Exhaustion ate away at her as Rina made her way back to the hotel, accompanied by Michael. He went with her into the elevator and walked her to her door before turning away and heading back outside, not without reminding her for the umpteenth time that if she needed anything, all she had to do was send him a quick text and he would be at her door.
“Thank you for today,” she called after him as he disappeared into the elevator, leaving her standing in the hallway alone.
Grateful for the silence, Rina walked into the room and took off her joggers, tank top, and converses, preparing herself a warm bath in the tub. She soaked her skin while soft music played in the background, soothing her weary bones. Oddly, she missed the speakers and scented candles back in the villa. The scent of jasmine would have been clouding the bathroom at that moment, with the bass of the music echoing through the speakers and the bathroom thrown into dim lights.
Even though it was only her second night in Hong Kong, it felt like she’d been away for a long time now. Rina realized that she had grown so used to that place that she thought of it as home. And if she thought it had nothing to do with Zayn, then she was lying to herself. And Rina didn’t want to do that.
After almost thirty minutes of washing in the tub, Rina prepared her skin for bed with a moisturizing mask, a snail essence, and lip balm before putting on a huge bathrobe and padding back to the living room barefoot. She called room service and placed an order for her dinner, before settling into the couch and attempting to see a series she’d heard about. It starred none of the actors from Scottsdale, which was a good thing because Rina didn’t think she was ready to see them on her screen just yet.
A knock on the door drew her attention away from the series and Rina’s eyes strayed to the beautifully coated wood, impressed at how quickly her dinner was prepared. Hitting the purse button, she approached the door and twisted the knob open, an appreciative speech on her lips already. But the sigh that greeted her caused a sudden lurch to her heart so hard that she almost lost her footing at that moment.
Rina thought she was beginning to see things and rubbed her eyes frantically. She told herself that it was probably a dream, that she must have slept off in front of the TV while waiting for her dinner, but dreams didn’t feel that real, did they? His earthy scent had mingled with the smell of roses in the hallway, and Rina took in a deep breath, still denying it in her head.
But he was there, right in front of her, leaning against the frame like he’d always done. He looked ravishing as ever, in his regular black suit, this time without the jacket, and the cooperate shoes replaced with a pair of white kicks. The sleeves of the black shirt were folded up to his elbows, and the silver of his Rolex caught the lights in the hallway.
“How did you get here?” were the first words that fell from her lips. Rina struggled to get her thoughts together and say something more comprehensive, but her mind was all over the place, grappling with the amount of emotion she’d had to move around with from the previous night until a few seconds ago.
“A private jet,” he replied with a mischievous glint in his eyes, even though he knew what she’d meant by that question.
“I mean… You weren’t responding to my texts. I sent you a dozen pictures, and now that I’m hearing myself complain about it, I know how stupid and entitled I sound, so forget I said anything about it. I’m just really surprised you are right in front of my door.”
“You don’t sound stupid and entitled, Rina,” he murmured slowly. She could see the tired lines on his face, even though he tried to hide it with a smile. Had he worked overnight like she had thought? “I should have responded to your messages and beautiful pictures, but I had a million things to sort out at the company so I could make the trip down here today, so I had to hold a meeting through the night and get some things in place.”
“Why?” Rina whispered. “You could have told me you were busy.”
“That would have ruined the surprise. You would have asked why I had to hold a meeting throughout the night, and I might have been obliged to tell you my plans.”
“Why does everyone keep surprising me?”
Zayn angled his head and regarded her intently. “Someone else did this?”
“Not exactly. I met him on the street last night during my tour and he happened to be one of Claire’s models. He didn’t tell me about it last night, so I was surprised when I saw him walk in during the shoot.”
“Hm.”
“You look tired by the way.”
“And you look really beautiful.”
Rina looked away so he wouldn’t see the red patch forming on her cheeks. “Zayn, you can’t say things like that. Remember we had a conversation the last time at your office about things we need to avoid to have the best from our arrangement.”
“Yeah,” he breathed. “I remember. But I think I shouldn’t have agreed to that. I thought I could ignore everything as I have always done and just focus on what we both could get from our contract. But then again, I don’t want to.”
“Zayn…”
“I don’t want to have to turn away when I see your face in the hallway, or pretend like you don’t look really great even if you’re just covered by a bathrobe.”
“Zayn…” This time, his name came off her lips in a whisper, her pulse suddenly picking up the pace. Rina was painstakingly aware that she was putting on nothing other than the robe.
“And it’s madness pretending like I don’t want to kiss you right now.”