by Louise Bay
I squinted, and he came into view. He was here? He grinned, slid off his stool and walked toward me.
I breathed in the sight of his strong jaw and wide shoulders wrapped up in a beautiful navy suit that brought out his indigo eyes.
He circled his arms around my waist, pulling me toward him and kissing my forehead. “Are you eye-fucking me?” he asked.
I tilted my head as if considering my answer. “I really think I am.”
He chuckled and kissed me again on the forehead before reaching for the elevator button.
“What are you doing here?”
“I’m sorry I didn’t meet you at the airport. I had a call, but got here as soon as I could.”
“I wasn’t expecting you until much later. My other lover is about to arrive.”
He shook his head as he pulled me into the elevator car. “Don’t joke about shit like that. It makes me restless.”
“Would it make a difference if I told you my other lover’s a woman?”
He growled and pushed me against the glass wall of the elevator, slamming his tongue against mine, plowing deep and hard. My hands slid into his hair as I tried to stop from collapsing. Lust overtook me. I liked him, and I enjoyed our phone calls, but seeing him was different. Seeing him made my breath short and panties damp. I wanted to press my fingers against every part of his body in the hope that it would soothe my need for him.
“I’m so pleased you’re here,” I said as he kissed down my neck. “I told myself that I could wait until tonight, but I think I would have turned up at your office, naked beneath a coat.”
He pulled back to look at me. “I should have waited.”
The elevator doors pinged open and we scrambled out. “I need a shower. I’m airplane grubby.”
He bent his head to my neck as I fiddled with the key card in the lock. “A shower sounds good.”
I grabbed some additional pillows from the top shelf in the dressing room, pulled back the bedcovers and started to build a pillow wall down the middle of the bed.
Dylan wandered back into the bedroom, a towel around his waist, eating an apple. “I brought the menu. We should eat. What are you doing?”
“Yes, we should eat. Good idea.”
I pushed a pillow down to the foot of the bed. The wall should probably be two pillows high.
“Seriously, what’s with the pillows?” He grabbed the belt of my robe and pulled me toward him. We’d made it to the shower, then the sofa, then eventually back to the shower.
“I’m building a pillow wall. I need to sleep tonight, and won’t if we’re lying naked next to each other.”
He sighed. “I can sleep at home. It’s fine and you’re right, as much as I’d like to keep you up all night, you’ve got to make whole sentences in front of a camera tomorrow. It’s best if you get more than thirty minutes of rest.”
I tried to peel his hands from around my waist, but he wasn’t budging. “But before we make it into the bed, anything goes, right?”
I grabbed the discarded menu. “What shall we eat?”
He leaned into my ear. “How about I eat you?”
“You did that already.” I smacked his hand. “Good job by the way.” He chuckled. “I think I’ll have the pasta. Shall I order you the steak?”
He cocked his head and smiled. “Yeah, that would be great.”
I placed the order and Dylan pulled me into the living room and onto his lap, facing the view of the river.
“I have to be up at six tomorrow. The car is coming for me at seven.”
“Friday has turned into a bit of a nightmare for me. I have meetings all day. I’m sorry.”
I leaned into his chest, savoring the feel of his skin against my cheek. “I’d planned to go and see my dad, then I’ll have to get ready for the gala. It’s fine.”
“We’ll have all day Saturday and Sunday together.”
I was concentrating on the vibrations in his chest as he spoke, so I didn’t register what he’d said at first. “Oh no, not Saturday. Didn’t I tell you? They’ve decided to show the first segment this Saturday, so I have to go into the studio for an interview, then meet with their publicity team. I think I’m going to be there most of the day.”
He took a deep breath and I sat forward so I could see his face. “Are you mad?”
He smiled. “Of course not. I just want to spend time with you.”
“Sunday, though. And I brought outdoor clothes.”
The door buzzed and I scampered off his lap. The sounds of the television filled the space behind me.
“Beth,” he called as I was answering the door.
“What?” I screamed when I saw my face on TV. “What’s that?”
I looked up at Dylan but he was staring at the screen. “That’s you.”
I sank to the sofa before my knees gave way. “Christ on a bike. What the hell am I doing on television?”
“Bake with Beth” scrolled across the screen, and then I was gone.
“Excuse me, can I get a signature?” a voice from behind me asked.
I couldn’t move. Dylan must have dealt with it as when I finally stood, the waiter had gone.
“Did you see that?” I asked.
Dylan nodded, his eyebrows raised. “Did you do publicity shots already?”
“I had some taken in London. I didn’t think, didn’t realize … I just didn’t expect this.” I couldn’t believe they were advertising my show. Or my slot on someone else’s show.
“You didn’t expect to be on television, even though you have a baking segment on television.”
“Well, when you say it like that it makes me feel stupid.”
Dylan chuckled. “You’re not stupid. But perhaps you’re not quite prepared.”
“I’m thinking you might be right. I’ve been concentrating on getting the recipes right, and making sure I’ve rehearsed. I guess I didn’t think about broadcasting into peoples’ homes.”
The more time that passed, the more it felt like I was leading some kind of double life. In one, I lived in London, dreaming up recipes and having my nieces spit up on me. In the other, I was in Chicago, on television, and had a boyfriend who looked like a Greek god and ordered me dessert whenever I wanted it.
I was living the best of both worlds but needed to mesh them together if I was going to be able to hold on to both of them.
Dylan
I glanced at the clock, again. This meeting had been dragging on far too long, and we were due to be at the gala in an hour and a half.
“Ultimately, if you’re not on board with this, then I’ll find someone who is,” I interrupted the guy telling me again why my integration plan wasn’t going to work. “We’re due to take ownership of Redux in less than two weeks so if you want out, let me know now.”
“It’s not that. I just want—”
“Let’s reconvene next week. Email me over the weekend with your decision. I don’t want to spend any more time debating this.”
I stood and strode out of the meeting room, and didn’t stop even for Marie. She’d expected me to catch up on my phone messages and emails, but that shit would have to wait. I’d not seen Beth properly all day, and I wanted to squeeze out every last drop of time together.
I took the elevator to my waiting town car and hit dial as I got in.
“I’ve just got into the car; I should be with you shortly,” I said as soon as she answered.
“I told you I’d be happy to meet you there. I know how busy you are.”
“Well, I need to change into my tux—”
“Which Marie could have had Don collect.”
I’d brought my things to the hotel yesterday so I wouldn’t have to go home. I still wasn’t quite sure why Beth wouldn’t stay with me, particularly when I was effectively staying with her. It wasn’t as if we were getting any space from each other. We’d slipped into coupledom—working during the day, racing home to get naked in the evening. We’d not even made it out for dinner yet. But tonight
was different.
“And anyway, I want to take you to this gala. This is our first date, and I’m not meeting you there. I just pulled up to the hotel. I’ll see you in a few.”
I raced up to the twelfth floor and used the key Beth had given me. As the door sprang open, my breath caught in my throat as I came face-to-face with the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. She stood looking out of the window, her back bare and red velvet flaring out from her tiny waist. I’d never seen her hair up—it felt so good trailing against my skin that I couldn’t ever have imagined wanting to see it up—but now, it gave me a better view of her perfect skin and that delicious neck. “You’re a goddess.”
She smiled at me over her shoulder. “And you have perfect timing. Can you help me with this necklace?”
I wasn’t sure if, once I started, I’d be able to stop touching her.
I let the door slam closed as I strode toward her, my cock tightening with every step. Sliding my hands around her waist and dipping my head into her neck, I took a deep breath. “You smell like cinnamon.”
She laughed. “That’s your imagination.”
I took her necklace and fastened the clasp, my hands smoothing down her neck to her waist, then pulled her back against me.
“We don’t need to be there by six thirty. In fact, we don’t need to go at all.”
She tilted her head so it rested against my chest. “We do need to be there by six thirty, but we don’t have stay too late. How about that?” She pushed her perfect ass against my now rock-hard cock and I groaned.
“Are you sure I can’t convince you to ditch the whole thing?”
“I’m sure. I think a man as successful as you can control his penis for a couple of hours. I Googled you today. Apparently, you’re quite the eligible bachelor about town.”
I chuckled. “You Googled me? You didn’t think about doing that before we had sex the first time?”
She slid her hands over mine. “Apparently I liked your tight ass too much to be bothered by what Google had to say.”
“My tight ass likes you back.” I kissed her neck. “Right, if you insist on going to this dumb gala, I’m going to grab a shower.”
She swiveled around in my arms. “Do me a favor?”
“Anything.” I traced the swell of her breasts with my thumb, desperate to taste her. I wasn’t going to be able to keep my hands to myself this evening.
“Keep this,” she said, scratching her nails over my five o’clock shadow. “I like it against my skin.”
I groaned. “You’re killing me.”
“But it’s such delicious torture.” She grinned.
Less than an hour later, we were pulling up outside the Drake Hotel. I ignored the flashes of the cameras as I stepped out of the car and rounded the trunk to open the door for Beth.
She looked confused at the attention, but I held out a hand. “Why are there photographers here?”
“Publicity for the charity,” I explained.
I put an arm around her waist and pulled her toward me.
“Mr. James, who’s your date tonight?” one of the photographers yelled. Beth looked up at me and I grinned at her, leaning toward her and placing a small kiss on her pouting mouth. The flashes of the cameras intensified.
“This is Beth Harrison. Baking goddess and my girlfriend,” I replied to the photographer.
“Can we get inside?” she whispered through her smile.
I chuckled.
“As in Baking with Beth on A Chicago Saturday?” another photographer asked. “The trailers have just started to air.”
“Apparently, it should be me Googling you.” I squeezed her again and led her inside.
“My show hasn’t even gone out and frankly, given the disastrous day yesterday, it probably never will.”
“My sweet, it wasn’t disastrous. It was television.” Now was a perfect moment to confess that Raf and I owned Raine Media and WCIL TV, but I didn’t want to complicate anything. Our ownership didn’t and wouldn’t impact her in any way. We didn’t get involved with commissioning the programming in any detail. We just approved policy and strategy decisions. I didn’t have time or the inclination to explain that all to her. I’d do it before she left to go back to London.
As we entered the hotel, we were immediately offered champagne. Out of habit, I reached to accept a glass on Beth’s behalf before realizing what I was doing, and I set the glass back down.
“You can drink, Dylan. It doesn’t bother me.”
“No, sorry, I never drink on occasions like this. I was getting a glass for you but then—”
“If you don’t drink at events like this then there’s something wrong with you. I imagine it would be much more fun.” She scanned the lobby, her head tilted toward the candelabra. “I wonder if I could make a cake that pretty.”
“I think you could do whatever you set your mind to.” I dipped my head and kissed her on the cheek.
I spotted Raf coming toward us. He glanced to my left and his eyes widened. I saw the word fuck form on his lips. I grinned. Yeah, she had that effect on me, too.
“How did you get so lucky?” He shook my hand and slapped me on the back before taking a step back and raising Beth’s hand to his lips.
He kissed her knuckles. “It’s a complete pleasure to meet you,” he said.
“Really?” I interrupted. “Are you kidding me? Do women fall for that—the kissing the hand stuff?” I looked at Beth and she just smiled. She wasn’t falling for it.
“Well, given you’re still a virgin, I’m guessing it works better than whatever it is that you do.”
“I’m guessing you’re Raf,” Beth said before I could punch him.
“And you’re the mystery woman I’ve heard nothing about until this week. How did you two kids meet?”
“We were sitting next to each other on the plane on the way to London a few weeks ago,” Beth replied. “All the cabin crew were excited about him; I couldn’t see what the fuss was about. He was so serious and moody.” She looked up and grinned at me.
I shook my head. I was confident she’d been interested since we’d locked eyes that first time.
“He is desperately moody, that’s for sure, though less so the last few weeks. We should put you on the payroll. I like him better since he met you. Do you live in Chicago?”
“I grew up here and my father’s here but I live in London now. I might be spending a bit more time back here though.”
“Do you know what table we’re at?” I asked, interrupting the natural course of their exchange. Beth was a sentence away from saying she was here to film for WCIL TV and neither Raf nor Beth knew about the connection. I needed to be the one that filled them in.
Raf peeled his eyes away from Beth. “Table one, I hope. We’re paying for this thing.”
“Come on, let’s go.” I walked us in the direction of the entrance to the Gold Coast Room.
“Does he irritate you?” she asked.
“Of course.” I opened the door and gestured for Beth to go in. “He’s irritating.”
We were the first ones into the room, as dinner was yet to be called.
“I like him. He knows how to handle you.”
I laughed and stopped, pulling her toward me. “You think? I think you know how to handle me.”
“How so?” She looked at me, sweeping her fingers across my jaw.
I shrugged. “I’m not sure. I’m more me when I’m with you.” My heart tripped under my shirt. I felt so comfortable around her. There weren’t many people in my life with whom I could just kick back and relax. Most new people I met liked my money or my connections a little too much. In her own words, Beth had been attracted to my tight ass. The fact that we’d started with the physical somehow meant we had started out equals in our relationship. She hadn’t expected more from me, and that gave me room to relax and be myself.
“That’s one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to me. I really like the you that you are when you’re
with me.”
Could she feel the thud of my heart as I held her? It was as if my love for her were knocking, trying to get out.
I loved her.
I wanted her to know. No one had ever made me feel as good as she did.
“Beth …” I needed her to understand what she did to me, how different she was to any other woman I’d ever met.
“It’s beautiful,” she said, glancing up at the ceiling.
“You’re beautiful.”
She looked back at me and smiled. “This being out in public thing is overrated.”
“Now you agree.” I sighed.
“When’s your speech?”
“After the entree. We can leave then, right?”
Before she got a chance to agree, someone tapped me on the shoulder. I was irritated at the interruption and would have ignored it had Beth not nodded in the direction of the intruder.
Without loosening my grip, I turned to see who was ruining this moment I was having with Beth, and came face-to-face with the last woman who’d had any kind of hold over me.
Alicia.
Beth
“What are you doing here?” Dylan snapped at the woman who had just approached us.
I was used to him being surly and gruff but never angry.
“Well, that’s not the way to greet the love of your life,” the redhead replied.
“God forbid.” Dylan’s arms pulled me closer. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m here to catch up with old friends,” she said, turning to me. “And make new ones. I’m Alicia Munroe, and once upon a time I was engaged to the man you’re clinging to.” She smiled at me as if she’d complimented me.
“You poor girl, you must feel so silly to have let him go,” I replied, my smile equally big. I turned back to Dylan. “I won’t be making the same mistake.” I should have taken the high road, but something about her trying to claim him created a red mist in me. Dylan was a good man who hadn’t deserved to be traded in for a richer model.
His grin was wicked as his hands rounded my ass.
“I wanted to follow up on our lunch date,” Alicia said, her focus on Dylan now. He didn’t look at her. Instead he tried to kiss me but I leaned away. What the fuck was this about a lunch date? My stomach twisted.