Building Our Love (Griffin Brothers #2)

by Crystal Perkins

  “Yeah. You said that the restaurant is fancy and with the dress I picked out, it’ll look better up.”

  I kiss the back of her neck. “I like it up so I can have better access to your neck, but then I love it when it’s down and I can wrap my hands in it. So, basically, I love it however you want to wear it.”

  “Duly noted. I’ll try to switch it up for you from day to day,” she says with a laugh. “Now, let me get out of here so you can start getting ready.”

  I kiss her once and then let her leave. I relieve myself, wash up, and shave. I go back into the bedroom to grab my clothes and see that Chloe is almost ready. The dress she’s wearing is really hot. Okay, she looks hot in everything she wears, but this one is kind of architectural again.

  It’s black and sleeveless with some sheer material at the top. It comes to her knee, and then there is some kind of stiff white, gray, and black printed fabric wrapping around her waist. It may be plaid, but fuck if I know. I just know that it looks really cool. Sophisticated, but fun too. She’s slipping on high heeled black shoes with silver chains around the back. “Damn, Chlo. You’re killing it as usual.”

  She straightens up, and I see the diamond butterfly earrings that I gave her in her ears. She’s not wearing any other jewelry. “Thanks, Ry. Are you going to put on your suit so I can give you compliments too?”

  “What? I don’t look good enough in this?” I tease her as I motion to my wrinkled button down and khakis.

  “You look so good that I wish we didn’t have dinner in an hour. But, we do. So put your suit on.” She walks over and smacks me on the ass as she heads back into the bathroom, closing the door before I can grab her.

  I quickly take off my work clothes and throw on a black suit with a white shirt and black and white patterned tie. I know I look kind of boring, but I’ve heard that these guys we are dining with are kind of conservative, and plus, I’ll match Chloe. I’ve never really been one of those guys who’s into matching with his girl, but I kind of like it for tonight. We’ve never met these people, and so it seems like a good idea to show a united front. Some of my contacts in town told me that it’d be a good idea to make nice with other architects in Seattle, so that’s what I’m doing.

  Chloe comes out of the bathroom as I’m putting my cuff links in. “Yum,” She says as she eyes me up and down.

  “You said that out loud again,” I tell her with a chuckle.

  “I meant to this time.” She tilts her head up to kiss me. With her heels on, she’s only a couple of inches shorter than me. We kiss for a few minutes before breaking apart to head downstairs.

  * * *

  Chloe

  I’m a little nervous as we head into the restaurant. Neither one of us has met these architects before tonight, and I’m hoping they’re friendly. If they aren’t, I can deal with it. I sat through many uncomfortable dinners when I was pretending to be Adam’s girlfriend. Nothing could be worse than that.

  The hostess tells us that the rest of our party is here, even though we are ten minutes early. She leads us back, and I see two men who look like older frat guys and two women who are obviously their wives. They have that society wife look to them. They also have looks of distaste on their faces as they take in my appearance. Ryan must see it too, because he squeezes my waist before letting me go to pull out my chair. He takes the empty seat across from me.

  “We all know who Ryan is, but who might you be, darling?” The blonde guy on my right asks me.

  I ignore his condescending tone and answer with a smile. “Hello. I’m Chloe Jamison.”

  “The Chloe Jamison? Adam is a good guy, and you fucked him over, literally.” The guy looks to Ryan. “I heard that you liked an easy lay, so now I know the rumors must be true.”

  I see Ryan trying to rein in his temper as he replies through clenched teeth. “What I would like is for you to be respectful of my girlfriend, who also happens to be the interior designer of my building here in Seattle. If you can’t manage that, we should probably leave.”

  “Apologize, A.J.” The brown haired guy on my other side says. He reaches out his hand to me. “I’m David. It’s nice to meet you, Chloe.”

  I shake his hand, and he introduces me to Tina and Mandy, who I correctly guessed to be their wives. Dinner goes pretty well after that. A.J. never apologizes and they all make a show of ordering the most expensive items and wine on the menu. The guys talk about work, and Ryan includes me as often as possible. The women ignore me completely.

  I get up to use the restroom before dessert is served. As I’m making my way back to the table, I hear David talking about me to Ryan. “You were kidding about her being your girlfriend, right? I mean, you just want sex from her and are stringing her along, aren’t you? No one in their right mind would date Chloe Jamison.”

  “I guess that I’m not in my right mind then, because she is my girlfriend,” I hear Ryan reply. I’m standing frozen in place a few feet from the table. He sees me and smiles. “Are you ready to go, Chloe?”

  “Yes. I am.” I walk over to the table and sit down.

  Ryan turns to the waitress, who is placing dessert on the table. “Can you box ours up to go and bring me the check for our dinners, please?”

  “Sure. Isn’t everything on one check? That’s what I was told.” The waitress looks nervous.

  “I’m sorry that you were misinformed, but I am only paying for the two of us.”

  “No problem. I’ll box these up and be right back.”

  She grabs our plates and walks away. Ryan looks menacing as he turns to look at each person sitting with us. “I’m not sure what to even say right now. You had the audacity to expect me to pay, which is why I’m guessing you all ordered the most expensive of everything. Then you insulted the woman I love. You’re all a piece of work.”

  “You can afford it. Everyone knows that the Griffins are richer than God,” Tina says with a sneer. “And it’s not our fault that you’re dating the biggest slut in Chicago.”

  “It must be nice to live in a little bubble where you believe everything you read or are told and judge people without getting to know them,” I say, trying to not jump over the table and punch the bitch.

  The waitress comes by with the boxes and the check. Ryan has her wait while he pays her in cash, telling her that he doesn’t need change. We both stand and walk out without saying another word to any of them. We wait for the car to pull around, holding hands.

  “I’m so sorry, Chlo. I had no idea they would be such a bunch of assholes.”

  “It’s not your fault. I do have a reputation that tends to proceed me.”

  “You should really do something about that. Tell your side of the story. I’m sure you could find a ton of journalists who hate Adam and his family and would love to tell the truth.”

  “I can’t. Besides, it’s not worth it. You know the truth, and that’s all that matters.”

  “I’d love to kick Adam’s ass, though. What kind of person does that?”

  “The kind who only cares about himself and what he looks like.” If Ryan only knew how much worse Adam had been, he’d probably be on the next plane to Chicago.

  The car pulls up, and we get in to head back to the hotel. We have the driver stop at a little store so we can pick up drinks and then go back to the room. We change into robes and cuddle on the couch, sharing desserts and just being together. I think Ryan knows that I just need this tonight. When I yawn, he picks me up and carries me to the bed where he wraps me in his arms as I fall asleep.

  Chapter 15

  Ryan

  Today’s meetings went well. We made sure everyone had their questions answered and were ready to continue with the work. We’ll be back next month for the opening, but with Sam and Danny’s wedding, we won’t see the finished building until the day of the employee reveal. It’s late afternoon before we finish with everyone and Owen, Chloe, and I can talk amongst ourselves. We head out to wait for our car and Owen’s taxi. He’s going home to
night. I told him that he could take the jet, and we would fly commercial back to Vegas.

  “How was your dinner last night?”

  “Don’t ask,” Chloe says.

  “That bad?”

  “Well, if you ignore the fact that they insulted Chloe and then ordered the most expensive things on the menu, expecting me to pay, I would say it was a wonderful evening.”

  “What the fuck? They insulted you, Chlo?”

  “Yeah. The words ‘biggest slut in Chicago’ were used.”

  “You kicked some ass, right bro?”

  “No. But I did make them pay for their own dinner.”

  “That was very mature of you. Are they off the invite list for the opening?”

  It’s Chloe who answers. “Yep. I took them off this morning and emailed their assistants with the info.” She looks at me. “I thought you’d be fine with that.”

  “I am. And again, I’m sorry about the whole thing.”

  “You have nothing to apologize for. Besides, you made it up to me last night.”

  “Last night, huh? What exactly did you do to make it up to her, Ry? Did you borrow the jet?”

  “It’s none of your fucking business, Owe. But, no. I did not borrow the jet. Aren’t you a little old to be always teasing your brothers about their sex lives?”

  “Nope,” he says, grinning. “You guys give me too many good things to use against you.”

  “The plane is my fault, Owe. If you’re going to tease anyone, it should be me,” Chloe tells him with a smile.

  “I won’t tease you about sexual things, Chloe. I reserve that honor for my brothers.”

  “We totally appreciate it, too,” I tell him sarcastically, reaching out to smack him on the back of his head.

  “Ow! Damn, Ry.” He turns to Chloe. “I have to head to the airport, but I want to tell you again how much your faith in me means to me, Chlo.” He hugs her and then fist bumps me as he heads out to his waiting taxi.

  Chloe turns to me. “Are we going to the Space Needle tonight?”

  “Yes. In fact, we’re eating dinner in the restaurant there.”

  “Really? Thanks, Ry!” She leans up and kisses me.

  I hear our car pull up, so I make myself break the kiss. “Let’s go back to the hotel so you can leave me speechless again with tonight’s dress.”

  “How do you know you’ll like it?”

  “Because you’ll be wearing it. And I like you.”

  “I like you, too.”

  I feel like I’m 17 again, dating the girl who stole my heart. It feels good. We get back to the hotel and prepare for our date.

  The dress that Chloe is wearing tonight is different from her other ones, but just as sexy. It’s a little fitted on top, but then flows out and is loose fitting. It’s white with what look like blue slashes of paint. She has on dark blue sandals with many straps crisscrossing over each other. The straps end at her ankle, and there is a zipper in the back. Images of her legs wrapped around me while she is wearing only those shoes are going through my mind as we take the elevator up to the restaurant.

  “You look kind of intense. Is everything okay?” Chloe whispers to me as we step off of the elevator.

  “Yeah, sweetheart. I’m good.”

  “Are you sure? We can skip dinner if you aren’t into it. I don’t mind.”

  I move behind her and press up against her back, leaning down to whisper in her ear. “I’m definitely into it. I want to be here with you. I’m just having some impure thoughts about you and those shoes that you’re wearing. Since this is a family restaurant, I have to control myself.”

  “I’ll leave them on later.”

  Before I can respond, our table is ready and we’re being seated. I was able to get us a table by one of the windows so Seattle is spread out before us. “Wow. The view is amazing. Thanks for doing this for me, Ry.”

  “I love that I can do this for you. I just wish we had more time to explore the places that you would like to see around the world. I can’t take too much time off at work, though.”

  “Where would you want to go if we had unlimited time?”

  “I would love to go to London. I’ve been there on business, but I never got to go to the museums or do any of the tourist stuff.”

  “So we’ll plan to go there one day and be tourists. We don’t have to set a date now. Just whenever we can get away.”

  “I’d love that, Chlo. It means a lot that you understand that I can’t set a date right now. We’ll go there one day, though. I promise.”

  “I’ll hold you to that. Now,let’s enjoy this dinner so I can take you back to the hotel and have my way with you. While I keep my shoes on.”

  I’m so lucky to have Chloe in my life. The pain that I felt when she left me, and again when she came back has faded. I love her so much, and I know that she loves me. I can’t imagine anything tearing us apart again. I won’t let anything come between us.

  * * *

  Chloe

  Last night was great. Having dinner at the Space Needle was really cool. We went up to the observation deck afterward. When we got back to the hotel, we couldn’t wait for each other, so Ryan took me against the wall with my dress and his shirt and tie still on. It was hard and fast and as amazing as ever. I dug my heels in his ass as I came, which made him come so hard that he stumbled with me in his arms. Ryan woke me up to make love to me nice and slow this morning. Now we’re getting dressed to go out and do whatever he has planned.

  “Are you sure that jeans and a t-shirt are alright for today?”

  “Definitely. I want you to be comfortable. Cute shoes by the way.”

  “Thanks. Yasmin convinced me to buy them.” I tell him as I look down at my sparkly, patterned Toms.

  “I’m not surprised. She lives in those shoes at work. So, are you ready to go?”

  I tell him yes, and we head down to the car. We drive for a little while and pull up in front of the Pacific Science Center. I’m not sure what we’re doing here since I know Ryan isn’t big into science and neither am I. I’ll go pretty much anywhere with him, even if it’s boring, so I just plan to go along with this. He buys our tickets, and we head inside.

  Ryan walks with a purpose and stopped outside a building with dirty glass windows. I see the sign that says Butterfly Houseand I know why he brought me here. “Oh, Ry. Wow. Just wow.”

  “Are you ready to see some real butterflies?” I nod, and he continues. “They may not land on us, but we can at least see them.”

  “I won’t lie. It would be cool if one landed on me, but I’m good with just seeing them.”

  We head inside and pass through the double doors. Butterflies are everywhere, and it’s beautiful to see. We walk around, and none land on me. I ask one of the workers to take a picture of us with some butterflies in the background. As we near the exit door, a beautiful monarch lands on Ryan’s shoulder. I move slowly closer so I can get a better look. I know not to touch it, but I pull out my phone and snap a pic. After a few seconds, it flutters away.

  “I’m sorry it landed on me and not you,” Ryan says after we walk out.

  “Your shoulders are more impressive than mine, and that was totally cool. Thank you so much for this.”

  “It was cool, and you’re very welcome. Do you want to check out the gift shop before we leave?”

  “I would love to. I hope they have butterfly things.”

  They do have quite a few butterfly items, and Ryan insists on buying one of everything for me. We go back out to the car and drive to our next destination. I’m surprised to see that it’s a glass blowing shop. We go inside, and Ryan asks for something that he has already pre-purchased while I walk around. I’m captivated by a large piece of wall art made out of blue and gray glass with yellow accents. It reminds me of the décor in our building.

  “You like this piece, Chloe?” Ryan asks as he walks up next to me.

  “Yeah. It reminds me of the building.”

  “You want it for
the building?”

  “No.”

  “So you don’t want it?”

  “I do. But not for the building. For…umm.”

  “Umm isn’t a place. Tell me, Chlo. You know you can tell me anything.”

  I turn to the side and look him in the eye. “I want it for our house. I don’t know where since we haven’t worked on it, but I know that I want it there.”

  “Here is your purchase, Mr. Griffin.” A guy comes up and hands Ryan a box.

  “Thanks. I’d like to buy this piece too. Can you ship it to me?”

  “Sure. Let me ring you up and get your information.”

  They take care of the transaction, and then Ryan starts to walk out of the shop. “Aren’t you going to show me what you bought?”

  “Not yet,” he says with a smile.

  We drive toward the waterfront, and I know that we’re going to Pike Place. I’m so excited to see the fish throwing and to browse the stalls and shops. I pull Ryan inside as soon as we are out of the car. He’s laughing as he hold my hand tight. We see some fish being thrown and find some cute little gifts to take back for our friends and his family. I also pick up things to send to my niece and nephew in Chicago.

  Ryan asks if we can try a Spanish restaurant for lunch. He says they are supposed to have a great view as well as good food. I agree, and we have a pretty awesome lunch. We sit next to each other so we can hold hands and kiss in between eating and talking. I love spending time with my man.

  We walk around a little more and grab some thick cheesecakes from a bakery. After we’re done, we get back in the car and drive to the pier. When we get there, our driver opens the trunk and pulls out our luggage.

  “Where did that come from? We didn’t pack.”

  “The concierge took care of it. I wanted it to be a surprise that we’re leaving Seattle. I thought it would be nice to spend the rest of the weekend in Victoria. Is that okay with you?”

  “It’s more than okay. I’ve heard that it’s beautiful there.”

  “Me too. And it is British Columbia so it’s kind of like a piece of England.”