Rachel’s heart felt suddenly full and large in her chest. “Yes,” she said quietly, because that was the reason. The only reason.
Zoe, clearly having seen the look they’d exchanged, snorted her disgust. “If you two are going to be mooning over guys, I’m leaving.”
Rachel wanted to point out the irony of that particular statement given the mooning Zoe did over Gideon, but that wouldn’t help matters. And she didn’t want to make things worse for Zoe. Instead, she gave Zoe a brief hug. “Thanks for coming over.”
Zoe grinned back, her face lighting up in the familiar Zoe way. “No problem. I want all the details when you get back, okay?”
A couple of minutes later the other two women had left, and Rachel was pacing around the room nervously, holding the little red satin purse Tamara had given her that was barely big enough to carry a lipstick let alone the silly little thing she’d bought to make Levi smile.
He’d told her he’d pick her up, which she’d thought was odd considering they lived together. But he hadn’t been home when she’d gotten back from work, and then she’d gotten a text telling her he’d be coming for her at seven sharp.
She stopped in the middle of the room, feeling stupidly unsettled. It was ridiculous, considering it was only Levi, who knew her better than she knew herself. Who’d seen her naked and clothed and everything in between.
But no amount of telling herself this helped the feeling inside her, as if she had a thousand butterflies flying around in her stomach. A thousand that became a million when she heard the front door shut and the sound of Levi’s familiar step.
She turned to the doorway, and her heart came to slamming halt against her breastbone.
Jesus Christ. He was wearing a tux.
And he looked . . . God, he looked incredible. The black jacket and white shirt accentuated his wide shoulders and broad chest. In fact, the tux should have had a civilizing effect on him, yet it only seemed to highlight the wild aspects of him. He’d made no effort to hide the signs of being the rough ex-con, the ring in his eyebrow glinting in the light, the black lines of his tattoos visible at the cuffs of his shirt, his uneven, disturbing gaze.
There was no apology to him, no hiding who he was and who he’d once been. It was all out there, as arrogant as the man himself.
He was magnificent. He made her heart go tight, made her mouth dry, made her want to run her hands all over him, touch him, kiss him, do anything and everything she wanted to him.
He didn’t say anything for a long moment, the light and dark of his gaze sweeping over her, taking her in. Heat glowed there, a heat that warmed every part of her, that turned her nervousness into a satisfaction that went bone-deep.
She lifted her chin. “What do you think? Am I presentable?”
He smiled, and there was a hint of feral hunger in it that caused a shiver to chase over her skin. “Come here.”
She obeyed, letting the silk of the dress sway enticingly as she walked, her own smile turning seductive.
As she came within reach, he lifted his hands to her hips, pulling her close. “Forget presentable,” he murmured in her ear. “Try fuckable.” And then he leaned in closer, pressing his mouth to the sensitive skin beneath her ear, trailing it down.
Rachel shuddered, relaxing against the heat of his body. “I’m not sure that’s the look you want for this party of yours.”
“I meant to say you look fuckable in an elegant way.” He nipped the side of her neck, then released her. “Which is perfect.”
She didn’t want him to let her go. She wanted to stay here, strip him bare, then make love with him right here on the couch. Then afterward lie in his arms and talk like they used to.
Unfortunately she couldn’t.
She stepped back, smiling up at him. “So what’s with the whole picking me up thing?”
He took her hand, lacing his fingers through hers, the look on his face enigmatic. “Come on. I’ve got something to show you.”
What he had to show her was parked at the curb right outside the apartment. A long, sleek, vintage Firebird, all glossy black paint and gleaming new chrome.
Years ago, she remembered him talking about his dream car. Now she was looking at it.
“Wow,” she breathed, moving up to it and running her fingers down the side of it, careful of the paintwork. “This is beautiful.” She turned to look at him where he stood beside her. “Where did you get it?”
Satisfaction gleamed in his eyes. “I’ve spent the last week restoring it.”
The gorgeous, secretive bastard.
She touched a gleaming side mirror. “Ah. So that’s where you’ve been all this time. At Gideon’s. And here I was thinking you were actually doing some work.”
“I’ve been doing that too. But mostly making sure this baby was ready for tonight.”
She wanted to ask him how things were with Gideon, but she didn’t want to broach that topic just yet, not while he was looking so damn pleased with himself.
Instead, she said, “I’ve got a surprise for you too.”
He lifted his pierced brow. “Oh?”
Flicking open her purse, she removed the packet she’d stuffed into it and held it out to him, watching his face.
It was a beautiful sight, the smile that dawned over his features as he saw what was in her hand. A smile of delighted surprise and then of deep amusement.
His gaze came to hers, and, just like that, the old Levi was back. “You’re kidding, right?” There was laughter in his eyes, genuine, honest-to-God laughter. “Pixy Stix?”
She couldn’t stop her own grin. “They’re still your favorite, right?”
“Damn straight they are.” He whipped the packet from her and stuffed it in his pocket. “And I’m going to eat them. Tonight.” The laughter in his eyes became wicked. “Maybe off your skin.”
And idiot that she was, she blushed. “As long as I get to corner you in the shower afterward.”
“Oh, sweetheart, I’m counting on it.” He moved to the passenger door and opened it in an old-fashioned, courtly gesture. “In the meantime, your coach, Cinderella.”
She grinned and reached out to touch his face briefly before she got in. “So what does that make you? Prince Charming?”
“Definitely not.” His smile became feral, and he gave her finger a playful nip. “I’m the wolf who’s going to eat you for breakfast.”
She laughed. “Do you promise?”
“When we get home tonight, definitely.” His smile faded a little, became more serious. “Thank you, Sunny,” he said quietly.
Her heart, already aching in her chest, tightened even further. “What for?” Though really, she already knew.
“For coming tonight.” His smile had gone completely, his expression fierce, intense. “You have no idea how much it means to me.”
No, she did. She knew. Her throat closed up, a full, heavy emotion clogging it, and for some reason, she couldn’t speak.
Then Levi reached into the back pocket of his black pants and took something out, handing it to her. It was a piece of paper, and when she unfolded it and looked down, the power of speech deserted her completely.
It was the title deed to Sugar Ink’s building.
And it was in her name.
Chapter 17
Levi had never felt so good in all his goddamn life. As he pulled the Firebird up outside the Novak Enterprises building in downtown Detroit, where there were a red carpet and valets ready to go, and he opened the door to the beautiful woman getting out of his car, he knew he’d fucking made it.
This was his moment. This was what the last eight years had been leading up to.
And it was even better than he’d dreamed.
He had the car. He had the money. He had the business. He was going to make everything right.
Best of all, he had Rachel.
It was everything he’d ever wanted.
Other people were arriving—women in beautiful gowns and dripping jewelry; men in
classy tuxedos, dripping wealth. Men he’d always wanted to be, and now he was. And he was doing it his way.
He had the classy tux, sure, but he also had the tattoos and the ring in his eyebrow. He wasn’t hiding his past. He was who he was, and he was here despite it.
Maybe it was the Royal part of him that liked that. The blue-collar, anti-establishment guy.
The part of you that’s like Gideon?
Levi shoved that thought away as Rachel put her hand in his and got out of the car.
He wasn’t going to think about Gideon, not now. Most times Levi had gone to the garage to work on the car over the past week, Gideon hadn’t been there, and the times he was, the only thing they’d talked about was what the Firebird needed.
Gideon hadn’t talked to Levi about Novak or the development plans, not once, which was just as well since it wasn’t anything they were going to agree on. If they wanted to keep things civil between them, then it was best just to avoid the subject entirely.
“This is . . . full on,” Rachel murmured as Levi handed the Firebird’s keys to a waiting valet. “I didn’t realize it was going to be like this.”
Levi laced his fingers through hers, holding on tight to her as they joined the crowd of beautifully dressed people going through the front doors. He’d gotten used to the bright, hard glitter of the Novak building with its acres of plate glass and soaring atrium, all sleek, architectural sophistication. It reeked of wealth, of privilege, of class, of a business on its way up.
It was a whole different world from Royal Road, so no wonder she was having difficulty taking it all in.
But she didn’t need to worry. She looked like a princess in her beautiful, silky, floaty dress. A hard-edged princess, her skin a canvas for the delicate artwork she’d inked into it. She didn’t need jewels. She wore her own in the shape of the roses on her shoulders and across her chest.
He tightened his fingers around hers as they entered the atrium. “Yeah, I know. It’s a little much initially. But you get used to it.” He halted in front of the massive sculpture that dominated the center of the atrium, an abstract lump of something in dull gold, all strange planes and angles, that he didn’t care for himself, but he thought Rachel might find it interesting. “What do you think of that?”
As he’d hoped, she frowned and moved forward to look at it, examining it.
He watched her, unable to stop his gaze from following the lines of her body that the dress she wore highlighted so beautifully. She was gorgeous; she really was. She was everything he wanted, and the fact that she was here, sharing this with him, was the icing on the cake.
He was glad he’d finally given her the deed to the building. He’d been holding off on it, because he hadn’t wanted to make the secret that she’d told him that day in her tattoo parlor feel like a business deal. Oh, she’d meant it as such when she’d demanded he promise the deed to her, but that didn’t mean he had to treat it like that too.
Better to give the deed to her now, as a gift in return for her presence at something that was important to him, because it seemed only right that he give her something that was important to her.
Sure, he’d hoped to have apartments in that building, but if she wanted to turn it into an art gallery or whatever, he was fine with that. He had other buildings. He could afford to let her have hers.
Besides, the look on her face and the kiss she’d given him in response had been worth it. Okay, so she didn’t want to go to art school, but if this was what she wanted instead, then he was fine with it.
It was all coming together; it really was.
“I don’t like it,” Rachel said, at last stepping back from the sculpture. “It’s kind of pretentious.”
Levi grinned and reached for her hand again. “They should have one of your murals in here instead.”
“They so should.” She took his hand and let him lead her from the sculpture and over to the bank of elevators. “Not sure spray paint is the look they’re going for here though.”
He shot her a glance as he hit the button for the top floor. “Wait till you see what I’ve got planned.” He was looking forward to that, the moment when she’d see his vision for Royal that he’d spent the past couple of weeks working on. Novak had been totally on board with it, pulling in a couple of prestigious architects to draw up some concepts. The whole thing was looking incredible, exactly how Levi had always envisioned the neighborhood should look.
Rachel was going to love it, and Gideon would too. All of them would love it once they came around to the idea.
Levi and Rachel took the elevator up to the penthouse level, where there was a fabulous rooftop garden that Novak used for private functions. It was strung up with lights that were wound around potted trees and shrubs of all kinds, a glass parapet bounding the whole area, giving beautiful views over the city. Low couches and chairs were grouped in various configurations. The sound of running water from the water sculptures that led into a big koi pond in the center was a calming counterpoint to the string quartet playing something classical.
Waiters moved through the gathered crowd bearing trays of champagne and other cocktails, while other staff carried trays of expensive-looking canapés.
Christ, there were a lot of people here. Novak had really come through.
Snagging a couple of glasses of champagne from a passing tray, Levi handed one to Rachel, then he took her hand again. “Come on, let’s go and find Novak. I’ll introduce you.”
He led her through the crowd, ignoring the heads turning in their wake, people no doubt wondering who the hell they were, since it was obvious they weren’t exactly on the same social level as everyone else.
It didn’t matter. He was the mastermind behind this thing, and Rachel was his muse. And if these people didn’t like it, they could suck it.
Over by the corner of the koi pond, Novak stood talking to a bunch of important-looking men in suits. He glanced at Levi and Rachel as they approached and smiled, waving them over.
Levi felt the initial resistance in Rachel’s grip as he started toward the other man, but he exerted a little more pressure and it soon faded, her hand relaxing in his.
“Mr. Rush,” Novak greeted them smoothly. “Are you ready for your big moment?”
Levi grinned, enjoying the dubious looks from the other men as they took in his eyebrow ring and the glimpses of tattoos at his wrists. “Yeah, can’t wait.”
“I bet you can’t.” The older man’s gaze shifted to Rachel, and Levi watched with a certain satisfaction as appreciation unfolded in Novak’s eyes. “And this is your lovely date?”
Levi drew Rachel closer in a blatant show of possession, his arm curving around her hip. “Yeah. This is my girlfriend, Rachel Hamilton. Rachel, this is Oliver Novak, the man who’s hosting this party and who is hopefully going to get me the support I need to get this project off the ground.”
Novak smiled and reached out his hand. “Nice to meet you, Ms. Hamilton.”
“Likewise, Mr. Novak.” Her voice was neutral, the expression on her face giving nothing away.
Novak’s gaze dropped briefly to the tattoos across her chest. “Beautiful artwork. Your own, I take it?”
Rachel flushed. “Uh, yeah. It is actually.”
“I can tell.” Novak glanced at Levi. “We have some examples in our plans.”
Rachel’s eyes widened. “What?”
But Novak only laughed, flashing Levi a conspiratorial glance. “You’ll find out. Won’t she, Mr. Rush?”
Levi’s sense of well-being broadened. Oh yeah, she was going to find out. And she was going to love it.
Novak began to introduce them to the others standing around, high-powered business people with deep pockets looking for likely projects to sink all that hard cash into. They were interested in Levi’s development and were full of questions that he was only too happy to answer. It gave him such a kick to see their expressions of distrust and suspicion at his appearance morph into interest and the hard,
direct looks of businessmen wanting to close a deal.
But he was conscious of Rachel beside him, silently watching and listening. She didn’t offer anything to the conversation, and he could tell by the tense way she stood that she wasn’t particularly enjoying it.
However, after about ten minutes, a lovely older woman, who Novak introduced as his wife Kate, approached and a couple of moments later led Rachel away.
Rachel gave Levi a look he couldn’t interpret as Kate led her off, a look that for some reason made something ache in his chest. But he didn’t want anything to spoil the good buzz he had going, so he only smiled at her. “I’ll come find you in a while,” he called as she walked away.
But she didn’t turn around, and, seconds later, she was gone in the crowd.
Something pulled at him, an unease he didn’t want to feel, especially not now, not in his moment of triumph. But then Novak was asking him a question and so he ignored the feeling, turning instead to answer.
It would be fine. Soon Rachel would find out what he’d been working toward all this time, and everything would turn out the way he wanted it to.
He had nothing to worry about. Nothing at all.
* * *
Kate Novak was very nice, but Rachel didn’t miss the way the other woman’s gaze kept returning to the tattoos on Rachel’s chest as if she couldn’t look away.
Jesus. First she had Novak whose blatant appreciation had more to do with the fact that her breasts were right underneath the tattoos than the tattoos themselves. Then there was his wife who couldn’t stop looking at the tattoos themselves, probably because she thought they were disgusting. That was supposition on Rachel’s part, because Kate’s face gave nothing away, but Rachel was pretty sure that was the case. It had been her experience that people either really liked them or they didn’t, and there wasn’t much in between.
Kate had chatted to her for a while, and it was clear the other woman was the consummate politician’s wife. Her manner was charming, and the conversation felt effortless. But Rachel couldn’t shake the feeling it was all just as fake as the other woman’s tan. She was the date of Novak’s current business interest and thus had to be kept entertained with empty conversation about things like fashion and whether or not she had kids, and what was living in Royal like, etcetera.
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