“As a favor to me,” I say. “If you ever truly loved me, as you claim, then take that article and read it tonight. It’s the only thing I’ve ever asked of you.”
Nodding, Isabel picks up the pages and folds them into her purse. She holds my gaze for a long moment, her blue eyes full of longing and regret, and, finally, leaves the room without saying another word.
The moment the door of the private dining room closes, Georgie melts into her chair. “Holy crap, that was intense.”
“You were amazing.”
“I was?”
“A superhero.”
She smiles from ear to ear. “So were you. We’re a dynamic duo.”
“Let me take you somewhere, Georgie. Some place where we can relax and fuck and eat and think of nothing but each other.”
“Sounds amazing. When?”
“As soon as possible. Your internship is officially over at the end of the week, right? So, let’s pick up and go then.”
“Where?”
“St. Barts... Santorini... the Amalfi Coast? You pick. Anywhere, as long as it’s got sun and beaches and is easy to get to from the East Coast. We’ll stop in New York, on our way, pay a quick visit to my mother, and then head to paradise.”
Her face is glowing with excitement. “I’ve still got one more article to finish up. A secret something I’ve been working on as an ‘audition’ piece for Dig a Little Deeper. I should be done with it on Friday.”
“We’ll head out on Saturday, then. That’s actually perfect timing. Several of my bands are performing in New York at a big charity concert this coming week. Why don’t we add a few days in New York to our itinerary before we fly to paradise?” My wheels are suddenly turning. “Actually, you know what? I’ll fly Alessandra to NYC to catch the charity show with us. And the next day, we’ll shoot a simple little music video for her upcoming single.”
Georgina shrieks. “What? Oh my God!”
“Don’t get too excited. The video won’t be anything fancy or complicated. Just a simple little ‘performance’ video we can throw onto YouTube, to show people how cute Alessandra is. I’ll ask Maddy Morgan if she’s available to fly in and direct the thing for me. I’ve always wanted to give her a shot. This is a perfect opportunity.”
“Oh my gosh! This is so exciting!”
“And after all that, we’ll swing by Scarsdale for an afternoon, and then jet off from there to paradise to relax.” And get engaged.
“Amazing.”
“Now come here, my little kitten.” I coax Georgina out of her chair and bring her to my lap, where I kiss her passionately. And, soon, it’s clear our kiss is barreling toward something a whole lot more than that.
“We can’t do it here,” Georgina whispers playfully, but she’s purring as I reach underneath her skirt and massage her clit. “Reed, the waiter might walk in on us.”
“Oh no,” I say with mock horror, my fingers making her swollen and wet. “That would be terrible.” I skim her lips with mine, as my fingers continue making her eyelids flutter. “Relax,” I coax. “Isabel put the fear of God into the waiter. He won’t come back, unless called.”
“But what if he does?” she groans out, her pleasure apparent.
“Oh no,” I say softly, my voice low and oozing with arousal. “Whatever would we do?”
Georgina groans and gyrates into my fingers. “You’d love for us to get caught, wouldn’t you?”
I suck on her lower lip. “So much.”
With that, I guide her belly against the table, pull off her panties, unzip my pants, and enter her from behind. And then, I proceed to fuck her, hard. She’s the woman I’m going to ask to be my wife. The woman who’s most likely going to have my baby one day—Jesus fucking Christ! The woman I love. I fuck her without mercy, while continuing to massage that hard, swollen bundle of nerves. Until the sounds of her pleasure become so loud, I have to shove a linen napkin into her mouth to muffle them. Finally, Georgina comes. As her body milks mine, I release and growl loudly and then collapse into her back, seeing stars.
Sadly, our waiter never walks in to discover us fucking like animals against the white-linen-covered table. Nor does he enter the room as we’re putting ourselves back together. The consolation prize, though? As we pass the guy on our way out of the private room, the look on his face tells me he heard every telltale sound Georgina made in that room, and he’s well aware of what I did to get her to make them.
Chapter 34
Georgina
“I did it! I finished writing my last article of the summer!” I walk across Reed’s home office and stand over his desk, holding up the printed pages—the secret article I’ve been working on for the past six weeks. “I never told you about this one. I wanted it to be a surprise. I think you’re going to love it.”
Reed looks up from whatever he’s doing on his laptop. “Uh... what? Hold on.” He clacks on his keyboard for a moment. And then looks up again. “Sorry? What?”
I hold up the printed pages of my mystery article. “I just finished writing a super-secret surprise article and I’m wondering if you’ll read it now.”
“Oh. Wow. Congratulations. Of course, I’ll read it.”
My chest heaving with anticipation, I slide the pages across Reed’s desk, and he calmly picks them up. But when he looks down at the page, and sees the title at the top, his mouth hangs open.
“How did you...? Oh my God, Georgie.”
“I know. Crazy, right? Read it. Please. I’m dying.”
Still looking flabbergasted, Reed leans back in his leather chair and begins to read, and, in short order, it’s clear he’s thoroughly engrossed. Mesmerized, I’d even say. After a while, he looks up from the last page. “I can’t believe you did all this. I’m in shock.”
He asks me some questions about the article. How I gathered the information set forth in it. And I answer him.
“Holy shit,” he says. “Would you do me a favor and give this to my mother before submitting it to CeeCee?”
“Of course. That’s always been my plan. First, you. Then, your mom. And then, CeeCee, but only if Eleanor gives me the green light. I’m planning to give it to your mom, in person, during our upcoming visit, if that’s okay with you.”
“Perfect.” Reed’s mind is visibly racing. “My mother is going to have a thousand questions for you. Every bit as much as I did.”
“And I’ll happily answer them. Do you think she’ll like it?”
“I think she’ll be as blown away as I am.”
My heart is thundering. I’m so relieved Reed likes this article and thinks his mother will, too. My biggest fear was Reed would say this topic was none of my business. I say, “Okay, but, if, for some reason, Eleanor doesn’t love it, or wants her privacy, I won’t submit it to CeeCee.” My phone rings and I look down to find CeeCee’s name on the screen. “Speaking of CeeCee, her ears must be ringing.” I connect the call. “Hi there. Reed and I were just talking—”
“Sorry to cut you off. I’ve got big news. Are you at Reed’s?”