Chapter 43

Jeremy

“You cooked this, Linny?” I wave a hand in the air over my empty plate. “You created this incredible dinner in that tiny kitchen of yours?”

Smiling, she points at her kitchen and the pile of dirty dishes littering the counter. “Do you think I ordered take-out and dumped the food in my pots before you got here?”

Yes? No? How the fuck do I know?

I’ve lived in New York City my entire life. A great kitchen isn’t on the top ten list of must-haves on everyone’s list when they’re looking for an apartment.

Many New Yorkers never cook at home.

I count myself in that group, although the last few years I have eaten more dinners at my dining room table than in a restaurant.

I’ve never been the one behind the stove though.

“How did you learn how to cook like this?” I take a sip of water.

She eyes me carefully. “On the internet.”

I furrow my brow. “You’re serious?”

Her head shakes slightly. “I’m joking. I took a cooking class with my friend, Harmony, a few years ago. She wanted to cook gourmet dinners for her fiancé and she didn’t want to go to the class alone, so I signed up too and surprised her during the first class.”

“You’re good friends with her, aren’t you?”

She looks down at the faded, torn jeans and short sleeve white sweater she’s wearing.

I lost my breath when she opened her apartment door and I caught sight of her. She’s barefoot and wearing minimal makeup. Her hair is a mess of curls that are tumbling around her shoulders.

She looks relaxed and content.

I didn’t bother changing after work so as soon as I got here, I shrugged out of my suit jacket, lost my tie, shoes and socks. I may not look as casual as she does, but I feel comfortable. I feel at home sitting across from her at her small dining room table.

“We’ve been friends since we were kids.” She sighs. “In high school it was Harmony, Priscilla, Kendra and I. We were inseparable.”

“And now?” I ask. “Are you still in touch with the other two? Priscilla and Kendra?”

She forks the last bite of pasta on her plate. “They were with me in Las Vegas. We were there for Kendra’s bachelorette party.”

“I should send Kendra’s fiancé a case of Rizon vodka.”

She slides the pasta into her mouth and chews. I watch intently as she swallows slowly. “He’s her husband now and why would you send him a case of vodka?”

I lean closer to her. “To thank him for asking Kendra to marry him. If that hadn’t happened, you would never have been on the flight that morning headed to Sin City.”

Her tongue slicks her bottom lip. “Who should I thank for you being on that flight?”

I smooth the pad of my thumb over the path her tongue just took. “You can thank me, angel. I had a later flight booked, but decided to get an early start so the night before we met, I called the airline and changed my flight.”

Her eyes widen. “Seriously?”

I part her lips with my thumb. “Seriously. I almost missed my chance to see you in that tutu.”

Her teeth nip my skin. “Are you always going to remind me about the tutu?”

I pull back and laugh. “Always, angel. I’ll never let you forget it.”

I want it to be always. I want to remind her a month from now, a year from now. I want to remind her of the day we met forty years from now.

I need to find a way to make that my reality.

***

“Can you stop by my office the day after tomorrow at three o’clock?” She stretches out on the bed. “I have a surprise for you.”

I palm my still hard cock. “The surprise you gave me earlier was more than enough.”

She sucked me off after dinner.

She called it dessert. I called it perfection.

After that, we took a bath in her tub with my leg dangling over the side and her fingers strumming over her clit.

She came for me, touching herself as the heat from the water reddened her skin. Her eyelids fluttered shut the moment she came.

I’ve never seen anything more erotic.

After that, I carried her to the bed and made love to her.

“I’ll be there,” I answer as I feather a kiss over the soft skin of her neck. “I take it I need to keep my clothes on for that surprise?”

Her gaze skims my nude body. “If I had my way, you’d never wear clothes again.”

“I could arrange that. I wouldn’t argue if you locked me in this apartment forever.”

Something in her expression shifts. “I think about that. I mean I think about us being together for days on end.”

“You’re not smiling,” I tease.

The corners of her mouth lift slightly. “If only life were that simple. I have a job. You have a company to run. We have families and friends. We can’t disappear for days on end.”

“I’ll take a night here and there for now.”

Her fingers trace circles on my bare stomach. “I think about telling my dad about us.”

I know it tears her apart inside that she’s had to keep our relationship hidden. I see it her face and in her demeanor every time I’m in the same room as her and her father.

“Will you do that after the campaign is over?” I brush a piece of her hair behind her ear. “I can be there when you do that. I’ll assure him that you handled yourself with nothing but professionalism when you were working on the vodka launch.”

She closes her eyes briefly. “I haven’t thought that far ahead. I always get stuck trying to imagine how he’ll react to the fact I’m in a relationship.”

“I take it he’s protective?”

She heaves a sigh. “Overly.”

“Has he always been?” I move slightly to lean on my forearm. “Was he one of those dads who interrogated every guy you dated in high school?”

She tugs the blanket up to cover her bare legs. “I didn’t date a lot in high school.”

“Me either,” I confess.

Her brows inch up. “You’re kidding? You didn’t date in high school?”

I fucked. I didn’t date. I didn’t see the purpose in putting in the effort to spend time with anyone if I could skip the dinner, movie or hang-out and get right to the fuck.

“I didn’t.” I gaze up at the ceiling. “I haven’t had a serious relationship. I haven’t enjoyed spending time with anyone before. That changed when I met you.”

Her eyes widen. “West.”

I swallow hard, determined to get the words out that have been trapped in my throat all night. “I’m crazy about you, angel. I love being around you. You make me feel things I’ve never felt before.”

The words hang in the air between us as she studies my face, her bottom lip trembling.

I lean closer to her, trailing my finger over her chin. “You don’t have to say anything. I just wanted you to know how I feel.”

“I love being with you,” she whispers. Her hand jumps to the middle of her chest. “I haven’t felt this close to anyone in my life, Jeremy. This is all new for me.”

“We’ll figure it out together.” I rest my forehead against hers. “We can do anything together.”

Her lips brush over mine in the softest kiss. When she pulls back, she smiles.

This is my world staring back at me. This is my future and I’ll do whatever it takes to make this woman mine forever.