The Boss's Christmas Proposal

He’d been around too long not to know that lightning could strike twice. That the one kiss they’d shared wasn’t just some random fluke.

Kissing Kimi Taka—no matter how many times—was like lassoing lightning. Intoxicating, exhilarating and dangerous as hell.

Even knowing that, it took him too damn long to tear his mouth from hers, and when he did, he found his hands were wrapped around those long, silky skeins of dark hair. “Dammit to hell.”

She pressed her lips together as if savouring the taste of him. Her voice was husky when she finally spoke. “Sorry.”

Greg let out a strangled groan. “You’re not really sorry?”

Kimi sucked in an audible breath. “No.” Her fingers fluttered over the loosened knot of his tie. “Does it help if I take all responsibility? I kissed you. It is not as if you were an interested participant.”

His gaze fastened on her face. “If you think I’m not interested, you haven’t been paying attention.”

Allison Leigh started early by writing a Halloween play that her school class performed. Since then, though her tastes have changed, her love for reading has not. And her writing appetite simply grows more voracious by the day.

She has been a finalist for a RITA® Award and the Holt Medallion. But the true highlights of her day as a writer are when she receives word from a reader that they laughed, cried or lost a night of sleep while reading one of her books.

Born in Southern California, Allison has lived in several different cities in four different states. She has been, at one time or another, a cosmetologist, a computer programmer and a secretary. She has recently begun writing full-time after spending nearly a decade as an administrative assistant for a busy neighbourhood church, and currently makes her home in Arizona with her family. She loves to hear from her readers, who can write to her at PO Box 40772, Mesa, AZ 85274-0772, USA.

The Boss’s Christmas Proposal

Allison Leigh

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Once again, I owe my thanks to others for sharing with

me some of their personal experiences with Japan.

Thank you, CJ, Brian and Karen.

The errors belong to me.

Thanks, also, to the fine authors I had the privilege of

working with on this series.

Not only were there some great laughs, but I always

learn something valuable along the way.

Lastly, to my very own Greg

(for whom Mr Sherman was not named,

despite the rumours otherwise!) who makes it easy,

indeed, to write with some knowledge about the way

a man can hold a woman’s heart.

Prologue

“You have decided to what?”

Kimiko Taka managed not to cringe at her father’s very cool, very controlled question. Mori Taka rarely lost his temper, but she knew if he were going to, she would probably be the cause of it. A quick glance at her stepmother, Helen, told her that even she was looking somewhat distressed.

Kimi moistened her lips and tried not to look as nervous as she felt. “I have decided not to go back to school,” she repeated.

Her father’s eyes could not be a darker brown. She knew that, because when she looked in the mirror each morning, she saw that very same near-obsidian looking back at her. But at that moment, she felt quite certain that his eyes turned from brown to cold shards of jet.

“Is that so?” His tone became even milder. “Am I supposed to be more pleased by this decision of yours than I was when you last left school—because of expulsion? What do you plan to do with your time? Shop? Attend movie premieres with unsuitable escorts? Be photographed on topless beaches?”

Her hands curled. It had been one beach, and she had not been topless, exactly, but arguing the point would not earn her any points.

“Mori.” Helen had been sitting next to Kimi’s father since Kimi had entered the study of their lavish Chicago home. As always, Kimi’s stepmother was the perfectly beautiful blond foil for her dark, powerfully built husband, and now she slid her slender hand over Mori’s shoulder.

There had been a time—a time that Kimi could still remember—when her most intimidating father would not have allowed such familiarity. Not even from a loved one. More to the point, maybe, no one would have dared such familiarity.

Helen had changed all of that, though. She had changed Mori’s life. And Kimi’s. She was the only mother that Kimi had known, since her own had died when she was a baby.

“Perhaps we should let Kimi explain,” Helen finished calmly. But the green gaze she focused on Kimi held a plea that the explanation had better be good.

Kimi managed not to wring her hands. The truth was, she hated worrying Helen just as much as she did her father. “I—I want to work for the corporation,” she said, in more of a rush than she would have liked. She really, really hated feeling defensive.

Perhaps she had inherited that trait from her father.

His expression was inscrutable, though she detected a faint thinning of his lips.

She moistened her lips again. “I believe I will receive a more important education in the real world, Papa. My professors—” She broke off, aware that her father probably did not want to hear another rehashing of her low opinion of her professors.

What was it about even the most educated of individuals that they could be so preoccupied by a person’s pedigree? Even when she had tried to fail a course, she had not been allowed to. Her professors had always found some reason to make allowances for her. Some reason to change a well-deserved failing grade into a passing one. Anything to honor the family name.

Mori was not looking any more convinced. Even the faintly encouraging expression on Helen’s face was looking strained.

If Kimi were not careful, she was either going to start crying or stomp her foot with temper and prove that she was the child everyone believed her to be.

She rose from the couch facing her parents. “Everyone in this family has been able to contribute in some way to TAKA-Hanson. Everyone except me. I am asking for an opportunity. Let me start somewhere. I will learn. I will work hard.”

“Like you worked hard at those mediocre grades you managed to earn?”

She winced. Mediocre indeed, but still passing, when she had intentionally tried to fail. “Working for the family business will be different. You have my promise. If I fail you—” she swallowed, thinking about the numerous times she had already done that “—or disgrace you, I will never ask for another favor.”

Mori’s lips compressed. His gaze flicked to his wife, then back to Kimi. She knew it had to be her imagination that there was a trace of humor in his eyes. Her father had very little reason to feel humorous where she was concerned, and she knew it. She knew that his reaction was deserved.

“I will follow whatever direction you set for me,” she added, feeling decidedly desperate.

“Even if that means agreeing to a suitable marriage?”

She barely kept her jaw from dropping. She looked at Helen. “Um…”

“Mori,” Helen chided softly. “You’re beginning to sound like your father.” Mori looked irritated, but Helen did not seem to let that bother her as she turned again to Kimi. “Perhaps Kimi should be given this opportunity. I’ll find someplace for her in our new hospitality division. The Taka Kyoto still has openings.”

Kimi’s lips parted, but she managed to contain the protest that had immediately sprung to life. She was Japanese by birth. Had been raised in Japan for much of her childhood. But the United States was the country of her heart. She had rather hoped to stay here—maybe even be part of the Taka Chicago, which was scheduled to open the following year. She had never thought she would be shuttled off to Japan.

“What does Kimi know about hotels?” Mori asked, as if she were not even present. “Other than staying in one?”

She was glad he didn’t add some caustic comment about the reasons she had supposedly been caught in some of those hotels.

Helen was ever positive, though. “She was studying business administration, Mori. Plus she’s bright, she’s capable and she’s energetic. As she said, she can learn.”

“She is a child.”

“She is twenty-one,” Kimi inserted, trying not to be too sarcastic, knowing that it would not help her cause.

Mori and Helen both looked back at her. “The development and opening of Taka Hotels has been a major undertaking,” Helen said, her soft voice serious. “I—we’ve—courted the finest people in the world to bring it about. It’s not a playground for you, darling.”

“I am not looking for a playground.”

“What are you looking for, Kimi-chan?”

Kimi eyed her father. She wanted to prove herself on her own merits. Just for once. “I want to be a credit to the Taka name.” That was also true and probably more in line with her father’s desires. “I believe I can do that better in the real world than I can in the academic one.” The only proof she had been finding in school was that she was never treated impartially.

He made a low “hmm,” clearly unconvinced.

But it was Helen who spoke. “I’ll speak with our general manager in Kyoto. See if there’s anything suitable.”

Kimi curtailed the urge to leap across the cocktail table to hug her stepmother. Kyoto or not, at least it was a chance. “Thank you. I will not disappoint you.”

But her inward grin faltered when her father pinned her with his hard gaze. “See that you do not, Kimiko. See that you do not.”

Chapter One

“There’s nothing like the smell of sawdust and paint in the morning, is there?”

Greg Sherman smiled faintly and looked past Shin Endo, his hand-picked director of security for the Taka Kyoto. “As long as the smell is gone before we open for guests.” His practiced gaze traveled over the soaring lobby space. In just a few weeks’ time, it would need to be a spotless showcase, fit for bearing the esteemed name of Taka, as it welcomed the celebrated and the wealthy into its comfort.

Right now, there was still concrete underfoot where wood floors would be inlaid among gleaming marble, the walls were bare of paint and paper, there was enough visible wiring that it looked as if rats had been at work and laborers and hotel staff were fairly crawling all over.

But beyond the chaos, Greg saw the order.

More importantly, he saw the future.

“Speaking of guests,” Shin said. “When’s the pampered heiress supposed to arrive?”

Greg absently flipped his hand down his silk tie and stepped around a pallet of shrink-wrapped banquet chairs. He caught the eye of Marco, one of his maintenance crew, and gestured at the pallet. “Get this moved down to storage.”

“Right away, Mr. Sherman.”

He didn’t wait to see that Marco followed words with action. “Next Monday,” he answered Shin. He continued walking through the mess toward the offices behind reception, Shin keeping stride. At thirty-five, the other man was three years older than Greg, and about a half-foot shorter.

As far as Greg was concerned, there wasn’t a better man in the field and fortunately, Helen Taka-Hanson hadn’t quibbled over the price that it had taken to lure Shin away from his previous employer. One thing Greg could say about his boss was that she was willing to pay for the best. She was also willing to put her own efforts into a project. Since she’d hired Greg to be the general manager of the Taka Kyoto, she’d proven to be hands-on while still managing to let Greg and his crew do the work they’d been hired to do without undue interference.

Until now.

“You think she’ll actually show up for work?”

“Kimiko Taka?” Greg shrugged. “I wouldn’t take bets on it. She’s a kid.” A wild child, from all reports, whose social activities were often regaled by the press. Greg still wasn’t pleased that Helen had stuck him with her stepdaughter. “Officially, she’ll only be Grace’s very junior sales associate.” Grace Ishida ran the sales and catering department, which had responsibility for everything from banquets to full-scale conventions and everything in between. “I doubt being a peon will appeal to the girl too much.” At which time, Kimi Taka would surely take herself right back out of his hair.

“And Boss-lady agreed to that position for her stepdaughter?”

“She suggested it,” Greg admitted. He understood Shin’s surprise, considering he’d shared it. Helen could have ordered her stepdaughter to be put into a management position—no matter how unqualified the girl would have been—and he’d have been powerless to stop her. But Helen hadn’t. She’d asked for entry level, and that was all.

So Greg would just have to tolerate Helen’s small measure of interference. Given everything on his plate, it would be only a minor nuisance until the reputably spoiled Kimiko became bored and moved on to her next escapade. It couldn’t come soon enough for him. The fewer hitches they had, the better he liked it.

Nothing was more important than proving he had what it took to helm this place.

And after this place…his own.

“Here.” He handed over a thick, stapled report. “The latest guest list for the New Year’s Eve gala.”

Shin took the report, grimacing. “When are the computers supposed to be online?”

“Last week. Lyle Donahue’s got his entire department working on it. You’ll see that we’ll need extra security for the event.” The list contained not only the expected Hanson and Taka faces, but government officials, several celebrities from a half dozen countries and a handful of crowned royals.

Shin was perusing the pages. “You got it. Where’s Bridget, anyway?” Bridget McElroy was Greg’s secretary.

“Called in sick.”

Shin’s dark eyebrows rose a little. “That’s a first.” He turned to leave the office. “I’ll get back to you on the numbers for the extra security.”

Already turning his mind to the dozen other matters needing his attention, Greg barely heard him. With Bridget out and their computer network still dysfunctional, it was proving to be a trying day.

He grabbed the folder of items he still needed copied for the staff meeting he’d be holding in another hour and left the office. He’d take the materials down to Grace’s office. She’d loan him a body who could put together the packets for him.

But he stopped short at the sight that met him.

The pallet of chairs was still sitting in the middle of the lobby floor. Almost eclipsing it, however, was a stack of luggage.

A growing stack of luggage, thanks to the diminutive female directing Marco and a half-dozen other eager helpers. “Please do be careful with that one.” The luggage owner darted forward and took a small case from a guy who, ten minutes earlier, had been on a scaffold twenty feet off the ground painting trim work. “Rather fragile, you see.” Her smile was impish.

The painter didn’t look offended when she took the case. Probably too busy looking at the legs displayed between her over-the-knee white boots and one of the briefest skirts Greg had seen outside of a fashion runway.

All around them, it was as if everyone—the laborers, the staff—had decided it was time to stop whatever it was they were supposed to be doing so they could witness the moment.

The pampered heiress had arrived.

Early.

“Here.” Shin appeared, pushing a luggage cart that Greg knew he’d had to retrieve from the mezzanine level, where they were all being stored until the hotel opened for guests. “This might be useful.” He shot Greg an amused glance as he stopped beside Kimiko Taka.

The girl swept a slender, ivory hand over her shoulder, pushing aside her thick tumble of deep brown hair. She turned, not even needing to beckon before Marco hurried into action, deftly stacking her luggage onto the cart, and treated Greg to her rear view.

The hair—he’d seen it photographed in newspapers and gossip rags looking any number of ways from straight and nauseatingly pink, to black and rainwater slick—was now swirling down the back of her white fur jacket in a mass of ringlets that almost reached her waist. But it was the minuscule skirt beneath the hiplength jacket that damnably caught even Greg’s attention.

Tasty.

The word was printed right across her derriere, outlined in sparkling pink stitching.

He felt a pain settle between his eyebrows. Taka hotels were all about taste. Good taste. “Ms. Taka.”

The girl whirled on her impossibly high heels to face him. “Yes?”

“Dōzo yoroshiku.” Despite his misgivings about her, he greeted her with the faint bow that had become automatic for him in the month since he’d been at the Taka. “I am Greg Sherman, the—”

“—the general manager here at the Taka,” she finished in slightly accented English. “Yes. My parents speak most highly of you.” Despite the fact that she was the Japanese-born one here, she eschewed the usual practice of returning his circumspect bow and stuck out her hand instead in a thoroughly Western greeting. “How do you do?”

“You’ve taken us by surprise, actually.” He clasped her hand briefly. Long enough to feel how slender her fingers were, how cool her hands were and how electricity shot up his arm at the contact. He released her and reached for the strap of the rescued case that she’d looped over her shoulder. “We didn’t expect you until next week.”

Her hand brushed against his again as she released the strap. Her deep brown eyes were sparkling. “Better early than late, surely?” In a smooth move, she slid her jacket off her shoulders to reveal a shimmering white, silk blouse through which a pink, lacy bra was plainly visible. Before she could toss the jacket on the mountain of geometrically stacked luggage, half a dozen hands reached out to catch it, earning a seemingly delighted little laugh from her. “In any case, this is quite a welcoming committee.”

“Who have other matters to attend to,” Greg said pointedly. Looking over her head was easy because, even with the stilettoheeled boots, the top of those bouncing brown curls didn’t reach his shoulder. He gave Marco a look, but the young man was evidently not ready to give up his impromptu bellman duty.

“I can take these to Ms. Taka’s room,” he offered.

Kimiko looked over at Marco. “Oh, would you mind?” She gave him a smile that could have melted a glacier. On Marco, it was devastating. Greg could practically see the maintenance worker dissolve into a puddle.

His annoyance deepened. “Focus that attention on the pallet, Marco. I expected it to be moved the first time I told you.”

The young man flushed at the rebuke. “Sorry, Mr. Sherman.” He moved from hoarding the gleaming-bronze luggage cart to the pallet jack. He ducked his chin as he maneuvered the pallet away from them. “Ms. Taka.”

Kimi smiled gently at the remorseful man. For pity’s sake, it was just a stack of chairs amid a thoroughly chaotic and unfinished hotel lobby. “It was very nice meeting you, Marco.”

His smile was sudden and beaming. “You, too, Miss Taka.” He pushed the contraption bearing several high stacks of chairs across the concrete.

The construction noise around her suddenly seemed loud, and Kimi sucked in a quick breath before turning back to Greg Sherman.

He did not look anywhere near as kind as the departing Marco. Even though she had done her research about the man in her few weeks before leaving Chicago, she was unaccountably nervous now that they were face-to-face.

Sadly, the black-and-white head shot that had accompanied his vitae in Helen’s files had done little to prepare her for the real thing. The photo had only shown a severely conservative man with darkish hair and light eyes who looked as if he rarely smiled.

Helen had told Kimi that she had hand-picked Greg Sherman to be the general manager of the Kyoto location, and Kimi had been surprised, because her stepmother usually liked people with a little more…life…to them.

But Greg Sherman, in the flesh, was definitely fuller of life than that bland photo had been. Oh, his hair was conservatively short, but the medium brown waves looked like they would escape over his brow given the least provocation. The deep brown suit he wore was well-tailored if not exactly cutting the edge of male fashion, but she supposed it was the ideal choice for a man helming a new first-class hotel.

Then there was the fact that just the brief graze of his hand had left her skin tingling.

She reminded herself that this was her boss. Nothing more. Nothing less.

“I am sorry to have caused a distraction,” she said sincerely. “It is good to be here.”

The light eyes of the photograph were actually a very distinctive, very pale shade of green. No bluish tinge. No hint of brown. Just a pale green surrounded by a defining black ring that made them all the more startling, and they were looking her over without a single hint of expression.

He did not even acknowledge her sentiment. Instead, he eyed the cart. “Is this all of your luggage?”

She was not certain if he had stressed the all or not. But she was absurdly grateful that she had decided to leave a few things back in Chicago, or there would have been more. Still, she might as well admit to the obvious. “I never did learn the art of packing light. And yes, this is all.”

He did not return her smile. “Mrs. Taka-Hanson told me that you’ve asked to stay on-site. You’ll want to settle in.”

She would not lose her good humor just because the man had the personality of a plank of oak. A very tall, very broad in the shoulder plank of oak. “Yes, if only to get this stuff out of the lobby.”

He seemed to let out a faint sigh. “If you wouldn’t mind waiting, I’ll get your room key.”

Kimi looked past him to the wide, curving sweep of the reception desk. She imagined that beneath the thick plastic and protective paper covering nearly every surface, it would be as spectacular as the one at the Taka San Francisco. She had heard that things were a little behind here, but she had expected the hotel interior to look a little more…finished. “Is the rest of the hotel in such—” she hesitated for a moment, trying to find a suitable word that would not sound as if she were being judgmental.

“—chaos? Today seems somewhat more so than usual.” For an infinitesimal second—so brief that she would later wonder if she had imagined it—his gaze dropped from her face to her toes, hitting all points in between. “Our computer network isn’t operational yet,” he added. “It adds a fresh dimension to the challenges our team’s already facing.”

The explanation was smooth. Almost smooth enough that she could brush away the idea that she was a contributing factor to his chaos. Almost.

So, Mr. Sherman figured he had her number, did he?

She swept away the sinking disappointment and lifted her chin a little, giving him the same kind of direct look that she had learned at her father’s knee. “Well, I appreciate the opportunity to be here.” She rested her hand on the cool bronze of the luggage cart and smiled with as much good humor and grace as she had learned from her stepmother. “As you can see, I come hoping to be prepared for anything.”

He remained unimpressed. “Shin.”

The slender man who had brought the luggage cart snapped to attention.

“Arrange for Ms. Taka’s things to be taken up to the Mahogany Suite.”

“Right away.”

Kimi retrieved her jacket and draped it over her arm, smiling at the man as he guided the cart across the concrete, before it was handed off to two other younger men. She was not surprised. She recognized Shin Endo from his photo, too, and it seemed unlikely that the security director for Taka Kyoto would concern himself with bellman duties.