The Billionaire's Kiss (Kiwi Bride 2)

PROLOGUE

Border of Thailand and Cambodia

REFUGEE CAMP

Young Alec felt the wind getting knocked out of his lungs as the small arms tightened around his middle, refusing to let go. Her familiar, earthy scent filled his nostrils, causing his insides to burn with sorrow. Gingerly, he wrapped his arms around her tiny frame. This half-Cambodian girl with large brown eyes and black hair was his only friend in this isolated, poverty-stricken place; a place he at first loathed, but now knew he would sorely miss.

She tilted her head and gazed up at him. He noted that her eyes were misting with fresh tears. Oh God! She knew he was leaving. But how did she find out when he never told her? Perhaps she knew all along this wasn't his home, and soon he would have to leave, and return to his real home, to the familiarity of Hasting Manor in Scotland. It was a complete contrast to the refugee camp with its over-crowded, under-sanitized, and disease-infested straw-thatched houses that were not fit to be called "home."

Tears rolled down her dirty cheeks.

"Don't cry," he said in a soothing tone of voice.

"Alee, don't go," she hiccupped in her strong Cambodian accent.

Alec wanted to laugh because he was immensely proud of her. In barely six months, she learned what little English he taught her very well.

"Alee, come back?"

"Of course, I will come back," he lied, feeling a pang of guilt. How could he tell her he would never come back? That these past six months living here with his mother was only temporary? His mother, Anna Hasting, Countess of Hayward, came to the camp to see for herself that her money, which amounted to billions, was not squandered by those who were managing it. And also to ensure that the money she donated went to the right people, especially those who needed it most, like this little girl, for example.

"I have something for you." He reached into the pocket of his jeans and taking out a necklace with a silver elephant pendant. He bought it a week ago from a Thai jewelry trader, and fell in love with it instantly. He wanted to give it to her as a parting gift.

He watched her stare at it with unmasked delight.

"It's a gift. You keep it safe, okay?" He placed the necklace, which was much too large for her, around her tiny neck.

"Thank you, Alee," she sobbed, hugging him tightly. "Please come back soon."

"I will," he muttered awkwardly, and, before he realized what he was doing, kissed her forehead.

The little girl grinned from ear to ear, pleased with his show of affection.

"I have to go now," he said, turning on his heels and heading out the gate of the primary school that didn't look much like a school.

She watched him go, her tiny hands clutching the elephant pendant closely to her chest. "Please don't forget me, Alee," she said under her breath in Khmer.

*

ONE

Present Day

DUNEDIN, NEW ZEALAND

A sudden lurch of thrill rose from the pit of her stomach, and Ruby Williams-Chan wondered if she was crazy. No, not crazy. Mad! Was she mad for planning to go on such a big overseas trip all by herself when she had so much to take care of? There was the family real estate business, which was growing steadily, to look after; and the end of the financial year was just around the corner. That meant she had to get all the papers sorted out before filing the business tax return. Not to mention, they just bought a house in need of serious renovation, and pronto, before they could re-let it to new tenants. That would take at least a couple of months of hard labor.

Without her doing all the dirty work, such as fixing the toilets and door handles, cleaning the dirty kitchen and bathroom, and of course, painting the exterior and interior of the house, how could they get it finished on time? How could they manage to make some money and pay the mortgage? Her younger sisters, however, insisted everything would be fine and promised to take care of it. Perhaps they were right. Perhaps she worried too much. Perhaps she was due for some "me time" and simply should have felt free to enjoy what she always wanted most--a decent holiday in Europe.

She chuckled at the thought. Europe. Who didn't want to go to Europe? Even the name, itself, sounded marvelous to her ears.

Yes, Europe was a place she always wanted to visit, and see, and smell, and be a part of. She also wanted to go to a manor. Not just any old, crumbling manor, but a livable manor in Scotland. Why a manor? Why Scotland? She didn't know. All she knew was that she wanted to visit a manor in Scotland. There didn't have to be a reason, right? And finally, she could fulfill that dream.

"'Allo? Anyone home?"

Ruby blinked, jolting back to reality; and noticed her friend, Nikita Buchannan, waving and trying to get her attention. Well, so what if she were gone for a wee while? she rationalized, albeit with a trace of guilt.

"Where were you, Ruby? La-la-land or Scotland?"

"Scotland," Ruby replied automatically. "Sorry about that. This overseas trip of mine is getting me nervous and excited at the same time." She changed the subject. "Now, I'm going to do your gum assessment."

"Yes, I can totally understand that," Nikita grumbled, meaning the opposite. "Do explain, Ruby! You know I get anxious coming to see you. Don't leave me in the deep end."

Ruby secretly grinned. She knew Niki was a bit cranky today after that weird, little accident with the hot guy at the supermarket.

"He was nice," Ruby remarked, remembering the tall, muscular Asian-Australian who nearly drove into Nikita.

"He was rude!" Niki muttered promptly, knowing whom her friend was referring to. "And bloody arrogant, too. God, I hated his accent."

"You might see him again."

"He's Australian!" Niki said with finality. "I will never see him again."

Ruby knew how much Nikita hated Australians because of her dad, who was, un-surprisi

ngly, an Australian. The man thoughtlessly abandoned her mother and her years ago for another woman. It hurt Niki very deeply, and Ruby could totally understand that. Thus, she simply grinned and said no more.

After probing around Niki's mouth several times, she explained, "You have some bleeding around your posterior lower dentition. I'm concerned. You even have a four-millimeter pocket on the thirty-seven mesial lingual. Do you floss regularly?"

Niki pulled a face. "Hello! Could you just explain it in simple English? I don't understand those dental terms you're talking about. What the heck is a thirty-seven mesial lingual?"

Ruby shook her head at Niki's demand.

As a hygienist, dental terms came so naturally to her that she forgot most people didn't understand them. She might as well have spoken alien to Nikita, even though it was English.

"Okay! Your thirty-seven is your second left bottom molar. The gum around there is not looking too flashy. Just want you to floss some more around your back teeth. Got it?"

"Got it, Miss Dental Hygienist. I shall obey all of your orders. Brush and floss twice a day," Niki said mockingly.

Ruby grinned as she removed her gloves. After washing her hands with soap thoroughly, she replaced the old gloves with a new pair and picked up the Piezon periodontal scaling tip before inserting it into the handpiece.

"What are you doing now?" Niki shrieked.

"Niki, I'm about to scale your teeth. Why are you always so alarmed? You come to see me every six months; you should already know the procedure."

"You know I don't like coming to the dentist," Niki defended, folding her arms across her chest and crossing one leg over the other as she lay there, feeling helpless on the dental chair.

"I'm not a dentist, Niki. I'm a dental hygienist," Ruby corrected her.

"Well, they're all the same to me," Niki muttered, pulling her protective glasses back on.

"No, they're not." At that point, Ruby aimed the light over Niki's face. "Dentists focus on restoring teeth. I focus on preventing dental disease. That's the difference. Now, I'm putting this suction in your mouth to remove the water while scaling." She teasingly added, "So you won't drown, okay?"

"Are you serious? People can drown?" Niki shrieked.

Ruby laughed. "Don't be silly. I was just joking."

Niki pulled a face. "Yeah, I knew that." She sighed as though she were about to enter the dragon's dungeon. Ruby noted it and shook her head.

"Ready?" she asked.

"Yeah. Ready. No, wait! Be gentle, okay?"

"You know I'm always very gentle on you," Ruby responded.

"And could you use that rubber thing to make my teeth smooth?"

"Oh, you mean polishing after scaling?"

"Yes."

"Sure." With that, Ruby started scaling Niki's teeth, while the thought of her upcoming trip to Europe returned.

"Grr!"

Her patient yanked at her wrist, drawing Ruby's attention. She paused at her scaling, raising her brows at Niki.

"Where were you, Ruby? You wanna drill a hole in my tooth or something?"

Ruby chuckled behind her mask. She expected her patient to be a bit difficult today, and she was right.

"Don't be such a baby, Nikita. Now stop groaning and let me clean your teeth properly. Did you really floss and brush like I told you to?"

"Heck yeah! What am I supposed to do? Ignore your insistent nagging?"

Ruby laughed. "Okay, I'm gonna polish your teeth now. Gee, girl, hold still and don't move so much; otherwise, I am going to drill a hole in your tooth."

Nikita muttered something in her own invented slang, which Ruby didn't care to translate into English. Her friend groaned and opened her mouth wider as Ruby started polishing her teeth.

Ten minutes later, when Ruby was finished, Nikita said, "Who are those from?" She was pointing to the bouquet of perfect white roses and a box of Cadbury Rose chocolate.

Her station cleaned, sanitized, and packed up, Ruby turned to her friend. "What?"

"The roses and chocolate."

Ruby chuckled as she picked up her bag and tossed it over her shoulder. "Another marriage proposal."

"Really?" Nikita said. "I swear to you, Ruby, ever since you got your braces off, you've had more proposals than I can count."

"I know. Wouldn't it be nice if one came from a young, hunky man? Like the Australian dude?" Ruby looked at her friend, her eyes twinkling.

Niki chose to ignore her remark as well as the look Ruby was giving her.

Ruby continued, "But most of my admirers are retirees with bad teeth that need unending attention... and pronto." She picked up the bunch of roses and chocolate. "Must admit these are nice though."

"Did you say yes?" Nikita asked curiously as they headed out to the empty reception area. It was after six in the evening, and everyone had gone home for the day. Ruby purposely stayed late at the clinic, where she worked part-time for the past three years, to scale her friend's teeth.

"I told him I'd think about it," Ruby said.

"Good answer," Niki commented. "Hey, thanks for staying late and doing my teeth."

"No problem," Ruby replied. "Let's get some dinner."

An hour later, Ruby gleamed a smile at Isabella as the young woman opened the door for them. Ruby thought it was darned good of Nikita to share her flashy, inner city apartment with Isabella without accepting any rent--since she couldn't have afforded to pay it anyway.

"Bought dinner," Nikita announced as she displayed the plastic bags in the air for Isabella to see.

"Is there Char Satay?" Isabella queried eagerly, spotting the familiar logo on the plastic bag that said SAN Restaurant.

"Yes, my dear. There's Char Satay just for you," Nikita replied. "I knew you'd hit the roof if we didn't buy you any."

"Thanks, Nik. Oh, Alex is on Skype."

After kicking her shoes off, Ruby rushed into the open plan living area, threw herself on the comfy sofa, and pulled the laptop that was sitting on the coffee table onto her lap.

"Hey, how are you?" she said to the laptop.

Alexandra Stewart, who, at that precise moment, was in the lavish penthouse overlooking Central Park in New York City, grinned back at her best friend through the laptop screen.

Ruby recalled Alex and Jayden's wedding over a year ago. It was fantastic, full of life and fun. It was also quoted as "the wedding of the decade in New York City." Ruby--as the maid of honor--was very proud of her best friend indeed. She had to admit however, her own wedding--if she ever managed to find herself a man--wouldn't be anywhere near as grand as Alex's. How could it be? Alex married one of the most eligible bachelors--not to mention, one of the youngest multi-billionaires--in the States. A year ago, Ruby could never have imagined that shy, down-to-earth Alexandra Stewart would ever meet and fall in love with a man like Jayden McCartney. Life was eternally full of surprises.

"I have news," Alex announced. Her voice hinted a sort of excitement that was very contagious.

"What is it? Tell us!" Nikita shrieked excitedly as she propped herself comfortably on the seat right next to Ruby. Isabella sat down at Ruby's left--a bowl of Char Satay with rice in her hands. All three girls faced the laptop screen expectantly, waiting for the important news.

After a moment of silence, came the words, "I'm pregnant."

"Holy cow!" Nikita shouted. "Now, you're pregnant for real."

"That is so cool," Isabella exclaimed. "I'm so happy for you."

Ruby butted in. "Do I get to be godmother?"

Alex laughed. "Of course."

Nikita pulled the laptop from Ruby's lap and put it on hers. "How about your hunky hubby?"

"He's over the moon," Alex replied. "And naturally, so was Beth when we told everyone."

Ruby stole the laptop and placed it back on her lap. "Hey, Alex, I won't be here next time."

"Oh yeah. So are you nervous? It's gonna be great. I have something else to tell you. Jay and I are going to London at the end of the month. If a

ll goes according to plan, we can meet up there with you."

"Oh gosh! That's sounds great. I'm going to be in England for a week, and then off to Scotland for another week after that. Week three, I'm in Ireland, four in France, and then, last, but not least, week five in Rome. I'll be back in London after that."

"Right. I will have to ask Jay about the meeting with his new business partner. He's Scottish."

"Woo!" Nikita laughed. "Hot! Hot! Hot!"

On the screen, Alex turned to look behind her. "Jay? When are we meeting your future business partner?" She turned back to her friends. "Most of whom are, by the way, middle-aged men. I assume this one is no different."

"Aw!" Nikita groaned in disappointment, and Isabella laughed.

A moment later, hunky Jayden McCartney appeared on the screen next to Alex. The girls sighed dreamily as they gazed at him. Was it possible that he looked even more handsome now, after marrying Alex?

"Hey, girls." Jay waved at them, grinning.

The girls waved back, all three in silent awe.

"Don't worry, Ruby, we'll make sure we meet up with you in London. Just email Alex the details."

"Sounds good," Ruby replied, nodding furiously.

"What's his name again?" Alex asked Jayden, who was actively placing kisses at the nape of her neck. "Not in front of my friends," she whispered, pushing him away light-heartedly.

Jay chuckled. "Sorry, girls."

The girls giggled knowingly.

"His name is Alec Hasting. He's hosting a charity party at the end of the month to sponsor refugee relief in Africa and Cambodia. You should come with us, Ruby. You and Alex are both half-Cambodian."

"Okay," Ruby replied, thinking that she was already a fan of Jayden's future business partner.

"Anyway, you all have a good day. Bye, girls." He nodded as he left.

Alex moved closer to the screen. "Anyway, I should go. Ruby, please email me your plan before you leave. Bye, girls."

"Bye," the three girls said in unison. Once Skype was logged off, they moved over to have their dinner and chat about life in general. About an hour later, exhausted from the long day, Ruby said goodnight to her friends and drove home.

"Oh my God, Ruby, just relax," Amethyst, or known simply as "Amee" to family and friends, muttered. "Stop fussing over everything. You know I can handle it. The houses will be fine. The family will be fine."