Her lips tilted into a smirk, but on her, it still kind of looked like a full-blown smile. “So even you weren’t always in the know, huh?”
I laughed as I relaxed into the seat, letting the familiar scents and sounds of the place infuse my senses. “I guess you can say that. I practically lived in Peter’s basement in those days. When I wasn’t at work, I was working on my system.”
Her black hair shimmered under the exposed, orange-hued bulbs hanging from the ceiling. “It’s really hard to imagine you like that.”
“Yeah, well, I’ve come a long way. That’s what I’ve been told anyway.”
“By who?” She leaned forward and scooped a bit of the parmesan Jimmy’s cousin had just set down into a small spoon, bringing it to her nose. “I hate the smell of this stuff just as much as I love the taste.”
“You and me both,” I said. “And by Jimmy actually. The last time I was here, he told me I just needed to bring a girlfriend by now to make the transformation complete.”
“Which is obviously not why you brought me. So why did you bring me?”
Half rising off my seat, I bent over the table to whisper in her ear like I was letting her in on some big secret. “How many times do I have to tell you? Best. Pizza. In. The. City.”
She pulled away from me, blinking for a beat before she burst out laughing. “Oh my God, you totally had me going there. I thought you were going to say something cheesy.”
“Funny that you thought that, considering where we are. There’s plenty of cheesy to go around this place, but I’m not it.” I sat down again and took a deep breath, letting my own eyes track around the space and really take it in for the first time in forever. “This place was my cheapest investment by far, but it’s also my favorite.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t have them move somewhere more—you know—hip.”
“Never.” I crossed my arms and shook my head firmly. “This place is perfect exactly the way it is. Jimmy and the guys only needed some money for the renovations. No matter how good the food is, people aren’t going to come out in any meaningful numbers if it looks as ratty inside as out.”
“True.” She nodded, her lips pursed in thought. “It’s something I should keep in my mind for my business, as well.”
“There’s nothing ratty about your shop.”
“Maybe not, but there’s nothing that makes it special either,” she mused. “I’ve always dreamed of creating a fairy-garden-like space on my sidewalk or somewhere, you know? I thought I could maybe create this perfect little romantic bubble of space in this crazy city where a couple could just sit and drink a glass of champagne. Sounds kind of stupid now, but the point is that I had plans.”
“Had?” I asked. “Why past tense?”
A smile tilted her lips, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Maybe I’ll still do it eventually. But there’s a lot that needs to happen before I’ll be able to.”
“The old, ‘the bills need to be paid before the magic can happen’ thing, huh?” I put air quotes around the words, and Luna laughed.
“Look at you, using those like a pro, but yes, that. Although I can’t really complain. Just being in the shop day to day is pretty magical already.”
“We’re both lucky in that way, getting to do what we love doing every day.” When the fuck had I become profound? “Anyway, what do you think you’ll have?”
Luna and I looked over the menus, placed our order, and ended up staying at Jimmy’s for hours. We talked to each other, to Jimmy, and some of his cousins and, unfortunately, went through some more wedding shit. Thankfully, Jimmy and the guys kept sending over enough bites to eat that I could lose myself in the food whenever the wedding stuff got to be too much.
When my eyes caught on the clock above his register at one point, my jaw nearly dropped. “Wow. Did you realize we were coming up on dinner time?”
Luna groaned and clutched her stomach. “I don’t think I can eat another thing. We haven’t stopped eating since we got here.”
“Yeah. Same.” I felt the shift in the atmosphere between us as we both seemed to realize at the same time that it was now later. My insides clenched with anticipation and I felt the wickedness of it seeping into my gaze. “Are you ready to go?”
“Sure,” she said, a breathy quality to her voice that wasn’t normally there.
I got up and placed a wad of bills underneath the small pots and plates left on our table. Jimmy hated it when I paid, so he never brought me a check, but it was only right that I did.
Luna got to her feet as well and let me wind our fingers together before pulling her out of the restaurant.
“I want to end the night my way,” I said once we were in the car. “That okay with you, or do you want me to take you home?”
“No,” she replied. “I don’t want to go home. I’d much rather end it your way.”
The drive back to my place nearly lit my tires on fire, but it had been a long-ass fucking day of keeping my hands off her and now it was finally time for that to change.
As we walked into my penthouse, I saw her eyes go wide as she took it all in. She was impressed, but I really didn’t want to talk about it. I didn’t really want to talk at all.
All I wanted to do was taste her until she screamed, then fuck her until she couldn’t walk tomorrow without feeling me between her legs. With that sole purpose in mind, I kicked my door shut and grabbed her wrist, hauling her into my arms.
My mouth crashed into hers and my hands slid up her back, tangling into her hair before I tightened my grip. Angling her head up, I kissed her harder, deeper, until all the wedding bullshit disappeared and all that remained was Luna.
Chapter 17
Luna
Cyrus kissed me like a man possessed. The force of his kisses was almost bruising but I loved every second of it. The slight burn where he tugged on my hair seemed to spread from my scalp to my core, igniting every nerve ending in between.
The opulence of his penthouse was completely forgotten as I surrendered my mouth to him, winding my arms around his neck and giving as good as I got. Lust had been simmering in my belly all day, and now it flowed like liquid heat through my veins.
I moaned into our kiss and pressed my body flush to his, feeling the bulge of his hardness against my belly. One of his hands gripped my hair even harder and the other slid down to my hip, his fingers splaying out across my lower back. He used the leverage to pull me closer to him, his hips bucking when I rolled mine.
“Fuck, we’re not making it to the bedroom this time,” he said between kisses, his voice a low rasp. Releasing my hair, he dropped both hands to the backs of my thighs and lifted me against him. I wound my legs around his hips, hanging onto him like a koala.
I couldn’t imagine I looked extremely sexy like this, but at least no one could see us. Without breaking our kiss again, he moved until he was lowering me onto something.
Soft leather hit my bare thighs as my sundress rode up when he set me down. Then he knelt in front of me and roughly shoved my thighs apart. I stared down at him, my lids hooded and my breaths coming fast as he jerked me to the edge of the seat.