Saranghae (I Love You)

Excerpt

Yi-jun looked down on the sleeping journalist, trying to figure out why he had gone to such lengths to impress her. Normally women didn‟t have a problem following his lead, but he suspected that this one would not be submissive.

She was beautiful even in slumber. His trained eyes took in every detail. The almond-shaped eyes, the slender nose, the tantalizing full lips and skin the color of cappuccino. Part African-American and part Caucasian. What lovely babies they would make. His gaze traveled lower. Satoshi was right. The white negligee suited her more than the black one he‟d originally suggested. It molded to her nubile young body, emphasizing her magnificent curves that he‟d automatically noticed on the first day they met, even though she‟d tried to conceal such perfection beneath a pair of baggy slacks and a cotton shirt. He made a face…so not flattering. A woman such as this should be covered in only the best clothes.

Tempted as he was to discover if the rest of her was natural, he nixed the idea, fearing the way she might react. He opted for brushing his finger along her cheek to gently wake her.

The lids slid back slowly, revealing two brown irises. They focused on his face. Yi-jun braced himself and waited to be smacked by the feisty temptress for his forwardness, but all she did was blink and stare back at him as if accustomed to waking up each morning with a man staring down on her, checking her out. She was an anomaly…a challenge, and he liked a good challenge.

Yi-jun moved aside so she could push the covers away from those long coltish legs. She had to lift the hem of the gown to step down on the floor. He looked down at those exquisite red-painted toe nails, and her eyes met his when he raised them again.

“Do you see something you like?” she asked once she decided to speak.

“Very much so,” he replied as she swept past him to retrieve her clothes from a nearby chair. She had to bend over to retrieve them and her shoes, and he took the liberty of gazing at her scrumptious behind. That little sight simply took his breath away. Up until now he had been a breast man, but his tastes were changing. Cristal Gentry‟s derriere ranked supreme, with those cute little toes coming in a close second.

“Excuse me,” Cristal said as she brushed past him to leave the bedroom.

“Where are you going?”

“To get dressed in the restroom,” she replied. “You‟ve had enough of a peepshow this morning.” She slipped out of the door, leaving him charmed and taking his heart with her.

* * * *

“Right this way, Mr. Lee,” a very tall French female chauffeur said to Yi-jun after they made it through customs and out of the airport. Yi-jun escorted Cristal over to a stretch white limousine and past the stunning brunette driver with legs that just went on forever as she held the door open for them.

“Thank you, Beatrice,” Yi-jun said to the young woman. “Take us to Hotel Ritz.”

“Oui,” Beatrice replied.

He said something else to her in French that made Beatrice chuckle and close the door. She walked around and climbed into the front seat. “Take the scenic route.” He lifted the partition and snuggled back into the seat.

Cristal secured the seat belt across her shoulder and waist. If he was trying to impress her, he‟d done that by not attacking her while she slept aboard the plane. Anything else would just be a waste of time. She was only there for the interview and to cover the fashion show…nothing else.

Yi-jun reached over and touched a couple of buttons. Soulful French music filtered out through the speakers, and an ice bucket containing a frosty bottle of wine and two glasses appeared between their seats. He handed her one of the glasses, popped the cork and filled her glass before filling his.

“Isn‟t it a bit early for wine?‟ she asked as he made a toast.

“Not in Paris,” he responded, pronouncing it like the natives with a hint of Korean accent.

Cristal sipped. It was the good stuff. He was using the big artillery. “Thanks.”

“You‟re welcome.” He sipped from his glass.

“So is this what movie stars do on a regular basis?”

“I don‟t know about anyone else, but yes, I do like to travel in style.” He paused. “You don‟t like it?” “Don‟t get me wrong. It‟s nice, but I try not to get accustomed to things I won‟t be doing often.”

“Can you at least give me a smile?”

Oh, well, she guessed she could do that. Cheese, she thought, giving it her best effort. Did his eyes flicker when she smiled? It made him look wicked sexy.

“Beautiful,” he said, not taking his eyes away from hers.

Cristal blushed and looked away.

“What‟s wrong, don‟t you like me?” Yi-jun asked.

“That‟s not it. I‟m just not used to all this attention.”

Yi-jun refilled her glass. “I can‟t believe that your boyfriend does not spoil you.”

Cristal chuckled. “What boyfriend?”

“You‟re kidding, right?”

“No, I‟m not joking, and it‟s a question you should have asked me before you whisked me away for a week. If I had one, he‟d be pretty pissed off by now.”

“Probably,” Yi-jun agreed. “But at the moment I wasn‟t thinking about anyone else but me and you. Sometimes I like to seize the moment. It‟s one of my weaknesses.”

Cristal bit her bottom lip to keep from smiling. The great Yi-jun was admitting that he wasn‟t perfect. “Do you have any other weaknesses?”

“Yes, pretty female journalists with red painted toes.”

“A foot freak. Groovy.” He tried to refill her glass a third time, but she stopped him. “Two is my limit before breakfast.”

“A wise decision. I will stop too to save room for the scrumptious breakfast awaiting us after we cheek into our hotel room.”

Cristal raised an eyebrow. “I hope you just omitted the „s‟ of that last word by accident.”

He smiled smugly. “Just checking to see if you were awake. Yes, we have two rooms.” He chuckled. “You can‟t blame a man for trying.”

“Yes, I can.” She emptied her glass and put it back into the compartment. “Do you always take women on fancy trips?”

Yi-jun put his empty glass back next to hers. “No, you‟re the first.”

She eyed him suspiciously. “How come I don‟t believe you?”

“I can‟t answer that. For some reason you have this preconceived idea of what my life is like.”

“Let me see, if I have it down. You‟re a young, gorgeous movie star with enough money to do anything you choose to do with it. You‟re rich, spoiled and surround yourself with beautiful and expensive toys. You date one specific type of woman, big-boobed and empty-headed ones who look good on your arm walking down the red carpet, but who aren‟t smart enough to know they‟re only there to make you look good.”

Yi-jun stared at her, guarding his emotions. “True,” he replied.

“So why am I here with you? I‟m not big-boobed or empty-headed.”

“Because I got an erection the moment you called me a jerk. I knew right at that moment that I had to find out everything I could about you.”

Cristal smirked. “So you orchestrated all of this just because you got a hard-on?”

Yi-jun nodded. “Not just any hard-on, the mother of all hard-ons.