by Bethany-Kris
And, she outright asked her to stay.
Here.
In Chicago.
A part of her wanted to agree to that in a heartbeat. Being here with Cam reminded August exactly how much she had missed her friend since the last time they had been together. Not to mention, whenever they got together, it was like time and distance just didn’t matter. They were still just August and Camilla, best friends ‘til the end.
It would be easy to say yes.
And also hard.
“I just needed to get out of the house, go for a walk, think,” August said. “There’s nothing wrong with that, right?”
That was mostly the truth ...
She didn’t bother to mention how she had agreed to meet up with Beni at this café, or the meeting she had later in the afternoon with Alessa Conti for Manic Media. Those were the real reasons August left that morning, but she didn’t want to share them.
At least, not yet.
Camilla sighed dramatically. “Yes, without me.”
“Lord.”
Her friend’s familiar laugh filtered through the phone speakers. “I mean, you know I’m kidding. If you want to get up and go for a day, then you can do that. But be safe, okay? Stuff in the city is a little ... iffy right now.”
“I’m sure I’ll be fine.”
“Aug—”
“I’ll be safe.”
She wasn’t part of the Outfit. Her life wasn’t the mob life. She was barely even associated to the business that happened here on the illegal side of things, and her only real attachment to it was Camilla, and ... well, Beni, in a way.
Yeah, she figured that out.
Between what he told her, and some questions she asked Camilla about him, and his family, it was pretty clear. August didn’t know how she felt about that, to be honest. She tried not to judge people based on surface things—life taught her to go deeper than that.
Although, truth be told, she was slightly worried about the current drama and dangers facing the Outfit. Not for her, really, but for the people she cared about.
At that moment, the girl behind the counter slid August’s order of coffee over with a wide smile. August snatched the to-go cup up, the warmth heating her hand instantly. “Here you are.”
“Thank you.” To her friend on the phone, she added, “Okay, I will be back ... soonish. And don’t you have to work today, anyway?”
Camilla made a noise under her breath. “I guess so.”
“Come on, you know you love your job.”
“Fine, but I love you, too. Maybe more.”
“Only maybe?”
“Well, now you’re just asking for too much considering you’re the same person who wouldn’t wake me up to go out to breakfast with you.”
Jesus.
“You’re lucky I love you,” August said through her laughter.
She swore she could see Camilla’s grin in her mind when her friend replied, “I am easy to love, and we both know it.”
“Right, that’s what it is. Anyway, meet up later?”
“Sure, Aug. And please, be careful.”
“I will.”
August ended the call with a shake of her head and a smile. Even if she was keeping things from her friend—just until she figured stuff out for herself, because that was fair, right?—she knew, no matter what, she would always have Cam to count on. Forever watching her back, ride or die. Everybody needed a friend like Camilla.
“So, do we consider this a second date?”
That smile of hers grew wider at the voice behind her. That tone, unmistakably his with the dark tenor, and teasing nature seemed to caress her skin, and even had the fine hairs on the back of her neck standing up on end. The same way the heart in her chest picked up beats, hearing something it very much liked and wanted, and willing to race right out of her ribcage to get to it.
Strange, really.
And yet, she liked it.
Spinning around while taking a sip of the hot coffee, August came face to face with a smirking Beni. Damn, he looked good today. Gone were the dark wash jeans, leather jacket, and the Converse shoes. Oh, sure, she liked him in that, too, but today he had settled on something a bit more ... classic, and fancy.
Black slacks, and a white button down that was rolled up to the elbows. A blazer hung over his arm, forgotten, likely because of the current summer heat sweeping through Chicago. No tie, she noticed, but that was okay because he’d left the top two buttons of his shirt undone, giving her a peek at the golden skin of his throat, a couple days’ worth of facial hair covering his jawline, and the way his Adam’s apple bobbed when he looked her over, and swallowed.
So good looking.
Did he know how he looked?
Because Jesus ...
At least, August didn’t feel underdressed standing in front of him, considering she had thrown on a black dress with elbow-length sleeves, a scoop neck, and a pencil skirt that fell to her knees. Black pumps matched the dress, and she went for a simple, rose gold necklace and matching earrings to draw attention to her little makeup, and the braids she had piled high on her head in a spiraling bun.
She did have a meeting today—one that involved talks about a possible job. She had to look professional, didn’t she?
“No work today?” she asked.
Beni flashed her another one of his sinful smiles. “Nah, I had better things to do.”
Was she one of those things?
He was here.
So ... yep.
August liked that.
Too much.
There was something about a man that made a woman his priority that did it for her. Beyond sex, a man that cared enough to put in effort ... it was all about the fucking effort with a woman like her.
She appreciated it.
“And you didn’t answer me,” he said. “Is this the second date?”
She gave him a look. “We didn’t really have a first.”
“Well—”
“That was not a first date.”
Beni chuckled, shoving his hands into his pockets as he looked her over from head to toe. There was something about his slow perusal that had her heating up from the inside out, butterflies beating hard in her stomach all the while.
What was he doing to her?
“So, we consider this a first date, then?”
August nodded. “And depending on how it goes, well, we’ll see about another one.”
His dark, husky laughter coated her in something sinful and wicked as he stepped alongside her to wrap a strong arm around her waist. He pulled her into his side for a one-armed hug, his mouth coming down to press a quick kiss to her soft line of baby hair along her forehead.
“Never stop doing that,” he told her.
August tipped her head back so that she could stare up at him. “Do what?”
“That—keeping me on my toes. Nobody ever does that anymore, and I like it.”
Noted.
“So, what did you have in mind for today?” he asked.
“I only have a couple of hours—something to do later—but I thought we could take a walk somewhere, maybe.”
“Did you drive here?”
“Called an Uber. Easier, you know.”
“I know a place, and I did drive. I hope you like fast cars.”
At her questioning stare, Beni nodded toward the line of windows showcasing the city street outside the café. There, parked alongside the street was a sleek, black Porsche.
“That’s yours?”
“Yeah, but I only take it out on special occasions. I bought it for myself as a twenty-first birthday gift, but it’s not as fun when I drive it all the time.”
“And I’m a special occasion, huh?”
Beni winked. “Very special.”
• • •
Beni’s hand tightened around August’s as they came to a stop on the middle of a small bridge that connected the walkways over a creek in Jackson Park. The green water bubbling beneath the bridge dan
ced over smooth rocks, and lead into a larger pond down the way.
Their walk through the park had been mostly silent, with Beni occasionally pointing out facts about the place, and the design of it. Like the fact that the south side park sat on over five-hundred acres of land, and they were only seeing a very small portion of what it offered.
Shame, that.
She was loving it.
All the green on a beautiful summer day.
“What are your plans later?” She let him tug her into his chest, and he quirked a brow when she grinned. “And could I possibly convince you to change them for me?”
God.
Right now, she wished.
But ... “Probably not.”
“Why not?”
Since there was no one else walking up to the bridge, she didn’t care that they were standing right on the middle of it, blocking the path. Her arms snaked around his waist, and she breathed in that heady cedar and smoke cologne he seemed to prefer.
“It’s for a possible job, actually.”
Beni’s brow lifted high. “Oh? Here?”
“Don’t say that too loudly. Camilla might hear you, and then I’ll have to explain to her why I didn’t tell her about it, or that I’m seriously thinking about it.”
He quieted for a moment, his hand on her lower back drifting back and forth in a slow, soothing motion. His other slid under her jaw, tipping her head back so their brown gazes locked together, and all she could see in a beautiful park was this incredibly handsome man.
“Why not tell her?”
August shrugged. “Maybe because it’s a big change? You know, moving my whole life from New York to Chicago. Or because it means probably starting over in my career, when what I am doing now is the first chance I’ve been given to move forward at my job in three years. Or because she’ll get so excited that she won’t let me have a moment to think about it alone without her opinion—I love Cam, but that’s just how she is.”
“Huh.”
“That’s all you got for me? Just a huh?”
Beni chuckled, and dropped a sweet kiss to the tip of her nose. The action had her closing her eyes and feeling those butterflies again. Not to mention the sparks of heat that traveled all over her body in seconds flat.
How he managed it, she would never know.
“What’s the job offer?”
“A position with Manic Media.”
“Alessa’s company.”
“You know her?”
“My mother grew up in the Chicago Outfit—I know everybody who is anybody here, and my ma is friends with Alessa, too.”
“Oh.”
“Manic Media is a good company, though. They do a lot of good work for the communities, and the youth of Chicago.”
“I know. That’s one of the draws.”
“And the holdout is ...?”
Because, of course, there was one.
“The move. The change. I’m an only child, so I would be leaving my parents behind. It also feels like starting over, in a way, when with my current company, I have finally just started getting what I wanted. I don’t know ... I just haven’t given it enough thought, if that makes sense.”
Beni’s arms wrapped her tightly, his embrace a safe place, she found. “I get it, actually. Well, not the only child part, but—”
“You have four brothers, right?”
“How do you know that?”
August’s cheeks flushed.
Shit.
“And what’s that for?” he asked, waving a finger at the red color in her cheeks. “But damn, I do like it when you blush, bella.”
Well, she might as well just admit it, right?
“I might have asked around about you, that’s all.”
She tried to play it off.
Be cool.
It wasn’t a big deal.
Beni grinned like it was.
Cocky man.
And yet, she liked that, too.
“Did you?” he asked.
August sighed. “You’re going to make that into a thing, are you?”
“Maybe I just like that you asked about me. What did you find out?”
“Nothing too bad. Seems everyone likes you, and you’re a decent guy, if not a little wild spirited.”
“They’re not telling lies.”
August giggled, and glanced away. “I guess, I just wanted to know who that man was who looked at me from across a club, and made me think wow. So yeah, I asked some questions. None of them had bad answers.”
“Good to know.”
He stepped a little closer to her, his hand coming back under her jaw to turn her face toward his once more. Her tongue peeked out to wet her lips when that intense gaze of his locked on her mouth like he was considering kissing her.
She couldn’t get over that.
How he stared.
She felt it all over.
“Your mouth is ... perfect,” he murmured.
She dragged her teeth over her full bottom lip. “Is it?”
“It’s what I want the most whenever you’re near. It taunts me in the best way.”
“Does it?”
“Constantly.”
Yeah.
Wow.
How any woman could be near this man without falling head over heels for him after a conversation, August would never know. And that was dangerous, too, she knew. How his charming, confident nature drew her in like a fluttering moth to a dancing flame.
Never had a man seemed so enthralling.
This man did.
August wasn’t sure if she could afford to change something else in her life when she was already going through enough as it was. How would she dare to hand over her heart, when she didn’t even have the rest figured out, too?
Instead of getting in her feelings, August decided to change the subject. In a very good way. Tipping her chin up just enough to catch Beni’s lips with her own, she kissed him on that bridge until the sounds of the birds and bubbling water drifted away, and she felt numb from the electricity singing through her bloodstream.
He held her tighter.
Kissed her deeper.
Like he couldn’t get enough of her mouth, her taste, or ... her. God knew she understood that, because she couldn’t get enough of him, either.
Her lungs burned when he pulled away, her bottom lip trembling as he dotted the seam of her mouth with soft, sweet kisses.
“When can we do this again?” he asked.
“Are you asking for a second date?”
His eyes flashed with darkness and sin. “Absolutely.”
“You might have to work around my best friend. She’s getting a little possessive about my time.”
Beni laughed, sexy and deep. “Not a problem. I have an inside source.”
“Oh?”
“Her husband is a very good friend.”
Right.
August kissed him again, quicker that time, although she still felt it everywhere. “Then, that’s a yes. This time, you decide what we do.”
Beni’s handsome features turned boyish in a blink, and she almost laughed. “So, something fun?”
“What’s your type of fun?”
“You’ll see.”
• • •
“At least two a month?”
Across the desk, Alessa Conti nodded, her smile soft. “Two articles monthly for the online publication, and that guarantees your pay. One will be a project you choose to work on—one will be promotional for the company that will be a team effort. However, I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you that Manic Media’s reach spans far wider in the grander scheme. From working with Fortune 500 companies to perfect their brand in the media, to work in our communities to provide better opportunities to those who need it ... we are constantly expanding and growing. There are many options for you here, August, and I would hate to see you pass them up.”
The woman leaned forward a bit, her messy chignon a perfect style to showcase the rope of pearls around
her throat, as she added, “And I know you want your focus to be on journalism, which is why I offered the online publication—still paid—until you figure out where else you might like to work in this company. I read your article, the one that went viral a couple years back, on the distinction between a brand becoming a household name, and a brand that becomes part of a cultural movement. It’s the perfect example of not only can you write, but you see things in a perspective that others do not. It’s that kind of mindset that gives you a seat at the table, if you want it.”
God.
She did want it.
Badly.
And at the same time ... things were not simple.
At Manic Media’s home office, set dead center in the middle of the city, it only became far more apparent to August how much she would fit into the place. Diverse, with a work environment that supported and encouraged everyone to not only do their best, but feel their best, it was a dream. At the home office alone, the ratio of women to men were five to one. Practically unheard of anywhere, but women were the face and driving force of the company.
All kinds of women.
August wanted to be a part of that.
She had every good reason to take this job.
“There’s a very good chance that when I go back home, I might have a place on the editor’s team at Bared Brands. I’ve worked three years—”
“Blood, sweat, tears, and all the rest, right?” Alessa asked.
“Basically.”
“And for what?”
August dragged in a breath. “Recognition. Respect. Working my way up.”
“Or driving their traffic by spilling yourself to their pages, but without anything to show for it on your side of things. They mine your talent for a payoff you never see.”
Hit me where it hurts, August thought.
Didn’t the truth always hurt?
“I know it feels like starting over,” Alessa said, “but in the end, it’s about what you want for your career. Is your goal to work for a company that has only given you something in return after they’ve taken everything else you had to give them, or is your goal tied into what you really want for your career and person?”
She didn’t miss how Alessa didn’t offer that choice with Manic Media at the forefront. Instead, she posed it as a choice August had to make based on what would be best for her, something she wanted and would do her good, or another thing that had yet to prove fruitful and worth it for her.