant. He always came before Jihae. Not that she had a habit of running late, but he simply enjoyed the anticipation of waiting for her arrival, with his heart pumping a little faster each passing minute.
When she finally walked into the restaurant, his stomach clenched in a visceral reaction to her presence. She was wearing a white pantsuit with a pale, off-white blouse. Her patent-leather, nude stilettos completed her signature look. She exuded aloof sophistication and ice-cold detachment. He couldn’t believe how well she carried off her public image when he knew how contrary it was to her true personality.
“You look lovely,” he said softly into her ear while pulling out her chair.
“Thank you.” Her expression remained carefully neutral but a splash of pink stained her cheeks.
“This place has the best New York-style pizza you’ll find on the West Coast.” He took his seat across from her and opened up his menu.
“Yum. I’m starving.”
“So you’ve said,” he drawled, staring pointedly at her perfect red lips.
“Now behave.” She arched an eyebrow at him. The subtle twitch at the corner of her lips betrayed that she was holding back a smile.
“When have I not?” Other than tugging her into a stairwell the last time they’d met to kiss the hell out of her only to find the door locked behind them. They’d had to climb five stories to find an open door. And that other time... Now that he thought of it, he’d misbehaved quite a lot.
Jihae gave him the subtlest eye roll in the world. Actually, he only recognized it as an eye roll from spending so much time with her. Her every emotion and expression was subdued to the point of stoicism in public, but he soaked up her barely there smiles and the teasing twinkle in her eyes that were meant only for him.
As dinner progressed, however, Jihae’s subtle smiles and gentle teasing grew dim, and her eyes took on a distracted, faraway look every time there was a slight pause in their conversation.
“Hey,” Colin said, reaching across the table to touch her hand. But he hastily withdrew as soon as he realized what he was doing. PDA was not a risk they wanted to take. “Is everything all right? You’re hiding it well, but you seem distraught. We could talk about it in private later, if you’d like.”
“No, everything is fine. I’m fine. I’m just knackered.” She looked down at her pizza and pulled off a pepperoni to pop in her mouth. “I had a three-hour meeting with the Korean production team on one of our celebrity reality shows. They’re a well-oiled machine but it was a lot to catch up on.”
“That must’ve been draining.” She was hiding something from him, and nausea rose in his throat. Was it about her meeting with Yami Corporation’s CFO? He hadn’t heard back from Garrett about the PI’s progress, and it’d been weeks. “Once you finish your pizza, we’ll get out of here. Okay?”
“That’ll be nice. Thank you.” But again, her smile fell short of reaching her eyes.
“Should we go to your place, so you don’t have to go out again?”
“No,” she said in a rush. “I mean... I’d like to go to your place tonight.”
“Sure. We’ll do that.”
They were quiet on the drive to his condo, each of them lost in their own thoughts. What was she hiding from him? More than ever, he believed her innocence. Throughout the film production, Jihae was always the first to ensure that everything was aboveboard. If there was ever the slightest doubt, she would err on the side of being shortchanged rather than injure the other party. The Jihae he knew would never involve herself in any unethical behavior, much less corporate espionage. But something had happened today and he wanted to find out what. Was it about Yami Corp.?
Once they were inside, he helped Jihae out of her jacket and hung it in the entryway. She stepped out of her heels with a sigh and plopped herself down on the sofa like a limp doll. He couldn’t fight the smile that pulled at his lips. He loved it. He loved how she just let go and relaxed when she was alone with him.
He followed her to the sofa, pulled up her legs onto his lap and gently massaged the ball of her foot.
“Mmm. You’re good at that,” she said, her eyelids fluttering shut.
“I’m good at a lot of things,” he joked, moving on to the arch.
“And ever so humble.”
He tickled her for that response and nearly got kicked in the jaw. “Whoa, watch it. You could’ve broken something.”