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I acknowledge the building concierge and lead Becky to the elevator, which we ride up to the top floor.
Letting us into my apartment, I nudge the door closed with my foot. Becky stands on the spot at the entrance to the open plan space and looks around in silence. The sensory lights cast a low glow over the wood floors of the space. I pick up the master remote and flick on the electric hearth and living room lamp.
As I knew she would, she moves straight to the wall of windows and gazes out across Central Park. She works her way around the room slowly, until she’s looking toward the city’s skyscrapers. Eventually, her fingertips slide down the windows, and she turns to face me, her back to the view.
‘Are you flipping kidding me? You told me to go and sit at the top of the Empire State Building and pay tourist prices for the view when you have this?’
I chuckle. ‘When you put it like that, it sounds a little harsh.’
‘Who are you, Drew Harrington?’ She turns back to the glass and puts her fingertips on the panes again. I move toward her, unhurriedly, not wanting her to move and spoil the image of this entrancing woman, in a magnificent dress, set against the backdrop of the city I love. ‘I mean, I knew you had a good job, but this is incredible.’
Despite what my impulses are screaming at me, I don’t want to make a move, not if she’s not into it. We are just back on good terms. So, I stand beside her and point out the highlights of the skyline. Manhattan really is stunning but it’s not a patch on the woman standing next to me.
‘Do you want a drink?’ I ask.
‘Coffee would be good,’ she says, finally tearing her attention from the view.
Bizarrely, I’m okay with sitting up talking into the morning if that’s all she wants tonight.
18
DREW
The noise of my apartment door closing rouses me. It takes me a second to process the sound, then I’m jumping out of bed and running into the living room. I realize, as my member bounces around in my loose-fitting lounge bottoms, semi-hard from whatever dream I was just enjoying, that I’m not worried I’m being burgled. No, the pounding in my chest is because I thought she left, again.
I come to a halt when I see Becky walking into my kitchen holding a brown paper bag in her arms. She has on her sequined dress and those killer heels from last night. Her hair is loose and wavy, hanging across one shoulder. Her face is fresh, makeup-less, and she doesn’t look half as tired as I feel.
She sets the bag down on the counter with my keys. ‘Well, that is right up there in the top three most mortifying things I’ve done in my life.’
I bring my hand to my mouth, feigning casually rubbing my day-old stubble, to hide my amusement.
‘I guess that’s what they call the walk of shame, right?’
Now I chuckle. ‘I think you have to have actually done the deed, as opposed to falling asleep on the guy’s sofa and being carried to bed, in order for it to be a conventional walk of shame. I think you just got a walk of embarrassment, without the fun part.’
‘Sounds like me.’ She rolls her eyes playfully.
‘Where have you been?’
‘To get things for breakfast. You really should keep some provisions in your fridge. I mean, do you always eat out?’
‘Mm, no. Sometimes I order in.’
She shakes her head, but I catch her amused look before she turns away from me. She busies herself around the space, putting things away and pouring two cups of coffee, while I grab a shirt from the bedroom and come back into the kitchen. I sit on a stool at the breakfast bar and sip my coffee, all the while unable to tear my eyes off her, riveted by her simple moves.
‘Okay, we’re all set. It won’t be long,’ she says triumphantly, leaning back against the counter, holding her mug in two hands.
‘It’s kind of nice having a woman in my place.’
‘You mean in your kitchen.’ She picks up a spatula and wiggles it at me, uttering a caution. Then she sips her drink and asks somewhat sheepishly, ‘Have you, erm, ever lived with anyone?’
‘No. Is that ridiculous at thirty-five? Don’t answer that. I’ve just had bigger things to focus on, and women, as we’ve established, can be a bit of a distraction.’
Her lips curl behind her coffee before she sips. ‘Well, I kind of like being here too.’
‘Stay today. I’d really like to hang out.’
She raises a brow. ‘Hang out, huh? Well, I have no clothes, as you can see.’
