Summary: Sutton and Kenji attend the reopening of Prescott Industries, and Kenji’s possessive side comes out. Set sometime after Sutton returns from the Prism World.
Note: Set in the same timeline as Hey Jealousy, though it’s not necessary to read that first.
Sutton can feel Kenji’s eyes burning into her from across the room. She thinks part of his staring might be her red dress, the fit that subtly shows off her curves and the low dip in the front that’s modest enough for this gathering but still hints at what lays underneath. Kenji loves her in this dress, has told her how much he does a handful of times before, usually as he’s nearly ripping it off of her. But it’s not just desire she senses; no, she can almost feel the hint of jealousy and irritation radiating off of him too.
They’re at the reopening of Prescott Industries, the building repaired and the company’s reputation slowly on the mend. Sutton knows Grayson is hoping to attract some new investors; he doesn’t necessarily need them, but they’ll be helpful with community outreach and their public image.
“So you have to schmooze some old politicians and businessmen?” Kenji had asked earlier as they’d gotten ready.
He had proven to be incredibly distracting, both intentionally and unintentionally. The way he looked in his suit and the scent of his cologne weren’t things Sutton could necessarily blame him for, but she could blame him for the way he kept trailing his fingertips over the small of her back and brushing his lips against her neck.
“No,” Sutton had laughed. “I just need to help convince them to invest in Prescott Industries. So I have to be-“
“-On your best behavior?” Kenji had teased her.
“Yes. I don’t think sarcasm will win anyone over,” she’d retorted, slipping into her heels and spritzing perfume on her wrists.
Kenji had caught her around the waist as she went to grab her clutch, lightly pressing his lips to hers. She’d already threatened him about not smearing her lipstick before they even left. “Maybe not,” he’d agreed. “But you might win them over just by wearing this dress.”
His voice had gone low as he’d kissed her again. “You look beautiful, darling,” he’d murmured.
“Kenji,” Sutton had warned him. “We have to leave.”
His fingers had trailed up her sides and over her bare shoulders. “We have a few minutes.”
“No, we don’t,” she’d insisted, laughing as he’d refused to release her for a long moment. “I told Grayson we’d be there at five.”
Kenji had grumbled playfully and snuck one last kiss before letting her go. They’d ended up going separate ways almost as soon as they’d arrived, Kenji chatting with a few people he knew through his mother, Sutton politely greeting people Grayson introduced her to.
Kenji is talking to someone in the crowd now that Sutton doesn’t recognize, but when she glances up from taking a sip of her drink, he’s staring at her again. His eyes suddenly narrow as Sutton feels someone sidle up next to her at the bar, and she forces herself not to groan as she sees who it is.
“Can I get you a drink?” the man next to her asks.
She’s normally good at remembering names, but his – Michael? Miles? – promptly flew out of her head when Grayson introduced them and he then spent the next five minutes droning in and on about himself. He’s pretentious and honestly kind of awful, and keeps circling back to Sutton, despite her many subtle and not-so-subtle attempts to convey her disinterest. Even when Sutton had mentioned Kenji, the man had been too busy bringing up his recent trip to Paris and the five star resorts he’d stayed in to register what she’d said.
“No, thank you,” Sutton answers, lifting her glass.
“Well, perhaps you’d like to dance?”
Sutton nearly sighs out loud, looking up to where Kenji had been standing, but he’s gone. Damn. She’s considering the most polite way to get rid of this guy yet again, when a warm arm slides around her waist and lips press against her temple.
“There you are,” Kenji says with a slightly possessive smile that sends a jolt right down her spine. “I’ve been looking for you.”
Sutton turns into Kenji, trying hard not to laugh at the annoyed look on – Matthew’s? Marshall’s? – face as Kenji cheerfully introduces himself as Kenji Katsaros, Sutton’s boyfriend. Neither of them particularly cares for the boyfriend and girlfriend titles, but it’s become the easiest way to convey who they are to each other.
“Mitchell DuPont,” the man answers stiffly.
Mitchell. Well, she had the first letter right, anyway.
After a few uncomfortable moments of small talk, in which Mitchell’s expression grows steadily more and more annoyed as Kenji squeezes his hand around Sutton’s waist, and she rests her head against his shoulder, Mitchell says he sees someone he knows and hurries away.
“My hero,” Sutton teases Kenji once Mitchell is out of earshot.
Kenji laughs, tilting her chin up for a quick kiss. “Happy to come to your rescue for once.”
He glances around the room, where everyone is still engaged in conversation, then firmly grasps her hand and leads her down a dim hallway, empty and nearly silent at this time of night.
Sutton raises an eyebrow as they turn a corner. “Is there a private celebration that I don’t know about?”
Kenji chuckles lowly, glancing down the corridor before pressing her back against a wall, his hands drifting over her hips. “Do you want one?”
Before she can say anything in response, his lips find hers, hot and insistent, his hands roaming up and down her sides, his touch impatient and rushed. Sutton sucks in a breath when Kenji pulls back briefly, his eyes glittering in the low lighting of the hall. His hips press against hers as he leans in again, slowly kissing and sucking his way down her neck.
Sutton squirms a little at the sensation, gripping his shirt, then runs her fingers up into his hair, scraping her nails lightly over the back of his neck and against his scalp until he’s groaning. One of his hands has tugged her dark hair out of its neatly twisted knot, the other running down her back and lower, gripping underneath her thigh.
Dazedly, Sutton remembers why they’ve made it a rule to always maintain a professional, chaste appearance at public gatherings like this, but right now, in this particular moment, she really doesn’t care. She’s too wrapped up in Kenji and the way his mouth feels against her skin and the way he’s saying her name as she brings his lips back to hers and runs her hands down his chest.
Sutton wonders, vaguely, how long they’ve been gone, thinking they should probably get back, when a distant, faint tinkle of applause hits her ears.
“Kenji,” she says.
“Hmm?” He doesn’t stop, his fingers drifting down to push one of the straps on her dress aside, kissing her deeply before lowering his head and grazing his teeth over her skin.
“Kenji,” she says, a little more insistently.
He groans, his eyes opening slowly, seeming to register the noises from the gathering as he reluctantly steps back. A hint of a smirk passes across his face as he takes in her flushed, disheveled appearance, his hands low on her hips.
Sutton scowls at him. “This is your fault,” she says, pushing against his chest so she can straighten out her dress and twist her hair back up.
Kenji grins. “I didn’t hear you complain.”
“That’s not the point,” she insists, a smile creeping across her face as he attempts to smooth his hair out. “The point is, this is not the time or the place for you to get jealous and possessive.”
“I wasn’t jealous,” Kenji laughs, that forced laugh he always does when he’s trying to act nonchalant and unbothered.
He runs his thumb under her lower lip to wipe away her now-smeared lipstick.
“Uh-huh,” Sutton says, unconvinced.
Kenji tugs her in close, cupping her cheek. “But possessive?” His dark eyes search hers. “Maybe. Can you blame me for wanting to make sure people know I’m with you?”
Sutton shivers a little at the conviction in his voice, the way he’s looking at her. He’s going to get her distracted all over again, looking at her like that.
No, she reminds herself sternly. Not here. Not now.
He frowns slightly. “I know Mitchell is a millionaire and travels constantly and I’m pretty sure he mentioned owning a yacht and a few vacation homes-“
“-and was dull, and pretentious, and so full of himself that I probably could have dead-lifted the entire bar and flown around the room with it and he would have been too engrossed listening to himself to notice,” Sutton interrupts him.
Kenji smiles, a genuine one, brushing his lips over hers. “Fine,” he allows when she gives him a pointed look. “I was maybe a little jealous that he kept flirting with you.”
Sutton shakes her head, a wry smile on her lips, recalling a conversation they’d had before they’d been officially together. “Don’t be ridiculous,” she says.
Kenji raises an eyebrow, then laughs as understanding flashes across his face. “That’s my line.”
Sutton shrugs, tangling their fingers together as another burst of applause drifts down the hallway and they start heading back to the main entrance of the building. He quirks an eyebrow up as she stops suddenly, turning to look at him.
“I only want you, Kenji,” she reassures him, kissing him sweetly.
He squeezes her hand, then, in that typical Kenji fashion she loves, smirks and says, “I know, darling. In fact, I think you once told me I’m irresistible.”
Sutton rolls her eyes, elbowing his side playfully. “Pretty sure I was drunk.”
“You still said it,” Kenji says with a hint of glee and satisfaction.
“Yeah, yeah,” she laughs. “Come on, before anyone notices we were gone.”