Rock Star's Email Order Bride Page 12

  Norman couldn't reach her here. No one could. Norman didn't have fangs – just big, crooked teeth that had made her think of a horse the first time she'd seen him. Now she knew him better, she thought he resembled an ass more than a horse. And a gelded one, at that. But Jason was real, down to the last detail from their meeting yesterday. From his sculpted six-pack right down to his jutting...

  And just like that, Phuong surfaced from sleep, blinking against the glare of day blaring its presence through the blinds she'd forgotten to shut.

  The previous day's events came flooding back in, all shouting to be heard at once. Walking that endless road, then crossing the ocean and coming face to face with an impossible dream. A naked rock star who couldn't possibly be Jason. But he was.

  She wanted to confront him and ask why he'd played such a horrible prank on her. Toying with her feelings and inviting her to his island, when there was no way he'd follow through with his offer. But what good would it do? Knowing why wouldn't change anything. She couldn't live a dream any more.

  What could she do now? She had nothing. No car, no money, and just the clothes in her bag. A partially completed business degree and her old school laptop. Maybe she'd ask if the hotel had a job opening – after all, Baz, the ferryman, had thought she was a new employee when he offered to take her to the island. Only for a few weeks, though, when her visa ran out and the new semester started. The one she couldn't afford to attend.

  No, that wouldn't work. No business wanted new staff for just a few weeks, only to lose them the moment they were trained. Hardly a good business proposition.

  She could go home to Thuan and the rest of her family, what was left of it, and try to find work in Singapore. Like she had any idea where to look.

  Her head hurt, and not just from crying half the night, either. Maybe she should find some coffee. After that, she'd take a walk on the beach to clear her head. There had to be something she could do. No way was she going anywhere near the online dating site where she'd met both Norman and Jason. Someone would try to track her, and that would be it. Norman would know how to catch her again.

  Coffee, beach, then bigger problems, she promised herself.

  Phuong washed and dressed, surprised to find that her reflection looked more human than it had yesterday. No red zombie eyes, at least. No makeup, either, she decided. Not when she wore a t-shirt and shorts and tied her hair back.

  Deep breath, then open the door and search for coffee.

  Phuong exhaled as the door hissed open. She stepped out into the corridor.

  Of course, no amount of meditative breathing could have prepared her for the body lying across her door, where normal people had doormats, or how she tripped on it and landed in a graceless heap on the floor.

  "Guess I deserved that, but can you tell me why?" a pained voice said.

  Phuong rose slowly, staring at the body curled up like a cooked prawn. "Who are you, and why were you lying in wait outside my door?" She looked askance at the potted palm tree sitting beside her door, at the end of a trail of soil that led down the corridor and, presumably, to the foyer where she'd seen the plants yesterday. "And what's the tree doing here?"

  The prawn person grunted and uncurled as he rolled over. "I told you yesterday. I'm Jay Felix, at your service, and today I come with bonus pants." He waved at his shorts. "I'm looking for the woman who fits these remarkably delicate shoes." Tucked into the crook of his other arm were the heels she'd ditched yesterday in her haste to run away. But there was pink fur on them that she didn't remember. Pink, fluffy, pale...oh!

  Her gaze raked the fluffy handcuff wrapped around Jay's wrist and followed the chain to the other cuff encircling the tree's trunk. "Why are you handcuffed to that poor tree?"

  "Sapling. Not really a tree yet." Jay – Jason? – winced as he sat up. "The new resort manager threatened to have me removed from the island if I didn't leave you alone. She seems to think I'm dangerous. So I handcuffed myself to a tree and promised to stay put. The tree was in the foyer then, though. And I was worried about you, so I figured I'd take the tree for a walk and wait here instead."

  None of this made sense. Her head started throbbing.

  "Jason...Jay..."

  "Take your pick. Most people call me Jay, but you're different."

  "Where are the cameras?" she whispered, looking for hidden lenses.

  "I got one on my phone, if you want to take selfies. Give me a sec to get up. I'll take one of both of us together. First couple moment and all." He unfastened the wrist cuff and rose, pulling his phone out of his pocket as he pulled her to his side. "Smile."

  Phuong did her best, but the phone only photographed how badly she'd failed. She looked slightly manic, her eyes showing her desperate desire to run again. She'd had enough of being a laughing stock. Shrugging out of his grasp, she took a step back. "I'm sorry, I know this is just a joke to you, but I don't find it funny. Please, I just want a coffee and maybe a glimpse of the beach. Then I'll go."

  "Don't." His tone sounded too serious. "Please don't. Spend a day with me. That's all I ask. Just one day. Please, Phuong."

  She started when he said her name. How could Jason, the man her mind had desperately clung to in its hope to get her safely out of hell, be Jay Felix? "How do you know my name?"

  She expected a flippant comment about how she'd told him yesterday, but he surprised her.

  "You told me, weeks ago. Made me write it on my belly and take photos. It was a fucking permanent marker, too. Took days to wash off."

  Phuong cracked a smile. "You volunteered to do it. I didn't make you."

  "Really?" He squinted at her. "I guess I could've. I might've had a bit of bourbon before I did it, too."

  Drunk. She'd pinned her hopes on a drunkard who didn't remember. "Doesn't matter. Joke's on me now, I guess." Tears formed so fast she couldn't stop them from falling. "Shit, sorry, I – "

  "Tissues." He seized her hand and towed her along the corridor. "Get the lady some tissues!" he bellowed.

  A few seconds later, a box appeared in front of her. Phuong grabbed a handful. She wiped her face, blew her nose and whispered, "Thank you." She glanced at Jay, staring out the window at the boat dock. "Where's good for coffee?"

  "I'll take you to the restaurant," he replied and held open the door.

  Phuong wanted to protest, but her stomach snarled so she subsided. She hoped she had enough money to cover the cost of her coffee.

  Jay led the way to the deserted restaurant and threw the doors open for her. "Where do you want to sit?"

  An annoyed-looking waitress appeared. "I'm sorry, sir, the restaurant's closed between ten and twelve. Come back at twelve for lunch or there are vending machines – "

  Jay folded his arms. "Good. Then we won't be disturbed and we won't have to wait long. Call it a private function for two. We'll sit – " he glanced around and pointed at a table in the centre of the room – "there. Unless you want to sit somewhere else?" He glanced at Phuong.

  Phuong wished she could shrink out of sight. She wanted no part of this confrontation.

  "Sir, you don't understand – "

  "No, you don't understand. I own the hotel. I'd like breakfast for two served in the restaurant, but if that's too much trouble for you, fine. We'll have a private table set in the ocean function room. I'll need a waitress, personal chef, plus a barista because the lady wants a coffee. For the next two hours, plus whatever time it takes you to clean up afterwards." He stared down the waitress, showing no sign of blinking. "What'll it be, Tiffany? Don't make this any harder than it has to be."

  Tiffany bowed her head. "Yes, sir, breakfast for two, coming up."

  "Now, wait a minute. You didn't ask what we wanted for breakfast. I'd like some of those pastries you put out on the buffet every morning. With fruit. How about you, Phuong? You got a preference?"

  She shook her head frantically.

  "Fine. Enough of whatever for two, then. Did you understand that, Tiffany? Or do you need m
e to repeat it, just to make sure?"'

  "I understand, sir." Tiffany kept her eyes on the floor. Just like Phuong had learned to do with Norman.

  Phuong felt sick. Not another one. A demanding bully who'd crush her just as badly, but this time she wouldn't get up again. Couldn't do it again. The door loomed in front of her, but she slammed it open and kept running.

  "Phuong! Wait!" Heavy footfalls followed her and she knew she couldn't run forever. He'd reach out and grab her and hurt her and...

  But he didn't. He didn't touch her, just kept pace one step behind her.

  She whirled to face him. "No. What you just did to her was horrible. No one should be bullied like that. Not ever."

  Jay laughed. Just like that, the bastard laughed at her deepest fears. "Her? Tiffany the restaurant manager is a drill sergeant who makes life hell for waitstaff, kitchenhands and chefs alike. You ask any of the staff who work with her. I've heard plenty of complaints, but I never ate in the restaurant, so I didn't meet her until today. You know what she does in her two hour break? Hides in her office and watches daytime TV. Reruns or talk shows from the US. And if anyone interrupts her, they end up scraping and washing dishes for a week. She finds fault with everyone. One girl ended up on stress leave after Tiffany screamed at her for not picking food up from the floor and serving it to someone. No joke, it was plated wrong and the chef hadn't noticed. When the girl grabbed it, the ribs just slithered to the floor, and the next thing she knew, Tiffany was screaming like a banshee. She was sleeping with Meier, the old manager, too, so he turned a deaf ear to all the complaints. You'd be amazed at some of the dodgy stuff that goes on behind the scenes here." He winked. "I'll take you 'round by her office window and you can peek in to see what she's doing. Watching TV, not working. She's pissed because I'm making her work instead of watching The Boring and the Botoxed or whatever it's called. Honest."

  She wasn't sure what to believe. One minute he was a bullying bastard, and the next, he was the man she'd exchanged emails with and driven for thousands of kilometres to meet. One who could save her from...everything. "I'm confused. I don't know what to believe any more."

  He grinned. "That's why you need coffee. Let's talk over breakfast at Tiffany's." Something made him grimace, but he didn't say any more as he headed inside.

  Phuong sighed. She'd come this far. What else could she do but follow him?

  THIRTY-SIX

  Jason drummed his fingers on the table as one of Tiffany's subordinates served breakfast and coffee. He willed the woman to leave, but she insisted on setting everything out on the table like their own private buffet. Couldn't she see the girl was ready to bolt? Every second she sat there, the hunted look in her eyes grew more and more pronounced. He'd do anything to make up for the mess he'd made yesterday. And he'd start...if only the waitress would take the hint and leave.

  "Will there be anything else, sir?"

  He shook his head. "We'll shout if we need you."

  The waitress marched back to the kitchen.

  As soon as they had the restaurant to themselves, Jason leaned across the table and whispered, "It was the frog, wasn't it? I went a bit too far for you with the frog-kissing. That's why you ran yesterday."

  Phuong choked on her coffee.

  "Are you all right?"

  She flashed two thumbs-up and nodded in between coughing.

  Jason eyed her for a moment before he was sure she wasn't going to die, then continued, "Look, I had it all planned out. I wanted to show you me at my best. The whole package. I was all set to offer you the night of your life, as a sample of what to expect. Dancing all night and all that. But then I saw you and you looked so scared, all I wanted to do was wrap my arms around you and make it all okay. So I got sort of flustered and I said the first thing that came to mind, the bit about kissing frogs, and you ran and...fuck." She had that look again – the one from yesterday. Right before she took off. "Say something. Is it the whole frog thing in general, or just that you don't kiss frogs on a first date?"

  Phuong's tongue darted out and licked her lips. "I don't know anything about frogs. I...I just can't get the image out of my head. One minute I was nervously knocking on the door, then you introduced yourself as some rock star, and when I wanted to look anywhere but at your face as I tried to understand what you were saying, I saw you were...your..." Words failed her, so she pointed under the table.

  Jason grinned. "Giving you a full salute, no less. I thanked every lucky star I knew of yesterday. You looked hot in that red dress and those heels...fuck, I'd like to see you in those again. Just the heels and nothing else."

  Phuong froze. She lowered her gaze into her lap. "Please, I'd prefer not to talk about it. Yesterday or sex. I don't..."

  He waited for her to finish, but when it seemed she wasn't going to, he blurted out the burning question: "Are you a virgin? Have you never seen a man naked before?"

  That made her laugh. "Oh no. And no! I've seen plenty...had plenty...well, not a lot but..." She paled. "You just looked so big and intimidating. I was already scared and...well, it's huge, and I'm...I'm not sure I can..."

  "You're scared of my cock? Aww, you'll hurt his feelings. Don't you worry. The bigger, the better, you'll see. We'll take it slow the first time. And the second...I'll let you call the pace." Another wink as he tried to hide his sigh of relief. Yeah, he'd done virgins, but he preferred a bit of experience. No self-respecting rock star would go looking for a virgin. Too much trouble by half.

  "But not...not until after we're married." Phuong lifted her chin as if she thought it would emphasise her point. "Wedding first."

  Good thing he didn't plan on a long engagement.

  "Sure. How's Friday sound?"

  Her jaw dropped. "What?"

  "I guess I should've done this first." Jason eased off his chair and knelt on the carpet. "Phuong, will you marry me?"

  She stared at him for a bloody long time. Too long. "Are you joking?" she asked finally.

  His knees hurt and she'd left him hanging. This wasn't funny. "No."

  "I barely know you. I don't even know what to call you." She was ready to run, he could see it.

  "My name's Jason. Jason, Jay, baby, rock star...fuck, marry me, and you can make up your own damn pet names and trademark them. Take your pick." Just as long as she didn't say no. He wasn't sure what he'd do if she said that.

  Phuong wet her lips. So scared, so vulnerable...he just wanted to wrap his arms around her and comfort her, all while she was driving him crazy. "Jason. I can't answer that. I know almost nothing about you."

  "You're not saying no, right?"

  Slowly, she nodded. "I just...you said to give you a day. Could you give me a day, too?"

  "Sure." He climbed stiffly back onto his chair and grabbed a pastry. "Right, so what do you want to know?"

  THIRTY-SEVEN

  The basket of Danish pastries held nothing but crumbs, though the taste of cherry still lingered on Phuong's tongue. She wasn't sure how many cups of coffee she'd consumed, but she was still surprised to see that she and Jason had been talking for so long that they weren't the only customers in the restaurant any more. Maybe a third of the tables were occupied and, even more surprising, no one was staring at Jason. He'd always had long hair in the pictures she'd seen of him, so perhaps the shorter style he now sported was enough of a disguise.

  They'd discussed parents, siblings and pets, movies and music and even books, though he'd done more listening than talking when it came to books. Under the watchful eyes of her father and brother, she hadn't dared to read anything more graphic than young adult fiction back home, but she'd developed a taste for them, all the same. Girls in the first blush of love and boys in their first moody obsession, driven to be adults and yet clinging desperately to their childhood while life pushed them further out into the world of decisions they didn't have the experience to make wisely.

  As if she knew what she was doing now.

  They'd both skirted the most importa
nt question: who marries a stranger they've only just met?

  She'd been businesslike and upfront about it with Norman, and look where that had gotten her.

  But the more time she spent with Jason, the more she wondered whether she should tell him her reasons at all. Somehow along the way, this had become more than just a business deal to her. Otherwise, she'd have agreed to marry him in a heartbeat. The sooner she got her citizenship, the better, after all. But now she wanted more. She wanted him, too – wanted his heart the way she'd already given up hers.

  A man she didn't know! His every movement, every nuance of his facial expression, were all new to her, yet she found herself memorising every one. In case this was all she had with him.

  She wasn't the sort of girl to entice a rock star. She could barely hold his attention now, with him glancing around the room with increasing frequency.

  No, wait – he was looking at her expectantly.

  "What?"

  "I said, d'you want to go somewhere more private? How about that walk on the beach I promised you?" He peered under the table. "I think the thongs I bought you will be too big for your feet, but I can swing by the gift shop and see if maybe..."

  "I'll be fine," she assured him with a nervous smile.

  They made their way out of the restaurant and followed the sound of distant waves to a beach of endless sand.

  "Low tide," Jason explained, pointing. "Give it a few hours. The waves will be breaking where we are now. Hard to believe, but there won't be a crab in sight, either. All these will be safely hidden in their little crabholes in the sand."

  Crabs? Phuong didn't see any of them, until she realised that the speckled sand was moving...and the movement wasn't sand at all but armies of tiny crabs, waging war against one another, or fleeing from Jason's huge, tramping feet. A million tiny claws, scurrying and pinching and...

  Warm fingers touched her hand. "Hey, it's all right. They're more scared of us than we are of them. Their pincers aren't big enough to hurt you. And if any of them think to try..." He ripped the thong off his foot and slapped the rubber sole on his palm. "I'm your knight in shining armour. I'll protect you from crabs."