CHAPTER 13

 
 
By tonight, he would score himself a hot
babe to warm his bed, Hunter thought as his eyes scanned the crowd
in one of his favourite bars. Torque was an established high-class
bar set on the busiest street of Queenstown. He frequented there
quite a bit when he was in this part of New Zealand. Not that he
wanted to be in Queenstown in the first place, but his dad managed
to con him after he ditched Caroline at the Cambodian
restaurant.
Since arriving in town, Hunter had felt like
he was trapped in a cage, with Caroline sticking to him like glue.
Now that she’d gotten over her initial stage of being shy, she was
such a hyperactive person, grabbing his arm here and dragging him
along there as if they were a couple in love.
Well, at least his dad would be happy now.
Caroline could report his behavior as being the perfect host, even
though he’d wanted to grind his teeth many times at her tactics. It
was like she was bipolar, undergoing a one-eighty change from that
timid mouse to a sly cat with sharp claws. Where was the quiet girl
from before? He just hoped she wasn’t the clingy type.
Hunter almost gasped when he had a look over
their itinerary upon arriving. Their day was filled to the brim
with activities, like jam-packed sardines in a metal can. At this
rate, he wouldn’t have any room to breathe at all. In the morning,
Hunter took Caroline up to the Gondola, and for lunch they ate at a
fancy restaurant, followed by the Earnslaw boat lakeside viewing
along Lake Wakatipu, and in between they went shopping at all the
high-end boutiques in the area.
Hunter felt like his arms were about to fall
off his shoulders, what with all the bags he had to carry for her.
He couldn’t believe a girl could spend that much money on clothing
and accessories. All the time, he was cursing under his breath as
he followed her from one shop to the next. If not for his father,
he wouldn’t be seen holding anyone’s baggage like a bellboy and
following her footsteps like a damn loyal dog. But now, as the sun
set along the horizon of Lake Wakatipu, showing off its brilliant
orange hue on the lakeside, Caroline had finally voiced her
tiredness and asked to retire to her room.
At last he was free, he thought, almost
weeping with joy. At last, tonight he could enjoy before dawn
appeared and he would be dragged into Caroline hell again.
Where was the best place to enjoy, to wind
down for the night, but at Torque? But he soon came to the
realization that his joyful night would once again be ruined when
Anton came to his suite and asked him to stand in as the face of
Silverton Enterprises for his VIP guest social gathering at Torque,
the same place he planned to have fun.
Yeah, he wanted to go to Torque to have fun,
but not as the face of Silverton Enterprises. He didn’t want to
deal with business right now. Why did Anton have to come and ruin
his night like this? Wasn’t it enough already to be punished by
Caroline?
Bastard, he wanted to yell at Anton.
Just because he didn’t have the social skills to entertain people
like Hunter, now he had to take over. He wanted to tear out his
hair. He’d never been so utterly frustrated before. But if he
didn’t go in Anton’s place, then Anton would simply cut off his
credit card spending spree, since his dad had given Anton full
authority over his spending. What a way to blackmail him.
Anton must have something up his sleeve to
ignore his responsibilities like this. Hunter couldn’t think of
anything Anton would be doing if not work. Could he have caught a
maiden here in Queenstown? Unlikely. Anton was the type to work at
all hours around the clock. The only woman who would attract his
old-fashioned cousin would be someone boring and old.
“Anton, you bastard.” Hunter couldn’t help
cursing his cousin under his breath. Now he was sitting here
grinning like an idiot, with his facial muscles aching from all
those fake laughs and smiles, pretending to crack up at any lame
joke those old croons came up with, like he was having the time of
his life, when in actual fact he just wanted to kick the backsides
of all of them to get the hell out of Torque so he could have some
real fun with the ladies and maybe end this miserable day on a more
pleasurable note.
After a grueling two hours of entertaining
the old croons, though, they all managed to disappear, much to his
relief, without a lot of fuss. If they started moaning and groaning
like fifty-two-year-old ladies who have gone through menopause,
then he would surely kick their backsides for real.
Finally, Hunter sighed in relief as the last
guest left the bar, feeling free for the first time since arriving
in Queenstown. His eyes scanned his playground from where he stood
on the VIP platform.
So many foreigners, he thought. What
was he thinking anyway? Of course Queenstown was the land of
tourists, so all kinds of people would frequent here. From Asian to
Caucasian and from African to Americans. You name it, Queenstown
would have it. Definitely a multicultural country, New Zealand.
They even let Asians serve liquor now, he thought when he
saw the Asian bartender tending drinks.
“A Speight’s, mate,” Hunter barked when he
got down to the lower floor where a majority of the people were.
“And put it on the tab,” he instructed.
“Under who, sir?” the bartender asked.
“Anton Silverton.” He was forced to play
this role, so there was no way he was going to pay for all the
liquor he consumed tonight. The least Anton could do was this.
“Yes, sir,” the bartender replied, then
handed over a pint of Speight’s.
After taking a gulp, he realized his foul
mood wasn’t going to get any better. There were people dancing and
the music was melting in his eardrums. His blood was thick with the
beat of the music, yet his body just wouldn’t move. Instead, he
just sat at the bar, sulking, drinking his beer, thinking about the
night he met that avocado. He wondered why he started
thinking of her all of a sudden. Probably because the bar was
playing J.Lo’s “Papi,” the same song playing on the night he met
her.
Truth be told, they’d only met four times,
so Hunter shouldn’t have any lingering feelings for her. All he
knew was her name and her occupation. He took out her business card
from his wallet and looked at her name again.
“Clarice Chantee Mason, Periodontist, Happy
Smile Dentistry.” He read it, then glanced over at the picture he
took of her on his iPhone. She looked ridiculously cute, despite
being surprised. Her face looked like she had just sucked a lemon.
It was hilarious and it made him laugh aloud. His first real laugh
since he’d gotten to Queenstown.
Mmm, maybe he should pay her a visit at her
clinic when he got back to Auckland. Not that he had any dental or
gum problems, though. His teeth were in perfect health. He just
wanted to ruffle her feathers again, he supposed. It was mighty fun
teasing her.
Mighty fun teasing her? What the hell was he
thinking? Hunter shook his head. It didn’t seem right to think
about that avocado now. She was too old by his standards. He never
dated older women. He didn’t like to be called a boy toy by anyone.
After all, his reputation as the hottest bachelor and Casanova was
very hard to maintain, so he wouldn’t want to taint his reputation
that easily by being seen out and about with her.
All that thinking about the avocado was
making his throat parched, so he gestured for the bartender to come
over.
“Another beer, Mr. Silverton?” the same
bartender asked, smiling.
“You read my mind, mate,” he bawled.
As he was about to down his beer, a soft
whisper entered his ear. Hunter glanced to his side.
“Hello, you. What’s a hot hunk like you
doing here all alone?”
Turning around, Hunter plastered on a huge
grin. At last, a babe. And a hot one too.
All thoughts of the avocado were pushed to
the back of his mind as he took in the sight of the hot blonde
sitting before him, exuding her sexual allure. She sat there sexily
with her long slender legs crossed, revealing a large amount of
bare skin, and her blouse unbuttoned dangerously low.
Cough!
Hunter nearly choked. The top was almost
see-through, a white creamy color, displaying her lacey bra
underneath that he guessed would have to be a D-cup to support
those voluptuous breasts.
Thank the Lord!.
“Yeah, I’m alone.” Hunter acted all poised
again. “For now. Can I buy you a drink?”
The woman nodded. “Make it a Cosmopolitan,”
she said, and her voice, God, it oozed sex.
Hunter was so excited. Really, really
excited. He tapped for attendance again.
“Put it on the tab again, sir?” the
bartender asked.
“Yep.” He spoke without looking at the man,
his eyes still on the beauty before him.
When their drinks arrived, they both
cheered.
“Your name, sweetheart?” he probed.
“Mystery.”
“You want to keep it a secret?” Hunter
asked, intrigued.
Everything about her was perfect—perfect
legs, perfect face, perfect lips. And her breasts, those breasts
were like watermelons, thrust forward for his viewing, tempting him
to taste their delicious sweetness. But looking at her body, he
wasn’t so pleased. A little too thin for his liking. He liked his
women with a little meat. But what the hell! He was desperate to
have a good time, so anything would do right now.
“I don’t know you yet,” she spoke softly,
eyeing him seductively through long, shaded lashes, her fingers
automatically moving to trace the outline of his collar. “I’m not
in the habit of telling my name to strangers.” By this time, her
fingers were playing along his jawline, tracing over his short
stubble.
“I get a feeling we might not be strangers
long,” he huskily whispered in her ear, eyeing her lustfully,
sending out sexual signals.
“You think?” she cheekily asked.
“I don’t think,” he stated. “I know,
sweetheart.”
The mysterious woman laughed and then they
started chatting like she was his long-lost lover. They had a lot
of fun chatting, and just when he was about to make his move on
her, she excused herself.
Damn! Looked like he wasn’t going to
get any hot babe to warm his bed tonight.
 

 
“Are you looking for Mr. Silverton?” the
Korean waiter asked Max.
“Yep, hyung.” He used the honorific
hyung as a form of saying older brother in Korean to get in
the waiter’s good graces. “Where is he? I was told he would be here
tonight.”
“He’s right over there.” The waiter pointed
to the man sitting alone at the bar, drinking Speight’s. “What’s
with everyone? Why is everyone looking for Mr. Silverton? A minute
ago I was told to deliver a note to Mr. Silverton by this
blond-haired lady,” the waiter grumbled. “And I have so much work
to do right now.”
“Did you deliver it yet?” Max asked as a
plan formulated in his head.
“No, not yet. I’m about to do it right
now.”
“Jackpot!” Max shouted.
“Jackpot?” the waiter asked.
“Don’t worry, hyung, about the jackpot, I
mean. About the message, though, I’ll take care of it for you
instead, okay?” Max asked, hoping he could deliver the message to
Hunter, whom he thought was Anton.
“You sure?” he asked, unsure whether it
would be wise to let a young kid who wasn’t even legal remain in
this bar. If the law ever found out, he would be hung for sure.
Plus, the kid didn’t even work here. Just because he knew the big
boss who owned Torque… Guess if he didn’t speak a word about this
episode, then no one would be the wiser.
“Sure, hyung,” Max said. “You said so
yourself. You’ve got lots of work to do, so I’ll sort it out for
you, okay?”
“Well, I suppose it wouldn’t do any harm.
Thanks. Please pass the message to Mr. Silverton, then.” Then the
waiter left the note in Max’s care.
“No problem, hyung,” Max said, smiling in
triumph. “Mission one complete. Mission two is now underway.” He
then made his way to Hunter, reading the note on his way.
 
Meet me in room 46 at Night Love Hotel in 10
minutes.
Your Mysterious Lady,
 
Tiara.
 
“Tiara,” Max said once he finished reading
the note. “Sorry, but you have to wait for another opportunity.
Tonight, Mr. Silverton needs to donate sperm for someone in need.”
Then he crunched up the note and shoved it into his jeans pocket
and straightened his white pressed shirt and black bowtie that he
borrowed from the boss of Torque, his friend’s father.
Taking his plan into action, he strode as if
he were one of the waiters towards the so-called Mr. Anton
Silverton.
“Sir,” Max said, bowing once he approached
Hunter. Should he bow? He never waited before so he didn’t
know.
“That’s me,” Hunter said, swinging around to
face the waiter. After a few pints of Speight’s, he was starting to
feel fuzzy, but he maintained his alcohol toxicity well. But the
waiter looked exceptionally young tonight.
“I was told by a lady to give you this,” Max
said, handing his own note to Hunter.
“A lady?” Hunter perked up like a dying
flower after it is watered. He unfolded the paper and started
reading, a smile appearing on his face.
Thank you, Lord. I thought you’d
forgotten about me. It must be that mysterious woman from
before.
Hunter scrunched up the folded paper and
shoved it into his pocket. When he remembered Max’s presence, he
looked up again, wondering why the kid didn’t leave.
At this point, Max was rubbing his fingers
and thumb together, a gesture that indicated a tip would be nice.
There was no way Max was going without a tip. He needed something
as incentive for doing this for Clarice.
“A tip?” Hunter asked with one quirk of an
eyebrow. This kid sure reminded him of himself at that age, always
asking for handouts from his dad.
“You read my mind, sir.” Max smiled
cheekily.
He even speaks like me, Hunter
mused.
“Sure, sure,” Hunter said, handing him a
twenty since he felt quite generous tonight.
“If you don’t mind, sir,” Max spoke. “I was
asked to escort you to her suite.”
“Really?” Hunter asked in amazement. “She’s
that eager?”
“You could say that,” Max said, smiling,
hiding his snarky smirk.
“All right, then,” Hunter said, dusting
himself off as he stood. “Never delay a lady if she requests you, I
say. Lead the way, boy.”
“This way, sir,” Max said, leading him out
of the bar and into the hotel next door.
“We’re going into Night Love Hotel?” Hunter
asked in interest. All the surprises were really rallying him up,
and he couldn’t wait to just jump at her when he got in. His nerves
were like a bowstring now. He never acted like this before. This
really surprised him.
“So you work in the bar?” Hunter asked,
trying to string together some sort of conversation, hoping to calm
his nerves. “You sure look really young.”
“I’m over eighteen,” Max lied, a little
irritated.
“You’re really small.” Hunter further
prodded the already bruised boy.
Max wanted to punch Hunter at that moment.
He was very sensitive about his height. He was sure his growth
spurt hadn’t been activated yet, but hopefully soon this bro
wouldn’t dwarf him anymore.
“All right, here we are,” Max said, stopping
in front of a door. And to compensate for making him angry about
his height, Max literally shoved Hunter into the room as his form
of revenge. Poor Hunter was caught so unaware that he simply
stumbled head first, unprepared into the darkness. Then Max closed
the door behind him and locked it from the outside.
“Job well done,” Max said, dusting his hands
in victory. Then he texted his cousin. Hey, cuz. Cupid has
brought you Anton. Get that sperm.