“Oh, come on, Aika.” Shota lowered his voice, leaning in a little. This close, I could smell his aftershave—something spicy with undertones of cinnamon. “We both know your life would be so much easier if you sold this place to me. My offer is more than generous; your mother will never have to work another day in her life, and you’ll be free to focus on your ownfuture.”
I sighed, pushing away the treacherously seductive picture his words painted. The sincere concern in his tone made it hard for me to be angry with him, but I couldn’t give in. “You know my mother will never sell this place to you.” I’d already discussed it with her in the past, and she’d dug in her heels.Over my dead body,she’dsaid.
I had a feeling she meant thatliterally.
“How about lunch, then?” Shota countered. “Reallunch,” he added when I opened my mouth to make a smartass comment. “As much as I enjoy wowing you with my superior culinary talent”—he gestured to the black box on the table—“it might be a nice change of pace for us to go some place neither of us own. Neutral ground, if youwill.”
I snorted. “Are you asking me out on a date or anegotiation?”
“It can’t beboth?”
Typical.“I don’t have time for your games,” I said, shooing him out of the way so I could help the customers who had just walked in. “Come back when you’reserious.”
“I am serious.” Shota’s gaze bored into mine as he shifted, blocking my view of the front door. He covered my hand with his own, and a tingle shot up my arm. “I know you’re interested, Aika. You can try to hide it, but I can see it in your eyes.” His thumb skimmed over my skin, sending a tendril of heat through me. My breath hitched in mythroat.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, my voice remarkably even considering I couldn’tbreathe.
“Sure you do.” His eyes twinkled as he pulled away, leaving me feeling strangely bereft. “But there’s no rush. You know where to find me when you’re ready. Enjoy thefood.”
He walked away, leaving me to stare after him. It took me a second to realize my eyes were glued to his tight ass—did he really have to wear such well-fitted jeans?—while the couple who had just walked in was still waiting. My face flamed, and I quickly apologized, then took care of them. God, what waswrongwith me? Was I really that hard up for some action? Sure, it had been over a year since I’d last taken a man to bed, but I’d been so wrapped up with work and school it hadn’t occurred to me that I was missinganything.
My gaze fell on the black box, and my stomach chose that moment to growl. Loudly. Giving in, I flipped open the lid, then groaned at the sight of the sushi spread within. Shrimp, salmon, tuna, roe, eel,yellowtail—
“You’ve got to stop encouraging him, Aika,” Janet said, appearing at my elbow as if by magic. “Every time you eat his food instead of sending him away with it, you’re sending a message that you wantmore.”
“You’re one to talk!” I exclaimed as Janet snatched up three sushi rolls. She shoved them into her mouth before I could grab her wrist. “I don’t understand how you can eat so much at once,” I muttered as I watched her swallow them down. Janet had a voracious appetite and was eating constantly. She claimed she had a crazy-fast metabolism and that if she didn’t eat every hour she’d get dizzy and weak. Considering how trim her figure was, I was inclined to believe her about the metabolism part. I’d have to roll myself down the stairs every morning if I ate like shedid.
“Practice,” she said, reaching for another sushi roll. I smacked her hand away, but she simply used her other one, snatching up an eel roll. “I’m going to take my break now,” she said around a mouthful of fish and rice. “Cover me for a minute, wouldyou?”
“Sure, no problem,” I said sarcastically to her retreating back. It wasn’t as if I was the boss or anything, right? Shaking my head, I picked up one of the shrimp rolls and popped it into my mouth. My eyes nearly rolled back into my head as the flavors burst onto my tongue. As usual.So. Freaking.Good.
If Shota’s that good at making sushi, what else can he do with thosehands?
Pushing that dirty thought out of my head, I grabbed the notepad Janet had left on the counter and quickly reviewed it to make sure there weren’t any outstanding orders. All of her tables looked to be taken care of, but as I glanced around the room, I noticed there was a man sitting in the corner by the circular window who hadn’t been served. Hell, he didn’t even have any water or anything. Weird. Janet was usually on top of hercustomers.
Hating to keep a customer waiting, I went over to help him, but as I approached, alarm bells began to go off in my head. The guy had long silver-gray hair that he pulled back into a high ponytail, and instead of normal clothing, he wore a black and silverhaoriandhakama—a kind of Japanese-style coat and pants. I half-expected him to be carrying akatana, but instead he held a sketchpad and paper, and his wizened old eyes were trained out the window, as if he was sketching theview.
“Konnichiwa,” I greeted him, defaulting to Japanese. “Would you like to see amenu?”
The man started, then twisted around in his seat to face me, faster than I would have expected for someone his age. “You can see me?” he asked, astonishment filling his voice as he looked me up anddown.
“Umm. Yes. Why wouldn’t I?” Now that the man was facing me, I was struck by the odd color of his eyes. He was Japanese, like me, and normally we weren’t very creative in the eye color department. But instead of dark or light brown, his eyes were a brilliant vermillion—the exact same shade that we always painted thetoriigates outside our shrines andtemples.
The man beamed at me, and a curious sensation enveloped my body as I stared into them. It was almost as if his smile had parted the clouds, and the sun was shining directly onto my body. Except that didn’t make sense, because I wasinside.
“You are the one I’ve been searching for.” He set his pad and pencil down, then leaned back in his booth as though he’d just eaten a very satisfying meal. “I can return to the Heavens now, knowing my duties aredone.”
“What are you talking ab—” I began, but the man was already out of his chair and across the room. How the hell had he moved so fast? I was about to shrug it off, but then I noticed he’d left his pad and pencil behind. Snatching them up, I raced out of the café as fast as I could, hoping I could catch up with him intime.
“Mister!” I shouted as I burst through the door, whipping my head left and right. I caught sight of him halfway across the street and rushed to the corner. “Mister! You forgot yourstuff!”
He turned toward the sound of my voice, and that was when the bus plowed straight intohim.
2
“Mister!”I screamed as I watched the bus plow into the man. Holy crap, the driver hadn’t so much as tapped on his brakes! My heart in my throat, I leapt forward, fully intending on using my petite frame to stop traffic. Someone had to make sure he wasokay—
Except there was no body in the street. The old man wasgone.
