“What? Standing on the street corner and eating food that would kill us before we’re reach forty?”
“Stop grousing. It’s delicious. It’s better than sitting in a restaurant. Now, what are we going to do?” She took a big bite of her roll and moaned as if orgasming. “This is heaven.”
My dick stirred. Hell, the horny bastard could never get enough of her. And neither could I.
“I thought I just showed you heaven?” I cocked an eyebrow.
“Eh…I thinkthisjust surpassed your bedroom skills, Mr. Griffin,” she said around a mouthful. “Oh, my God…” She groaned again.
Now I knew she was fucking with me.
Then she grinned. “I have a serious relationship with food.”
“And me?”
She stilled, her hazel eyes coming back to mine. That playful grin softened to a gut-churning tender smile. “Yes.”
Jesus! I was crazy in love with her. That smile. It lit a stupid fucking light inside me. Even if trying to get her to say the actual words was like pulling teeth without anesthetic. But she would soon. I unwrapped my roll.
“The Empire State Building will be closed,” she said then, taking another bite of her roll. I finally started on mine, too. “So would access to the Statue of Liberty…” She frowned as she chewed her food, her brow creasing. “I don’t want to skate, but I’d love to see the Rockefeller Centre. Central Park would be too dark to enjoy. What’s left?”
Getting you to say you love me.
Putting that aside for now, I glanced at my watch. Eleven-forty-five. Almost time. “C’mon.” I grabbed her hand and hailed a cab.
She shoved the last of her hotdog into her mouth and smirked at me when I raised a brow. “What? I like it.”
I drank my water, then tossed the bottle and half-eaten dog into a trash receptacle as the cab halted near us.
“Central Park. 7th Ave & 59th Street,” I told the driver. No, Ray wouldn’t know where this was. As I got into the cab beside her, she eyed me like I’d lost a brain cell—or several.
“Really? In the dark?”
“Stop complaining. You’ll like it.”
As we approached our drop-off point, and at the sight of the horse and carriage lining the side of the road, her eyes widened. “Jack, there’s-there’s…” She pointed to the animals, appearing at a loss for words.
“A horse and carriage?” I drawled. Yep, she’d forgotten this. I’d already reserved an hour-long trip online earlier when she locked herself in the bathroom. I paid the cabbie and ushered her toward the carriage.
Moments later, she settled on the seat, and I sat beside her. As the driver regaled us about the history of the places we passed, I pressed my lips to her ear. “Like it?”
“It’s the best.” She turned, and her lips brushed my mouth in a soft kiss. “Thank you.”
She might not have said the words, but I felt it in my heart, saw it in her eyes. From the prickly girl she’d once been, one who could barely stand me, she’d finally opened her caged heart and let me inside.
22
Ray
My eyes flickered openedand fixed on the undraped window. The darkness of night slowly gave way, and dull, gray light filtered into the room.
Jack.
A smile started just thinking about him. I turned and reached for him, my hand dropping to a cool, unoccupied pillow. He wasn’t beside me. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes, reality sweeping through me. Right. We were back home.
The incredible weekend in New York, which had made me feel as if I’d gone to another world for a short time, was over., I glanced around the masculine room with the pale gray walls, navy drapes, and covers, my drowsy mind finally grasping where I actually was. I’d been asleep when we arrived at the house, and he’d put me inhisbed. I snorted, but my heart felt lighter.
My cell rang. I crawled out of bed, retrieved it from my jeans tossed on the chair, and sat on the armchair. Denise. She was up early.
