“Come for me, baby,” I suck her nipple into my mouth, teasing a little with my teeth and grin when she comes for me for a third time.
Her body goes lax against me after I pull out my fingers, and I gather her up, holding her to my chest as she calms her breathing.
We stay there for a few minutes, the quiet of the gardens blanketing us, but I know we need to get up and move. I only have this place for a few hours, and I have no idea how much time has passed. The last thing I want is for someone to stumble upon us like this. Gently, I coax her off me and help her stand, quickly righting myself before I reach for her panties and slide them back up her legs. She’s unsteady, eyes a little glazed but content.
I pick up her dress and she steps into it, allowing me to move the satin back up her body and put the straps back into place, but neither of us are as put together as we were when we started this evening. There’s my come stain on my pants and her hair has frizzed up a little in the heat and humidity, her red lipstick smeared around her mouth. And the glitter. It’s still on her, but I have it on me now too, on my palms, my arms and probably on my dick.
She leans into me sleepily, “I don’t kiss on first dates.” Her mumble is barely coherent, but a loud laugh bursts from me, throaty and light, and her responding grin has a euphoric kind of feeling blooming inside my chest.
“Oh baby, we didn’t kiss,” I chuckle, my hand sliding to the nape of her neck, a juxtaposition to how I held it earlier but this a move I have made a hundred timesbefore, “But we’re breaking that rule and I’m correcting my mistake.”
She tilts her head back as my mouth lands on hers, the kiss soft and gentle, the complete opposite to how we were only a few moments ago. I kiss her like we’ve been doing it forever, making up for all that lost time and moments I have yearned for her taste.
I draw away, keeping her close, “Let me take you home.”
She nods quietly, and with my hand on the base of her spine, I guide her back toward the entrance. We’re let out by the same person who let us in, and while Sid keeps quiet, her cheeks burning from what we just did, I say good night and thank them before hurrying us to the waiting car.
“Do you think she knew?” I glance back toward the woman who has her head dipped, avoiding eye contact.
“No,” I lie, praying it doesn’t get us permanently banned from the gardens. I’ll pay whatever I need to make sure that doesn’t happen.
The ride back to the penthouse passes quickly and quietly. While Sidney was watching the wet city roll by outside the windows, the rainstillfalling, I ordered us the ice cream I had promised this morning, so it was waiting for us by the time we arrived home.
“Stay the night,” I grab the bag from the front desk, and we head to the elevators.
“Was I supposed to go home?” She teases, “Since when would that ever happen?”
I grin, “Just making sure I still had my girl.”
She quirks a brow, “You’ll never get rid of me now. Your dick is just too good.”
“And here I thought it was because you loved me.”
“That too, I guess,” she winks and steps out of the elevator, kicking off her shoes and making herself at home. And I follow, like I always will.
Chapter Twenty-four
With Thea’s approval, I have all the flowers and props ordered and scheduled in preparation for her wedding in a couple of months. Time has passed so quickly; I can’t believe it’s almost been a month since Noah offered to help me achieve one of my goals. Everything has changed since then, and the future now looks entirely different for both of us.
Since the date, we’ve spent every day together; now it’s the Friday before the Gala. Nerves have had me rattled after I realized it’s our first public event since we became an official couple. The speculation over the years about our relationship should have me prepared for this, but rumors and facts are two very different things.
No articles have been particularly mean about me and my worth, but I know when they find out we’re now together, tones will change. I am fully aware that the press is full of sharks, and tabloidsloveto rip people’s lives apart to dig up secrets and insecurities. I mean, just look at Thea and her new fiancé; they ripped both of them apart because of it. Sure, maybe they shouldn’t have been having an affair, but to dig into pasts like that… it’s terrifying.
I closed up shop early today to be able to drop my dress off at the dry cleaners to be prepped for tomorrow, and now, I’m pushing through the doors to a little bistro where I’m meeting my sister for a late lunch. I haven’t seen her since I told her that me and Noah were going to be trying for a baby, though she has text and called a few times. I was just short in my replies. Sue me, I close off when my feelings get hurt.
The cool air of the bistro is a relief from the late summer sun now baking the city, removing any evidence of the three days of continuous rain we had. Spotting Luce at a little table toward the back, I beeline for her, almost knocking over a waitress on my way.
With a quick apology, I finally make it to my sister and nephew, the guilt of my silence weighing on me.
“Sid,” she stands up when I get to the table, opening her arms for a hug that I gladly take.
“I’m sorry.” I say.
“No,” she pushes back. “I’m sorry. I was out of line.”
I shake my head, “No, you were right.” I glance at my nephew sleeping peacefully in his stroller and then take a seat. “I am in love with Noah.”
Her eyes, a match to mine, widen, “What?”
