Forbidden Surrender(34)

“Thanks for understanding, Riley.”

“When are you coming back?”

“Maybe tomorrow. I’ll bring you some more goodies.”

She sniffled. “All right, stay safe.”

“I will.”

I went to my room and quickly changed out of my work clothes into a comfy pair of jeans and a light blouse. I packed an extra set of clothes and my toothbrush into a night bag.

When I finished packing, I waved to Riley and left the apartment, returning to Vincent’s Camry.

“Is your roommate all right?” He sounded as concerned about Riley as I was. “I can drive her to the hospital.”

“I appreciate the thought, but she just needs sleep and vitamin C.”

“You’re not sick are you?”

“I don’t think so.”

Before I could react his lips were on mine again, this time parting my lips with his tongue. He probed my mouth with slow licks of his tongue against my own. Caught up in the heated embrace, I momentarily forgot my concerns.

“Good,” he said after our mini makeout session ended. “I’d hate to miss work because I couldn’t stop myself from kissing you.”

The engine started and we headed toward his place. It was only a few blocks away but with the rush hour traffic in Manhattan it would take us twenty minutes.

We stopped at a red light. I glanced out the window and saw someone on the sidewalk with brown hair and rimless glasses. The hairs on my neck stiffened. It looked like him, but wasn’t. Fidgeting in my seat, my hand began rubbing my pinky again.

“Something wrong? You look nervous.” Vincent’s voice startled me.

I shook my head. “I guess I’m just looking forward to seeing your place.”

He grinned. “That makes the two of us.”

We pulled into his underground garage complex that resembled ones built for malls. It was filled with exotic cars. With my minimal knowledge on the topic, I was only able to identify a half dozen Lamborghinis and Corvettes but I was still impressed by the eye-catching designs of the ones I couldn’t name. After a few loops to the lower levels, we found an empty spot and parked.

Still in awe, I asked, “How many people live in your building? There are a lot of expensive cars here.”

He smiled. “Just a few tenants. Most of these are mine.”

“Oh.” Realizing he could’ve picked me up in any of these much nicer, much more expensive cars, I had a greater appreciation for his being discreet about our involvement. The Camry was far less luxurious than the Lamborghini.

We stepped into an elevator and Vincent inserted a key into the control panel. The trip to his floor was both faster and quieter than I anticipated. I’d expected a hallway leading to his front door, but when the elevator opened I saw a grand piano and a pair of sand-colored plush sofas around a glass coffee table on dark hardwood flooring illuminated by elegant accent lighting—we were already in his living room. We were on the south side of the building, but the spacious layout enabled sight across the apartment to the north side windows where I could see the Chrysler building as well as the rest of Manhattan. One step out the elevator and I realized the entire building floor was his apartment.

“Impressive,” I said, slack-jawed.

“Glad you like it,” he said smoothly, leading us deeper into the living room.

I set my bag on the floor and took a seat on his couch as he carried the grocery bags into the kitchen. He returned with a glass of white wine wearing slippers instead of his black loafers.

“Should I take off my shoes?” I asked, not seeing the pile of shoes I was accustomed to seeing when entering my apartment. Instead, there were a bunch of modern abstract statues on display, making this place seem more like a showroom than a personal living area.

He eyed my flats. “You can just put them next to the couch, make yourself comfortable.”

In the middle of taking my shoes off my stomach growled again, which was his cue to begin washing vegetables in the kitchen.

“What are we eating?” I hollered. We’d picked up a lot of things, some serious and some just for fun, like a box of Teddy Grahams. It was probably more than we needed and I wasn’t sure what he planned to cook for dinner and what he planned to save in the freezer.

“It’s a surprise.”

“Do you need any help?” Not that I was a great cook myself, but I could at least cut vegetables.

“There’s not too much prep work. It’ll just be a few minutes. Feel free to look around and make yourself at home. ”

Looking around was exactly what I wanted to do. “Are you sure you don’t want to give me a tour? I might see something embarrassing.” I cringed at the thought of Vincent seeing my bedroom. He’d find papers littering my desk and undergarments hanging on chairs and strewn across the floor. It wasn’t that I was messy; I just had my own organization system.