“Of course.”
“Oh.” She blinks up at me from beneath dark flirty lashes as she positions herself back in her seat. “Well, then maybe it’s time we tried something new.”
I clear my throat and adjust my tie before sliding my hand onto her thigh beneath the table. She slides hers on top, interlinking our fingers.
Mal continues telling the table about his trip and how he went out with Ade at sunrise, and they saw a pride of lions. I inhale through my nose and lean toward her, keeping my voice hushed.
“What exactly are you suggesting?”
Her soft lips graze my ear. “I’m suggesting you put it in my?—”
I push my chair back, and it scrapes loudly on the polished marble floor.
“I’m sorry, everyone. Please excuse us for a moment.”
I pull Hallie to her feet and take her out of the main dining area toward the hallway that leads to the restrooms.
I pin her to the wall the second we’re alone and claim her lips with a groan, kissing her like it would cause me physical pain to stop.
“Baby girl, what are you doing?”
“What do you mean?” She slides her hands to the nape of my neck and strokes my hair with her fingertips.
“You know exactly what I mean. You’ve got me acting like a frat boy,” I moan against her mouth, swallowing down her whimper as my erection presses into her. “I’m a fifty-year-old man, and I’m sat at dinner with this in my pants because my beautiful girlfriend just told me she wants to have anal sex when we get home.”
She gasps out a giggle. “That’s the most ungentlemanly thing I’ve ever heard you say.”
I chuckle against her mouth and hold her chin between my thumb and forefinger, slowing our kisses down to tender ones.
“It’s hard to maintain any kind of composure around you most of the time.”
She sighs happily. “I love you.”
“I love you too. Just wait until I get you home,” I groan, stealing another kiss.
We return to the table and finish dinner. Sullivan announces he needs to get home to Molly, who’s being watched by Arabella, and I take it as an opportunity to say Hallie and I need to be leaving as well. We say our goodbyes and I take Hallie’s hand in mine as we ride the elevator down and head out onto the street.
“Your car’s that way,” Hallie says as I lead her in the opposite direction.
“I thought we’d take a walk first.”
Her eyes narrow in question, but a smile plays on her lips. “Sure, okay.”
I wrap my arm around her as we stroll in the direction of Battery Park.
“I love this city. I bet you can’t imagine living anywhere else, having been here your whole life.”
“True. It’s where my family is from, it’s where I grew up. But I haven’t spent a huge amount of time here over the past couple of years. I was out on my yacht as much as possible. The new one. The old one was completely unsalvageable. Not that I think I could have stepped foot on it again.”
Hallie leans into my side, her voice full of love. “Sterling.”
I press a kiss into her hair. “Don’t get upset. I just want you to know that you’ve made being here easier. It feels like home again. I spent so many months on the water after losing them both. Not just in Cape Town. I went all over. Being on the water made me feel better. Like I was closer to my son. I feel like that’s where he is. Even though we brought him home, I…”
Hallie tightens her arm around me.
“I still need to know what happened that day,” I murmur.
“You couldn’t have done anything.”
