He shrugged and leaned in close. “I’m the only cat you need to be thinking about.”
Ria couldn’t not think about Emmett. That night, as she sat across from her parents at the dinner table, she kept finding herself drifting off in the middle of conversations. Emmett’s herself drifting off in the middle of conversations. Emmett’s scent seemed to have become locked in her brain. She was fantasizing about burying her face in his neck, his strong body hard and taut against hers when Alex’s voice penetrated.
“Ria!”
Jumping, Ria met her mother’s eyes, hoping the guilt didn’t show. “Sorry, what did you say?”
“Tom’s popping by for coffee tonight. Why don’t you change into a dress?”
Ria’s fingers turned to iron around her chopsticks. Enough, she thought. And strangely, it had nothing to do with Emmett. Perhaps he’d pushed her to this point faster, but she’d always been walking toward it. “Mom,” she said, putting down the abused chopsticks, “I have no interest whatsoever in Tom.”
Utter silence.
Simon was the one to break it. “What’s gotten into you, Ria? You and Tom grew up together—he knows you. He’ll make a good husband.” The tone of his voice said the matter was settled.
Ria looked into her father’s face. “I love you, Dad, but not even for you will I marry a man who thinks I should be patted on the head once in a while and put in the corner like a good little girl the rest of the time.”
White lines bracketed Simon’s mouth. “That boy’s only ever treated you with respect.”
“He treats me like a dimwit,” Ria said, skin blazing with temper. “Last week, he told me I wouldn’t have to worry about finances when we were married, that he knows math confuses females.”
Alex made a choked little sound that succeeded in ripping Ria’s attention from her father’s disapproving face. Alex’s expression was a mix of outrage and disbelief. “He did not say that. You’re making it up.”
“Popo?” Ria turned to her right.
Miaoling ate a fried shrimp and nodded. “He said it. Then he smiled as if expecting praise.”
Alex’s hands clenched on the tablecloth. “And who does he think does the books for the shop, huh?”
“Alex.” Simon closed his hand over his wife’s. “We’re getting off topic.”
Taking a deep breath, Alex nodded. “You’re right. Sweetheart, Tom is a very good match for you. You never had a problem with him before you met that disreputable leopard.”
Ria supposed Emmett was disreputable—that stubble, those hands that had squeezed and petted, those eyes that told her he wanted to do all kinds of wicked things to her. But . . . “He’s an honorable man.” That core of honor was so much a part of him, she wondered if he was even aware of it. It was why it had been so easy for her to lose control in the gym today—she’d trusted Emmett to take care of her. And that, she thought, was a dangerous thing . . . the kind that could lead to a broken heart if she wasn’t careful. “He’s protecting our family.”
“Exactly,” Jet said, jumping into the conversation. “Maybe he’s making time with you while he does this duty, but he won’t marry you, Ria. Those cats stick together.”
Ria’s stomach twisted, because she knew her brother was right. “This isn’t about Emmett. It’s about me. I will, under no circumstances, marry Tom.”
“Why not?” Alex asked, eyes flashing. “He’s intelligent, handsome, has a good job, and brings you flowers.”
Frustrated, Ria threw down her napkin and rose to her feet. “If he’s that great, you marry him. I will not marry a man who hasn’t even attempted to French-kiss me the entire year we’ve been ‘dating.’ ”
Her parents yelled her name, but Jet’s incredulous voice drowned them out. “Seriously? Not even a little tongue? You’re right—dude is lame.”
“JET!” It was Alex. She flew into a rapid stream of Mandarin.
Miaoling looked up at Ria and winked. “Sit. Eat.”
And oddly enough, Ria did. The family fought through the entire meal, but now her parents were mad at Jet because he figured Tom had to be gay.
Alex glared at her son. “Maybe he’s just being respectful of your sister.”
“No effing way.” A skeptical snort. “Men aren’t that noble when it comes to women they want.” Jet turned to his wife, his voice dropping. “When I saw Amber, all I wanted to do was—”
“You finish that sentence,” Alex threatened, “and you’ll be breathing fire I’ll put so much chili in your food.”
Amber grinned and blew Jet a kiss. “You know, it sounds to me like Tom’s planning to marry Ria and get himself a nice, respectable wife, while having a bit on the side.”
Simon’s mouth fell open at this scandalous contribution from his flawlessly elegant daughter-in-law.
Miaoling ate another shrimp. “She’s right. Like father, like son.”
Silence. Deeper. More shocked.
FIVE
Simon cleared his throat. “Mother,” he said, his tone that of a man who knows he’s done for, “is that true?”
“You think I’m lying?”
“I think you’d do anything for your favorite granddaughter.”
Leaning back, Miaoling actually cackled. “This time, I don’t have to. Wait.” She got up and headed toward her room.
Ria shrugged when all eyes turned to her. “Don’t look at me.”
“Eat some tofu,” Alex said when they just sat there. “It’ll go bad if we don’t finish it tonight.”
Everyone ate. But the instant Miaoling walked back into the room, all implements were abandoned, food forgotten. Wearing the same smile she always displayed when she came out of Mr. Wong’s, Miaoling sat down and opened an envelope. Ria’s eyes went wide when she saw the photograph in her grandmother’s hand—Tom’s father with his tongue down the throat of the woman everyone knew as his secretary. “Oh, my, God.”
“Don’t show me,” Alex said, slapping her hands over her eyes. “I can’t bear it. Essie’s one of my best friends!”
Miaoling waved off the objection. “She knows. Doesn’t care—it keeps Tom Sr. from interrupting her hobbies. She’s making lanterns this year.”
“Popo,” Ria said, choking, “how did you—”
“What do you think Mr. Wong and I talk about?” She turned her gaze to Ria’s parents. “Want to know about the apartment Tom bought his mistress?”
Alex looked like she was about to keel over. “Mistress?” It was a thin sound.
A sense of fair play induced Ria to attempt to defend Tom. After all, she was now involved with Emmett. “Grandmother, no one has mistresses anymore. Tom was probably just waiting for the right time to tell me he’d fallen for someone else.” Yes, he should’ve been man enough to stop the charade of their non-engagement soon as he met his girlfriend, but Ria wasn’t going to beat him up about that. Chances were, he’d needed time to work up the strength to stand firm against familial pressure.
“I talked to her.”
Jet whooped at Miaoling’s words, while Amber shushed him and said, “How, Nana?”
“I’m a weak old lady, always need so much help.” Miaoling’s eyes gleamed. “Nice girl, too nice for Tom. She’s so sad for him because he has to marry some plain, fat girl—”
“That snake!” Alex’s hand clenched on a sharp knife as Ria’s sympathy for Tom died a quick and permanent death.
“—but nothing’s going to change between them after the wedding. Tom’s set it all up so he can visit her on his way home every night. He’s even promised to take her to Paris after he explains how things are to his wife.”
Simon looked at Ria, a tic in his jaw. “If you even think about marrying Tom, I’ll hogtie you and send you to live with my parents in Idaho.”
“Yes, Dad.” Grinning, Ria walked around to hug her parents. But she waited until she was alone with her grandmother to ask, “Was that in case I didn’t get up the guts to pull myself out?”