Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Autumn cover her mouth to hide a quick smile as the waiter shot me a look, as if I was a mass murderer who drowned puppies in his free time. We went to see a show, asshole.
Cara still had a huge smile on her face, and I almost reached up to pat her arm before I thought better of it.
“And it was even more special because I did it with you two,” she said, squeezing both of us on the shoulder and then walking away.
Now the waiter was glaring daggers at me, but Autumn looked amused. “We saw Hamilton last night,” she told him.
“Awesome show,” he said without missing a beat, and he walked away, flawlessly chanting that opening sentence that Cara had been trying to teach me yesterday. I definitely wouldn’t be giving any hundred dollar tips today.
As soon as he was out of earshot, Autumn dissolved into laughter. “Sorry. She’s sixteen. She’s worldly in some ways and not in others,” she said. “Thank god.”
“Well… I’m glad she enjoyed Hamilton.”
Autumn looked at my face and her giggling renewed. “Good to know I’m not the only one who can get embarrassed. Your face is as red as that Bloody Mary on the table over there.”
“Very funny,” I said, trying—and failing—to regain some dignity.
“Just remember this moment the next time you find it amusing to make me blush.”
“Which won’t be far in the future,” I warned her, mock sternly. “Speaking of that, would you like to start with a trip up to the observation deck at the Hancock Center? It’s not far, we can walk.”
“You know how to walk?” Autumn teased as I held her coat for her. She’d seen me chauffeured in a handful of different cars and then flown here on a private jet, so she had a valid point. Still, I couldn’t resist the urge to take a quick nip at her neck in retaliation. She was a wearing a V-neck sweater that fit her curves to perfection. I skimmed one hand down the soft fabric and onto the rougher fabric of her ankle-length skirt. Snaking my hand between her coat and her warm body, I pinched her ass, making her squeal in surprise.
“I know how to do a lot of things,” I whispered before letting her go. “Maybe, if you’re lucky, you’ll find that out for yourself. Would you like that, sweetheart?”
The glimmer of longing in her eyes when she looked up at me was answer enough.
26
Autumn
“Look at that,” I said, for about the hundredth time since we’d left the restaurant. I’d never been here before, so I’d never known how walkable Chicago was. There was just so much to see. Even without the architecture tour, the buildings were fascinating. And the people—even bundled up against the cold, windy weather, they showed their individual style. A group of teens had multicolored hair that included Kelly green and turquoise. A man with a Mohawk and at least eleven earrings walked three dogs down the street.
But even with all the new things to see, I couldn’t help sneaking glances up at Ford as we walked hand in hand. There was something about his dark coat with the red scarf I made him hanging loosely at his throat that made him look like a prosperous young businessman—and hot as hell. It still amazed me that he was here with me. Spending his weekend with me. Sharing his luxurious life with me. But Cara was right, this weekend was too special to waste. I knew at some point, I’d need to return to my real life and figure out what to do about the recent revelations about my father and Ford’s company, but not now. Not today.
Ford smiled indulgently as I pointed out all the fascinating things we were passing. When I finally paused, he asked about Cara. “I can’t believe she chose to go to a museum for her one day in Chicago. She seems like a really dedicated student.”
“She is,” I said, grinning up at him. He was so cute when he was clueless.
“What?” He raised an eyebrow at the expression on my face.
“She is a very dedicated student. But… she was also giving us some time on our own.”
“Really?” he said, and he came to a dead stop on the sidewalk. He tugged on my hand when I took a step forward and I whirled around, smashing against his chest as his arms went around me. “We’re going the wrong way, then. The hotel’s that way.”
I laughed, smiling up at him. He was joking, but I was half tempted. Spending the day in the hotel with him sounded like heaven. He must have registered the lust in my eyes, because he chuckled, too. “I was kidding. Mostly. But this is my one day to show you Chicago. Who knows when I’ll be able to trick you into coming here again? We’ll have other chances to spend some time alone soon.”
“I hope so,” I said, and I wrapped one hand around his neck and pulled his head down for a kiss. He responded eagerly, and I melted into him, ignoring the fact that we were in the middle of the sidewalk with people swarming around us on either side. “I can’t wait,” I said huskily, and I pushed my hips forward, grinding against him. And even though his thick coat and his pants, I could feel his hardness pushing back against me.
“That’s not playing fair,” Ford whispered in my ear. Then he bit down on my earlobe, making me yelp. “But that’s okay, because I don’t play fair, either.”
“What do you mean?” I took a step back and tried to regain my composure.
“You’ll find out soon,” he said, with a wicked wink that sent waves of heat to the center of my body. And with that cryptic and sexy warning, he took my hand again and we set off.
“Wow. The view is incredible.” There were several dozen people looking out the windows on all four sides of the observation deck of the Hancock Center. We’d waited in a short line and taken a lightning quick elevator that left me slightly dizzy to get here.
“It is,” Ford said, but he wasn’t looking out the windows.
I laughed even though I felt my face redden. “Look at the scenery, not me.”
“Make me,” he said, his deep, sexy voice a challenge. I grabbed his arm, and he let me pull him over to the window facing the heart of downtown Chicago.
“Is that the Sears Tower?” I asked, pointing to a dark building that looked to be the same height if not taller than this one.
“Yes,” he said. “Well, it’s the Willis Tower now.” He put his arm around me as I leaned against the railing in front of the window. “I haven’t been there in years, but apparently, they now have these glass platforms you can step on and look straight down.”
Shivering a little, I thought about that. “I’m not sure I’d be brave enough to do that. To stand on a glass platform like that.”
“You’d do it if I ordered you to,” Ford said, his low voice maddeningly smug.
I twisted my head to look up at him. “What makes you so sure?”
“Because it turns you on to follow my orders.” His voice was a naughty whisper in my ear that made my pulse speed up. Glancing around, I checked to see if anyone else had heard him, but no one was paying us any attention. “I’d make you wear a short skirt when you stood on the glass.”
I drew in a shocked breath, but tried to laugh off the effect his words were having on me. “No one could see from the street level.”
“But you’d still know you were exposed.” He half-turned toward me and wrapped his arms around me, one around my back, one around my waist as he whispered in my ear. “You’d know that you were standing there… legs spread… your panties in my pocket. You’d be turned on knowing you were doing it for me. Following my commands. Being a bad girl just for me.”
Damn, he was getting to me. My body was tingling all over, especially from the places his hands rested on me. “We couldn’t really do that. Not in public.”
“If we did it right, no one would know except us.” Now he nuzzled his nose against my ear and then kissed the side of my cheek. “But the possibility we could get caught is what makes it so much fun. If you’ve never played in public, then it’s high time you did.”
“Yeah, right,” I said with a laugh. Except he didn’t laugh back. Instead, he stared at me with a predatory gleam in his eyes that was incredib
ly sexy. And a tiny bit scary.
“Take off your coat,” he said to me in a low voice.
“What? I’m cold.”
“You won’t be for long,” he said, grasping the top of my jacket.
I slid my arms out from the sleeves, but then to my surprise, he settled the coat on my shoulders so that it hung off me like a cloak.
“Now fold your hands back behind your back at your waist.”
My pulse was speeding up. I didn’t know where this was going, but already, my body was responding. Being careful not to dislodge the coat, I slid my hands up behind me, clasping my fingers together at the small of my back.
“Good,” Ford breathed, his warm breath grazing across my throat. “Pretend your hands are bound together and that you can’t move them.” He shifted around until he was half behind me, pressing against me. Now my wrists were pinned between my body and his. “Can you imagine walking around in public like that? With your wrists bound behind your back? And no one would know… except me. And imagine the things I might do to you with your hands out of the way, unable to stop me…”
God, he was turning me on. I couldn’t help but press my hips back against him and he chuckled. “With your hands out of the way, and that long coat covering you, nobody would notice what my hands were doing,” he whispered.
With his hip, he nudged me forward, and I moved right up against the glass. Ford was at my side now. He placed his hand on my skirt, just below my hip. His body and my coat hid the way his strong fingers rubbed up and down. When his hand explored farther back, coming to a rest on my ass under my clasped hands, I closed my eyes.
“No, keep them open.” His hand was rubbing in circles that sent chills radiating across my body. “And talk to me. Tell me your favorite part of the musical.”
What? He actually expected me to focus on the musical while he was touching me like that? I could barely breathe, let alone speak. And I was already struggling against showing how turned on I was. I didn’t want the innocent tourists to know the delicious things Ford was doing to me. “Umm… I liked the really fast parts, when the spoke so quickly but still in rhythm.”
“Rhythm is good,” he said, his fingers now stroking up and down. “I like a good in and out rhythm. Strong. Powerful. Speeding up until it reaches a climax.” He palmed my ass cheek and squeezed. Moaning, I pushed back against his hand, my traitorous hormones encouraging him to keep going.
Ford chuckled and abruptly pinched my ass cheek, making me yelp. “Imagine the noise you’ll make when it’s my teeth nipping you there,” he whispered.
God, that thought made me weak in the knees. Not that anyone had ever done that to me before, but when he said it, it sounded incredibly hot. Everything he said was turning me on right now. He should give lessons in dirty talk to my coworkers at Sultry Sirens. He shifted me toward him and with his free hand, lifted my chin. My eyes closed even as he descended.
The moment our lips met, everything else faded away—the tourists, the view, everything. There was just Ford’s touch, his hands, his control over me. Not just the things he was ordering me to do but the way he occupied my thoughts. My mind. And now my body.
His tongue snaked into my mouth, teasing, tormenting a little. One hand remained on my ass, squeezing and rubbing as he pleased since his wickedness was shielded by my coat. And then his free hand was in my hair, stroking, almost petting me as he kissed me.
Moaning against him, I pushed my hips against him, feeling how excited he was, but then he pulled back. That was surprising, but the reason was soon revealed. With one last stroke of my hair, he trailed his fingers along my collarbone and then lower. To my breast.
Alarmed, I opened my eyes, but no one was nearby staring. And our bodies shielded the hand he had between us which was good because he was now rubbing circles around my nipple as it jutted out despite my bra and shirt.
God, it felt good. And naughty. All those times callers had asked me to create a fantasy about sex in a public place, it had just been part of the job. A story to recite with the help of the manual. But now I got it. How hot it was. How turned-on it made me feel. And Ford definitely knew what it was doing to me. He kissed his way to my ear and whispered, “Do you want me, Autumn?”
“Oh yes,” I breathed back.
“Are you wet for me?”
I groaned at that, not sure I could admit it, but he squeezed my ass again, pressing me against his hard cock. “Yes, I am,” I said.
“Good.” He closed his teeth around my earlobe and bit gently. “I want you so badly. You have no idea.” His breath was warm on my neck, and tendrils of longing darted across my skin.
“I have a pretty damn good idea,” I breathed back, my voice low. But at that moment, I was too wrapped up in him to worry about what other people could hear. Or see.
“Since I can’t bend you over and fuck you right now, my only consolation is that I won’t be the only one suffering. Wanting. Longing. I’m going to make you feel that way, too.”
“I already feel that way.”
His eyes scanned across my face. “No, you’re not desperate enough. But you will be. Soon. Because it’s time for our next stop.”
He grin was evil as he released me. I had a feeling our day had barely begun.
“Where are you?”
Cara’s voice was hard to hear above the noise of the people around us.
“We’re here,” I shouted into the phone. “By the Bean.”
“I’ve walked all around it twice and under it once. Took some crazy selfies in the distorted reflection. But I still don’t see you.”
“I promise, we’re close by,” I said, laughing as Ford tugged on my hand, pulling me toward him.
“Where?” Cara was laughing too, even though she didn’t know what I’d found funny. Little things like that made me love her even more.
“Walk to the rail behind the Bean. Toward the skyline.” If she walked the other way, she’d eventually hit Lake Michigan. While I waited for her to appear along the railing, I wondered what I’d say if she asked how Ford and I had spent our day. After the observation deck, he’d taken me to the Culture Center. He’d set a crazy path which involved taking the elevator to a floor, breezing past an exhibit, and taking another elevator to a different floor. We spent more time in the elevators than we did at the exhibits, which was clearly Ford’s plan. Every time we got in an elevator, he pushed me back against the wall, put his hands on either side of my head, and nipped at my neck while he told me all the wicked things he wanted to do with me. And to me.
Then we’d had a relatively normal lunch followed by a fun scavenger hunt of sorts in the quirky shops along Michigan Avenue across from the Art Institute. We’d challenged each other to find the oddest item for sale. My entrant was a gumball machine shaped like a cello in the Chicago Symphony Store. I won because Ford couldn’t choose just one of the zany objects at the Chicago Architecture Foundation Shop.
I’d received my reward, a bone-melting kiss, after we entered Millennium Park where we were now.
“Okay, I’m at the banister, but I still don’t see you guys.” Cara’s voice in my ear took me by surprised and almost caused me to fall. But Ford’s strong arm was there to steady me. He was really good at this rescuing thing.
“Look down,” I said to Cara, and I squinted up and located her facing the wrong way up above me. But then she turned, her eyes scanning the crowd.
She gasped. “You’re ice skating?”
“We got here early,” I said, narrowly avoiding being sideswiped by a young man who clearly fancied himself an Olympic racer. “Come on down, I already rented skates for you.”
“Okay!” she squealed and hung up.
“Your sister has some lungs on her,” Ford said, his hand on my arm.
As a former theater nerd, I took this as a compliment. “Just wait until you see her perform on stage in her play. She’s got this presence like you wouldn’t believe. You can hear her from the back row even without a mic
rophone.”
“I can’t wait,” Ford said, smiling down at me. “It’s in May, right?”
I nodded and then paused. That was a couple of months from now. Was it presumptuous to think he’d still be a part of my life then? But he evidently didn’t think so.
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world. Come on, let’s go tell Cara how much fun we had while she was holed up in a museum.”
My left foot glided in a direction I wasn’t expecting, and I clutched at him again. Somehow, he looked as comfortable and as competent on skates as he did in the business world. Or anywhere else I’d seen him. But then I thought about what he said, and a frown crossed my face.
Ford laughed and pulled me close. “Okay, so maybe we won’t tell her about all the fun we had today.” He kissed my temple and together, we made our way toward my sister.
Cara and I were in the back of the car while Ford checked us out of the hotel. The driver was out in the cold, talking to the doorman. Having spent most of the day worked up from Ford’s dirty talk, not to mention his illicit touches, it was hard to go back into big-sister mode. But I tried. “Did you have a nice weekend?” I asked Cara.
“It was amazing. I wish we could see Hamilton a million more times, but it was incredible. Did you enjoy this weekend?”
“The musical really was incredible.”
“Yeah, but I meant spending time with Ford. He’s crazy about you, Autumn.” In her eagerness, Cara twisted in her seat to face me, bouncing slightly in her excitement.
I felt my face redden. “He’s a nice man.”
“A nice man who’s crazy about you,” Cara insisted. “I saw you two kissing on the Architectural Tour.”
“Is that why it took you so long to get the drinks?”
“Of course. I had to wait for you two to come up for air.”
Now I was really blushing. “I—I hope we didn’t make you feel uncomfortable or anything.”
“Of course not!” She reached out and took my hand. “I’m happy for you.”
Charming: A Cinderella Billionaire Story Page 16