Sweet Obsession: Windy City Kink, Book 1 (23 page)

“There’s a small water feature,” Sasha said. “Water adds to the positive flow of energy.”

“Chi,” Jack murmured.

She tipped her head and smiled.

“Sensei used to talk about that,” he said.

“Do you want to look around more?” Emma asked Jack. “Or have you seen enough?” She gave him a pointed look that made him grin.

“Let’s look around a bit more,” he said, taking her arm and separating her from Kevin. “I’ll see you later,” he said to Sasha. He would have been happy to sit there and talk more to her, but he had dragged his sister there so might as well spend a little time with her.

“Kevin’s an architect,” she chatted to him as they strolled around. “Isn’t that cool?”

“Yeah. So cool.”

She rolled her eyes at him but smiled.

“Did he ask you out?”

“He said he’d call. We exchanged numbers.”

“Huh.”

“Relax, Jack.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Seeing all the garden displays made him want his own rooftop patio done so he could enjoy it. It was getting closer and closer. He’d come up with the idea of having a party. Maybe he could pin Sasha down on a date and start planning things. He’d get Ines to help with the guest list and food and drinks.

He and Emma went for a drink after they left the show, taking advantage of the warm spring day to sit on an outdoor patio, then he took her home and returned to his place to change for dinner. He knew exactly where he was going to take Sasha.

Kevin answered the door when he rang the bell at their home. “Come on in,” he said. “We just got home a few minutes ago, so Sasha’s upstairs changing.”

Jack followed him into the living room. Last time he’d been there he’d been so distracted by Sasha in that black lace dress and her heels that he hadn’t really noticed their home. The condo was long and narrow, the main floor consisting only of the living room and kitchen, and he guessed a powder room behind a closed door. Shiny hardwood floors and deep baseboards painted white gave the rooms character. A feathery palm tree in a basket sat next to the big bay window looking onto the street, and a gray leather sectional in the corner faced a big screen television.

“I helped her take down her display and then we had to drop stuff off at her office,” Kevin explained. “Took longer than we thought. Want a drink?”

“Nah, thanks, I’m good.” He studied some framed black-and-white photographs on the wall. “Those are nice.”

“Thanks. I took them. Photography’s a hobby of mine.”

Jack nodded. Kevin sat on the couch and propped his feet on the coffee table. “So. Are you cool if I ask out your sister?”

Jack turned. He thought about it. His first reaction was to tell Kevin to stay the hell away from his sister. But he thought about how happy Emma had looked talking about Kevin. She liked him. She wanted him to call her.

He also thought about Sasha telling him Kevin was a good guy. And most importantly of all, the guy’d had the decency to ask him if he was cool with it. He didn’t have to do that. Maybe it wouldn’t have made any difference, but he’d asked.

“Yeah,” he said with a nod. “It’s cool. I mean, it’s up to her if she wants to see you.”

“True.” Kevin nodded. He gave Jack a sort of cautious look that puzzled Jack briefly. Then Kevin smiled. “But she will.”

Confident, but with the barest hint of uncertainty that, dammit, made Jack like him.

Sasha’s feet thudded lightly down the stairs into the living room. “Hi!” she said breathlessly. “Sorry I was taking so long. I wanted to change.”

“You looked great the way you were,” Jack said, his gaze moving over her.

“I didn’t know where we were going for dinner. Is this okay?”

She’d changed into a narrow pair of black pants, a T-shirt with a big sequined zebra head on the front and a little gray-and-black tweed jacket. “You look amazing. Perfect.”

“Okay. See you later, Kev.”

“Or not,” Kevin said with a smirk, reaching for the remote control sitting on the coffee table.

Sasha flashed Jack a look that made him smile.

“Or not,” he agreed, setting his hand on the small of her back.

“So where are we going?” she asked once in his car.

“Little place in Wicker Park. Sylvan.”

“I don’t know it.”

“Good. It’ll be a new experience for you.”

“That matters to you?”

He shrugged. “I’m the one who’s new in town.”

“You lived here for eighteen years.”

He glanced at her. “True. But in those eighteen years I sure never ate at restaurants like Concetta’s and Sylvan. Or attended gala openers at Navy Pier.”

After a short pause, she said slowly, “I suppose not.”

“So it’s cool to find somewhere nice that you don’t know and show
you
something new.”

Her smile made his chest ache a little.

He parked on a side street, totally lucking into a spot, and they walked around the corner to the restaurant. The front of it was tiny, just two large windows in a pale gray stone façade, and a bright red center door with a black-and-white awning above. Inside, smooth jazz music filled the air. A hostess wearing a short, tight black dress greeted them then led them to their table near a brick wall, a fire in the fireplace there casting a warm glow.

Sasha looked around the small restaurant. Big round wrought iron lamps held shades that looked like candles, illuminating the room with golden light that flattered deep yellow walls and terra-cotta tiles on the floor. Brown leather chairs surrounded dark wood tables, and every table was full, the small room boisterous with talk and laughter and clinking cutlery and glasses, and that jazz music.

“Nice,” she said, slipping her jacket off.

“The food’s amazing.”

Amusement curved her mouth as she picked up her menu. “You’ve turned into quite the foodie.”

“Nah. Like you said, I just like eating. As do you. Although I don’t have as much of a sweet tooth as you.”

“Few people do.”

He laughed. “The desserts are good here too.”

She nodded approvingly.

Jack decided on the rotisserie chicken and she chose the Alaskan halibut. He convinced her to share wood-grilled octopus as a starter. “Come on,” he cajoled. “Try it.”

She wrinkled her nose but agreed.

He also ordered a bottle of Sancerre, and when the pale golden wine had been poured, he lifted his glass to her. With a questioning look, she picked hers up and touched the rim to his.

“To getting to know each other again.”

Her smile went crooked. “Yes.”

“You know what’s weird?”

“What?”

“I do feel like I know you. As if the last twelve years wasn’t really that long.”

Her eyes went soft. She sipped her wine. “Really?”

“You know what I mean, don’t you.” It wasn’t a question. He knew she felt the same.

She shook her head. “No.”

“Bullshit.”

Her eyes widened. He grinned.

She swept a hand out. “You said it yourself. The Jack I knew didn’t come to restaurants like this. He didn’t order wood-grilled octopus and Sancerre. He didn’t drive a Jaguar and live in a thirty-four hundred square foot Gold Coast condo.”

“Those things aren’t me,” he protested. “Those are just…things. I’m still the same inside.”

“Are you?” She tipped her head. “Really? You seem different.”

“How?” He challenged her, lifting his chin, leaning forward.

“You’re a lot more confident. More patient in some ways, and yet in other ways, more aggressive. More…well, more everything.”

Satisfaction settled inside him. His fingers twirled the stem of his wine glass. “There. See? You do know me.”

Her mouth fell open, and then she smiled and shook her head.

“So your parents were trying to set you up with some guy.”

She laughed. “Yep.”

“And he works for your dad.”

“That’s right. Techie guy.”

His guts tightened. “Are you interested?”

“Hmmm.” She tapped her chin. “Let me think…no.”

He grinned. “Maybe you need a little more time to ponder that.”

“I’m sure he’s a very nice guy. And probably quite brilliant.”

“But…”

“Do I really have to go there? Surely you’re not that insecure that you need me to make comparisons.”

He leaned back in his chair and lifted his wine glass. “I don’t
need
it. But I’ll listen.”

“Your ego doesn’t need any stroking.”

“Heh. Maybe not. Other parts of me though…”

“Oh my God.”

“Go on. Tell me why you don’t want to go out with him.”

She didn’t say anything, just looked at him. And then the server brought their octopus.

Their meal stretched out over one hour and then another.

They shared a dessert of mascarpone cheesecake topped with berries and a balsamic vinegar reduction. Sharing might not have been quite accurate, since Jack took a couple of bites and let Sasha devour the rest. It was totally worth it to watch her face as she savored the cheesecake, eyes closing, cheeks hollowing, lips pouting. She even made little noises of pleasure that once again made him think of sex.

“That
is
what you sound like in bed,” he said softly.

Her eyes shot wide.

“It’s sexy as hell,” he added. Then abruptly, “Finish your dessert.”

She forked up the last bite, and suddenly Jack was in a hurry, lifting a hand for the check.

“What’s the rush?” she asked, dabbing her lips with the white napkin. He caught the gleam in her eyes.

He leaned forward. “I’m fucking horny as hell. I want to fuck you so bad I’m in pain. Wanna make you come just so I can hear those hot little sex noises you make, only louder because we’ll be alone in my bedroom. That’s what the rush is.”

Chapter Seventeen

Sasha’s pussy gave a hard squeeze at Jack’s words. “Oh, is that all?” she managed to say with nonchalance.

She loved his sexy smile, the flash of white teeth, the way his eyes crinkled. The way he focused all his attention on her made everything inside her melt.

He was right. She did feel like she knew him. And that scared her.

The waitress brought the credit card machine to the table and Jack punched in his PIN and a tip, then snatched the card out of it and stuffed it back in his wallet. “Let’s go.”

He led her out of the restaurant and out into the cool dark. Around the corner on the quieter side street, he stopped and edged her up against the brick wall of a building, arms on either side of her. A thrill zipped through her, and she gazed up at him as he closed his eyes and lowered his mouth to hers in a crushing kiss.

His lips moved on hers, demanding, possessing, his tongue sliding into her mouth aggressively. She whimpered and kissed him back, grabbing his shoulders. Cool evening air brushed over them, making his heat even more evident.

He pressed her into the wall, his hips pinning her there, his hard body at her front, the rough brick digging into her back with exciting, biting sensation. She loved how hot he was for her. It made her just as hot. He rubbed his stubble against her cheek, opened his mouth on her jaw. “Sasha, Christ.” With one last thrust of his hips and a hard press of his mouth over hers, he pulled back. “Let’s get the hell back to my place before I do you right here on the sidewalk.”

A thrill zigzagged through her at his words, and he took her hand and loped down the sidewalk, tugging her along with him. “Slow down!” she said on a laugh. “My legs aren’t quite as long as yours.”

“Sorry.”

When they were in his car, she said, “Now don’t go driving crazy because you’re horny. We want to get there in one piece.”

He slanted her an amused glance as he started the car. “True.”

He drove very fast, but with control and confidence, apparently not worried about speeding tickets. He parked in the underground parking garage beneath his condo and when they were in the elevator, he reached for her again. She set her hands on his chest. “Please. Elevator sex is so cliché.”

He choked on a laugh. “Oh really?”

“Also, there are probably security cameras.”

He shrugged, nibbling on the side of her neck. “I don’t mind people watching.”

“Jack!”

She felt his smile as the elevator sped up to his floor, and then the warm sweep of his tongue on her skin. Her knees wobbled. God, he made her sex crazy. Dinner had been like foreplay. Even when they were talking, she was aroused, just from his smile, from his eyes on her, from all his attention. And then when he’d abruptly had enough of dinner foreplay, she’d melted inside.

And she was melting now, pressed up against his body, melting all over him like an ice cream cone in July. She let out a soft sigh as the elevator doors whispered open.

She expected him to once again lead her down the hall to his bedroom, but instead he walked into the big living area. The city sparkled in a panorama in front of them, colored jewels of light and black velvet. As always, it took her breath away.