“I’m glad you agreed to come out with me today,” Stephen said.
I looked at him and caught his smile. My own spread in response. “I’m glad you asked me. I feel like we’ve been doing things all jumbled out of order.”
“So it’s not just me then?” He laughed and grabbed my hand to give it a squeeze. “I’d apologize for it but I can’t be too upset—I’ve enjoyed myself with you far too much for that.”
He kept my hand, so I laced my fingers through his.
Slick move.
“I’ve had a great time, too. Tuesday night was mind-blowing, I wouldn’t mind having a repeat performance of that!”
“I’ll let Denise know that you’ll enthusiastically model the next lingerie collection she puts out. She loved the photos, you know. Said the passion you brought to life embodies her vision.”
“With you on the other side of the lens, how could I not?”
We strolled along the street, traffic bustling and the midafternoon summer sun beating down. Stephen still hadn’t let on to where he was taking me, but I had a suspicion the further down the street we went.
“Are we going to Central Park?”
He looked at me and grinned. “Maybe. I wanted to check it out, I haven’t been before. Have you spent much time there?”
“No. It’s something you know is there and you should see, but I haven’t gotten around to it. Just seems too touristy, you know?”
“If touristy isn’t your thing, then you’ll hate this,” he said, but he didn’t seem worried.
We got to 59th Street, and the buildings dropped away as the vast green space opened in front of us. “It is beautiful,” I admitted. I couldn’t imagine what Manhattan would be like without the park in the middle.
There was a row of horse-drawn carriages waiting for customers and I made to walk past until Stephen tugged on my hand and pulled me back. He shook the hand of the driver standing next to the first conveyance and the men exchanged low words I missed under the sound of a horse neighing.
“Your chariot awaits, milady.” Stephen looked at me with a sparkle in his eye.
“A carriage ride? Really?” I pretended to be unimpressed, but excitement simmered underneath. My family never had horses of our own, but neighbors in our small country town did and I loved them.
“Just for a little while. And I believe this is for you.” Stephen played around with his sleeves and then pulled his hands apart, a rose appearing twined in the fingers of his right hand. He held it out.
“You are ridiculous,” I said, laughing. “This is fantastic.”
He slid his arms to my lower back and pulled me close for a kiss. A light, easy kiss that was the perfect level of respectability for such a public place.
It didn’t stay that way for long. The taste of his lips reminded me of the way he had ravished me in his apartment, and we sunk deeper into a passionate embrace. I lost sense of where I was, barely treading water through the masterful way his hands and mouth played me.
Stephen broke the kiss. “Shall we?”
I struggled to pull myself together as he helped me up into the carriage and climbed after me. Once the driver was certain we were safely inside, he started the horses into motion.
The carriage moved at a sedate pace, the steady clop of the horses’ hooves acting as a noise screen that kept our conversation private from the driver and the pedestrians we passed along the way.
“This is nice,” I said, placing my hand on his. He swung his arm around my shoulder, and I let myself be drawn close against him as we watched the trees and water roll past.
“It is, isn’t it? It’s very calming.”
“Stephen?”
“Yes?”
“Where do you see yourself five years from now?”
It felt cheesy to ask a standard interview question on a date, but I felt as though the answer would give me guidance on my own feelings.
“Five years? That’s a long time,” he said. He grew quiet.
I liked that he didn’t answer immediately—it meant he was giving it genuine thought instead of saying the first thing that came to mind. As he thought, I pondered the question myself.
“I want to be doing something meaningful. Not just meaningful, but something only I can do. When I decided not to become a surgeon, it was because I didn’t feel like it was my life’s work. It’s vital to have someone in that position doing that job, but it doesn’t have to be me. Any person properly trained could do the same things.”
I nodded. “That makes sense. I understand the feeling. There are things I want to accomplish in this life, and I want to be unique. The thought of doing the same things everyone else does is too constricting.” I let my hand wrap around his. “What about a relationship? Where do you want to be five years from now?”
He looked down at me, his eyes staring into my own. “That’s a loaded question for the third time we’ve seen each other, isn’t it?”
I shrugged. “You don’t have to answer, it would just help me know what to expect.”
“Again, five years is a long time. By then, I would hope I’ve found a partner, someone I feel on equal footing with and who shares the same values and goals as I do. I was single for most of medical school because the course load was so demanding, so I’ve been ready for something more serious for a long time now.”
He leaned down and lightly brushed his lips against mine. His words had reassured me he wouldn’t use me and throw me away when he bored of me. I couldn’t be sure it wasn’t all a front, a lie he told to keep me on the hook, but I had to take him at face value for the time being.
“What about you?” he asked. “Do you know where you’ll be in five years?”
“I know it’s ambitious, but I want to be at the pinnacle of the modeling world. I want the fame, the fortune, and the ability to change the world. There are so many things going on out there that aren’t right, and the people with the ability to do something about it aren’t doing enough. It’s frustrating to watch, and I want to make a difference.”
It felt like I’d been making the same impassioned speech for years. When I told friends or family I might as well have been speaking to a blank wall. They would nod, barely listening. Stephen, though, took my hands into his own and looked at me with intense eyes.
“You can do it, Liberty. I’ve only known you for less than a week, but I already know you’re different from any other women I’ve met in this city. There’s a realness to you that’s unique—too many people are shallow and skin-deep, with nothing worthwhile under the surface. That’s why I like spending time with you.”
“That’s the nicest thing anyone’s said about me for a long time,” I said. I put my hand on the back of Stephen’s neck and pulled him to me, kissing him softly, tenderly as I strove to show him my appreciation.
Flashes of green were all I saw of the park from that point on as Stephen and I grew more and more wrapped up in each other. It was hard to remember how public we were as I fought to restrain myself from taking things further in the carriage. I wanted to feel all of him again—he was a drug I couldn’t resist. One taste of him and I’d been hooked.
“Do you want to come back to my place?” he asked during a break for breath.
“You’d have a tough time trying to keep me away.”
I slowly came to consciousness and stretched, careful not to hit Stephen where he lay still asleep beside me.
The sheets on his bed were luxurious, velvety smooth against my skin—a stark contrast to the subpar linens I used in my small apartment.
I could get used to sleeping here.
Naked from our activities the night before, I rolled out of bed and padded toward the kitchen. It was massive, and I was eager to persuade Stephen to let me cook dinner for him soon. I loved to cook, and after a few months in a studio apartment with only a single hot plate and a microwave at my disposal I was way past due to try out some new recipes.
On my third try I found the glasses in a d
ark red cabinet next to the fridge. I filled one with water from the faucet and swiveled to look out the windows while I took a drink.
There was a man standing there, looking at me.
I almost choked on the water, sputtering and spilling it down my front as I tried to figure out what to do. I couldn’t yell for help through the coughing fit that racked my body.
The entire time I couldn’t take my eyes away from the man. A sharp suit clad his lean frame, an impish smile on his face as he watched me try to gather myself.
With a final hard cough I cleared my throat and put the glass of water down. “Who the hell are you?”
“I see Stephen is having a grand old time here in New York. And he always said he wasn’t into models.” He raised an eyebrow and looked down my body.
Only then did I remember I was fully nude. “Hey!” I said as I crossed my arms over my breasts and moved behind the island to hide my bottom half from his sight. Despite the looks, I didn’t get a dangerous vibe from him. In fact, he looked familiar. “What are you doing here?”
“Relax. I’m just here to have a chat with my little brother. Been waiting a while, I take it you two made a late night of it last night?”
I blushed—the clock on the stove said quarter past noon. Stephen and I had gone to see a show the night before, and when we got back to his penthouse we’d taken sexy photos together until the sunrise reddened the horizon.
“You’re one of Stephen’s brothers?” He’d told me about them. Two older and one younger, but I couldn’t remember the names. Now he’d said it the resemblance was uncanny. “Which one?”
“Derek Devereux, at your service.”
He held out his hand to shake mine. I looked at it but didn’t shake it. If I did then I wouldn’t be able to keep my breasts contained.
“Right,” he said smoothly. “Wouldn’t want to expose yourself to your lover’s brother. That would be awkward.” He winked and took his hand back.
I smiled despite myself. “Don’t pretend like you weren’t after another eyeful. I may have only just started dating Stephen, but I can already tell how you Devereux brothers work.”
“We are big fans of beautiful women, there’s no mistake there. Forgive me if I push a little too hard, Stephen and I have a long and storied history of teasing each other. And as the older brother, I always win.”
“Is that right?” Stephen said. He leaned against the doorway into the kitchen, wrapped in a thin silk robe. “I seem to remember a certain time with a big stick by the ravine where you didn’t fare so well.”
“That wasn’t teasing, you threw that thing like a javelin and hit me square in the ear, you idiot. It took years before my hearing was back to normal.”
Stephen came into the room and he and Derek embraced.
“Whatever. I still won. This is Liberty. I hope you weren’t giving her too much trouble.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it. I was the perfect gentleman, at least as much as I could be with a naked hottie running around the place.”
I blushed and refolded my arms. “Derek was fine, Stephen, he just caught me by surprise. It’s my fault for running out with no clothes on, I didn’t know anyone else had access to your place.”
Stephen shook his head. “No, I should have told you, but didn’t think it would be an issue.” He turned to stare at Derek. “Since he hadn’t seen the apartment yet I thought he would tell me when he’d be in town for a visit. What do you think of the place?”
Derek looked around. The kitchen was open to the living room as one big open concept space. Windows filled the exterior walls from the floor to the double high ceilings, opening onto a fantastic view of Manhattan. “It’s a little ostentatious, isn’t it?”
“Ostentatious?” Stephen sputtered. “That’s a bold statement coming from the guy who bought a massive Hollywood mansion so he can rub elbows with the rich and famous.”
“Yeah, well, luckily I fit right in there,” Derek grinned. Now I had the chance to see the two of them side by side, it became even more clear how unnaturally lucky their family genetics were. Stephen’s handsomeness wasn’t a fluke—if anything, Derek was a little more refined from the extra few years he had on his little brother.
“Not that I don’t like seeing you,” Stephen said, “but what are you doing here? You know you can always call if you want to talk about something.”
“I got word from Evan that someone’s been poking around, asking questions. From what he could find out it sounded like it all started when you made a wager in a bar.”
Stephen tapped his chin with a finger as if he was trying to recall a distant memory. “Wager in a bar… wager in a bar… doesn’t sound like me.”
“Really. It doesn’t?” Derek’s voice was flat. “Does four hundred million dollars ring a bell?”
My breath caught in my throat. Derek looked at me, then back at his brother, eyebrow raised.
“Fine,” Stephen rolled his eyes. “I may have bet this jackass four hundred million dollars I would cut a higher card from a deck than him.”
“Jesus, Stephen, why the hell would you do that!”
“He was being an absolute prick to Liberty. And he kept bragging about how he was worth four hundred million dollars.”
Derek choked back a laugh and put a stern face on. Tried to, at least—he didn’t succeed very well. “I wish I could have seen the look on his face when that went down. Still though, Stephen, you know what we agreed on and you’ve got to show a little more tact.”
Stephen shrugged and took my glass of water off the counter. He gulped it down until it was empty. “Whatever, Derek. You would have done the same thing, even if you won’t admit it. The cat’s bound to come out of the bag, unless you want to go back to living like you were before.”
“Stephen,” Derek said, warning in his voice. “This isn’t how people were supposed to find out about us.”
“Who cares, Derek? What’s the worst that could happen? I bet no one will figure it out even if they knew how much money we have.” Stephen glanced at me. “You know how much certain people want things under wraps.”
Derek scratched his head. “That’s true.”
I couldn’t take it any longer. “Okay, seriously, what the hell are you two talking about? Why is it a big secret how you came into your money? What’s the big deal?”
Stephen and Derek shared a look I couldn’t decipher.
“Liberty, why don’t you get dressed, it looks like Derek and I have family business to discuss.” Stephen came over and leaned down for a kiss.
The familiar, heady sensation of being swept away in his arms almost overcame the frustration I felt at him for keeping secrets from me and treating me like a child that couldn’t be trusted with the truth.
I walked away without looking back. The silence behind me was deafening, and I could almost see the way both brothers stared at my naked body as I strutted back to the bedroom.
“Where are you taking me this time?”
Stephen smiled and squeezed my hand. “Just wait and see.”
It had become a game between us. Every time we went out on a date, the goal was to surprise the other. Stephen had the money so his tended to be grander in scale, but I did everything I could to keep the tables even as far as novelty went.
When Stephen brought me to the opera, I took him to an open yoga practice in Central Park. After he treated me to dinner at Atera, I convinced him we were going to a comedy show on Broadway but instead took him to see the Sleep No More.
The car rolled up to an open gate. I craned my neck around trying to spot a sign that would give me a clue where we were going, but found my efforts frustrated—the only sign said Pier 6.
Past the gate, there was a small parking lot in front of a squat building perched on the pier.
“Where are we?” I asked Stephen. He winked without answering and got out of the car as the driver opened my door and gave me a hand up.
Stephen put his arm around me and we wa
lked around the building until the pier appeared behind it.
A few helicopters sat like mechanical dragonflies resting in the sun.
“Is this what I think?” I asked.
Stephen’s eyes crinkled as he nodded. “Have you ever been up in a helicopter?”
“No!” My heart jumped into my throat. “I’ve never even flown in a plane before, I took the bus to the city when I moved here. Are you serious, we’re flying around?”
“You got it. I’ve heard the city is incredible from the sky, it gives you an appreciation for the accomplishments of man when you are up among the gigantic skyscrapers.”
A short safety talk later, and I settled into the rear seat of a chopper next to Stephen, fitted with a helmet that had speakers built in and a microphone sticking in front of my mouth.
“Are you ready?” he asked. The sound came in loud and clear through the helmet’s speakers.
I laced my fingers through his the way I’d grown to love. “Of course.”
At Stephen’s signal the pilot started the rotors and moments later the ground fell away. Cars became smaller and seemed to move much slower, and the buildings shrank until they were toys on the ground.
The pilot turned the craft toward Manhattan, flying over the Hudson. The skyscrapers reached skyward like fingers of metal and glass clustered together.
“This is incredible,” I said, my voice crackling in my own ears over the sound of the engine and rotors.
“Look at that,” Stephen said. He pointed to the west, where the sun perched on the horizon and turned a reddish hue. Long shadows stretched over the city, cast from the behemoths downtown.
“Wow.” I held onto Stephen’s arm as we shared the view. Over the weeks we’d been dating I’d been able to see how much he appreciated the little things in life, like a gorgeous sunset or a well-cooked meal. It was one thing that had me falling for him.
The helicopter flew along the river, showing us fantastic views of the city like I’d never seen it before. After an hour and with the last traces of light fading from the sky, the helicopter zeroed in on a helipad. It was on the opposite side of the river from where we’d started.
Taking Flight (A Devereux Novel) Page 24