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F O R T Y N I N E
- Madeline -
Summer looked good on the city of Chicago. The contrast between the slick buildings and the rippled surface of Lake Michigan made it postcard-worthy, and there was a great buzz about the city as people crammed their days with activities they missed during the bitter winter.
With so much going on, it was impossible to guess where Quinn was taking me as our Uber rolled past sidewalks jammed with tourists, hot dog stands, and street performers playing everything from sexy trumpet jazz to overturned plastic buckets.
It was only after we crossed the river that I started trying to guess where we were going. It was too early in the day for a concert or a play, and I doubted it was the aquarium because he insisted I wear a sexy dress. Okay, so he hadn't insisted, but I told him the least he could do was help me pick an outfit since he was being so secretive, and as soon as he saw my dark pink dress with the delicate white and orange flowers across the hem, I knew my romper didn't stand a chance.
"Don't you want to see the other option?" I asked, loving the way his eyes darkened as he drank me in.
"No." His gaze traveled along the flirty hem before crawling up my body. "That's the one."
"Okay!" I said, feeling like someone had messed with the thermostat. "I appreciate your decisiveness." A short dress could be risky on a windy Chicago day, but as long as he was impressed, I didn’t much care if I accidentally mooned the whole city.
"Get out on my side," he said as our Uber pulled up outside The Art Institute between the basking lions that bookended the wide steps to the door.
Quinn offered me his hand as I reached a sandaled foot for the curb and stepped out into the hot sun, his eyes hidden behind a pair of Ray-Bans that looked blue against his fitted black shirt and dark denim jeans. If I didn't know better, I'd think he was famous for the way his perfect cheekbones drew the eye towards his shapely lips.
"This is a surprise," I said, as he led me up the stone steps.
"A good one, I hope."
"Absolutely." My eyes scanned the names of the famous artists listed on the massive banners hanging between the wide columns up ahead. "I haven't been here in ages." His grip on my hand was firm, but relaxed, and I longed for the rest of his body to hold me that way. "Do you come here a lot?"
"Enough to warrant my membership."
"You have a membership to The Art Institute?"
He looked askance at me. "Is that so surprising?"
I shrugged. “No more surprising than your shooting range membership."
"Funny you mention that," he said. "Because this is my mom's favorite place." He mentioned his mom so rarely—and always with such reverence—that goosebumps bloomed across my forearms.
"Don't I need to buy I ticket?" I asked as he strolled past the ticket office across from the giftshop.
He looked over at me and pushed his sunglasses onto his head until they stuck in his thick, black hair. "I’m your ticket," he said, smiling like he'd always wanted to say that.
I blushed when he flashed a card at the uniformed guard manning the entrance and listened intently for the next two hours as he took me through his favorite parts of the museum, telling me little facts about the featured artists that weren't in the informative panels beside their work. He even explained the symbolism behind some of the renaissance art, like why a painter would add lilies instead of lavender or insert a cat into an image as opposed to a dog.
"Why do you know so much about this stuff?" I asked.
"My mom was an art history major."
"So she taught you art history?"
"Just a few things here and there so I wouldn’t become one of those adults who takes beauty for granted."
My eyes widened at what a hefty expectation that was to have of a child, and when I turned to look at him, he was staring right at me.
"I think I'm finally beginning to understand what she meant."
I swallowed, the heat of his gaze making my cheeks match my dress. "Where to now?"
He tilted his head towards the room we'd been circling since we arrived. "The impressionists."
"Thanks for bringing me here," I said as we waltzed though another tall doorway. "I'm really enjoying this."
