She takes out her phone and shows us all photos of some of the parties Louise has thrown.
“These are gorgeous,” London breathes. “Does she do this for a living?”
“No, but she should. And I know if you asked, you could hire her to help you.”
“I’ll take her number right now,” London says. “Thank you so much.”
“Of course.” Sienna glances at Finn, who’s remained quiet during the whole exchange. “What do you think of all this?”
“She can have whatever she wants. Big party, little party, no party. As long as she marries me, I don’t give a fuck.”
“That might be the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard,” Sienna says with a sigh.
“Sweeter than the reason I gave you that necklace?” I ask, enjoying the way her eyes narrow on me.
“What’s the reason?” London asks.
“Nothing,” Sienna says, shaking her head. “It’s an inside joke.”
“They have inside jokes already,” London says to Finn as she elbows him in the gut. “See? It’s going well.”
“It’s going great,” I reply as I sip my wine, my eyes still pinned to the stunning woman bouncing around my kitchen as if she owns the place.
I never thought I’d agree with my brother about this, but I feel the same way. She can have whatever she wants as long as she’s mine.
Chapter Fifteen
~Sienna~
I want to do something for Quinn. It’s early Saturday morning, and I’m standing in my new studio in Quinn’s condo, cleaning my brushes.
My man was still sleeping soundly when I woke, and I didn’t want to disturb him, so I came in here, and it’s marvelous.
He was absolutely right. I needed this to feel at home here, and he gave it to me. So in return, I want to do something for him today.
With the help of the law clerks, we’ve made a ton of progress in working our way through the boxes of documents. We can take one day off to just be.
I have this, the studio, to calm me. But Quinn needs something different, and I’m determined to give it to him. We’ve been racing and zip lining. I know he’d be up for either of those again today, but I kind of want to do something different.
Something unexpected.
I bite my lip and stow my brushes and paints, then head for the shower.
If I’m not mistaken, there was a movie years ago with Will Smith and Eva Mendes, and they went jet skiing in New York Harbor. I wonder if that’s a thing? I bet Quinn would love it.
I reach for my phone and Google search jet skiing in New York Harbor, and sure enough, it’s a thing. I quickly make reservations for us, and after my shower, I walk into the bedroom to find that Quinn is already awake. His arms are crossed behind his head in the bed, and he’s watching me with happy blue eyes.
“You look ready to tackle the day,” he says with a grin.
“I’ve been up for a while,” I reply and sit on the bed at his hip. “I think we should play hooky today.”
He cocks a brow. “You want to play hooky? Miss Responsible?”
“I know, it’s a new thing for me.” I lean in and press a kiss to his lips. “I have a surprise for you.”
“Do you?” His hands skim up and down my arms. “Do we have time for a tumble in my bed first?”
“No.” I rub my nose against his, then hurry to start getting dressed. “And you’ll need to bring swim trunks and a change of clothes.”
“You’re quite mysterious this morning.”
I send him a grin as I throw clothes into a tote bag, thankful that I threw a bathing suit in with my things when I moved in with him last week.
“Hurry up,” I say as I rush out of his bedroom. “Oh, and I’m driving.”
I can hear him laughing as I grab us each a bottle of water, and my sunscreen from the bathroom, and before long we’re driving through Manhattan toward the harbor.
“So what are we doing?” he asks, watching me drive his car. I offered to drive my own, but he insisted on the Porsche, and I wasn’t about to argue.
I fucking love this car.
“It’s a surprise,” I say primly. “I can keep a secret when I need to.”
“Well, I’m excited.”
I glance over at him and have to catch my breath. God, what this man does to a black T-shirt and sunglasses is just ridiculous.
“Has anyone ever told you that you’re too good-looking?”
He snorts. “I don’t think so.”
“Well, it’s true. I mean, you just rolled out of bed, threw on a simple outfit, and you look like that.”
“And how do I look?”
“Like sex on a stick.”
He laughs, a full-on belly laugh, and kisses my hand. “Ah, Sienna, you’re good for my ego.”
“Hey, I only speak the truth. It’s a bit intimidating.”
“You’re stunning,” he replies without pause. “You have nothing to be intimidated by.”
I pull into the parking lot of the Jet Ski place and cut the engine. “We’re here. We’re going to do some adrenaline junkie stuff today, just for you.”
He’s quiet for a second, and I look up at him.
“Are you okay?”
“This is pretty incredible,” he says quietly, then leans over the center console to kiss the ever-loving fuck out of me. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Now come on, we don’t want to be late.”
We listen to some instructions and are fitted with life preservers, and I pray with all my might that I don’t fall into that disgusting New York City water.
But I don’t say anything.
Before long, I’m slathered in sunscreen, we have our swimsuits on—thank God it’s hot today—and we’re ready to go.
“You can hold on to me,” Quinn says with a smile, but I shake my head.
“No way, I’m getting my own.”
“Is that so?”
“Absolutely. I can drive this.”
His smile grows, and he offers me his fist to bump.
“Good girl, let’s go.”
And for the next hour, we play on the water, zooming back and forth and around each other, jumping off the wakes and having a blast.
“We have about thirty minutes left,” I inform him. We only have the skis for two hours.
“Let’s race out to the buoy,” he suggests, pointing about a mile out into the water.
“Ready set go,” I say fast and take off, laughing like a loon as I gun it, aimed for the buoy. But not thirty seconds later, Quinn passes me, smiling and waving at me. He beats me with enough time to stop and just watch me as I approach.
“You cheated, and I still won,” he says.
“I know. See? Cheaters never prosper.” I’m laughing as I take my hair down and give it a shake before sweeping it up again, catching all the strands that have shaken loose in the wind. I’m parked a few feet from Quinn, and he reaches over to pull me next to him, cups my cheek, and kisses me soundly.
“Don’t make me fall in this dirty water,” I say before I go in for kiss number two. When I pull back, we’re both breathing hard. I glance over at the Statue of Liberty and smile. “You know, I’ve never been.”
“You grew up here and have never been?” he asks, surprised.
“Nope. Let’s go.”
“I’ll race you back.”
“So we’re going to climb?” I ask, staring up at the tall statue. We haven’t gone inside yet.
“Of course,” Quinn says. “You want the full experience, don’t you?”
“Sure.” I shrug as we go inside and walk through the museum in the base of the statue. “This is really interesting. I can’t believe I’ve never done this before.”
“I can’t either,” he says. “We came with our school.”
I shrug a shoulder and look at a ledger of incoming immigrants from 1912. “The fascinating thing is, most of this stuff is from the time of the case we’re working now.”
He glances at me, the
n back at the ledger and the other artifacts around us.
“You’re right.”
“It’s been like working in a time capsule. You know, I think it was Matt who suggested that rather than throw away the stuff that doesn’t matter, like grocery receipts and such, that I should donate them to a museum. I wonder if that’s not such a bad idea.”
“I think it’s a great idea.” Quinn wraps his arm around my shoulders and kisses my temple. “It’s something you should definitely talk to your family about.”
I nod as we make our way to the steps that lead to the statue’s crown.
“Three hundred seventy-seven steps,” I read. “It says that only people in good physical condition should attempt this, so you go ahead.”
He laughs and takes my hand. “You’re in great condition. You’ve got this.”
I glance around. “Are you talking to me?”
“Yes, sweetheart, I’m talking to you. Now get your gorgeous ass in gear.”
I want to grumble. I want to whine. But I don’t. I climb the damn stairs, having to stop about every thirty steps to catch my breath.
Of course, Quinn isn’t even breathing hard.
“It’s hard to like people like you,” I say when I don’t feel like my lungs are on fire anymore. “This isn’t even hard for you.”
“I work out,” he reminds me. “But we can go at your pace, it doesn’t bother me at all. I just love being with you.”
And just like that, he makes all this torture worth it. We continue to climb, stopping here and there for me, and all I can think is, My ass is going to be in great shape by the time we get to the top. The steps are quite narrow, and it’s good that I’m not claustrophobic.
I know Quinn is staring at my rear, which is going to be not only in great shape, but very sore tomorrow.
But once we’re at the top, I forget all about the torture of getting here. The view is incredible.
“It’s smaller than I expected,” I say.
“That’s what she said,” Quinn quips, making me laugh.
“No, they’d never say that about you, my love.”
He doesn’t reply, just cocks a brow at me as we look out at Manhattan and the harbor below.
“I think I can see your condo from here,” I say, squinting into the distance.
“I think we can see Toronto from here,” he says with a laugh. “I never realized it was this high.”
“Pretty high,” I murmur. I don’t love heights. I’m not deathly afraid of them, but I don’t love them. “I thought you’d been here before.”
“I’ve never been to the top,” he says and links his fingers through mine, then leans in to give me a hell of a kiss.
Damn, the man’s good with his lips.
“Thank you for today. It’s the best time I’ve had in a very long time.” His mouth is near my ear, whispering the sweet words.
“You’re welcome. I had a great time too.”
“I hate to do this to you, folks, but I need you to move along so more people can come up,” the woman in uniform says to us. We nod and take another look around.
“You know,” I say to Quinn and brush my fingers through the hair at his temple. “I think you have a couple of gray hairs.”
He stares down at me in surprise. “Well, ladies and gentlemen, she’s about to go over the side.”
He reaches for me, and I rush away, laughing.
“That’s not funny!”
“Neither is the gray hair comment,” he replies as I make a beeline for the stairs. “So, over the side or I spank you, which do you want?”
I immediately turn my butt to him. “It looks fabulous after all those stairs, so go ahead.”
He swats me firmly, but not enough to sting, then pulls me in for a tight hug.
“Never a dull moment with you, sweetheart.”
“And you love that about me.”
“I absolutely do.”
“Baby.”
I push my face into the pillow, hoping the voice goes away.
“Baby, I need you to wake up,” Quinn croons. I open my eyes, surprised to see that it’s dark outside.
“Jesus, how long did I sleep?”
“Three hours,” he says with a soft smile and pushes my hair off my cheek. “You needed a nap after our busy day out.”
“I feel like a wimp.” I sit up and stretch, yawn and then scoot into his lap. “This is nice.”
“Unfortunately, I have to go.”
“What?” I frown up at him. “Where are you going?”
“Finn called, and he needs me at the office for a little while. It won’t take too long. Do you want to go with me, or stay here?”
“I should get some work done there,” I reply and bite my lip. “But honestly, I think I’ll stay here and paint.”
“I like that plan,” he says and kisses my forehead. “A day off has been good for you.”
“Mm.”
He sets me on the bed and stands to put his wallet in his pocket.
“Want me to pick up dinner on my way back?”
“I’ll make something,” I reply. “I’m feeling domestic today.”
I follow him out into the kitchen, distract us both with another toe-curling kiss, and then he’s gone, and I’m alone in his big, quiet condo.
I love this space. It’s inviting and comfortable, and the kitchen is my favorite part.
It’s just every chef’s wet dream.
I decide on tacos for dinner, which is easy enough, and then remember that there’s a box of brownie mix in the pantry.
“Brownies for dessert,” I murmur. “Yes, please.”
I quickly mix the batter and get it in the oven, set the alarm on my phone for the baking time, and then walk into my studio. I turn on some music, the Maroon 5 station on Pandora, and glance around the space.
Quinn outdid himself in here. I’ve already spent a few hours here, and it’s still new. I’m like a kid with new toys, and I’m addicted.
I mix my paints, loving the texture of them, and how easy they are to work with. I don’t usually splurge on such expensive materials, but I think I’ll have to start setting aside more money for them. Now that I’ve used them, there’s just no going back to the cheaper variety.
Quinn has spoiled me since I started to work at his office. He’s incredibly thoughtful. He has waters, coffees, and snacks sent into the conference room every day. He has enough sent for all of us, but I know that’s just so it doesn’t look like he’s showing favoritism toward me.
He takes care of me, and the best part is, I don’t need him to. It’s not because he has to save me from something.
It’s because he loves me.
I don’t think I expected love to feel like this. That I’d ever want someone to take care of me because I’ve always been so fiercely independent. I can do for myself.
I don’t need a man.
But that’s not what this is, and it’s surprising.
I love that he cares and respects my needs enough to want to fulfill them, just like I did today for him with our day out.
It’s not something I would normally do, but I had a good time. I had a great time because Quinn smiled all day, and that was the best part.
I’ve quickly painted New York Harbor, and the Statue of Liberty in watercolors. I can’t help but add two figures in the water, skimming over the surface.
I glance at the timer on my phone. I have just enough time to clean up before the brownies are due to come out of the oven.
Even cleaning up isn’t a chore in this space. The overhead light is bright, and doesn’t cast weird shadows over the room. It’s perfect for painting.
Once my studio is clean, I set the finished canvas on the floor, leaning against the wall so it can dry while I start something new, and walk out to the kitchen just as the timer dings.
“That smells amazing.”
I whirl at the sound of Quinn’s voice and cover my heart with my hand.
“I didn’t hea
r you come in.”
“I’m sorry.” He sweeps me up in a hug and kisses me tenderly.
“I was productive while you were gone.”
He cocks a brow as I pull the brownies out of the oven.
“You did more than brownies?”
“They bake for an hour, so I had plenty of time to work on a little something. I’ll show you.” I lead him to the studio and point to the painting.
“You did this in an hour?”
“Yeah, I wanted it to look a little abstract, almost messy. Chaotic.”
“It’s beautiful,” he says. “And I love that we’re in it.”
“I thought that was a fun addition. Come on, you can chat with me while I cook.”
“We’re not having brownies for dinner?”
I laugh as I pull out a cutting board and the vegetables for the tacos. “I’d planned on my famous tacos.”
“It’s a good thing I got so much exercise today,” he says, patting his flat stomach. “Bring on the food.”
“I’m hungry too. This won’t take long. Was everything okay at work?”
“Yeah, Finn has a difficult client, and he needed someone to bounce some things off of. We work better in person.”
“I get it.” I give the browning meat a stir. “Did he get it figured out?”
“I think so.”
“Good.”
“Sienna.”
“Yeah?” I turn to look at him. He’s sitting at the island, his handsome face serious. “What is it?”
“Come here.”
I walk around the island, thinking he wants to hug me, but he boosts me onto the island and hugs me around the middle, his head pressed to my breasts.
“Thank you again for today.”
“You’re welcome.” I kiss his head, breathing in the scent of him. “I’m glad you enjoyed it.”
“I don’t think anyone has ever done something like that for me before.”
I frown, brushing my fingers through his soft hair. “Not even one girlfriend before me took you somewhere adventurous?”
He nuzzles my breasts playfully. “Most of the adventures of my past with women have been in the bedroom.” He looks up at me with serious eyes. “Anything more was delving into personal territory that I wasn’t willing to share.”
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