Hate to Love You (Strong Brothers 4)

There had to be something seriously wrong with Hunter if he believed Andi thought anything more of me than pond scum.

“You know, you two remind me some of me and Natalie. We didn’t like each other either, but it turned out all that negative tension was actually a potent attraction. You can’t tell me you don’t think Andi’s attractive.”

“Do you?” I’d have to kick his ass if he said yes, which was annoying because I wasn’t supposed to care.

He laughed. “You and her make sparks. Maybe you should figure what that’s about.”

"You’re doing it again. You're thinking that I want what you have and that's not the case. I want to be free to do my own thing and make my own way."

Hunter shrugged. "All I'm saying is that if you like her, maybe you should take the time to explore that on this trip. I'm not saying you have to marry her, but it hasn't escaped my notice that for somebody who doesn't want to work here, you sure spent a lot of time and always find opportunities to get in her way. You’re like a schoolboy, Noah.

My hackles rose, probably because he was right. “She works for Gran, that makes her off-limits. Even if I did like her, which I don't.”

Hunter grinned even wider. “I think you protest too much. And remember, you don't actually work here. And if you do this trip, you definitely won't be working here so she's not off-limits.”

“She works for Gran, so that by definition makes her off-limits."

“Gran would never get in the way of love,” Hunter said.

I shook my head wondering how Hunter's brain had gotten so addled.

“Don’t deny it, little brother. You’ve got the hots for her. Trust me, I know the signs.”

“Again, you need your eyes checked. Would I mind heating up the sheets with Andi? No. But that’s all it’s about. I'm not going to jeopardize her and Gran’s relationship simply to get my rocks off one night.”

Hunter studied me for a moment, and then said, "All right, if you say so. But I know first-hand that Cupid has an odd sense of humor, and he'll get out and shoot his arrow up your ass without you even noticing it."

"Cupid is not shooting his arrow at me," That, I was sure of.

4

Andi

Up until a few years ago, Strong, Incorporated was primarily distributing its footwear through the United States. By the time I was hired, Margaret had stopped traveling, and instead was letting her grandsons deal with that aspect of the business within the United States.

The European expansion was mostly Ryan's doing, while the Asian expansion had been Carter's. As a result, I had never had a chance to travel for the business. So now, sitting on an airplane flying to Hong Kong, I was excited. Most of my travels through my life were throughout California and the Southwest, with my only international trip down to Tijuana, Mexico when I turned twenty-one.

Excited wasn't the right word for this trip. Giddy was more like it, but I wasn't going to let Noah know. The last thing I needed was for him to think I was a silly girl, an unworldly one at that.

The flight was long, about eighteen hours, so I booked us in first class which had the wider seats that reclined for sleeping. Because of the short notice, I wasn’t able to get the fancy flights with separate sleeping berths, which would have been preferable than sitting and sleeping next to Noah.

Even so, I couldn't imagine sleeping on this trip. The flight would be several hours to Hawaii, another place I'd never been, and wished I'd been able to arrange a stopover. And then we would be on to Hong Kong, a city that seemed so far away and exotic to me.

As the plane's wheels lifted off the ground, I held in the squeal of delight. I bit my lip, looking out the window watching as the ground dropped away. I reminded myself that this was a working trip, and I couldn't get too caught up in the travel aspect of this journey.

As the plane began to level out, I glanced at Noah, who was being a typical rich kid who didn't understand how many opportunities his life had afforded him, and therefore I was pretty sure he didn't appreciate them. He was flying to Hong Kong, but he looked bored. I was sure he would much rather be on his motorcycle cruising up the coastline.

But he was here. He was going to help his grandmother out. Of course, he wasn't being completely altruistic in helping his grandmother deal with this problem in the business. It was surprising how disappointed it made me that whe

n we were back, I wouldn't be seeing him anymore. He was such a pest. Like a gnat that I often wanted to swat away, and yet the idea of not finding him in Margaret's office, teasing and poking at me, was sad.

A flight attendant came by offering champagne. I wasn’t able to stop the quick flash of my grin at the idea of having free champagne in first class, but I quickly tamped it down before Noah would catch on. I took a glass of the golden bubbly, sipping and enjoying the way the bubbles tickled my nose.

"I'll have a whiskey on the rocks," Noah told the flight attendant. She smiled and I noted that she was a beautiful Asian woman and I wondered if Noah was thinking about asking her out when we arrived in Hong Kong. Now that Hunter was married and off the market, Noah seemed to be taking up the Strong reputation for womanizing.

I knew I had hours and hours before we arrived, but I pulled out my phone to review our schedule. I sent Phil in the Hong Kong office our travel plans and itinerary before we left. He said he would arrange to have transportation for us from the airport to the hotel.

I booked a two-bedroom suite in the hotel which would give Noah and I space while at the same time, a place to work that would be safe from prying eyes, especially since we were going to have our own VPN for secure online access and communications between us and the Hong Kong office, as well as back in California.