More than Money (Found in Chicago Book 1)

by Allison Michaels

  Periscope up, up, UP.

  “When do you, uh, want to do this?”

  “Down, boy,” she said to my erection, humored by my eagerness. “Later.”

  “Why not now?” I whined, flinching at how pathetic I sounded. “Dangling a cup of water in front of a parched man in the middle of a desert and snatching it away when he tries to drink a drop is cruel.”

  “Whatever you say, Aesop.” Collette pulled the plug and stood, reaching for a towel. “Have I ever not followed through on a promise?”

  “No,” I grumbled, wrapping a towel around my waist.

  I picked up my clothes and followed Collette into the bedroom. She opened the top drawer in a tall chest and rummaged through the lingerie stored inside. My dick leaped to attention when her towel hit the floor. I dropped mine and stepped behind her, placing my hands on her hips.

  “What are you doing?” She peered up at me over her shoulder, holding a lacy bra in her hands.

  Angling my head down, I inhaled the sweet fragrance of her dewy skin. “Nothing.” I reached around and skimmed my fingertips over her collarbones.

  “Liar,” she whispered, shivering when my lips found the soft spot where her neck and shoulder met. “I have to get dressed.”

  “Later,” I murmured, grinning when she sent me a glare.

  The bra went back in the drawer, which slid shut with a push. Collette turned around and gave me a pouty look. “I hate when you toss my own words back at me.”

  Oh, I knew. “I am so sorry,” I crooned. Circling my fingers around a slender wrist, I pulled her away from the piece of furniture. “Let me make it up to you.”

  I scooped her up and carried her bridal-style to the bed, tossing her to the middle of the mattress. She propped herself up on her elbows and watched me crawl toward her with hooded eyes. Damn, I loved when she hit me with some serious bedroom eye action. Starting at her toes, I kissed a trail along the inside of her leg, stopping to give particular attention to several key areas. By the time our lips met, she squirmed impatiently beneath me.

  “Ryan.” My name sounded like a prayer falling from her lips.

  She wrapped her legs around my waist and clung to me, rubbing her breasts on my chest. I slid a hand between our bodies and rolled a taut nipple between my fingers. Sitting back on my haunches, I slowly walked two fingers down her midline to the area between her legs, dipping them into her folds. She was hot and slick and so ready, I could bury myself in her balls-deep with one thrust.

  But I loved touching her this way. Loved the little noises and breathy sounds she made as I worshiped the sweetest spot on her perfect body. Loved the way her heels dug into my ass when my fingers slipped inside her. Loved the way her back bowed when my thumb drew lazy circles on her clit. And really fucking loved the drowsy, sated look on her face after she orgasmed.

  So I stayed put and worked her up with my fingers, telling her how beautiful she looked, how incredible she felt, and how much I loved her. And after she came, I gathered her in my arms and repeated the sentiments between kisses as she shuddered during aftershocks.

  The kissing started out slow and sweet but quickly progressed to hard and rough. Our tongues tangled and our teeth clinked together. I yanked open the bedside table drawer and grabbed a condom. Once I was covered, I settled on top of Collette and looked into her eyes. Those dark, soulful eyes I got lost in every time our gazes met.

  Collette lifted her hips in invitation, and I took it, sliding inside her in one smooth stroke. A soft moan rose from her throat as I rocked into her over and over again. Her neck craned, and her mouth landed on mine in a searing kiss. Sharp teeth sank into my lower lip. “Harder,” she ordered, biting down until it stung.

  I obliged.

  Gripping the bottom of the scrolled headboard for leverage, I swiveled my hips and pulled out to the tip. Collette gasped when I slammed back in and ground down on her clit. Her hands lifted and landed on top of mine, seeking an extra level of contact I was happy to provide. I increased my pace and pounded away until her lips parted and a long, low groan escaped them as her inner walls squeezed me.

  Her hand disappeared between my legs and pressed a spot behind my balls no other woman had ever paid any mind to before. My eyes snapped wide open, and I came so hard my vision went spotty around the edges. Letting go of my handhold, I buried my face in a pillow to muffle my shouts since Neil was home.

  “Do I want to know where you learned how to do that?” Resting on my forearms to avoid crushing her, I struggled to catch my breath.

  “In the grocery store checkout line. The lady in front of me managed to find the one item in the entire store not entered into the system and because she was buying a dozen of them, someone had to go and find it on the shelf to get the price. I flipped through an issue of Glamour and found an article about the most often overlooked erogenous zones on the male body.”

  I’d never been more thankful for a price check.

  We snuggled for a while before getting dressed. As Collette debated over which shirt to wear in her walk-in closet, I pulled a small gift bag out from its hiding spot behind her dresser.

  She emerged wearing black skinny jeans and a red sweater, carrying a pair of studded black ballet flats in her hand. We often joked about how these shoes could double as weapons. I wished she’d worn them the day of the mugging and clobbered the fucker who hit her with the pointy spikes protruding from the leather.

  “What’s that?” she asked, sitting on the edge of the mattress.

  “Your graduation gift.”

  A smile lit up her face. “You didn’t have to get me a present.”

  The hell I didn’t. The woman I loved had just graduated after working her ass off for two years. No way would I not make a big deal out of such a huge accomplishment. And truthfully, what I had gotten for her held far more sentimental value than monetary. I’d found it at an outdoor market in Daley Plaza during my lunch hour the Monday after Thanksgiving. It reminded me of slow dancing in snow flurries in the backyard at my parents’ house.

  “I saw it and thought of you.” Holding it open by the handles, I watched as she stuck her hand into the tufts of tissue paper and withdrew a small white box.

  She pulled off the lid and gasped at the sparkly silver snowflake pendant nestled on a bed of cotton. “Ohhh! It’s beautiful.” Scooping her hair up, she turned around. “Will you help me put it on?”

  “It would be my pleasure.” I unfastened the clasp and draped the delicate chain around her neck. “It’s handmade by a local silversmith. She loves snowflakes and wants her jewelry to look like their real-life counterparts. No two pieces are alike.”

  “Thank you. I love it. And I love you for putting so much thought into my gift.” She rose up on her toes and placed her lips on mine.

  A door opened and slammed shut downstairs. Oscar barked, and Les’s voice boomed as he told the dog to settle down. “Where the hell is everyone?” he yelled.

  “I was taking a nap until you showed up and started bellowing,” Neil shouted back.

  “Get your ass up and help me bring in all this beer.”

  “I should go and help, too,” I said to Collette, jamming my feet into my shoes.

  She slid on the spiky flats and took my hand as we left the room and headed downstairs.

  27

  Ryan

  Neil elbowed me in the ribs and nodded at Collette and her friends as they did the classic disco hip-and-point move to an ABBA song. “I hope you’re okay with sleeping on the bathroom floor tonight. The dancing queen’s wasted.”

  I chuckled and shook my head. “Nah. She switched to water over an hour ago.”

  “You mean she’s doing this ridiculous shit on purpose?” Les asked, wrinkling his nose in disgust.

  “A lot of thought and time went into tonight’s musical selections.” Neil gestured at the packed dance floor. “She requested a lot of older songs so it wasn’t just clubby stuff all night long. It’s her party, and she can do th
e hustle if she wants to. Either shut up and deal or go home because no one wants to hear you bitch anymore, Leslie.” Stalking away from a slack-jawed Les, he joined the group of girls, wiggling his hips and raising his hands over his head as they hooted and formed a circle around him.

  I pressed my lips together to hold in my laughter. Les rarely got his ass handed to him, and I’d just watched it from a front-row seat. Neil was one of the most easygoing people I knew, so for him to pop off and go nuclear, he must have really been fed up with Les’s behavior.

  “He’s making a fool of himself,” Les remarked as Neil twerked to “Superbass.”

  I’d finally had enough of his shitty attitude and didn’t feel like mincing words. “He’s out there having fun, surrounded by girls who dig the fact that he doesn’t give a damn about how he looks. The only guy who’s making a fool of himself is you.”

  The doorbell rang, and I went to answer it, leaving him standing with his mouth hanging open for the second time in less than five minutes.

  On the porch stood the tall blonde from the reception. “Hi. Sorry I’m so late.” She held out a plastic grocery sack after entering the foyer. “It’s nothing fancy, just hummus and pita chips.”

  “Come on in.” I took the bag and helped her remove her coat. “Just toss it on the pile. I’ll put this with the rest of the food. What would you like to drink? I’m Ryan, by the way.”

  “Oh, you’re Collette’s boyfriend!” she exclaimed, following me to the kitchen. “She talked about you all the time. I’m Deirdre. We were in the same group for a project and bonded over our dislike of a particular schmuck who left us high and dry on more than one occasion. I refuse to say his name and taint the happy vibe you guys have going on here, but I’m sure you know who I’m referring to.”

  “Yup.” I unwrapped the food and set it with the other plates on the island. We both grabbed beers and headed back to the den.

  Deirdre scanned the room as she drank from her bottle. “This is really nice. I looked into renting in this neighborhood before grad school, but the prices were too steep. I especially love the turret.”

  “That was what drew Collette in when she was house-hunting. She got into a bidding war with another buyer because of it. Obviously, she won.” I beckoned her down the hallway and flipped on the lights in the curved room. “The previous owners didn’t know what to do with this space and left it empty the entire time they lived here. But she had plans for it before her signature dried on the deed.”

  “She owns this house?” Deirdre gawked at the library, running her fingers over the spines of books on the shelf closest to her.

  Oh, shitshitshit. Because of the no-fuss, low-key way Collette lived, I often forgot about how wealthy she was. It never occurred to me that her classmates might not know about her financial situation, especially since she had invited most of them over. As the daughter of a university bigwig, Deirdre was probably sitting on little to no student loans, so for her to be so shocked about someone her age being able to afford a Lincoln Park brownstone seemed a bit…odd.

  Then again, I had literally just met this woman minutes ago and knew jack about her backstory. Maybe she was fiercely independent and wanted to earn her own way without Daddy’s help. Or maybe her father had a no-coddling policy and made her responsible for sorting out her own living arrangements. In any case, it was none of my business, same as Collette’s finances were none of hers.

  Flicking off the lights, I headed back toward the heart of the party and hoped Deirdre wouldn’t pry for more information.

  No sooner had we stepped inside the dim room, she turned to me with a serious expression. “Can I ask you something?”

  My gut twisted as I gave her a half-hearted nod. Me and my big fucking mouth. Even though I hadn’t really done anything wrong, I felt awful.

  “Who’s the creeper in the corner?”

  So not the question I had anticipated. Exhaling a breath of relief, I followed Deirdre’s gaze and chuckled when I saw who she had been referring to. “That’s Les. I figured you had heard about him from Collette.”

  “I have. I’m just confused about why he’s staring at me.”

  I looked at her, feeling slightly annoyed. “What did you think would happen after you flirted with him this afternoon? You can’t give a guy like him a signal and not expect him to notice.”

  Her green eyes narrowed into slits. “Why the hell would I flirt with someone who’s slept with half the city?”

  Exactly what I’d like to know.

  “I’m not interested in him.” She motioned at the dance floor. “But I’d like to know more about the hottie dancing with your girlfriend, though.”

  I looked over and almost dropped my beer upon realizing she was referring to Neil, who stood back-to-back with Collette, scratching invisible records as they lip-synched to Run-DMC’s “Walk This Way.” Holy hell, Deirdre was interested in Neil, not Les? A huge grin spread across my face because this could be an instance where the underdog had an advantage over the favorite.

  “He’s her other brother, right? Ugh, I’m horrible at remembering names.”

  “Neil,” I supplied. “He’s a close friend of mine. Great guy.”

  Collette’s eyes swept the room as she rapped. Her face brightened, and she waved when she saw her friend. Edging past other revelers, she exited the dance floor. “Hey,” she said, embracing Deirdre. “You made it.”

  “Two hours of being seen and not heard is my limit. I bailed when my father asked to see the cigar and after-dinner drink menus. This,” she fluttered a hand in the air, “is how I want to celebrate tonight. Oh, where did you get this?” She touched the snowflake pendant nestled in the hollow of Collette’s throat. “I love the filigree detailing and diamonds.”

  “It’s my graduation gift from Ryan.” Collette beamed at me as her friend continued admiring the trinket.

  Deirdre blew out a low whistle of admiration. “You have great taste,” she said to me. “And you are a lucky woman. The last guy I dated thought he was the gift that kept on giving.”

  “Claudio the Fraudio.” Collette made a face. “Stereotypical Italian guy who thought he was all that and a bag of chips. Most of his family still lives in Italy, so he has an old-world mentality when it comes to women. Earn your degree, but spend the rest of your life barefoot and pregnant making pasta by hand in the kitchen,” she explained to me. “‘Ah, bella. We could make-a such beautiful music together if you’d just give me a chance,’” she drawled in a deep, heavily-accented voice. “The persistent jerk wouldn’t leave me alone until I told him my grandmother was Sicilian. It worked like a charm. He barely spoke to me for the rest of the program.”

  “God, I wish I had seen him for what he really was like you did. I wasted months on a guy who used me to entertain himself while he was stuck here for school. He dumped me over the phone right shortly after our last final. The jerk was in a cab, on his way to the airport to catch a flight home to the motherland.”

  “What a dick.” Guys who used girls like this tool disgusted me. Deirdre seemed nice, certainly not deserving of such shitty treatment. If Les preyed on her, she’d be subjected to it again since he operated the same way as the Italian lothario, loving and leaving women to suit his own needs without any regard whatsoever for their feelings.

  As if my thoughts had summoned the devil himself, Les strolled up to Collette and handed her a fresh beer. “You were empty-handed, so I grabbed an extra when I got one for myself.” He tipped back his bottle, eyeing Deirdre over the top.

  “Thanks, but I’m done for the night.” Collette tried to give it back to him, but he was too busy staring at the other woman to notice.

  Out on the floor, Neil realized he’d been abandoned and left his spot. He ambled over to join our group and slung an arm around Collette’s shoulders. “Why’d you leave?”

  “I wanted to say hi to Deirdre.” She handed him the beer Les had given to her and turned to her friend. “This is Les, and this is
Neil,” she said, gesturing at each man in turn.

  “Deirdre. Such a pretty Irish name for a lovely lass.” Les tipped his longneck at her. “Sláinte.”

  Collette rolled her eyes at me. “On second thought, a beer sounds pretty good right now.” Giving me a hard look, she stepped away from Neil and headed toward the kitchen.

  “I’m just going to make sure there are no empty bowls,” I said lamely, hurrying after her.

  “Les is laying it on extra thick tonight.” Collette popped the cap off a bottle and took a sip. “I need to either get her away from him or straight-up tell him to knock it off. He’s no better than her ex.”

  Propping a hip against the counter, I watched as she peeled the paper liner off a chocolate cupcake and nibbled on the strawberry topper. “Or you could let her handle it. It sounds like she won’t fall for another player’s act anytime soon.”

  “You’ve seen Les in action.”

  I had. And I knew how relentless Les could be, especially when he had a competitor. Which was why I decided to keep Deirdre’s interest in Neil to myself. But a little meddling couldn’t hurt, especially if it involved a furry wingman who most women found adorable. “When was the last time Oscar went outside?” I asked, knowing fully well that he’d been inside for hours.

  Her eyes widened. “I’m not sure, which means it’s been way too long. The poor thing’s hind legs are probably crossed. I hope that he didn’t pee in Neil’s room. I’ll take him for a walk around the block to make up for it.”

  “No, no. I’ll do it. Go have fun with your friends.” I ran up the stairs before she could protest.

  Oscar’s little head perked up from the middle of the bed when I slipped into Neil’s room, his brown eyes heavy with sleep. He licked my face when I picked him up, happy to be liberated from doggy exile. “Keep doing that, buddy. Give lots of kisses when you get downstairs, you hear me?” The beagle swiped his tongue across my neck in response as I carried him downstairs. “Yeah, just like that.”