Building Our Love (Griffin Brothers #2) (15 page)

We head back to the
hotel to get changed for dinner. I let Chloe pick the restaurant for
tonight. She took it seriously and searched the internet, deciding on
a place called Purple Café. I have just pulled a polo on when I look
over and see Chloe zipping up a sleeveless white dress covered in an
artsy print. The zipper goes all the way up the front.

“I think I am in love
with that dress.”

“You like the front
zipper, huh?”

“Yes, I do. I’m
going to be thinking of pulling it down with my teeth all throughout
dinner.”

“Now I’ll be
thinking of that, too.”

“Good. We’ll have a
nice dinner, and then I’ll bring you back here to ravish you all
night.”

“That sounds like a
wonderful plan to me.”

We head down to the car
and go to the restaurant. It’s really cool with brick walls and a
large spiral staircase surrounding the floor to ceiling wine racks.
We peruse the menu for a few minutes and I have to laugh when Chloe
orders the lobster mac and cheese.

“What?” She says
when the waitress leaves.

“You just really love
lobster mac and cheese don’t you?”

“Yes. I do. Is there
something wrong with that?”

“Nothing at all,
sweetheart.” I pick up her hand and bring it to my lips.

“So, are you going to
tell me the plans you’ve made for this weekend yet?”

“Nope. But you
brought your passport and different kinds of clothes, right?”

“Yes. I brought
business clothes for our meetings, casual date dresses like this one,
jeans, cocktail dresses, and even a club appropriate dress.”

“Perfect. Is there
anything in particular that you want to see here? Some places we may
be able to visit after work the next couple of days.”

“I definitely want to
see the Space Needle, but that would be cool at night. I would also
like to go to Pike Place Market. Other than that, I’m totally open
to whatever you have planned.”

“That will work. We
can go to the Space Needle for dinner one night. Then, we can do
something I have planned on Saturday morning, hit Pike Place to look
around and have lunch, then on to the next part of my plan.”

Our dinner is really
good, and we share a brownie sundae dessert after. We head back to
the hotel and get some good use out of the shower. Chloe definitely
shows me how much she appreciates me letting her pick the hotel and
restaurant for tonight.

Chloe

I’m so excited that
we’re going to see the building today. I can’t wait to see how
our plans are coming together. I put on another artsy patterned
dress, but this one is a little more work appropriate with a scoop
neck and longer hemline. I’m wearing flats since we’re going into
a construction site. Ryan’s dressed in khakis and a green button
down shirt with the Griffin logo. We eat a quick breakfast from room
service since we overslept a little, and then head out with Owen.

When we pull up to the
building, my jaw drops. I mean that literally. I knew that it was
going to be amazing, but I had no idea how much it would affect me to
see it. The bottom floor is all windows except for where Owen’s
conceptual art made of computer parts juts out at different places.
The rest of the floors flow into different angles, with more windows
than walls to let the natural light in. There are more pieces by Owen
intermittently placed at different floors.

“Wow, guys. It’s
amazing.”

“Thanks. And thank
you for suggesting that we use Owe’s art out here, too, instead of
just inside,” Ryan says.

“Yeah, Chloe. Thanks
for that and for letting me do my thing instead of the usual boring
corporate stuff.”

“You’re both
welcome, and I love it when you do your art the way you like. Your
other stuff is good, but when you go all out, it’s beyond
brilliant.”

I mean it. Owen is so
talented, and I feel like his usual corporate work holds him back.
But, it’s not my place to speak for him. As much as I’ve always
stood up for him throughout the years, this is something that he
needs to do for himself.

“Let’s go inside
and see your work, Chlo,” Ryan says.

We walk in and
everything is just like I imagined it would be. I know that I drew it
and they followed my plans, but to see it for real is beyond words. I
stare at the reception area with the glass spiral staircase behind
it. Encased in each stair are computer parts and different variations
of the letter G. The stained glass griffin is filling the central
atrium with color, and the indoor waterfall looks breathtaking, even
without the water running.

“Wow back at you,
Chloe. This is the shit,” Owen tells me.

“Thanks, Owe.” I’m
beaming with pride.

Reuben, who oversees
all of the Griffin construction projects, comes over to greet us.
“Well, what do you think? We’re right on schedule, and it’s
looking really good, I think.”

“It looks great,
Reub. I want you to meet Chloe. She designed the interiors and also
gave us the idea of using Owen’s artwork on the outside of the
building.”

“Hey, Chloe. It’s
great to meet you. Your designs are amazing. Let me show you what
else we’ve finished.”

We spend the rest of
the morning walking the building, going over what still needs to be
done. We stop and grab lunch at a nearby deli. After we eat, Reuben
pulls out the blueprints and my drawings and has us clarify things
that he has questions about. We finish up around 3 p.m. I’m tired,
so I head back to the hotel for a nap while Ryan and Owen go to grab
a beer at a local pub with Reuben.

“I’ll see you in a
couple of hours, sweetheart,” Ryan says and then kisses me before I
get into the town car.

* * *

Ryan

“Chloe is one hot
chick, Ryan. How long have you known her?” Reuben asks me.

“Since she was 11 and
I was 14.”

“And you’re just
hitting that now?”

I stand up quickly
while Owen glares at Reuben. I lean down and get right in his face as
he shrinks down in his chair.

“Do not disrespect
her like that if you want to keep all of your vital organs
functioning. Chloe’s the only woman I’ve ever loved.”

“Sorry man, I thought
she was just one of your easy lays. You always have a different girl
around when you’re working on a project with me. Granted, none of
them have ever been wicked talented like Chloe, though. Her ideas for
the building are amazing.”

I sit back down. “Yes
they are and so is she. I’ll accept your apology, but know that if
you ever say anything out of line about her again, this will be the
last job you work on for us.”

“And I’ll help him
kick your ass. He won’t need the help, but I’ll do it anyway,”
Owen adds.

Our conversation is
awkward and stilted after that. I’m mad at Reuben for what he said
about Chloe and about me. Honestly, I’m also mad at myself for
knowing that he’s right about how I was before. I did look for
women who would just let me take them home. I was trying to forget
Chloe, but not replace her. There’s no one who could replace her.

I leave after one beer,
telling the guys that I have to go and get ready for dinner. Chloe
and I are having dinner with a couple of local architects and their
wives at Metropolitan Grill. I get to the hotel room and open the
door quietly so that I don’t wake Chloe up. I walk into the bedroom
and see her curled up on her side under the covers. I kick off my
shoes and join her, wrapping my arm around her as I snuggle in close.

“Is it time to get
up, Ry?” She asks in a sleepy voice.

“No, sweetheart. You
can sleep a little longer. I got back early.”

“Is everything okay?”

“Now that I’m here
with you, everything’s perfect.”

“I love you, Ry.”

“Love you too, Chlo.”

I pull out my phone and
set my alarm for 90 minutes from now. Then, I close my eyes and fall
asleep with my girl in my arms.

When my alarm goes off,
I wake up alone in bed. I see Chloe through the open bathroom door,
doing her hair. I stretch and then get up and go in there too. I come
up behind her, and she smiles at me in the mirror as she twists her
hair into a high bun, leaving some random curls falling around her
face. “You’re wearing your hair up?”

“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.”