Building Our Love (Griffin Brothers #2) (16 page)

“No problem. I’ll
box these up and be right back.”

She grabs our plates
and walks away. Ryan looks menacing as he turns to look at each
person sitting with us. “I’m not sure what to even say right now.
You had the audacity to expect me to pay, which is why I’m guessing
you all ordered the most expensive of everything. Then you insulted
the woman I love. You’re all a piece of work.”

“You can afford it.
Everyone knows that the Griffins are richer than God,” Tina says
with a sneer. “And it’s not our fault that you’re dating the
biggest slut in Chicago.”

“It must be nice to
live in a little bubble where you believe everything you read or are
told and judge people without getting to know them,” I say, trying
to not jump over the table and punch the bitch.

The waitress comes by
with the boxes and the check. Ryan has her wait while he pays her in
cash, telling her that he doesn’t need change. We both stand and
walk out without saying another word to any of them. We wait for the
car to pull around, holding hands.

“I’m so sorry,
Chlo. I had no idea they would be such a bunch of assholes.”

“It’s not your
fault. I do have a reputation that tends to proceed me.”

“You should really do
something about that. Tell your side of the story. I’m sure you
could find a ton of journalists who hate Adam and his family and
would love to tell the truth.”

“I can’t. Besides,
it’s not worth it. You know the truth, and that’s all that
matters.”

“I’d love to kick
Adam’s ass, though. What kind of person does that?”

“The kind who only
cares about himself and what he looks like.” If Ryan only knew how
much worse Adam had been, he’d probably be on the next plane to
Chicago.

The car pulls up, and
we get in to head back to the hotel. We have the driver stop at a
little store so we can pick up drinks and then go back to the room.
We change into robes and cuddle on the couch, sharing desserts and
just being together. I think Ryan knows that I just need this
tonight. When I yawn, he picks me up and carries me to the bed where
he wraps me in his arms as I fall asleep.

Ryan

Today’s meetings went
well. We made sure everyone had their questions answered and were
ready to continue with the work. We’ll be back next month for the
opening, but with Sam and Danny’s wedding, we won’t see the
finished building until the day of the employee reveal. It’s late
afternoon before we finish with everyone and Owen, Chloe, and I can
talk amongst ourselves. We head out to wait for our car and Owen’s
taxi. He’s going home tonight. I told him that he could take the
jet, and we would fly commercial back to Vegas.

“How was your dinner
last night?”

“Don’t ask,”
Chloe says.

“That bad?”

“Well, if you ignore
the fact that they insulted Chloe and then ordered the most expensive
things on the menu, expecting me to pay, I would say it was a
wonderful evening.”

“What the fuck? They
insulted you, Chlo?”

“Yeah. The words
‘biggest slut in Chicago’ were used.”

“You kicked some ass,
right bro?”

“No. But I did make
them pay for their own dinner.”

“That was very mature
of you. Are they off the invite list for the opening?”

It’s Chloe who
answers. “Yep. I took them off this morning and emailed their
assistants with the info.” She looks at me. “I thought you’d be
fine with that.”

“I am. And again, I’m
sorry about the whole thing.”

“You have nothing to
apologize for. Besides, you made it up to me last night.”

“Last night, huh?
What exactly did you do to make it up to her, Ry? Did you borrow the
jet?”

“It’s none of your
fucking business, Owe. But, no. I did not borrow the jet. Aren’t
you a little old to be always teasing your brothers about their sex
lives?”

“Nope,” he says,
grinning. “You guys give me too many good things to use against
you.”

“The plane is my
fault, Owe. If you’re going to tease anyone, it should be me,”
Chloe tells him with a smile.

“I won’t tease you
about sexual things, Chloe. I reserve that honor for my brothers.”

“We totally
appreciate it, too,” I tell him sarcastically, reaching out to
smack him on the back of his head.

“Ow! Damn, Ry.” He
turns to Chloe. “I have to head to the airport, but I want to tell
you again how much your faith in me means to me, Chlo.” He hugs her
and then fist bumps me as he heads out to his waiting taxi.

Chloe turns to me. “Are
we going to the Space Needle tonight?”

“Yes. In fact, we’re
eating dinner in the restaurant there.”

“Really? Thanks, Ry!”
She leans up and kisses me.

I hear our car pull up,
so I make myself break the kiss. “Let’s go back to the hotel so
you can leave me speechless again with tonight’s dress.”

“How do you know
you’ll like it?”

“Because you’ll be
wearing it. And I like you.”

“I like you, too.”

I feel like I’m 17
again, dating the girl who stole my heart. It feels good. We get back
to the hotel and prepare for our date.

The dress that Chloe is
wearing tonight is different from her other ones, but just as sexy.
It’s a little fitted on top, but then flows out and is loose
fitting. It’s white with what look like blue slashes of paint. She
has on dark blue sandals with many straps crisscrossing over each
other. The straps end at her ankle, and there is a zipper in the
back. Images of her legs wrapped around me while she is wearing only
those shoes are going through my mind as we take the elevator up to
the restaurant.

“You look kind of
intense. Is everything okay?” Chloe whispers to me as we step off
of the elevator.

“Yeah, sweetheart.
I’m good.”

“Are you sure? We can
skip dinner if you aren’t into it. I don’t mind.”

I move behind her and
press up against her back, leaning down to whisper in her ear. “I’m
definitely into it. I want to be here with you. I’m just having
some impure thoughts about you and those shoes that you’re wearing.
Since this is a family restaurant, I have to control myself.”

“I’ll leave them on
later.”

Before I can respond,
our table is ready and we’re being seated. I was able to get us a
table by one of the windows so Seattle is spread out before us. “Wow.
The view is amazing. Thanks for doing this for me, Ry.”

“I love that I can do
this for you. I just wish we had more time to explore the places that
you would like to see around the world. I can’t take too much time
off at work, though.”

“Where would you want
to go if we had unlimited time?”

“I would love to go
to London. I’ve been there on business, but I never got to go to
the museums or do any of the tourist stuff.”

“So we’ll plan to
go there one day and be tourists. We don’t have to set a date now.
Just whenever we can get away.”

“I’d love that,
Chlo. It means a lot that you understand that I can’t set a date
right now. We’ll go there one day, though. I promise.”

“I’ll hold you to
that. Now,let’s enjoy this dinner so I can take you back to the
hotel and have my way with you. While I keep my shoes on.”

I’m so lucky to have
Chloe in my life. The pain that I felt when she left me, and again
when she came back has faded. I love her so much, and I know that she
loves me. I can’t imagine anything tearing us apart again. I won’t
let anything come between us.

* * *

Chloe

Last night was great.
Having dinner at the Space Needle was really cool. We went up to the
observation deck afterward. When we got back to the hotel, we
couldn’t wait for each other, so Ryan took me against the wall with
my dress and his shirt and tie still on. It was hard and fast and as
amazing as ever. I dug my heels in his ass as I came, which made him
come so hard that he stumbled with me in his arms. Ryan woke me up to
make love to me nice and slow this morning. Now we’re getting
dressed to go out and do whatever he has planned.

“Are you sure that
jeans and a t-shirt are alright for today?”

“Definitely. I want
you to be comfortable. Cute shoes by the way.”

“Thanks. Yasmin
convinced me to buy them.” I tell him as I look down at my sparkly,
patterned Toms.

“I’m not surprised.
She lives in those shoes at work. So, are you ready to go?”

I tell him yes, and we
head down to the car. We drive for a little while and pull up in
front of the Pacific Science Center. I’m not sure what we’re
doing here since I know Ryan isn’t big into science and neither am
I. I’ll go pretty much anywhere with him, even if it’s boring, so
I just plan to go along with this. He buys our tickets, and we head
inside.

Ryan walks with a
purpose and stopped outside a building with dirty glass windows. I
see the sign that says Butterfly Houseand I know why he brought me
here. “Oh, Ry. Wow. Just wow.”

“Are you ready to see
some real butterflies?” I nod, and he continues. “They may not
land on us, but we can at least see them.”

“I won’t lie. It
would be cool if one landed on me, but I’m good with just seeing
them.”

We head inside and pass
through the double doors. Butterflies are everywhere, and it’s
beautiful to see. We walk around, and none land on me. I ask one of
the workers to take a picture of us with some butterflies in the
background. As we near the exit door, a beautiful monarch lands on
Ryan’s shoulder. I move slowly closer so I can get a better look. I
know not to touch it, but I pull out my phone and snap a pic. After a
few seconds, it flutters away.

“I’m sorry it
landed on me and not you,” Ryan says after we walk out.

“Your shoulders are
more impressive than mine, and that was totally cool. Thank you so
much for this.”

“It was cool, and
you’re very welcome. Do you want to check out the gift shop before
we leave?”

“I would love to. I
hope they have butterfly things.”

They do have quite a
few butterfly items, and Ryan insists on buying one of everything for
me. We go back out to the car and drive to our next destination. I’m
surprised to see that it’s a glass blowing shop. We go inside, and
Ryan asks for something that he has already pre-purchased while I
walk around. I’m captivated by a large piece of wall art made out
of blue and gray glass with yellow accents. It reminds me of the
décor in our building.

“You like this piece,
Chloe?” Ryan asks as he walks up next to me.

“Yeah. It reminds me
of the building.”

“You want it for the
building?”

“No.”

“So you don’t want
it?”

“I do. But not for
the building. For…umm.”

“Umm isn’t a place.
Tell me, Chlo. You know you can tell me anything.”

I turn to the side and
look him in the eye. “I want it for our house. I don’t know where
since we haven’t worked on it, but I know that I want it there.”

“Here is your
purchase, Mr. Griffin.” A guy comes up and hands Ryan a box.

“Thanks. I’d like
to buy this piece too. Can you ship it to me?”

“Sure. Let me ring
you up and get your information.”

They take care of the
transaction, and then Ryan starts to walk out of the shop. “Aren’t
you going to show me what you bought?”

“Not yet,” he says
with a smile.

We drive toward the
waterfront, and I know that we’re going to Pike Place. I’m so
excited to see the fish throwing and to browse the stalls and shops.
I pull Ryan inside as soon as we are out of the car. He’s laughing
as he hold my hand tight. We see some fish being thrown and find some
cute little gifts to take back for our friends and his family. I also
pick up things to send to my niece and nephew in Chicago.

Ryan asks if we can try
a Spanish restaurant for lunch. He says they are supposed to have a
great view as well as good food. I agree, and we have a pretty
awesome lunch. We sit next to each other so we can hold hands and
kiss in between eating and talking. I love spending time with my man.

We walk around a little
more and grab some thick cheesecakes from a bakery. After we’re
done, we get back in the car and drive to the pier. When we get
there, our driver opens the trunk and pulls out our luggage.

“Where did that come
from? We didn’t pack.”

“The concierge took
care of it. I wanted it to be a surprise that we’re leaving
Seattle. I thought it would be nice to spend the rest of the weekend
in Victoria. Is that okay with you?”

“It’s more than
okay. I’ve heard that it’s beautiful there.”

“Me too. And it is
British Columbia so it’s kind of like a piece of England.”

He grabs our bags, and
we make our way to the ferry. It takes around three hours to get to
Victoria. We spend the time doing some duty free shopping, eating a
light dinner, and cuddling on deck. It feels so good to be curled up
in Ryan’s arms.

Ryan

The ferry docks and I
point out our hotel. I know Chloe likes modern and funky, but I
wanted to splurge for the nicest hotel in Victoria, so I booked us
into the Fairmount Empress. It’s definitely not modern or funky. My
worry fades away when I see her smile.

“It looks like a
castle!”

“I know it’s not
modern, but I wanted to splurge, and I was hoping you’d like it.”

“I do. I bet it’s
beautiful inside.”

“Let’s go check it
out.”

We get into a waiting
taxi and arrive at the hotel within a few minutes. The lobby is
ornate and beautifully done. The bellman shows us to our suite which
features a living room and a bedroom with a fireplace. It’s all
very classic.

“This is not what I’d
usually go for, but I love it,” Chloe tells me.