Come Together

by Jessica Hawkins

  My shoulders relaxed somewhat, and Gretchen bounced in her chair. “Fine,” I relented, and he gave me his amazing, boyish grin that I just about lived for.

  “Since my firm handles Revelin’s PR, I’ll be there too,” Gretchen said. “I’m bringing Greg.”

  I looked back at her. “What?” I exclaimed. “I thought you guys had broken things off because you went home with another guy. Are things back on?”

  “Yes,” she said with a shy smile. “He didn’t care about the other guy since nothing happened. It took a while, but he finally convinced me that this time is for good.”

  “For good?” I asked, my eyes big.

  “Yup. I’m tired of playing it safe. It really hurt when he left me the first time back in college, but I think I’m ready to move on from it. He says he’s changed, and I could either go on not believing him or take a chance. We decided a couple weeks ago to give it a real try.”

  I took her hand and smiled. “I’m so happy for you. I’m sorry I wasn’t around to talk to.”

  “You were around,” she said, “you just weren’t reachable.”

  “You can thank David for that,” I said, nodding at him.

  “We weren’t even speaking a couple weeks ago.”

  “Exactly.”

  He smiled and squeezed my leg again under the table, only higher this time. It sent a thrill up the inside of my thigh. Dazedly, I bit my lip, but he raised his eyebrows at me, jerking his head toward Gretchen.

  “Oh, right,” I said. “So we’ll make a night of it then, the four of us.”

  “Should I see if Andrew wants to come?” David asked. “I can put them on the list.”

  I shifted in my seat, and Gretchen looked down into her coffee cup.

  “What?”

  “Lucy isn’t . . . ” I trailed off.

  He lifted his chin. “Not too thrilled with us, I take it.”

  “That’s putting it mildly,” Gretchen muttered.

  He touched my cheek. “I’m sorry. You need her right now.”

  I shrugged helplessly. “She doesn’t agree with what we’re doing.”

  He dropped his hand and drummed his fingers on the table. “I’ll talk to Andrew,” he decided. He nodded at the bill. “Are you ready?”

  “Yes, but there’s something I need to do, and I’d really like to have Gretchen here with me.”

  “What is it, honey?” Gretchen asked.

  “Tell my dad.”

  She scooted closer with her chair and rubbed my back before looking at David. “Dad’s a little tough,” Gretchen told him. “He doesn’t suffer quitters well. Er, not that you’re a quitter, but you know what I mean.”

  “I know. It’s okay. Can I borrow your cell?”

  Gretchen took out her phone and after a minute of playing with it, handed it to me. “It’s ringing.”

  “You have my dad’s number?”

  “Of course, in case of emergency.”

  “Hello?” Dad said, loud and robust even through the phone.

  “Dad?”

  “Hello?” he repeated, even louder.

  “Dad! It’s me, Olivia.”

  “Liv, honey, what’s up? Whose phone is this?”

  “It’s Gretchen’s.”

  “Everything all right?” he asked.

  “Well, yes and no. Do you have a minute?”

  “Hang on, I’m on the course.” Muffled voices sounded in the background. “Go on.”

  “Dad,” I addressed him slowly. “I don’t really know how to tell you this.” I suddenly became very self-conscious with two pairs of eyes glued to me.

  “Out with it, Olivia.”

  “Well, I’ve ended things with Bill.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Bill. It’s over. I ended things.”

  “What did that son of a bitch do?”

  “No, nothing,” I said quickly. For the first time in days, tears threatened. “It was me. All me.”

  “I see. Why?”

  “I – well, it’s just that . . . I wasn’t happy,” I said.

  “You weren’t happy?” he repeated.

  I exhaled a heavy sigh. “No, it’s not that. I cheated on him.”

  There was tense silence on the line as I waited for his reaction. “And he kicked you out?”

  “No, I – I left. For someone else. I am leaving him for someone else. The man I was unfaithful with,” I explained idiotically.

  “Who?”

  “Um, well, he’s an architect and, um, a friend of Lucy’s, but that doesn’t matter right now.”

  “The hell it doesn’t. What kind of man steals another man’s wife?”

  “It wasn’t him. It was me, all me. I’m to blame. I ruined the marriage alone.”

  David took my free hand in his lap and squeezed it. I looked at him, and he shook his head.

  “I want you to come home,” my dad said. “We need to talk about this.”

  “I can’t right now, I have work.”

  “Come next weekend then. I’ll buy the ticket and whatever else you need. Where are you staying? Do you need a hotel?”

  “No. I’m staying with Gretchen until I find a place.”

  David’s hand tightened around mine.

  “Get a hotel until you can get here,” Dad said. “I will pay for it. And bring this guy; I want to meet him.”

  “I’d like you to meet him, too. I will find a time for us to come out. I do need to talk to you about the divorce and all that. I have no idea what I’m doing, Dad.”

  “I’m sure you don’t, baby. It won’t be pretty. You’re sure this is what you want?”

  “Yes,” I said, but my voice was meek.

  “We’ll handle it. Put the ticket on my card, and come as soon as you can. Bring him.”

  “Thank you for being supportive.”

  “I love you, sugar. Say hi to Gretchen for me. Olivia?”

  “Yes?”

  “Don’t make any moves until I meet this guy. I want to know that he’s not screwing around.”

  I smiled. “Yes, Dad. Bye.” I sighed and hit ‘End.’ “He didn’t seem that upset, but he wants to meet you, David. Frankly, I don’t think he can wait. He also wants me to get a hotel for the week.”

  “We’ll go next weekend,” David said.

  I smiled at him appreciatively. “Thanks.”

  “But you’re not getting a hotel.”

  “I’m not?”

  “No. In fact, what was that about looking for an apartment?”

  “She’s getting her own place,” Gretchen answered for me.

  David gave a short laugh just as I slow-blinked my irritation at Gretchen. “Thanks,” I told her. “I think we can take it from here.”

  She shrugged. “Just trying to help.”

  David stood and looked between the two of us. “We’ll finish this in the car.” It sounded like a threat, but he held out his hand to me.

  Gretchen’s eyes widened, and she mouthed, Sorry.

  “Holding hands in public,” he noted as we exited the restaurant.

  I laced my fingers through his. Bill and I had held hands plenty of times, but I didn’t realize until this moment how nice it could be. “I love your hands,” I said softly, because I did. They were big, they engulfed mine, and they were capable of making me feel so many things. Protected. Loved. Aroused.

  “Okay, gross,” Gretchen said, slinging her purse over her shoulder. “Go bang it out, and I’ll see you two tonight, k?”

  We hugged good-bye on the sidewalk, and David carried my duffel bag as he walked me to his car. “I am definitely sending her a fruit basket,” I said.

  “You and your fruit.”

  Before I could open the door to the Porsche, he maneuvered me up against it. He placed his arms on either side of me, trapping me against the car. “You’re not getting your own place.”

  “I can’t live out of a duffel bag at Gretchen’s forever.”

  “Move in with me. Today.”

  “M
ove in?” I exclaimed. “Today? That is absurd and wildly inappropriate and just, no. We can’t do that.”

  His jaw set and his eyes hardened not inches from mine, but his fingers moved into my hair. “Today,” he repeated, tilting my head back. “I’m not wasting any more time. I want you in my place,” he paused to kiss my neck, “watching TV in my den,” he added with a kiss on my jaw, “cooking in my kitchen,” another kiss on my cheek, “fucking in my bed,” a kiss on the lips, “sleeping in my bed, and,” another kiss on the lips, “waking up in my bed. Every day.”

  “David,” I said breathlessly, because I didn’t know whether to swoon, protest or rip off his clothing right there. “It’s so soon. Everyone will talk.”

  “I don’t give a fuck. Like I promised, I’ll always be your shield.” He gave me a hard peck. “You and I are going to have fun.”

  “Tonight?”

  “Tonight. This weekend. Forever,” he said. He went to open the car door, but I was struck dumb, still trying to decide how to react. He picked me up by my waist and turned to set me on the curb so he could get to the car. I practically fainted myself into the seat and watched him round the car with casual confidence. Completely unaffected, even though I was hot and bothered and unsure as to whether or not I had just agreed to move in with him.

  Once we were pulling away, he said, “So let’s see . . . Burberry, Versace . . .”

  I suppressed a smile. “It concerns me that you’re so familiar with women’s designers.”

  “Ralph Lauren, Chanel, Prada – aha. Prada it is. We’ll start there.”

  I giggled. Should I be more concerned that he knows women’s clothing or that he reads me like a book?

  “Come on,” he goaded. “The Olivia I know is not this shy. She once told me I was a player who only wanted what I couldn’t have, but look at us now.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Don’t get too cocky. It’s only been a couple days.”

  “There she is,” he said, laughing as he shifted gears and sped up.

  CHAPTER 4

  DAVID HAD IT IN HIS HEAD that he didn’t want to be disconnected from me for any reason. Therefore, the first stop we made after breakfast was to get me a new cell phone. Ignoring my protests, he added me to his plan and demanded the most capable phone available.

  We parked the car at his apartment and walked the short distance to Magnificent Mile. I was no stranger to nice things – despite Bill’s aversion to spending money, I’d had my own savings account, and I’d always been one to choose quality over quantity – but for some reason, I felt nervous and out of place. It was a lot to take in, this new life. I learned quickly that if I didn’t follow David into a store, he would leave me out on the sidewalk. It wasn’t that I didn’t love to shop, but I was uncomfortable spending someone else’s money. He insisted on it though, threatening to give the salesgirls free rein if I didn’t participate.

  By the third store, a medium-sized boutique with collections by various high-end designers, I’d begun to loosen up and picked out a few things on my own.

  “We’re looking for a new wardrobe,” David told the salesgirl.

  “David,” I interrupted, gaping. “We’re only supposed to be getting a few things for work.”

  “Oh, right . . . . Bring the wardrobe, though,” he instructed her.

  She smiled at him brightly, no doubt thrilled to be in the presence of such an extremely handsome man who had practically just handed her his credit card.

  “What size are you?” she asked.

  “I’m probably a zero right now – ”

  “But we’re aiming for two or higher.” He rubbed my back.

  “Higher?” I grumbled.

  “You’re tall. Don’t need to be a two.”

  I pursed my lips at him and restrained from rolling my eyes.

  “We can come back when that happens,” he told the salesgirl, who seemed confused but smiled even bigger.

  “Maybe we should wait – ”

  “These can go in a fitting room,” David interrupted me, handing her what I’d already chosen, “and pull whatever else is similar.”

  “Yes, sir. Champagne while you shop?”

  “Of course.”

  I smiled. “Now we really are Edward and Vivian, but that puts me on the verge of prostitute territory.”

  “We haven’t even slept together yet,” he pointed out with a scowl. “As a couple, anyway.”

  “So you’re not doing this to get in my pants?”

  “Hmm,” he moaned softly, and his arms found their way around my waist. His hands ran down my back and over the seat of my jeans before pulling my hips against him. He kissed me chastely on the cheek and then a little less chastely along my jaw. “That would certainly be a perk,” he whispered in my ear. “I want to take you in my bed tonight like the first time.”

  “Why wait?” I asked, aroused just by his breath on my skin.

  “You’re all set, if you want to follow me.” The salesgirl’s voice cut into our moment. She directed me into a full dressing room and David to a chair just outside. I stripped down quickly.

  “Come out,” he instructed.

  “Okay, but I’m not dressed yet.”

  “Olivia, there are other men in this store,” he reproved, and I laughed silently. “Come out when you’re ready,” he amended.

  “Do you really want to see? It’s boring work stuff.” It wasn’t at all – the pieces she’d picked were so beautiful, they could pass as art. Fine wool, silk, lace, chiffon – to me it was heaven, but to a guy, I knew – it was boring work stuff.

  “I want to see everything,” he called.

  “All right,” I agreed. I dressed myself in a red, long-sleeved silk blouse with delicate gold buttons and two hanging pieces at the neck that I tied into a bow. I smoothed my hands over a fitted, navy wool skirt that came just to the tops of my knees.

  When I came out of the room, David leaned his elbows on his knees. “Damn. Sexy.”

  I laughed nervously. Sexy in work attire? That’s a first.

  “Come here,” he said. I sat in his lap, and he leaned me back against one arm. His other hand slid over the skirt gently. “There’s something I’ve been wanting to tell you for months, you just reminded me.”

  “What’s that, handsome?” I asked, shifting suggestively on his lap.

  He groaned softly. “Remember the night you were attacked in the alley, I brought you to my apartment and you stayed in my guest room. I said you looked exquisite in my t-shirt and boxers, and you laughed because you didn’t believe me. I promised that one day I would tell you exactly how exquisite you looked.”

  I bit my lip and nodded, remembering the moment perfectly. I’d wanted nothing more than for him to leap across the bed and devour me whole.

  “Up until then, I’d never seen anything sexier,” he said, running his nose along mine. His hand slid down to my knee and barely up the hem of my skirt. “I wanted to fuck you so bad, I would’ve done almost anything in that moment.”

  My breathing increased as I became instantly aware of the ache between my legs. He was noticeably excited underneath my thigh, and it was stirring up all kinds of wayward thoughts.

  “Go on,” he said, urging me up. “Try something else.”

  I stood slowly, letting the blood recirculate through my body. Back behind the door, I stripped down to my undergarments and then, when an idea occurred to me, stripped all the way. I took out my new phone, located the only number I had stored, tousled my hair a bit, pinched my cheeks and took a photo in the mirror.

  I hit ‘Send’ and turned my attention back to what I’d try next. It wasn’t long before I heard David moving. The door opened a sliver and he slipped in, raking his eyes over my naked body. He held a finger over his mouth and took two large strides toward me.

  “Hands behind your back,” he said quietly, and I complied. He took my chin in his hand. My heart raced, and I felt a pull deep inside as his stare burned above me. “Open,” he whispered,
squeezing my jaw. He stuck his finger in my mouth. “Suck.”

  I ran my tongue over him, looking up from under my lashes. I sucked tentatively at first and then harder. He moaned loudly, so I reached out to touch his erection through his pants.

  He grabbed my hand and replaced it behind me. “No.” He removed his finger and reached between my legs, sliding it in with agonizing slowness. I rolled my lips together and breathed heavily through my nose as he fingered me. One finger turned into two. He explored me gently from the inside, massaging me with an expert touch. His other hand found my breast, rolling and pinching my nipple so that I moaned into the sting. When his palm pressed against my clit, I writhed into it, my hands wringing behind my back.

  He slipped a hand under my hair and held my neck. “Don’t squirm,” he warned softly.

  His gaze grew darker, more penetrating as he finger-fucked me faster. His complete, undivided attention was unnerving, and I wanted to look away, but he held me in place. The overly bright fluorescent lights flooded the room, sharpening my vision so things began to feel surreal. My mouth fell open, and I gasped for air as my orgasm threatened.

  “Fuck me,” I implored, and he shook his head as he pushed his fingers deeper. My head jerked back, but he continued to hold me upright, seeking out my eyes with his. Come, he mouthed at me.

  “How are the sizes working out?” I heard from somewhere far away.

  David’s eyes bored into me with his palm still firmly against me. “Answer her,” he demanded in a whisper.

  I reached out to grab his arms as the orgasm crested. “Fine,” I called.

  She said something else, but my ears were ringing as I was hit with waves of pleasure. “Fine,” I repeated, squeezing David’s biceps and thrashing against his hand. The world spun around me, and I could only cling to David to keep me centered.

  As I came down, I wilted against him, and he held my weight, trailing quick kisses along my jawline until he reached my neck. He removed his fingers from me and wiped them on his jeans, laughing silently.

  What? I mouthed as I tried to control my breathing, still gripping his one arm for fear that my legs would give out.

  “She asked if she could get you anything else. You said ‘Fine.’”