Silence. Then, “You’re leaving after university is over?”
“I don’t know. I interned this past year with Woods and Woods. They asked me to look them up when I finished college…” I shrugged and finally pulled my gaze from the skyscrapers.
“I see.” He opened his laptop, his expression shutting down.
Oh, shit. “Jack—” I quickly unclipped my seatbelt and moved closer, then grabbed his laptop and set it on my other side, forcing him to look at me. “It’s all in the air, just thoughts that run through my mind. You know I say random things all the time, but I’m working on stopping that. Heck, at one point, I wanted to go to Japan. Have you seen their buildings? The designs are phenomenal…”
“I know.” He sighed and scrubbed his face. “I’m sorry. This hasn’t been a good day. Let’s just enjoy the time here.” Then he stilled. “You said Woods and Woods—the architects?”
“Yes.”
“You changed your major?”
“No, I’m doing a double major, mathematics and architecture. You didn’t know?” He stared at me. “I wanted to go into teaching—lecturing math—but I always liked designing buildings. Except I never believed I could be as good as Ila is with her paintings. My drawings are mediocre at best, but she insisted I follow my heart and practice my drawings…”
Jack snatched his laptop back, his fingers flying over the keys, then he turned the notebook my way.
“This?” He pointed to the 3D design of a familiar grotto-style entertainment and pool area I’d given my five-cents worth of drawings and suggestions for during my internship with W&W.
“Hey, they used my ideas. It was for you? Wow!” I laughed. “They did mention they wanted something fun, something exciting for some prestigious new resort coming up and wanted to see what concepts the two of us interning there could come up with. I didn’t think they’d use my ideas.”
Jack put a hand on my nape and dragged me in for another kiss, his lips moving tenderly over mine. “What you did, resonated with me the moment I saw it. I should have known…” He looked at the images on his laptop again. “I hope they paid you for this.”
“Yes, it was a paid internship.”
He set his laptop aside and pulled me to straddle him. Despite the privacy glass, I was still too conscious of the fact that we weren’t alone. Then Jack took my mouth with his, his fingers undoing my blouse buttons, and I forgot everything…
* * *
Naturally, we checked into the five-star Blackstone Tower on Fifth Avenue, and I was too aware of my flushed cheeks and swollen mouth. I didn’t dare imagine what my hair must look like from Jack’s fingers grasping it during all that foreplay. At least I’d managed to calm my unruly body.
I stood near the floor-to-ceiling window of the penthouse, staring in awe at the city shrouded in night. But, no matter my excitement, my thoughts remained fixed on the man behind me, who spoke to the hotel manager.
Yes, Jack was good at putting on a front, but my heart ached, remembering the shadows in his eyes, the pain when he thought no one watched him. Our make-out session in the car helped to ease that a little. But I wanted it gone. I wanted the man who smiled with his eyes again.
The door shut, then strong arms slid around me, pulling me against his familiar rock-solid body. His mouth caressed my earlobe, then trailed down to my jaw. My breath hitched.
“Where were we?”
I turned to him. “Sightseeing. Dinner after,” I said, finding it hard not to smile as his eyes narrowed.
“The only sightseeing I want right now is rediscovering your sexy body.”
I faked a frown of confusion. “You brought me all the wayhereto fuck me? Eh, we can do that anywhere. I mean, it’s not like I don’t know what you can do. But this is New York—eeek! What are you doing?” I gasped as he swung me into his arms and dropped me onto the bed.
He followed, his body pressing against mine, forearms braced near my head. “Don’t think I don’t know what you’re up to, Rayen.”
He always called me by my full name when proving a point.
His mouth came down on mine for a brief, lustful kiss, leaving me panting before he sat up, straddling my body. He undid the buttons of my cotton top, unclipped the front fastening of my bra, and drew them both off, tossing them aside. He lowered his head, taking my nipple into his mouth, sucking on it with firm pulls. My core tightened.Ohhh. My clit throbbed like a cord was attached to my nipple.
I hastily fumbled with the buttons on his shirt. He tore it off, buttons popping and flying, and I bit my lower lip to stop my smile.
“You’re laughing at me?”
“What? Me? No, I’m not.”
“And yet, I can see your dimples.” He licked the spot where my turncoat defects of nature gave me away. I shrugged. “Don’t know what you’re talking about—”
