“Sir, Mr. Bernard is getting quite impatient.”
“Yup,” he said then turned to me. “Stay as long as you need to. You’ll be shopping?”
I nodded.
“I’ll find you as soon as I’m done.”
“Sure thing, Sir,” I added with a giant grin on my face.
He playfully nicked my nose with his index finger before backing out of the room. Soledad watched me for about thirty seconds after he left before she went back to her desk.
Instead of just typing up an email, I decided to check Facebook first. If I was lucky and she was on, we could instant message for a few minutes. And lady luck was on my side because there I saw her name and brought the chat box up right away.
We talked back and forth for a few minutes. Just me letting her know about the phone situation and to ask if there’d been any issues at Romano’s.
When I asked what she was up to with her days off, she sent me several really inappropriate messages that gave me mental images I’d need to bleach out of my brain later, but also made me cackle in laughter just the same.
It was loud enough to draw Soledad’s attention, she peeked in the door, and probably disturbed half the damn floor.
Then I told Gio that he shouldn’t be stalking Bianca’s page.
Him: How did you know?
Me: Easy. The things you said, Bianca and I have talked about. Trust me I know what she
will do and what she won’t. The second thing she will NEVER do. Plus she would’ve been
more graphic about it.
Him: lol. That’s my girl.
Her: Ugh, he’s gone. What a dork.
Me: It’s your fault for leaving your FB logged in.
Her: Truth. How’s it going?
I caught her up on what had happened so far. Since Bianca and I shared everything, she got all the details but I told her to delete all the messages before she left the computer. The last thing anyone needed was Gio harassing Sal about getting a hand job.
I ended the chat and logged out just as Sal came back in the office.
“Sorry. That took longer than I expected,” I said, closing the internet after taking my own advice to delete all the messages and hopped up from his chair. “Plus Gio had to fuck with me a little first.”
“Of course he did. Soledad said you were still here. I wanted to make sure everything was all right.”
“You know, you have this boyfriend thing down better than you think.” We both smiled. “Did she tattle on me?” I nodded toward the door since Soledad was sure to be right on the other side.
“No.” He shook his head as he spoke. “I sent her a message asking if you’d left yet.”
“Oh, well I’m leaving now.”
“Two hours tops, OK? And please take my cell with you just in case.” Sal handed the phone over and grabbed my hand to walk me back to the elevators. Once again, everyone watched us while trying to look like they weren’t. I began to wonder how much people in the office knew about Sal’s situation. Or if they knew Sal at all. “How do you feel about ice skating? I thought it’d be fun. Can you skate?”
“I feel ice skating is fun and yes I can skate. I slept with a hockey team once so I had to learn.”
He groaned. “That’s not really fun for me to hear.”
Shrugging, I said, “But it’s fun for me to say.”
“Can you at least tell me if it was one at a time or all of them together?” Oh so he was going to try to out jab me. Not going to happen.
“Well, it wasn’t all of them at once. Even I have my limits but a few here, three or four there.”
He groaned again. “I really have to get back to that meeting.”
“Go. I’m a big girl, I’ll find my way.”
“Ok.” He came close and dropped a quick peck on my lips. “Don’t fuck any hockey teams while you’re gone.” He started to back away.
“I guess I’ll have to find a football team, then.”
Sal laughed loudly, and with a wave over his shoulder, he disappeared through another door. The way everyone stared at me you would’ve thought they’d never heard him laugh before. Then again maybe they hadn’t.
Stepping out into the cold January air, I wrapped my coat tightly around my body.
Chicago in winter could be brutal, I’d felt it before but this had to be one of the mildest days they’d had all winter. Above freezing and barely any wind. Given those factors, I did walk the couple of blocks to The Magnificent Mile.
I aimlessly roamed into one store then the next until I got down to the mall and went inside.
Sal’s phone buzzed inside my coat pocket. At first I thought about ignoring it but then the vibrating became so insistent, I had to at least take a look. Not only were there a dozen missed calls but also a text on the screen that read, Bailey, answer the phone.
Oh.
This time when the phone rang, I did answered.
“Where are you?” Sal asked.
“By the American Girl store but I’m thinking of heading to level seven,” I traced my finger over the map I stood in front of, “for a soft pretzel. It’s an exciting life.”
Sal chuckled. “I’m just checking in. Shouldn’t be too much longer.”
“Just let me know when you’re done and I’ll head back to your office.”
We ended the call but Sal checking up on me made my heart sing.
Shopping just wasn’t as much fun alone. I was used to having my best friend talking me into and out of everything I thought I might like. Really this was just aimlessly walking around a mall.
I did remember to stop and get a charger because I’d need my phone at some point, then headed to the pretzel stand I’d mentioned to Sal. I stared at the menu trying to decide how hungry I was and what sounded good when a set of arms wrapped around my waist.
“I wouldn’t do that,” I said without turning.
“Why is that?” Sal asked back.
“I have this incredibly muscular, incredibly strong and hot boyfriend that can’t really stand for other’s to touch me.”
“He’ll get over it.”
Now I turned in his arms so we were face to face. “You’re done already?”
“Already? It’s been two and a half hours of mind-numbing boredom.”
“Wait.” I took his hand so we could start walking back to his work building. “Did you walk here?” He nodded, so I kept going. “Do you hate your job?”
“I hate parts of it. I hate being here but there are aspects that I like. Those I could do from anywhere.”
“So you’re really thinking about moving to Harbor Point?”
“Yes and that was in the works before I met you. Not that I wouldn’t move for you, but I don’t want you to think there’s any pressure.”
“Yeah, Bianca mentioned it before.”
“OK, then. Ice skating?” He gave me a sideways look as if he was seeking approval or something.
“Ice skating.”
Chapter Sixteen
The outdoor ice rink Sal drove us to rented skates. Which was a good thing as I didn’t own any and even if I had, they’d be back in Harbor Point. We sat on a bench next to the ice to lose our regular shoes and lace up the skates. Then he put both pairs into a locker and pocketed the key.
As he came back to me I stood, shakily, on the blades. Sal reached out to steady me.
“Woah. Have you skated before?”
“Of course,” I said with mock outrage. “But I didn’t say I was good at it.”
“We can do something else.”
“No. I’m all right at it. Just takes me a few minutes to get my legs under me.”
“You sure?”
I nodded so he held onto my arm firmly and walked me out onto the ice.
After two laps, I was stable enough that I wiggled out of his grip and held his hand instead.
“What’s Soledad’s story?” I asked as we made our way around one end of the rink. We weren’t alone by any means and this kid, may
be eight years old kept lapping us.
He groaned every time he had to slow down to wait for an opening to get around us.
“What’d you mean?”
“I don’t know. She kind of… watched me I guess. After you left for your meeting.”
“That’s her job.”
“To watch your girlfriend?”
Sal laughed, his frosty break creating a fog around us. “Not quite. But to take care of whatever I need.”
“So she was watching me because… ”
“It’s not like I’ve ever brought someone up there before. She’d know you’re important.”
“Aw. I’m important.”
Sal flipping himself around so that he was skating backward in front of me.
“I feel like I should be asking you questions.”
“Ask.”
He shook his head the smoothly slid back in beside me. “Like what?”
I shrugged. “Whatever you want.”
“I want to know everything.”
This could go on forever, I thought. But I wasn’t going to let that happen.
“I don’t think my parents ever wanted me,” I admitted. It was something I knew I could say to him that I never really said to most people. Sure, I joked about that very thing with Bianca but had no idea if she thought I was serious.
“How could they not want you?”
“They were looking toward retirement when I came along. That’s what they say, anyway. They love me but I never had the kind of parents you did things with. I wanted to go outside and play, they were too tired.”
“Do you resent them for that?”
“No. We’ve just always kind had… separate lives. Yeah. That’s the best way to describe it. More the relationship you’d have with a distant aunt and uncle.”
“My parents were garbage. But you already know that.”
We kept skating until my ankles felt like they might snap under my weight if I did even one more lap around the rink. Being in decent shape didn’t mean I was used to balancing on those thin metal blades for such a long time.
“I have to stop,” I finally said and took the first exit from the ice I came to.
Sal skidded to a stop right behind me.
“You can keep going,” I said.
“Nah. Not as much fun without you.”
While I dropped onto the first bench I came to, Sal walked past me to the lockers and returned with our shoes as if he wasn’t walking on a razor’s edge.
“Want to go out to dinner?” he asked.
“We could order in… ”
He shook his head. “We don’t get to go out because we live a plane ride from each other.”
“I’d have to change.”
“You really don’t.”
“Sal, I’m a little sweaty underneath these layers. I have to change.”
“I probably should too.”
That’s when I actually looked him over and realized he was still in the same suit he’d gone to work in. He really had been skating the entire time in a suit and tie.
On the ride back to his house, we agreed that I’d get the bathroom and he’d get dressed in his bedroom. Being a guy he’d be quicker anyway.
When I stepped out of the bathroom, Sal just about took my breath away in his dark jeans and black long sleeve V-neck sweater that felt like silk when I reached out to touch it. Couldn’t help myself.
Sal drove us across town to a restaurant simply called The Grille. As we entered the building, I took a deep breath, inhaling the delicious aroma of garlic, steak, and a plethora of spices.
The Grille was a dimly lit American Steakhouse. Not quite the bar and grille Bianca and I used to go to for cheap burgers in college. Much nicer than that. Nicer than I’d probably choose myself. That’s when it hit me that Sal was much more in the grown-up world than I was.
However, the first bite of steak so perfectly cooked that it melted in my mouth without needing to chew and I thought maybe the grown-up world wasn’t a bad one to be in.
“You know you don’t have to impress me, right?” I asked then took another bite, savoring the butter and garlic they’d brushed on the crusted outside.
“I’m not trying to. I like this place. Come here at least once a week.”
Sitting back in my chair I watched him take three bites before he realized I was looking.
“What?”
“I think you might be too cool for me.”
He laughed. “Trust me. You’re too cool for me. I’m this boring corporate person now.”
“How do you know all this… stuff?” I waved my hand in the air around the restaurant. Yes, he was four years older than me, but I had a good amount of life experience. Yet he knew things like how to order the proper wine with our steak versus what he would’ve requested had I ordered fish.
“Uh… ” He shifted uncomfortably. “There were certain things we were taught. Like how to pick a wine or how to fit in at college parties so that everyone’s attention would be on you in a good way.”
Gigolo school.
My hot as hell boyfriend had gone to gigolo school.
Fuck his parents.
“What would you do if you didn’t run Trinity?” I took another bite, this time including a bit of the mashed potatoes and tried not to moan at how each bite got better.
“Haven’t thought about it really.”
“Why not?” I asked this in surprise.
“Because I’ve never really had a choice. I mean, I don’t hate what I do and now that I’ve been making some changes I enjoy the company most of the time.”
“So how come Gio got off easy with all that?”
The waiter came back with the check then disappeared again. Sal continued talking as he pulled a credit card from his wallet and shoved it in that clear flap so the staff knows you’re ready.
Shrugging he said, “Gio wanted Bianca. We talked about it a lot at first. He even offered to fly back and forth if she took him back. I wanted him to have that life. And I never really thought I’d have anything like what he was going after.”
“What? A relationship? A family?”
He nodded sadly avoiding all eye contact.
My heart broke for him again. In that moment, my dream became meeting his parents and releasing an unholy terror of violence on them.
“I probably shouldn’t be but I’m really enjoying proving you wrong.”
Sal scribbled his name at the bottom of the receipt so we could leave.
As we strolled down the street, Sal held my hand tightly in his. Yet he hadn’t responded to the last thing I said at the table. It had gotten darker and colder. I snuggled into his side for warmth.
“I’m enjoying you proving me wrong, too,” he finally said when we stopped in front of a movie theater.
I pushed up onto my toes to close in on his lips.
He wrapped an arm around my waist pulling me into him so we could taste each other right there on the street in Chicago before continuing on to the parking garage where we’d left his car.
On the ride back to his place, every touch became a tease making my desires and needs bubble to the surface. I’d given my word that I wouldn’t move too fast, but I wasn’t sure he knew just how hard he made keeping that promise. Or maybe he did know and was purposely driving me insane.
The moment his bedroom door closed, I no longer wanted to control myself. I pushed him back against the wall and dove in for a kiss.
He didn’t pull away or seem to mind in the least so I let it all go. Bracing myself on his shoulders, I could reach him even better. I let my tongue slip into his mouth and taste him. He groaned deep in his chest which sent me into overdrive.
He liked me taking control, and I wasn’t going to waste a moment since I knew he’d eventually pull back.
My sweater went first then my boots.
While deepening the kiss, I moved quickly over the buttons on my top then yanked it open to reveal the white lace bra beneath. I loved that thing
. It was one of my favorites. It pushed everything up to create what had once been called “mouthwatering cleavage”.
When Sal glanced down he sucked in a quick breath.
That’s when I remembered he had never seen me without my shirt on. His hands tightened like vices on my hips and all of his muscles hardened.
That was my cue to slow things down a little.
A second ticked by. I held myself completely still while Sal looked me over for the first time. I could feel his hot gaze skate across my skin. The anticipation and curiosity of what he was thinking as he took me in sent fire racing through my veins.
Another second and another passed by my chest rising and falling with my rapid breathing.
My skin tingled and I suddenly felt like I’d just gone over a large hill. My stomach dropped and it took every ounce of control I ever possessed to keep from jumping on him.
“You’re beautiful, Bailey,” he said forcing his eyes up to mine. It looked like it took quite a bit of effort.
His lips crashed into mine again, his tongue caressing mine like a man who knew what he wanted and wasn’t going to stand in his own way. But this was Sal. We weren’t there yet. I wasn’t stupid and didn’t honestly think we would have sex yet, no matter how much I wanted to.
Instead, I popped the button on his jeans and dropped to my knees in front of him, sliding his jeans down at the same time.
I honestly thought he’d stop me before I yanked his boxers down his legs but he let me.
After two long strokes, I took him in my mouth.
An animalistic groan escaped his lips and his head dropped back against the wall with a thud.
I worked my mouth around him and added in a hand.
With Sal, I didn’t need to do much. He’d never let anyone do this to him… for him. Being the first sent a shiver of pleasure down my spine.
His orgasm came on so hard and so completely, his legs shook under my hands but I still didn’t pull away until the moment of reckoning came and he pushed me back. Then he slid down the wall until his butt hit the floor. Those quaking legs refused to hold him up a moment longer.
I’d never had a guy do that before.
I needed to give my heart a second to slow down because this was like nothing I’d ever experienced either.
Once I could breathe semi-normally, I slowly crawled into his lap and buried my face in his neck. When he saw where I was headed, he pulled his shirt down to cover the mess I’d created.
Love by the Mile (Harbor Point Book 2) Page 14
