When we leave the clothing shop, we step out onto a sidewalk packed with curious pedestrians, most of whom were drawn here by the arrival of the two police cruisers. A few of the onlookers recognize Jonah and start snapping pics and typing madly on their phones. A couple of them are even brave enough to approach Jonah and ask for his autograph.

“Well, that was fun,” Lia says, when we can finally resume walking.

Jonah, who’s been very quiet since we left the clothing shop, pulls Lia close, tucking her beneath his broad shoulder. I know he struggles with the idea of her being in harm’s way. But she’s a McIntyre – they run into burning buildings, not away from them. It’s something he’s going to have to get used to.

“Who’s hungry?” Lia says, practically bouncing on her feet as she turns back to look at me and Shane. “How does Thai sound?”

“That sounds fine to me,” Shane says, squeezing my hand. “Beth?”

“Perfect,” I say. “I’m starving.”

Shane pulls out his phone. “Let’s call in a carry-out order and head back to the penthouse. I think we’ve had enough excitement for one day.”

“I’ll second that,” Jonah says. “I’ve had enough shopping to last a lifetime.”

On our walk back, we stop at the restaurant to pick up our order, then hail a taxi to take us to the penthouse. Lia and Jonah come up to our floor with us, and we walk into an empty apartment.

“Lights on,” Shane says, as we step through the foyer into the great room. Chandeliers high overhead flicker on, casting a warm light throughout the big space. Beyond the walls of windows, we have a panoramic view of the Lake Michigan shoreline. It’s nearing dusk, and the sky is filled with heavy, dark clouds. It looks like we’re in for a storm tonight.

Shane picks up the piece of paper lying on the breakfast bar. “Looks like Cooper’s out for the evening,” he says, laying down the note.

“Did he say where he was going?” I ask.

Shane shakes his head. “Just that he’s going out for the evening, and not to expect him back until morning.”

He’s been doing that more and more lately, staying out all night, and I have to wonder who he’s with. He hasn’t mentioned that he’s seeing anyone.

“Come on, guys, let’s eat!” Lia says, grabbing the remote control and turning on the TV. She brings up Deadpool – her favorite movie.

Lia and I unpack the food and set the containers on the coffee table in front of the sofa, while Shane and Jonah grab drinks for everyone. The guys seat themselves on the sofa, and Lia and I sit on the floor between the sofa and the coffee table. It’s quite the cozy double date.

When we’ve eaten our fill, Lia and I move to the sofa and get cozy with our guys. I can’t help smiling at Lia, who’s sitting on Jonah’s lap and whispering movie lines in his ear. I swear she’s memorized the entire movie. Jonah, who’s absently stroking Lia’s thigh, has a perpetual grin on his face.

When the movie ends, Shane and I carry the trash to the kitchen. Lia has shifted so that she’s straddling Jonah’s lap now, her fingers threading through his wavy hair, and she’s teasing him with light kisses.

Shane had confided in me a few weeks ago that he intentionally assigned Lia as Jonah’s bodyguard. He’d recognized immediately that Jonah was a bit infatuated with his sister, and given Jonah’s steady, easy-going personality, Shane thought Jonah might be just what Lia needed in her life. He’d hoped that something might spark between the two of them, and he was right.

As he’s dumping our trash into the waste basket, I nudge him with my hip and he looks at me quizzically.

“Good call,” I whisper as I look pointedly at the love birds across the room.

He smiles, nodding. Then he backs me into a kitchen counter and leans in for a kiss. “You have no idea how happy I am that she finally has someone.”

It’s not long before Lia and Jonah say their goodnights and head down to their own apartment, leaving me and Shane alone in ours since our roommate is out for the evening. Shane turns off all the lights in the great room, leaving us shrouded in darkness. Outside, the night sky is black, with only stars and the ambient lights of the surrounding skyscrapers to illuminate the view.

“Finally, we’re alone,” he says, scooping me up into his arms and carrying me to the bar, where he deposits me on the counter. We’re not more than ten feet from the wall of windows, and a shiver courses through me. I know what he has on his mind.

We have an unimpeded view of the city we both love so much, and as all our lights are off, no one can see into the penthouse. It’s like we’re in our own special world.

Shane drops down onto the barstool directly in front of me and spreads my knees, so that he’s seated between them. I reach out and run my fingers through his hair, tugging gently on the short strands. He groans with pleasure and leans into my touch. Then he lifts his face up for a kiss and I oblige him.

“You’re overdressed,” he says, removing one of my sneakers and dropping it to the floor.

He proceeds to remove my other sneaker, then my socks. Then he stands and unfastens my jeans and lowers the zipper. “Lean back on the counter,” he says in a low, rough voice.

He presses his hand against my chest and gently pushes me back on the counter. I reach behind me to prop myself on my elbows.

Leaning back, I can raise my hips just enough that he can pull my jeans down my legs. Then he reaches for the hem of my sweatshirt and lifts it up and over my head. I’m left in just my bra and panties, and I flush with anticipation.

His blue eyes are burning as his gaze sweeps my body, which is illuminated only by moonlight coming through the big windows. Then his gaze meets mine, and he brushes his thumb across my cheek. “Every day I wake up thankful you’re in my life. I love you.”

I smile, amazed at how easily he can wreck me. I have to swallow hard before I can speak. “I love you, too.”

His warm index finger starts at the base of my throat and slowly skims a path down the center of my chest, dipping into my slight cleavage, and coming to rest at the front clasp of my cream-colored lacey bra. Wordlessly, he flicks open the clasp, and the two halves of my bra spring open. I shiver when the cool air hits my breasts.

I can’t help glancing nervously out the windows. In the distance, I see the flickering lights of a helicopter making its way lazily across the Chicago skyline. I know perfectly well that no one can see us – see me, as I’m the one who’s practically naked. All they’ll see is a wall of obsidian glass reflecting the lights of the city’s nighttime skyline.

Being exposed like this, even knowing no one can actually see me, makes my heart race and my belly quiver with anticipation. I admit I might be a closet exhibitionist, because when he does this to me it turns me on, and I think Shane realizes that.

Shane brushes aside the cups of my bra, then lays his hands on my breasts. His touch feels so good I moan, which makes him smile. Then his hand slides down to cup my left breast and he leans forward to suck my nipple into his mouth. I groan loudly, and he chuckles.

He stands then and pulls my butt to the edge of the bar counter so that our bodies are touching. I can feel the thick length of his erection pressing into my belly. Taking hold of my hand, he brings it to his cock, holding my hand against the fabric of his jeans. “Feel what you do to me. Every minute of every day, this is what you do to me.”

My sex clenches with a powerful, aching need, and I can feel the moisture pooling between my legs. This man can seduce me with his voice alone, turning me into a whimpering, hot mess.

“Shane, please....”

His mouth covers mine. “Please what?” he says against my trembling lips.

“I need you.”

“I know.” He reaches up to tuck my hair behind my ear. “I need you too. But you’ve got to be patient because I’m going to make this last.”

I laugh. “Patience isn’t my strong suit, you know.”

He grins. “I know.”

He returns his attention to my breasts, kissing them, sucking my nipples into his mouth, first one, then the other, and bathing them with his tongue. He suckles the pink tips until they pucker up like little shriveled berries. Then he trails kisses down my abdomen, past my belly, to the rim of my matching lace panties.

I gasp when he leans down to press his nose between my legs, breathing in deeply. He kisses the damp fabric of my panties, right over my mound of curls, and then I feel his finger slip beneath the fabric.

“Oh, God,” I moan, tilting my head back and closing my eyes to savor the pleasure.

His finger explores my sex, dipping inside my opening and drawing the silky moisture up to my clit. He bathes that little bundle of nerves with my wetness, then pulls me upright for a kiss. One of his hands slips around the back of my neck to hold me close as his mouth dominates mine, taking control of our kiss.

My breath is coming fast now as the thumb of his other hand circles my clit, teasing me and driving up my pleasure.

My body starts shaking. “Shane!”

He keeps up the torture, intent on making me come. Pleasure coils low in my belly, and I’m trembling now, straining toward the release that’s hovering just out of my reach. I’m fairly panting now against his lips, and he murmurs encouragement.

When he lightly pinches my clit, fireworks go off inside me, and my entire body tightens as pleasure rockets through me. I cry out his name, and he drinks it in.

Shane yanks open his jeans and shoves down his boxer briefs, freeing his thick erection, which strains upward in defiance of gravity. The head of his cock is darkened from his arousal and glistening with pre-come. He rubs it against my wetness, anointing himself, then nudges it inside my opening.

“Okay?” he says, his voice low and hoarse.

“Yes,” I gasp, touched that he thinks of my history of anxiety. But as long as I’m not pinned down, I’m usually okay.

We both watch his cock sink slowly inside me. He still has his sweatshirt on, and I slip my hands up beneath it and stroke his bare chest. He groans, then whips off his sweatshirt and drops it to the floor, giving me free access to explore his chest.

He pulls me right to the edge of the counter and presses my thighs wide apart so he can get closer. I can feel his erection sinking deeper and deeper, one slow inch at a time. It feels so good as he fills me.

Once he’s seated fully inside, I wrap my legs around his hips, and his mouth drops to my shoulder, where he kisses me before trailing his lips to my throat. His mouth sucks languidly on my pulse point, in concert with his slow and easy thrusts inside me. As usual, he’s not in any rush for this to end. He strokes in and out of me with measured thrusts carefully angled to hit me in just the right place. The pleasure is so intense, so deep and exquisite, that all I can do is hold onto him, trembling and whimpering, and surrender myself to it. His thumb returns to my clit, teasing me relentlessly until my body obeys him and explodes with pleasure. I cry out as my entire body tightens, my sex clamping down on his erection, which sets up Shane’s climax.

Following right after me, Shane erupts inside me with a raw, hoarse shout. His head is thrown back, his neck arched, the tendons pulled taut. As we remain joined for a while, just holding each other, he strokes my back and murmurs in my ear.

When we finally separate, he grabs a fresh hand towel from the stack on the bar counter and cleans up the evidence of our lovemaking.

“We made a mess,” I say, laughing.

“And it was well worth it.”

Then he carries me through the penthouse to our suite and deposits me in our bathroom so I can clean up, take my pill, and brush my teeth.

Afterwards, we climb into our big, cozy bed and fall asleep wrapped in each other’s arms.