Kiss Me (Townsend Legacy)

Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9

T ania

“Are you cold? Should we go back upstairs?” Taehyun asks while my head lays on his bare abdomen in front of the lit fireplace.

“This is perfect.” I pry my eyelids open and peer up at him.

He’s propped his back against the couch. He stares down at me while running a hand through my braids. The flames from the fire reflect in his dark orbs. It reminds me of what we did upstairs not too long ago in his bedroom.

“What’s that laugh about?” he asks.

I shrug and turn to stare at the fire again. “I can’t believe I just slept with you.”

He grunts. “Baby, I was there and there wasn’t a wink of sleep involved.”

He laughs when I slap his chest.

“Are you always so damn literal? You know what I meant.”

His hand stops moving, and he props his body to the side to get a better view of my face. “Do you regret it?”

The question alone isn’t what surprises me. It’s the genuine tone in his voice. There’s almost a hesitancy, as if there’s a possibility of my not enjoying what we did together.

“No regrets at all,” I answer honestly.

If I’m not mistaken, I feel him release a breath like he was holding it, awaiting my answer.

“You don’t regret bringing me back to your bachelor pad?” I tease. “I can only imagine the number of women you planned to have in here.”

My comment is in jest because I know this isn’t a serious thing for Taehyun. It’s just a Christmas-break fling for the both of us.

He snorts. “You’re the only woman who has or will be in this cabin during my time here.”

My breath hitches at his declaration. The urge to make a joke to make light of his response is on the tip of my tongue. But I can’t do it.

Particularly, not when I look up to meet his gaze again and see that fire burning in his pupils. This time, it’s not just the reflection from the fireplace. There’s a fire in them that, if I were a less sane woman, I might mistake for genuine emotion.

I adjust my body to sit next to him and lay my head on his shoulder once he wraps an arm around me. We’re both still completely nude, underneath the throw blanket from the couch.

Though I’ve known this man for only a day, it’s strange how close I feel to him. I shouldn’t. It doesn’t make any sense. Yet, I did completely break down in his arms only a few hours ago, revealing things I haven’t told anyone else.

Not even my dad, who, at one point in my life, I considered my best friend.

“Do you miss her?”

I meet Taehyun’s gaze as he looks down at me.

“Who?”

“Your mom,” he says, his eyes locked on mine.

“Every day,” I tell him before a brittle laugh breaks free from my throat. “It’s been ten years and not one day goes by that I don’t think about her.”

“Every day?”

I nod.

“I wonder if she’s proud of me. What she would think about the deal I just took or the brand I’m building. What she would’ve said when I won my first gold medal at the Olympics. Or silly things like what she’d say about my latest hairstyle.

“After my dad, she was my biggest fan growing up.”

For some reason, I start to open up like a well. I haven’t talked about my mother with anyone in years.

Right after her death, I tried for a while with my father. But his eyes would just get all glossy and he’d change the subject to something else. Soon after, is when he started pushing me to seriously pursue my talent in snowboarding.

“Then he became my manager and our relationship shifted,” I tell Taehyun. “He wasn’t just my dad anymore. Or my biggest fan. He’s still both of those things,” I amend. “I know he genuinely cheers me on and is proud of me. But there’s the business aspect of our relationship that wasn’t there before.”

“Do you not want him to manage you anymore?”

I shake my head and then adjust my position to push my braids out of the way before laying my head back on Taehyun’s chest.

“I do. Despite the change in our relationship, I know there isn’t anyone who would fight harder for me in my career than he does. His tenacity as an agent and manager is how I secured the latest seven-figure deal, which is almost unheard of in my sport.”

“And your talent,” Taehyun adds.

I smile at him. “That too.”

He presses a kiss to my forehead, making my body warm all over.

“I just miss him,” I sigh. “I’m not his only client and I can’t remember the last time he took a break.”

“And you couldn’t ask him to take time off with you for the holiday?”

“Huh, yeah right.” I push out a heavy breath. “The last time I attempted was two years ago. He said he would try but we never got that break.

“Within the first few days there ended up being multiple photoshoots, talk of a documentary, and as usual video conferences with brands and sponsors.

“What was supposed to be a week-long holiday trip with my dad turned into a half-day holiday. On Christmas morning, we exchanged a few gifts and had a nice breakfast. But by that afternoon he was back on his phone making calls and deals.”

“I know what that’s like,” Taehyun says, his voice sounding slightly far-off.

“You do?” I watch his profile.

His jaw hardens.

“Our fathers sound a lot alike.” He shrugs with his free arm. “Minus the whole best friend thing. He and I never had that history. He came over to the U.S. as an immigrant when I was just five years old. He left my sister and I back home in Korea for a few years with our mom. Once he felt established enough, we all came over.

“He worked his ass off and expected nothing less from his only son. I never minded working hard, but nothing was ever good enough for him. If I got an A- he would remind me how my cousins in New York got straight As, all while being in in three different extracurriculars.”

He shrugs like it’s no big deal, but the heavy tone his voice has taken on betrays his expression.

“When I started working for the company he started, he often scrutinized my work, looking for any errors or places where I failed to do my best, according to him. When he found them, I would never hear the end of it.”

“I’m sorry,” I say, running my hand down the side of his face.

He takes my hand and presses a kiss to my fingers. “There’s nothing to be sorry about.”

Taehyun’s voice lightens but it feels forced.

“It made me who I am today. In the years since his death, we’ve more than doubled our company’s bottom line and saw to the downfall of the bastards who once ran my father out of Korea.”

“What?” I sit up, using the blanket to cover my breasts. “That’s a story worth telling, I’m sure. Spill.”

He shakes his head with a half-smile. “Not much to it, to be honest.”

“That’s a lie if ever I heard one. Tell me.”

He sighs as if I’m putting him out in some way before suddenly wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me to sit on his lap. I squirm upon feeling his dick underneath me.

“You’re not going to hear the story if you keep squirming like that, Ginger.”

Ginger.

Yesterday it was a condescending pet name he’d given me when threatening to expose my lie.

Now, it’s beginning to sound more like a term of endearment I don’t ever want him to stop saying.

“Do you call me ginger because of how much I like ginger cookies?”

He smirks and nods. “That and it’s the same color of your eyes.”

I blink up at him. “My eyes?”

“You never noticed?”

I shake my head and clear my throat. “T-Tell me the story. About your father’s business,” I say to bring us back to the original topic.

“Fine …” he starts before going into detail about how his father was essentially pushed out of the family business by his twin brother, no less. And that’s just the beginning of the story.

“Wow,” I say, once he finishes. “You, Dae, and your sister, Jersey, not only got revenge on your uncle, well, your uncle’s company and Dae’s ex brother-in-law, you did it by nearly quadrupling your net worth.”

“All while Dae stalked the love of his life for a decade.” He chuckles.

“Yeah, that’s a little intense,” I admit. “And Jersey and your mom are now in the Bahamas for the week?” I ask, wondering why his family isn’t here with him.

He nods. “Like I told you before, we weren’t big on Christmas growing up. Since my father died, Jersey takes my mom on a vacation somewhere hot during this time of the year. We always get together for Seollal, which is the first day of the lunar calendar. And Chuseok, when my mom prepares a ridiculous amount of food and we celebrate our cultural traditions.” He smirks.

“Hmm,” I say. “It’s kind of like Korean Thanksgiving then?”

His eyes squint as he thinks about it for a second. “I suppose you could say that.”

I nod. “That’s sweet. At least you make time to spend with one another.” Shaking my head, I laugh. “Stalking cousins and all.”

Then I remember this is the man who practically blackmailed me into being his date for the night.

“The night?” he questions when I point this fact out to him. Taehyun shakes his head. “Not for the night, babe. The whole damn week.”

“Are you serious?”

“I don’t joke around when it comes to getting what I want.”

“And what is it that you want?” I ask again for probably the twentieth time.

“Still haven’t figured it out yet?”

I shake my head because no, I haven’t.

“You. Ever since the first moment I saw you.”

His words steal my breath for a moment.

“What? You saw me fake limping toward the ski lift yesterday and decided you just had to have me?” I mock, once I finally get my voice back.

Taehyun pulls back and looks down at me, assessing. It’s as if he’s trying to figure something out.

He shakes his head before pulling me into his chest again.

“Something like that,” he finally replies. But it feels like there’s something he’s not saying.

“Some hot chocolate would be great right now,” I say on a sigh.

I don’t have time to follow up on it though, because seconds later, Taehyun’s on his feet heading to the kitchen.

“I was just mentioning it,” I call out to him from my spot still in front of the fireplace.

“The resort provided me with enough hot chocolate to feed a damn army. And I know exactly how much food that is since I was a chef during my stint in the Korean military.”

I watch him, completely naked, moving around the kitchen, preparing two mugs of hot chocolate.

When he returns, I rise to my knees to receive the Santa Claus mug he hands me.

“Mmm,” I hum as I take a sniff of the chocolate liquid goodness with just enough marshmallows. “The only thing missing are the gingerbread cookies.”

I pout since Taehyun doesn’t have those anywhere around.

“You aren’t sick of those damn things?”

“Never. They were a Christmas tradition in my home growing up. My mom and I would spend hours making them during this time of year. They became my favorite cookies after a while.”

Taehyun watches me as I take a sip of my hot chocolate.

“We’ll get some more then,” he tells me.

We.

There’s something about that word that does warms me all over. When I came to Colorado, it was just Liza and me. Though she’s a wonderful assistant, and we’re friendly enough, I still felt alone in many ways.

Hearing Taehyun use the word ‘we’ as if we’re in this week together … lessens that feeling.

“What’s that sigh about?” he asks.

I hadn’t even realized I let the sigh slip. My shoulders slump as I stare off into the fire.

“Do you want to know the one regret I have about my ankle?”

He raises a curious eyebrow.

“I miss my board,” I admit. “I’m here in the perfect place to spend my time just riding the snow, but I can’t. At least, not without the fear that someone will see me and figure out the truth.”

I lock eyes with him.

“Present company excluded.”

He chuckles.

“I never faked my injury because I hate snowboarding or because I’m tired of the sport. What I wanted was to be able to hit the slopes at my leisure, practicing the skills that appealed to me the most without feedback from coaches and trainers.

“But with Liza here and my signature braids, I’m bound to get discovered even if I’m covered from head to toe.”

I lean back against Taehyun, partially because I like being in his arms, and partially because he’s the one who pulls me into his embrace.

“It’s a good thing you found me,” he says cryptically.