Free Unexpected by Sarah G.

their floor tamped down the hothouse atmosphere.
Within moments, Kai’s hand was gone from her thigh. The doors parted and if
anyone had been waiting, they would have noticed nothing amiss about a couple
who looked romantically inclined.
    Kai escorted her to her suite.
    “You wanna come in?”
    The dark eyes instantly lit up and yet
he seemed suddenly hesitant. “Yes I do, but I don’t want you to feel pressured
to do anything. I know tonight…”
    Noel placed a finger over his lips. “I
don’t feel pressured about anything, in spite of what just happened in the
elevator.” She wagged her eyebrows at him. “I just want to spend some time with
you. We can just talk you know?”
    Kai nodded as she slid the
keycard into the lock and followed Noel into her room.

Chapter 7
     
     
    “Make yourself comfortable,” Noel said
over her shoulder as she headed into the bedroom. “Be right back.”
    Kai toed his shoes off, shucked his
leather jacket and walked over to the sofa, where he draped himself
comfortably, trying not to think of Noel naked. He turned his head when he
heard Noel lightly pad into the living room area. She’d changed from the sexy
outfit into an oversized button-down shirt.
    Oh god, Kai groaned inwardly and swore
softly in Korean. There was nothing sexier than a woman wearing a guy’s
shirt with almost nothing or nothing underneath it. His eyes eagerly ran up the
length of her silky brown legs that peeked from the hem of the shirt and he
wondered if she was wearing panties underneath. Suddenly, talking was a lame
idea.
    Noel plopped down on the opposite end of
the couch. After some moments of heated silence where both simply stared at
each other wondering what next, Noel asked lamely, “So what should we talk
about?”
    He tried not to stare at her mouth or
look down to see if she were wearing anything beneath that damn shirt. “Tell me
more about you?”
    She shrugged, the gesture causing the
shirt to dip a bit in the front, hinting at the swell of her breasts. “Compared
to you there’s not much to say. I’m pretty boring.”
    “Not true,” he grinned. “You live in Las
Vegas.”
    “So do a lot of people. It’s like any
other city, except that we’ve got Elvis and showgirls,” she chuckled. “I moved
to Las Vegas five years ago to go to school and that’s it.”
    “What about your family?”
    Noel’s eyes shadowed slightly. “They
died when I was young and I was raised by my grandmother. I don’t have any
brothers or sisters.”
    He wanted to take Noel into his arms; instead
he said, “I’m sorry to bring up bad memories, Noel.”
    “Don’t worry about it. My life wasn’t
all doom and gloom you know? Grandma made me a pretty tough cookie or else I
wouldn’t have been able to move across the country and start a new life.” When
Kai fell silent, Noel urged him to talk. “Come on now, your turn. Tell me all
about the glamorous life of a pop star.”
    Kai regarded her archly. “It’s not all that glamorous.”
    “Compared to working in a fake-tropical
diner it is.”
    “I don’t know. Sometimes I wish I had a
less stressful life. At least I can be more in charge of it than I am. The
entertainment industry in Korea is very controlling.”
    “That’s what Kami, Rachael’s little
sister, told me.”
    He shook his head bitterly. “You don’t
know the half of it.”
    Noel reached out and lightly patted him
on the hand. “If you don’t mind my asking, why get into the music business in
the first place?”
     Kai ran a finger through his hair.
“I hate the business. I love music and I love performing. If I
could do the last two without having to deal with the crap of the business, I’d
be happy.” Noel nodded her understanding as he continued. “Most people don’t
know that I was actually born here and after my parents died, I moved to Seoul
to live with my Uncle. The record company for some reason doesn’t like to talk
about the fact that I’m not native-born Korean,