"Dylan, oh my God. Did I lose track of time? " she said, taking out one earbud.
"No, I'm here early. I want to spend more than just the evening with you."
Her smile widened even more. "Come on up. I'm going inside to unlock the door."
I headed up the stairs, taking two at a time. Her door was already open when I reached her floor, and I went inside.
"I was drinking pineapple and orange juice."
"Too early for wine?" I asked.
She laughed. "Exactly." She still had one earbud in.
"Want to finish listening to your chapter?" I asked.
She blushed. "How do you know I'm listening to an audiobook?"
"It was an educated guess, but judging by your blush, I'm right, huh?"
"Yes, you are."
"Another steamy one?"
"Yes."
"Okay, then. I don't want to get between you and your audiobooks."
She grinned, taking out the second earbud as well. "I accept an interruption if you give me a steamy hot kiss."
I sealed my mouth to hers the next second. She tasted like oranges and pineapple, and I couldn't get enough. I pinned her against a wall with my hips, keeping my hands firmly on her waist, but skimmed my thumbs on the underside of her breasts. I wanted to memorize every second of the kiss. I wasn't going to see her for two full weeks. Damn, I missed her already.
She stumbled back when we paused for air, eyes still closed.
"Hm. Now, that is what I call a steamy kiss." She blinked her eyes open. "What do you want to do?"
"Well, we have reservations for a restaurant, but not until seven thirty. We can see another place on your list if you want to.”
"Oh, my list. You do like going through it, don't you?"
"I like spending time with you, Mel, whatever we do."
"You're such a flirt."
We went out on her balcony. I sat on the chair and lowered Mel on my lap. Good enough for me. I looked over her arm as she opened the note on her phone where she had the list of New York attractions she still wanted to see. "Hey, have you ever been to the One World Observatory?" she asked me.
"I haven't. I haven't been to 90 percent of the locations on your list. I’ve heard of it. The photos look great.”
“They even have a restaurant in the building." She tapped her phone, scrolling quickly. "That would be awesome, but it's probably all booked."
I kissed her arm. "I can pull some strings and get us in tonight."
She looked at me, eyes narrowed. "Really? Are you trying to impress me, Dylan? Not that I don't appreciate your efforts, but I'm going to admit that I'm already impressed with you."
"If you want to have dinner there, we'll have dinner there. Simple as that. I'll make it happen."
She grinned, kissing one corner of my mouth. "Okay, then I'll go get ready, and you try to get us in. If you manage, then that's okay. If not, you have those other reservations anyway."
"I will get us in," I promised. She wiggled her eyebrows, plugging in one earbud. “Want to give me one of those earbuds? You make me curious about them.”
Her cheeks turned so red that I couldn’t help laughing.
“Ummm, no. My steamy audiobooks are for my ears alone.”
“Duly noted.”
The One World Observatory reminded me of the Empire State Building, only it was newer. It was all glass and steel, and we were on the viewing platform on the 27th floor. It had a 360-degree view through the enormous windows. There were many people, though I'd expected even more considering it was high season for tourists. I liked exploring the city with her. Spending time with Mel had become one of my favorite things, no matter what we were doing. She lit up something inside me.
I liked having her in my condo, finding her clothes and toiletries in random places. I’d never felt so close to anyone in my life, not even Lina. Actually, it wasn’t fair to compare the two in any way.
“The city looks so different from up here,” Mel said. “I love that the viewing platform isn’t open like at the Empire State Building. Those are so windy.”
“Ready to go to the restaurant? Our reservation is in five minutes.”
“Sure.” Putting an arm around her shoulders, I kissed the side of her head, leading her up to ONE Dine.
A hostess greeted us, checking the ledger for my name.
“Your table will be ready right away. I’m going to check if everything’s okay. I’ll be right back.”
Mel smiled. “I can’t believe you pulled that off.”
“I told you I’d get it.” I bit her shoulder lightly.
She swatted me away, so I went for her neck, in a spot I’d discovered she was ticklish. Mel let out a burst of snort-like laughter before covering her mouth with one hand. I laughed, and she immediately snorted again.
“Oh my God. Stop laughing at me,” she whispered between guffaws. “It’s only making me laugh harder.”
I buried my mouth in her neck, laughing against her skin.
The hostess came back, and I straightened up, trying to school my features. Mel was red in the face. The hostess glanced between us with a surprised look.
“Your table is ready. Are you?”
“Yes,” I said, and Mel chuckled.
The tables were crowded, but she led us to the one in the very back where we were next to the window. There were no tables around us for two feet, which was a damn miracle.
"This is our best table," the waitress said proudly.
"Thank you," I replied.
We sat down, and I noticed Mel was still red in the cheeks.
“I love your blush.”
She nudged my leg under the table. “It’s all your doing.”
“Even better. I plan to do it a lot more later. I love seeing you blush. And not necessarily from laughing.”
“Oh my God. You cannot dirty talk in public.”
“I can, but then we’d have to leave right away and skip dinner.”
Her cheeks turned a deeper shade of red. “So confident.”
“Am I wrong?”
“No, but just saying, I’m dangerous on an empty stomach.”
“That’s why I’m saving the dirty talk for later.”
A waiter approached us with menus, and Mel immediately started reading it, as if afraid I might change my mind and not wait at all. She ordered a veggie burger, and I went for the braised short rib. The waiter recommended red wine. He brought it from the nearby rack.
“Oh, Dad messaged me. I’ll reply really quick,” Mel said while the waiter poured us each a glass.
Once we were alone, she slipped the phone back in her purse, smiling at me. Was it my imagination, or did she seem nervous? She kept her hands under the table, moving them as if she kept tugging at her white dress.
"What's your schedule in D.C going to be like?" Mel asked, fiddling with her fingers on the stem of the glass.
"Honestly, I don't know. I'm going to be at the client's and see how they're moving forward and where they’re having problems, primarily with implementation, so we’ll see how it goes."
"But it's software. Can't you do it remotely or something?"