“Oh.” He looked up. “No, nothing at all.”
“Are you sure?”
“Are you asking me to kiss and tell, missy?”
“So there was a kiss?” I exclaimed.
He looked embarrassed. “It was very brief. I stopped it.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Why? Don’t you find her attractive?”
“Exceptionally. We aren’t well-suited, though. She seems to have something to prove. And that’s not me.”
I shrugged at his cryptic answer and turned my attention back to Jessa. “So why is it interesting that I’m a Taurus?”
“It’s not that,” she mused, touching a finger to her lips. “Both you and David are on the cusp of your signs. In fact, you’re both on the cusp of Gemini.”
“Is being on the cusp bad?” I asked.
“No, no. But two Gemini together can be, well, explosive. Volatile. Not usually a good combination. On the other hand, Cancer and Taurus is a great match.”
“Oh.” I smiled at her before glancing over at David, hoping he’d help me out. Didn’t he care if his family thought we were dating? “Well, David and I aren’t . . . I mean, we’re not . . .”
She raised her eyebrows at me. “You’re not?”
“No,” I said, shaking my head in confusion. I looked to David for backup, but he just stared at his sister. “I’m married,” I said, holding up my hand. All eyes dropped to my ring, and her face fell instantly.
“Oh,” she said quietly. “I’m sorry, I just assumed . . . crap, I’m really sorry.”
“It’s okay, no big deal,” I said with a reassuring smile.
“Uncle David,” Jessa’s son called across the grass.
David bolted upright and knocked his knee on the table. After a curse, he shot us a quick look before jogging over to the boy. Brian shifted uneasily. After a moment, he mumbled an excuse and took off after David.
“Well, this is uncomfortable,” Jessa said.
“Not even, don’t worry. I’m sure it’s hard to keep track of all David’s girlfriends.” She cocked her head at me, and my hand flew to my mouth. “I’m sorry, I didn’t meant to imply anything. Just that he’s so charming, I’m sure he’s had many girlfriends.”
Jessa released a fluid, heartfelt laugh. “Don’t worry, I know David’s something of a ladies’ man. But ‘girlfriends’ is the wrong word.” I waited for her to continue, but she just popped a grape into her mouth and looked over to the grass.
“Is that your son?”
“Alex—sorry I didn’t introduce you.”
“It’s okay, he’s busy. How old is he?”
“Just turned ten.”
I nodded and watched as David scooped him up effortlessly and spun him around until Alex started giggle-screaming. As soon as David released him, Alex stumbled sideways and fell to the ground laughing. David leaned his hands on his knees and said something to Brian, who burst into laughter. David’s head swung in our direction then, a carefree smile plastered on his face. He really was blindingly beautiful when he smiled, especially when it was directed right at me.
“I’m surprised,” Jessa said.
“I’m sorry?” I asked, reluctantly breaking from my adulation.
“That you’re married. You and David seem to have a connection. I certainly haven’t seen him look at someone like that . . . ever.”
I exhaled audibly and fingered the hem of my spandex tank top, trying unsuccessfully to avoid her stare.
“Brian has the idea that your being here today is a coincidence. Is it?” Jessa’s eyes came alive with questions, and I was afraid of the answers she might read in mine. I felt scarily close to confessing everything to her—she seemed so warm and understanding and disconnected from my life. I grasped at words, opening and closing my mouth like a goldfish.
Judy appeared suddenly, rescuing me from any spontaneous confessions. “Hot dog or burger, girls?”
“Burger for me,” Jessa chimed.
I nodded my agreement.
“Two burgers,” Judy called to her husband, and she climbed onto the bench. She sat up straight, brushing dark hair off her shoulder and flashing a colossal ring that dominated her slender fingers. “So, Olivia, where are you from?”
“I grew up in Dallas, but I moved here after college.”
“Oh? You don’t strike me as a Southern girl.”
“I get that a lot,” I said with a laugh.
“Where’d you go to school?”
“Notre Dame. Your husband went there, right?” I recalled my conversation with David the last time we’d had burgers. “My dad, too.”
“How funny,” she exclaimed. “Ger, Olivia here attended Notre Dame.”
Gerard brightened visibly and called, “A fellow Leprechaun. That’s my girl!”
I couldn’t help but smile back at his enthusiasm.
“We tried to get David to go there, but for some reason he chose Yale instead,” Judy said, laughing.
“You must be so proud of him,” I said. “He’s done very well for himself.”
“We are, but we never had any doubt he’d succeed. David has always excelled at the things he puts his mind to. He’s very motivated, sometimes to a fault.”
“It’s true,” Jessa said. “When we were in elementary school, he cried when he found out he could only receive the Student of the Month award once.”
I giggled into my hand just as the three boys descended on the table. Alex climbed up between Jessa and me as David and Brian sat across from us.
“Who are you?” Alex asked.
“I’m Olivia.” I smiled down at him. “Nice to, um, meet you,” I said, offering my hand.
He made a sputtering noise with his lips, sending spittle onto my top.
“Alex,” Jessa scolded. “That’s not polite.”
“It’s fine,” I said, waving him off. “He can’t possibly get more saliva on me than Sofie already has.”
Alex gave me a narrow-eyed look before grasping an iPad from the table and diving into it.
What was that for?
“Watch this,” David said to me, then turned to his nephew. “Hey, Alex.”
“Huh.” Alex snorted, his fingers gliding across the screen expertly.
“How old are you?”
“Huh.”
“Where do you go to school?” David asked.
“Huh.”
“Alex.”
“Huh.”
“Do you have a girlfriend?”
Alex jerked his head up. “No way, yuck,” he exclaimed before returning his eyes to the screen.
We laughed. David was a good uncle, that much was obvious. It hit me that perhaps he liked children and wanted some of his own one day.
“Come and get it,” Gerard said, indicating to the barbeque.
I went to stand, but David waved me down. “Burger?” he asked, and I nodded. He left the table, clapped his dad on the back, and loaded our burgers onto two plates.
Brian fixed his twinkling eyes on me just as David set down my plate. “Ah, the question of the hour. What does the mysterious Olivia Germaine take on her burger? Can I guess?”
With all eyes on me, I nodded. He rubbed his hands together.
“Ketchup,” he said, moving the bottle in front of me. “Because red is the color of love.” He paused, and David rolled his eyes before taking off almost half his burger in one bite.
“Not onions,” Brian murmured, “for that would make her lovely eyes cry.” I blushed furiously as Jessa giggled. “And sauerkraut is much too sour for such a sweet creature.” He hummed to himself as he looked over the offerings. “Yes to relish, because I know she has a naughty side.” He winked at me. David was openly glaring at Brian now, and Jessa watched her brother intently. “To top it off, lettuce, extra crispy, and a touch of mayo. How’d I do?”
I was about to respond when David swallowed his food and cut me off. “Wrong. Ketchup, mustard, pickles, tomatoes.”
He’d remembered how I’d taken
my burger during our lunch months ago. I smiled and emptied some ketchup onto my patty. “David wins.”
“Bummer,” Brian said.
“Dude,” David said, “what the fuck is naughty about relish?”
Brian looked thoughtful. “Haven’t you ever relished a lady?”
“Boys,” Judy admonished, gesturing at Alex. “Language.”
“You just pulled that out of your ass,” David mumbled and Brian grinned, seemingly pleased with his quick wit.
I sighed happily. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been to a family barbeque, and I was enjoying the warmth of the Dylans’ bubble. When it came time for me to go, I was reluctant. I thanked them for their hospitality while David brought Sofie and Canyon over.
“I’ll walk you,” he said, fisting both leashes.
I nodded and turned to wave once more at the group.
“He’s gorgeous,” I said, stooping to run a hand along Canyon’s black and tan fur. “I wanted a German Shepherd when I was younger.”
“I’d get one of my own if I could.”
“I’ve never had a dog,” I said wistfully. “My dad didn’t have the time or patience to take care of one. But I love them.” I sighed.
“Everything all right?” he asked.
“Yes. You’re great with Alex.”
David shifted the leashes from one hand to the other. “He makes it easy.”
I stood. “I like your family.”
“They like you, too.”
“You don’t know that,” I teased, bumping him with my shoulder and then withdrawing, embarrassed by the contact rush.
“Of course I do. I never would’ve invited you if I didn’t think they would.”
“Okay,” I accepted, because I desperately wanted it to be true. That this lovely family might think I was a good person meant a great deal to me. When David’s and my naked and entangled bodies flashed before my eyes, the blood drained from my face.
Good people don’t cheat on their husbands, I reminded myself.
I took the leash. “I have to go.”
“Thank you for coming. I’m glad you did.”
I held up my open hand in a wave before turning and retreating down the path.
I was also glad that I’d gone. There was an element of the afternoon that had been long missing in my life. Any time spent with David seemed to emphasize the things that hadn’t been there before. Simplicity. Effortlessness. And on the other end of the spectrum, passion. I’d learned today that the passion between us didn’t only live between the sheets. It was a different kind of passion, but it was there. The desire to be around him, to feed off his energy. When he wasn’t next to me, I longed for him. I thought about it all the way home with a smile.
When I got back to the apartment, I wiped the arrogant grin off my face. Bill glanced up to greet me before turning back to his paperwork. It wasn’t news that Bill and I didn’t have a very passionate relationship, but it was loving and stable. Then again, Bill wasn’t the type to get passionate about much, except maybe sports. And even then, it was passive in its own way.
I had seen what passion could do to a relationship. My mother had been irrational, senseless when it came to my father. She’d let her emotions dictate her life, and that had ultimately driven their marriage into the ground.
I’d never questioned which way was the right way before. I’d always known I would choose reliability and stability over the alternative. The alternative meant a lifetime of mess—fights, pain, insecurity. I tried not to picture that kind of life with David as I watched Bill at the kitchen table. Could David even be faithful to one person? Did the spark between us come from him, because it was the type of person he was? And did that mean everyone felt it in his presence?
Sure, for two people with as much heat as we had, there was bound to be mess. It was inevitable. But there’d also be intensity, craving, impatience. There would be passion.
13
In a baby blue party dress, Gretchen twirled when I called her name. “I’m so glad you’re here,” she said as I approached the entrance to The Revelin hotel, which was flanked by security. “I need another drink.”
“You’re not working?” I asked.
“No, Revelin’s not my client,” she said, crooking her elbow with mine. She guided me inside with a quick step. “And don’t try to tell me you didn’t know this was David Dylan’s project. Sneaky bitch.”
I bit my lip and considered feigning innocence, but she’d likely see through it. Tonight was the soft opening of David’s hotel, an invite-only trial run. I’d been to the site once before with David, when it’d been under construction, and the exterior alone had had me envisioning sultry black sand beaches. That concept was even more prevalent now as I scanned the interior. Onyx-colored marble floors veined with pearly silver spanned the lobby, flanked by large aquariums with unnaturally blue water. Even the fish matched the interior.
Someone dressed in head-to-toe black directed us toward a doorway. I gasped as I realized the aquariums connected, and we passed under the glass bottom into a sensual lounge. Darker than the lobby and with low-hanging glass chandeliers, the space glowed ethereal. Red velvet seating lined the room, inviting and attractive against shadowy walls.
Gretchen managed to conjure up two drinks, handing me one. “I see sexy Liv came out to play tonight,” she said, raising her eyebrows at my black, strapless, skintight jumpsuit that proudly displayed my slight but full cleavage.
I smiled. With heavy eyeliner, straight hair, and glossy pink lips, I said, “I’m channeling seventies glam.”
We clinked glasses. “Where’s Bill?” she asked as she took a sip.
“He went north with some friends for the weekend.”
“He fucking loves fishing, doesn’t he?”
I laughed. “What he loves is getting out of the city . . . and yes, fishing, too.”
“You’d think he’d grown up in the country or something.” She checked her phone. “Wait here. I have to get Greg at the door.”
I drifted over to the aquarium that separated the lounge from the lobby, drawn in by the comforting blue glow. I tasted my drink, Belvedere and cranberry, I guessed, while gazing at the aimless fish.
Bill actually had grown up on a small farm an hour outside the city where his very Catholic parents still lived. He worked hard now because they’d instilled that in him as a child. His weekends had been spent with his parents, tending to things around the farm. During the week, they’d had him booked solid with all sorts of lessons, tutoring, extracurricular classes, and a part-time job.
He’d had one long-term relationship before we’d met. He didn’t talk about her often, but I knew he hadn’t been the one to end it. In the beginning of our relationship, he’d given me the impression that he’d intended to marry her. Like any girl learning about her boyfriend’s ex would have, I wondered how things would’ve been different if she hadn’t broken it off.
I brought my glass up to my lips but jumped when I felt a presence behind me. I cursed as alcohol splashed on my chest, one drop sliding between my cleavage.
“Olivia,” David greeted, drawing up next to me.
“How do you that?” I mumbled, accepting a napkin from him and mopping my skin.
“What are you doing here?” he asked, his voice frayed with irritation.
I balled up the napkin and tucked some of my hair behind my ear. “I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
I sighed and snuck a glance up at him. “Gretchen invited us.”
His expression remained unreadable as his gaze followed the fish. He blinked down, his eyes lingering over my outfit. They swooped up to my face, and he took a measured sip from his glass. “Well, you never fail to impress, Olivia. Never.”
I didn’t know how to take the wryness in his voice. He remained impassive with one hand deep in his pocket and the other curled tightly around his glass.
“Um,” I said, trying not to sound intimidated. �
��The hotel turned out wonderfully. You must be so pleased.”
He snorted and nodded to my half-empty glass. “What are you having?”
“Trying to get me drunk, are you?” I teased. “That’s not very gentlemanly.”
“Who gave you this idea that I’m such a gentleman?” He leaned in closely and whispered, “Because they were entirely mistaken.”
I inhaled deeply at his liquor-spicy breath on my skin. A wolfish grin before he strolled away let me know he’d noticed my reaction. This wasn’t the same restrained David I had been dealing with lately. This was the David in Lucy’s office, who was growing impatient. David from the cold stairwell, who took what he wanted.
I followed him, lured by his words, hooked by his trailing scent. “How’s that view at night anyway?” I asked when we’d reached the bar.
He cleared his throat and looked over my head. “Where’s your husband?”
“Fishing,” I said flatly. David’s brown eyes dropped to mine, and he surveyed me like a predator would—with a tense jaw and a lusty, narrow-eyed stare. I wavered slightly in the fog of his maleness, out in full force tonight. The thrill he inspired in me held as much fear as it did excitement. He scoffed and uttered something to himself.
“What?” I asked.
He only handed me my drink and turned to tip the bartender.
“Hey, you must be Bill,” I heard from behind us. David turned and stared at Greg’s hand as it hung between them. “Incredible,” said Gretchen’s on-again, off-again boyfriend. “You are exactly as I pictured.”
“That is most definitely not Bill,” Gretchen muttered as she walked up.
I introduced them, and David finally shook Greg’s hand with a firm pump and a curt nod. His mood was noticeably dark and edgy, as if he might explode any moment. It made me feel edgy and slightly out of control; I wanted to know exactly what it would take to make him snap—and what would happen when he did.
“Ugh. Great.” Gretchen’s sarcasm wormed its way into my thoughts. I followed her glare to Brian Ayers, who escorted a pretty girl our way. “What’s he doing here?”
Brian adjusted a patterned bowtie and pushed a hand through his blond locks as he approached.
“What happened between you two, anyway?” I asked quietly.
Cityscape Affair Series: The Complete Box Set Page 41
