“I told you that I wasn’t good for you, yet here you are. Besides, you had plenty of other options.”
“I didn’t.”
“Tyler and Brendan?”
“I was always going to come back to you. I can’t stop thinking about you. I can’t and I won’t.”
“See… hopeless romantic.”
“I don’t like that phrase. It makes it sound like we’re doomed.”
“I think we’ve already been through the hardest things.”
“I hope so.”
His lowered his eyebrows slightly as he looked at me. “So really, the question is why did you choose me?”
“You’re joking, right?”
“I’m curious.”
“It seems as though you have plenty of self confidence.”
“Is that one of the things you like?”
“Yes. I like that you always seem so sure of what you want. Even if what you want scares you.”
He put his other hand on top of mine, so that mine was sandwiched between his. He wanted to hear why I loved him. He needed validation too.
“You know how good looking you are. You’re classically tall, dark, and handsome. When I see you I get butterflies in my stomach. And when you touch me I get chills.” I suddenly felt nervous. “I’ve never been so attracted to someone in my life.
“That’s how I feel about you.”
I laughed.
“Penny. I do.”
I looked into his eyes. He was being sincere. I wanted him to know how I felt too. I wasn’t done telling him what I loved about him. “You’re also dark and brooding and mysterious. But when you let me in, when I get to see glimpses of the real you, I fall harder and harder. Like the juice box thing.”
“You like that my parents didn’t let me drink apple juice out of a box?”
“No, I like that you told me that. You’re cute.”
His eyebrows lowered again. “I’m not cute.”
“Yes you are. You’re being adorable right now.”
He smiled at me.
“And I love that you’re…” I looked down at his hands on mine, “… domineering.”
He laughed. “You mean in bed?”
I shook my head. “Yes, in bed. But in everything else too. I’m indecisive. I’m so bad at choosing things.”
“You chose me.”
“I did. But you saw all the stupid stuff I did along the way,” I said.
“Which was my fault.”
“No. It was because I’m a mess.”
He smiled at me. “Do you know what I am currently enjoying most of all?”
“About me?”
“Yes about you.”
I gulped. He was giving me that hungry look. The look that made me want him. I crossed my legs under the table. “What are you enjoying most?”
“How insatiable you are.”
“Insatiable? How so? By wanting to spend time with you?”
“In bed, mostly.”
Oh my God. “I don’t think that’s true.”
He laughed. “If I wanted to, I could have you coming in the bathroom before our pizza arrived.”
When he talked like that to me it was hard to think about anything else. I wanted him. And he knew it.
He smiled at me. “Or maybe I could do it right here. I believe I owe you an orgasm with an audience after the office blowjob incident.”
I gulped. “But you liked that.”
“I did. And you’d like this.” His foot brushed against my leg. “Besides, I promised you I’d retaliate.” He hitched his foot on a leg of my chair and he pulled it closer to the table. The chair squeaked against the floor.
“I thought you were joking.” My heart rate was accelerating. Just the way he was looking at me made me wet.
“I would never joke about pleasing you.” One of his hands left mine and disappeared beneath the table. A second later it was on my knee. His skilled fingers slid up my thigh. His eyes grew darker with each inch his hand moved higher.
“Professor Hunter…”
At that moment our pizza came to the table.
“James! It’s so good to see you,” a short woman with an Italian accent said. She placed our pizza down on the table.
Professor Hunter removed his hand from my thigh and shook her hand. “It’s been ages, Marie. I was in the city for the day and this was the first place I stopped.”
“We all miss you here. And who is this?” Marie turned to me.
“This is my girlfriend, Penny.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” I said. I reached out my hand to shake hers.
“No, no, the pleasure is mine.” She leaned down and hugged me. “Every Monday James would come here and have lunch. Always alone. Always glum. I’m so glad he has finally met someone. You better make him happy,” she said in a voice a little more serious than I expected. When Marie released me from her hug, she smiled at Professor Hunter. “It’s so good to see you, James.”
“You too, Marie,” James said as she walked away. He put his hand back on my thigh. “Another time then. I will get you.”
I smiled at him. “Why did you eat lunch alone every Monday?” I asked.
“Just a habit.” He picked up a slice of pizza and put it on my plate.
“Why did she think you were single? You still wore your ring when you lived here, didn’t you?”
He sighed. “No, actually.”
“Why?”
“I stopped wearing my wedding ring the first time I confronted Isabella about her infidelity. I thought she’d feel threatened and stop. I thought maybe the idea of me sleeping around would bother her. It didn’t.”
“Did you? Sleep around?”
“No.” His voice was stern.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to pry.”
“It’s okay. I want you to be able to ask me questions. But I don’t want to talk about her. I just want to focus on us.”
“Okay.” Our lunch had taken a rather quick turn. I wanted to go back to our happy bubble. I wanted people to stop interfering. “So this is the best pizza, huh?” I held up my slice.
“Fold it before you eat it. Trust me.”
I followed his instructions and took a bite. Mmm!
“What’s the verdict?”
“It’s freaking fantastic.”
***
Professor Hunter pulled his car up to a tall building. A valet rushed over.
“What’s this?”
“Trump International.”
I looked up at the gold veranda. It said Trump International Hotel and Tower, also in gold. It was a big glass, modern building. “Why are we going to a hotel?”
“I have a surprise for you.” He winked and climbed out of the car.
I loved how mysterious he was. I loved the surprises. I loved him.
Someone rushed out of the hotel to greet us. Professor Hunter handed him the car keys and then opened the door for me. He grabbed my hand and walked with me to the entrance. A man in a suit opened up the door for us.