Kiss Me (Townsend Legacy)

Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

T ania

When I was ten years old, I remember my instructor, at the time, suggested I do my first front side alley-oop. Back then, the thought of lifting off of the back of the ramp, spinning mid-air, and landing so that I was exactly a hundred and eighty degrees in the other direction never once scared me.

Even though I had only begun snowboarding lessons a few months before. But my dad, with his incredible foresight, quickly spotted my talent.

He also noticed that my first instructor highly doubted my ability. Whether it was because I was a girl, am Black, or he just lacked experience, I’ll never know. What I do know is that my dad quickly fired him and hired Rick Ames, who until this day, remains my main athletic coach.

During our second lesson together, Rick told me I was going to do my first alley-oop. He didn’t ask. He simply showed me a video of the trick and told me I was going to perform it.

I should’ve been terrified.

All I felt was glee. Finally, someone aside from my parents who could feel my eagerness for more on my board.

Anyway, years later, I suspect the terror I should’ve felt at that moment, and all of the crazy tricks I’ve learned since then, waited for this very moment to rise in my belly.

Not this exact moment. But the instant I watched the sinister smirk pass over Taehyun’s face when I asked him what it was that he wanted from me.

Money would’ve been easy.

“Wow, the Lee Corporation is in talks to open an exclusive nightclub in partnership with Sonya Hotels,” Liza says of the exclusive nightclub and real estate company Taehyun runs with his cousin and sister, as she reads the latest article she’s pulled up on her tablet.

“I’ve heard,” I mumble.

No, money isn’t what Taehyun Kim needed or wanted.

“You’re going on a date with a tycoon,” Liza finishes.

“It’s not a date,” I remind her for the second time.

My assistant stares off across the span of the large living room area of our suite. The massive floor-to-ceiling window looks out at one of the highest slopes on the lodge’s property.

“I’m not entirely sure your father would approve of your dating. Not with it being so close to the X Games.”

I clamp my lips together and only barely manage to tell her that it’s not a date. The far off look in her eyes already tells me she’s not listening. Liza is like my father in a lot of ways. Once she has an idea or plan in her head, she’s off and running. And she’s constantly strategizing.

It’s part of what makes her such a great assistant.

It’s also why my father quickly promoted her from his summer intern to my assistant once she graduated college.

“Maybe I should?—”

“No!” I lunge for her, grabbing her phone and snatching it away.

For a beat, she stares at me with wide eyes. Then she does a slow up and down sweep of my body with her gaze. Liza’s stare pauses on my right ankle.

“Ouch,” I groan and then hobble back to the plush sofa, carefully retaking my seat with my right leg elevated. I throw in another fake groan for good measure.

“Dammit! I’m sorry, Tania.” Liza jumps into action, rearranging the pillow underneath my right ankle and then replacing the ice pack over my leg. “It hasn’t swollen, has it? Do you need the doctor?”

I suppress the guilt that rises in my stomach. “No, no, I’m fine. Don’t apologize,” I insist.

“I was only suggesting. I wasn’t really going to call your father,” she finishes with a wrinkle in her forehead and a sheepish expression.

“I know. I know. It’s just that he’s busy with those contract negotiations going on right now. Let’s not bother him over something so small, okay?”

Liza nods in agreement. “Right. I mean, you’re only having dinner with the man,” she says. “And you said it’s not even a real date.”

I swallow the lump in my throat. At twenty-five, one would think I would have the freedom to date or not date who I choose. Which I do. But my father’s kept a tight reign over my public image ever since I went pro at seventeen. It’s an unwritten rule that he must approve of anyone I date.

Ordinarily, I don’t mind. Seeing as how I haven’t met anyone I’ve had much interest in dating lately, anyway. Not since my last relationship ended. Cody Dwight. A fellow pro-snowboarder. We dated for two years before things between us just fizzled out.

He’s now married to someone else and they’re expecting their first kid.

I shake my head, wondering why I’m even thinking about my last relationship. It’s not like this outing with Taehyun is the start of anything, anyway. The man is literally holding a lie over my head to get me to do his bidding.

“Hmhm,” I reply to Liza, although she didn’t ask. “He just happens to be a fan of the sport and asked if I would attend an event with him.”

“Did he say what kind of event it was? Do you need to dress up? You can’t wear heels with your ankle,” she advises.

“I’m not wearing heels. He said it was casual.” I stifle a snort.

Casual.

That’s exactly what Taehyun told me about wherever we’re going tonight.

This is what he wanted.

When I asked, he gave me that sinister grin, stepped forward until our faces were merely inches apart, and told me, “You’re mine for the remainder of my time here.”