“Good afternoon,” he nodded at us. “Welcome to Trump International.”
“Thank you,” said Professor Hunter.
The inside of the hotel took my breath away. The floor was marble and the walls were wooden with mirrors and gold accents. Chandeliers hung from the ceiling. The counter, where a few men and women were standing, was also made of marble. Professor Hunter escorted me to one of the plush lounge chairs. I sat down and watched him go up to the counter and start talking to one of the women at the desk.
He handed her a card and leaned on the counter as he chatted with one of the men. It looked like he was completely in his element. I liked seeing him like this. The woman handed him his card back and gave him another card.
“Right this way, sir,” one of the men said and stepped toward the elevator.
Professor Hunter turned around to me. I quickly joined him and grabbed his hand.
“James, is that you?”
I looked up at the man who had just stepped off the elevator. He was probably Professor Hunter’s age. He was handsome and suave.
“Mason, good to see you.” The two of them shook hands.
“I see that you finally took my advice.” Mason looked at me. His gaze made my skin feel cold.
Professor Hunter lowered his eyebrows slightly. “No. I thought you would have heard. I’m getting divorced.”
Weird response. What advice was Mason referring to?
“Oh, I’m sorry, man,” Mason said. And then he started laughing. “Geez, that’s a lie. I’m not sorry at all. I’m surprised it lasted as long as it did.”
“You two never did get along.”
“No, not at all. So, who is this then?” Mason was looking at me again.
Before I could respond, Professor Hunter said, “This is my girlfriend, Penny.”
Mason smiled. “Girlfriend? You didn’t wait around long. Nice to meet you, Penny.” He put his hand out for me.
I shook it. “It’s nice to meet you. How do you two know each other?”
“James and I grew up together. Oh, the stories I could tell you…”
“Maybe another day,” Professor Hunter interjected and laughed.
“I’ll have to hold you to that,” I said.
“Well,” Mason said and looked down at his watch. “I have a meeting I need to get to. If you ever change your mind, you have my number, James.” Mason winked and walked away.
As soon as Mason was out of earshot, I said, “What was he talking about?”
“Yeah, you don’t want to know. Let’s go to our room.”
We stepped onto the elevator with the man from the front desk. There was instrumental music playing. I had heard of elevator music, but I had never been in an elevator that actually played it. I looked up at Professor Hunter. He was smiling at me. Whatever the surprise was, he seemed so excited. I liked when he looked happy. The playful grin on his face made him look younger.
The doors dinged and opened. The man guided us down an equally ornate hallway to our room.
“If there is anything else you need, please don’t hesitate to call the front desk. Turndown service is at nine. Have a good afternoon.”
“You too,” Professor Hunter said. He slid the access card into the reader and opened the door.
I quickly walked past him. “Oh my God.” I almost ran up to the window. We had the most amazing view of the city and of Central Park. It was beautiful. I had never seen anything like it.
“I told you that I could get you to like New York.” He pushed my hair to one side and kissed the back of my neck. His hands slid to my waist.
“It’s beautiful.”
“You should see it at night.” He kissed my neck again. His fingers traced the waistline of my jeans.
I turned around to face him. “Are we spending the night?”
“I haven’t decided yet.”
“But I have to go back. I have classes.”
“Me too.” He ran his nose down the length of mine and pressed his forehead against mine. “But I don’t want to go back.”
I wrapped my arms around his back and placed the side of my head against his chest. “Me either.” It was comforting to hear his steady breathing.
He ran his fingers through my hair.
I looked back up at him. “I know I’ve made mistakes. Thank you for forgiving me. Thank you for letting me back in.”
“Thank you for forgiving me.”
“You’re different here.”
“Different?”
“More relaxed, I guess.”
“Well I’m not Professor Hunter here. I’m just me.”
I smiled at him. “James. I still need to get used to saying that.”
“You do. Because Rob will give me hell if you go around calling me Professor Hunter.” He laughed.
“So, James. What would you do on a Monday after eating lunch alone?”
“I’d go back to work.”
“Was your office around here?”
“Well.” He looked out the window. “There.” He pointed to one of the buildings in the distance. It overlooked Central Park too.
“Is your headquarters still there?”
“It is.”
“Your company must do really well.”
“It’s not my company anymore. But yes, it does.” He smiled at me.
“And what about after work?”
He unfolded his arms from around me and walked over to the bed. I hadn’t noticed it before, but there was a white box on the bed with a red ribbon around it. “It would depend on my mood. Sometimes I’d grab drinks with some of the guys I worked with. Or I’d have dinner back at my place.”
“Do you still have an apartment here?”
“No. Not anymore.”
I could have asked him if he sold it. Or if Isabella lived there alone now. But I didn’t want to. I was going to focus on us. Nothing else mattered. “What did you do after dinner?”
“It would depend on my mood.” He lifted up the box. “Tonight it’s your decision.” He walked over to me and handed me the box.
“What are the options?”
“Open it.”
I pulled the red ribbon free and lifted off the top. I picked up the red, silky dress and let the box fall to the ground. The dress was adorned with a sheer red material with small flowers embroidered in it. It was probably the most expensive piece of clothing I had ever touched. “It’s beautiful.”
“So, I have tickets to an art gallery opening on the Upper East Side. And you can wear that. We can go shopping for whatever else you want. I already have reservations at Eleven Madison Park.”
“What is Eleven Madison Park?”