The Heart Wants What It Wants

Chapter 8

Diana would’ve been a little intimidated by flying first class if she hadn’t already gotten a taste of what luxury travel was like with George.

As it was, she hoped she’d been smooth and sophisticated enough.

Settled in, strapped in, she had more leg room than she had ever had before. Well, more than she’d ever had with flying commercial before.

But the novelty of the flight itself wore off after an hour. Almost eleven hours. She was flying almost eleven hours to see a man she’d known for a week. She was definitely crazy.

Diana tried to work, but her mind wandered. She tried to read, tried the in-flight entertainment, tried everything she could think of, but nothing held her attention. She kept checking the flight route, and the closer she got to their destination, the more nervous she got. Crazy – she was absolutely crazy. There was no other explanation. She was nuts.

It was a miracle and a blessing that she fell asleep, because she would have driven herself out of her mind if she hadn’t. The announcement that they were about to land came as a surprise. She’d been up all night the night before, and it had obviously caught up with her. She couldn’t believe it – she was about to land in Osaka!

Going through formalities after landing took her mind off some more things.

Then she saw her name on a board and she thought she might be sick.

“Ms. David, this way.”

She followed the man who had been holding a sign with her name, glad that she didn’t have to try the basic Japanese phrases she had tried to memorize and couldn’t remember now, anyway.

“Arigatou,” she managed when he opened the door for her and took her suitcase.

“You’re welcome, Ms. David. Mr. Hemsworth apologizes that he could not be here to greet you, but he will be at the hotel for lunch, and hopes you will join him then.”

She nodded.

He’d said as much the night before.

Still, it was a little disappointing…

The door opened and she was handed a phone.

“Mr. Hemsworth felt you might be served better by this phone when you’re here.”

“Oh.”

Right on cue, the phone rang.

“Diana?”

“Yes. Yes, it’s me. I landed, and I’m in the car.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t meet you. I was planning to, but something came up and I figured it made more sense to wrap it up as quickly as I could instead of pushing it to meet you at the airport.”

“Oh, yes. Of course. That makes sense.”

“I’ll see you soon, Diana. I hope you like sushi.”

She hoped she liked sushi, too. She’d never tried it.

“We’ll find out,” she told him, making him chuckle.

She felt better as she hung up, holding on to the phone – he was thoughtful. She texted Alex, and was feeling better by the time she got to the hotel. It was, of course, luxurious, and she was shown to a room that had everything she could possibly want.

It was another life.

She was living another life for a weekend. And after that, maybe…

She took a shower – it was tempting to soak in the tub for a while, it was very tempting, but she wanted to be ready – and came back out to finally notice the boxes waiting for her.

There were clothes – a summer dress that would flutter around her knees, pale ivory and printed with pink roses on dark green vines; what looked like a gorgeous deep green cocktail dress – that she loved immediately. And there were accessories.

“Oh dear, I hope these are fake,” she mumbled when she took the earrings out – small green flowers, they looked like jade. She hoped they weren’t expensive. She couldn’t accept so many gifts, could she?

The sandals were comfortable, with low heels. The other box had shoes, champagne colored and gorgeous, studded with green stones around the ankle.

She loved all of it, but accepting them…

Well, they were there. The summer dress looked perfect for lunch, and it would be comfortable. After seeing that, whatever she’d brought seemed inadequate.

“Might as well,” she told herself, and she changed, quickly and efficiently. Light makeup to suit the dress and the day, hair pulled back in a simple clip and left to tumble down her back.

She looked at herself in the mirror and decided that she’d do. Her eyes were shining with anticipation and, all right, nerves. The dress suited her. The V of the neck showed just a hint of cleavage without being obvious about it. The waist was cinched in, and it flowed over the curves of her hips. The sandals were strappy but extremely comfortable. Apparently pretty shoes could also be comfortable. She’d assumed, based on her life experience, that that was practically against the law.

The knock on her door nearly had her jumping out of her skin.

Quickly, she straightened up the room – she didn’t know why, it was just habit – and opened the door.

And she stood there, stunned.

She’d forgotten just how gorgeous he was. She’d expected him to be gorgeous, but she’d forgotten just what kind of an impact he made when you looked at him. He was…

The grey jacket and pants, and the dark blue shirt, without a tie – it made him look elegant, just a touch casual, and all gorgeous. He was probably the sexiest man she had ever seen.

His hair was just a little messy, but it suited him. She wondered what it would feel like to run her fingers through his hair and mess it up a bit more.

No, don’t go there. Different rooms, she reminded herself. But still, she looked at him, felt those blue eyes on her, and she couldn’t help but sigh just a little bit.

“Hey,” she said, dazzled.

“You look lovely. You look rested.”

“I… Come in. Thank you for the gifts.”

“You’re not wearing the earrings.”

But she was wearing the carrot pendant. She had to tell herself not to touch it.

“I… I can’t accept so many gifts from you. I guess I couldn’t resist the dress, but… The earrings look very expensive.”

“They’re not too expensive. I want you to wear them.”

He walked into the room and looked around. He spotted the earring on the table, walked straight to it, and took it.

“Let me,” he told her, and walked back to her, standing so close that she could see the dark outline of his gorgeous eyes so clearly. How was it that he looked so distinguished even when he was holding earrings?

“I…”

“Let me, Diana.”

How could she say no?