Bet Of Love

Chapter 17

Bria

There's something about the expression on his face that's new and different from any look I've seen on him ever. He looks lonely, sad... But also resigned to feeling that way.

You're constantly surrounded by people, why do you feel so alone?

Perhaps it's the effect of the look on his face; I'm speaking my mind before I know it. "I think anyone would be lucky to get to come to this hotel, forget about their daily lives and experience paradise. It's comfortable, pleasant and friendly... I've never cared much for hotels. I always thought they were fun but somehow empty. Hollow, I guess you could say." But I wouldn't mind visiting his hotels.

"Lots of people feel the way you do but you're the first person to ever come out and say it." He laughs boisterously, "People are always sucking up to me, telling me I'm right..."

Getting up from his seat, he slightly towers over me and I gaze up at him as his eyes peer into mine. "You finally told me how you really feel."

"Maybe. Maybe not. How can you be sure that I was being honest?"

"I can tell. Up until now you've been hiding under this invisible mask. But you pushed that aside and you were just you." His comment eerily hits close to home and makes my heart skip a beat.

Valen

No woman has ever been so real and honest with me before like she has. There was nothing affectionate about what she said. Yet those words alone make my heart feel alive.

I got into the hotel business because I wanted to fill the emptiness inside me. I wanted something to call mine, something to make me fulfilled. I wanted to become somebody.

But the woman in front of me doesn't seem particularly concerned with any of that. She doesn't care that I'm the 'Hotel King' or that I'm the second richest person in the world.

It makes me think what if she didn't leave, what if we didn't break up back then? Would things be different now or would we have broken up anyway eventually?

Although I invited her to the lounge bar on the night we met again, she could've been a no-show just as easily as she could show.

However she walked into my life again.

Do you really see me for who I am?

When I think about it, she's always refused to bend to my will ever since the beginning... until she nearly did with the ice cream situation.

The reflections of the stars above twinkle in those twin pools. I run my fingers through her soft brown hair. This time it's the scent of her naturally sweet fragrance that tickles my nose, instead of her perfume.

Just which side of you is the real you? Who is the person inspiring these fluttering feelings in me?

At the same time, the man reflected in her eyes probably isn't just the 'Valen Hayes' she sees.

I may be touching you now. But no matter how much time passes, I never feel like I'm really touching you. The real you is always out of my grasp.

Her eyes look away from me and I gently cup her cheek to keep her vision on me, "Don't look at anything but me."

I wonder if that 'something' she's hiding will destroy me or do the opposite?

At this point, neither of us can see anything but each other and I unconsciously bring my lips near her. I graze my lips against hers and a faint little sigh escapes from her. Her eyelashes, quivering beneath her eyelids, are much longer than I imagined.

When she doesn't stop me, I begin to question myself.

It's not just that I want to sleep with her. I've already wanted that, badly, for a while now. The idea of kissing her right now is very tempting... I've never been a patient man, but I do believe the best things are worth waiting for, so I pull away and make up an excuse about how we have to get up early to board the jet.