Heat erupted, engulfing her in a fire that he stoked. He reached for her leg, hooking her knee with his hand, opening her so he could fit himself against her hot core. The long hard length of his cock rode the cleft of her body and she loved and hated the full skirt of the sundress. It protected a little bit of her modesty, but there were too many layers of fabric between them.
He broke the kiss, releasing her leg and steadying her on her shaky legs. She barely caught her breath before a pair of dark haired little girls burst into the room followed by harried but happy looking parents.
“Did Great Grandma come through here, too?” They chattered and danced, pointing at the signs and asking an endless stream of questions.
Their enthusiasm made her smile, but at the same time it embarrassed her. She hadn’t been paying enough attention to hear them coming, and they weren’t quiet. If Luke hadn’t stopped kissing her, the family would have found them grinding against each other like teenagers. What the hell was wrong with her? She was a grown ass woman. She didn’t dry hump in public.
And it hadn’t escaped her notice that every time things got too emotional between she and Luke or they touched on something he didn’t want to talk about he made it all about sex between them. Not that she hadn’t been a more than willing participant, but for as much as she wanted him – and she wanted him all the time – part of her was hungry for something more. A deeper connection she didn’t think they’d ever get.
“Good God, there’s a lot of thinking going on in that gorgeous head of yours.” He stroked a finger down her cheek. “Stop it.”
He led her from the room, and she tried to leave the melancholy behind her. They had this weekend, and she wasn’t going to let herself ruin it by worrying about what – if anything – came after.
“Come on, I’m hungry,” he said. “And there is somewhere I want to take you.”
“Not a fancy place.” She wrinkled her nose, and he laughed.
“You didn’t seem to mind the fancy place,” he said, mimicking her tone. “When it was Aubergine.”
“No but…”
“I will go to great lengths to assure you have the full Big Apple experience, Claire, but I’m not eating dirty water hot dogs for lunch.”
“Sure, sure, promise me the moon and then yank it away.”
“Come on, brat,” he said, pinching her butt. “I know the perfect place.”
CLAIRE HADTO admit the climate controlled town car beat a grubby taxi hands down. Normally she’d be happy walking, but the breeze they’d felt on the boat had changed into an oppressive damp baking the asphalt feeling. The drizzle hadn’t been enough to wash the city clean and even the afternoon heat of spring was enough to coax out a wide variety of smells, some a lot more unpleasant than others.
“Little Italy, please, Max,” Luke told the driver. “But go through the downtown neighborhoods. It’s the lady’s first time in the city.”
Claire watched out the window as the city rolled past. She’d heard of Chinatown; who hadn’t? But she hadn’t realized that so many other ethnicities had their own neighborhoods, too. Every couple of blocks had its own unique characteristics. It was easy to imagine immigrants making their way from Ellis Island to a home away from home in their new country.
The car stopped in front of a corner restaurant in what had to be Little Italy. Luke helped her out of the car, keeping her hand in his as he led her through the front door and into a room that smelled of rich tomato sauce and wood smoke. Cozy booths lined the walls and there wasn’t a white table cloth to be found.
“This is perfect,” she said, giving his hand a squeeze.
“Wait until you taste the pizza.” He brushed a kiss over her knuckles, and they followed the pretty hostess to one of the booths.
They ordered antipasti and a huge steaming pizza marguerita. Claire took a sip of the rich, full bodied chianti Luke ordered and bit into the fresh mozzarella and tomato dripping from the chewy wood fired crust. Her eyes drifted shut in pure pleasure. Next to the meal at Comme Ci it was quite possibly the best thing she’d ever tasted.
She opened her eyes to find Luke staring at her with hunger and something else she couldn’t put a name to. Whatever it was disappeared when he saw her looking at him, and he turned his attention back to demolishing his half of the pizza.
“So I looked for my mom’s family in the list on Ellis Island. You were right, by the way,” she said, taking another slice. “This is the best pizza ever. What about your family? You never told me where you came from.”
As she watched, his expression shifted, shutting down. Shutting her out.
“Nowhere in particular,” he said. “I’m a mutt.”
She could push. Why was it such a big deal where his family came from? But she knew without asking that she wouldn’t get any more information from him. Claire was smart and savvy. She’d had to be to make her business work, but she’d never been very good at hiding things. Her dad used to say she wore her thoughts on her face.
She’d made herself vulnerable with him and had no doubt she’d do it again. They’d talked about her family, the business, her past, and with the exception of how she really felt about him, she hadn’t hidden anything. She opened up for Luke and gave him everything he asked for, but it was starting to feel too one sided.
She might be an open book for Luke, but she still didn’t know the first thing about him.
