Chapter 18 Harrison
HARRISON
You, is my first thought.
Even with sesame seeds on her lips from the everything bagel, even with the onion breath she’s going to have after eating the whole thing, even with the adorable smudge of cream cheese in the corner of her mouth…
Bianca is the most beautiful woman on this planet.
The woman I love more than anything, despite having known her for barely a week.
Funny. That’s how Maddox told me he felt about Alissa, and I held back laughter then.
Now I get it.
When you meet the right person, it’s instantaneous. I fell in love with Bianca practically the moment I met her.
More importantly, I now know she loves me back.
I scoot my chair in the hotel room’s breakfast nook next to hers. “I’d like to keep a low profile today, obviously. Definitely want to check in with Alissa and Maddox.”
“Of course. That’s a given.” She takes another bite of her bagel and swallows. “Anything else? I grew up in Chicago, and I’ve been back for five years, but I’ve never done the tourist traps.”
I flash her a smile. “Neither have I, if I’m honest.” I lean back in my chair.
“We could take a walk through Millennium Park, maybe to Navy Pier, see what’s going on there.
Stop in Lou Malnati’s or Pequod’s and grab some deep dish.
As long as we keep to ourselves, we won’t have to worry about your sister finding out what we’re up to. ”
She wipes some cream cheese off her chin. “How about the botanical gardens? I’ve heard they’re lovely.”
“I’ve heard the same.” I lean in and brush my lips against hers. “Though no flower can match your beauty.”
She smirks. “Why do I feel like you’ve used that line on a woman before?”
“Maybe I have.” I shrug. “But I mean it when I say it to you.”
She blushes at my words. “Honestly, I don’t care what we do. As long as we’re together. Hell, as far as I’m concerned, we could just hang out in the hotel room naked all day.”
I immediately start getting hard. I was already halfway there just from her presence, but now I’m at full mast. I give her a grin. “There are worse ways to spend a day.”
She slowly unties the belt of the terrycloth robe she’s wearing, lets it fall around her shoulders. “Oh?”
“Fuck, Bianca.” I sweep an arm under her and take her into my arms, carrying her like a damned baby. “Do you realize how much you drive me crazy?”
“About the same amount you drive me crazy.”
I start to carry her to the hotel bedroom, eyeing the extra cream cheese that came with the bagels—I bet we can put that to some good use—when there’s a rap at the door.
“Ignore it,” she says.
“Yes, my queen.”
But then the knocking again, this time more insistent.
Her eyes widen. “It can’t be…her, can it?”
“God damn it.” I lower her to the floor. “He said he wouldn’t say a word.”
“He?”
“Just get in the bedroom. Lock the door. Open it for no one except for me.”
“Harrison—”
“Now,” I growl.
She blinks a few times but then scampers into the bedroom, closing the door behind her.
I turn toward to the knocking and open the door.
A bellhop stands there. Freckled face, wiry red hair. Can’t be older than twenty-one.
Maybe I freaked out for nothing.
“Yes?” I ask.
“Hi, sir. My name is Blake.” He gestures to his nametag. “Mr. Rose himself sent me up here.”
My heart starts thrumming. “Why?”
“He… He wanted to thank you for your patronage, sir.” He blinks several times. “It sounds like you’re an old friend of his.”
I exhale sharply. “Something like that.”
“He wants to upgrade you to the executive suite, effective immediately. No additional charge.”
I furrow my brow. Rose really doesn’t want me spilling the beans about his extramarital affairs. I guess this is his way of sweetening the pot.
Blake peers inside. “If you’d like, sir, I can take your suitcases now as a courtesy. Then you and your companion can make your way up to the suite on the twelfth floor at your leisure.”
“Of course.” I gesture to Bianca’s and my suitcases still sitting by the couch. “They’re right there.”
“Excellent, sir.” He reaches into his jacket pocket and pulls out two keycards.
“These will get you into the room. Your items will be waiting for you there.” He grabs the suitcases and places them on a luggage cart out in the hallway.
“Take your time, sir. But if I may, the executive suite is truly remarkable. You’ll want to maximize your time there. ”
“Will do.” I wave the bellhop off and then knock on the bedroom door. “It’s me. Everything’s okay.”
She opens the door. “I heard someone come into the living room.”
“Just the bellhop.” I shrug. “Apparently we’ve been upgraded to the executive suite.”
She cocks her head. “We have?”
“Yeah. I may have run into some higher-ups in the lobby while grabbing our breakfast.”
Her posture softens. “Oh. So that’s why you took so long getting us breakfast.”
I chuckle. “Networking, I suppose.”
Really more blackmail than networking, but Bianca doesn’t need to know the details. I’ve already riled her up thinking the bellhop was some disguised assassin, so I’ll fill her in on my encounter with Mr. Rose later.
In the meantime, I want to fuck the living daylights out of her in our new and improved suite. “Come on. The bellhop already grabbed our suitcases. Let’s head up.” I hand her one of the keycards.
She places it in a large pocket in her bathrobe and then nods, eyeing my bulge. “Let’s do it.”
We whisk out of the room and take the elevator up to the twelfth floor, following the signs to the executive suite.
It puts our last suite to shame.
Elegant velvet couches in the corner surrounding a marble coffee table and a wood-burning fireplace.
A kitchenette stacked to the brim with gleaming stainless-steel appliances.
Glossy eggshell tiles on the floor, and an elegant chandelier glowing in the center.
In an opposite corner stands a black baby grand piano, and abstract art lines the walls.
Bianca frowns. “Our suitcases aren’t in here.”
“They’re probably in the bedroom,” I growl. “Care to join them in there?”
She grins, fire in her eyes. “I’d love to.” She crosses the room and opens the door to the bedroom. “Harrison, take a look at this!”
I walk in behind her. A majestic four-poster bed in a dark oak frame centers the room. Elegant velvet curtains resembling the ones at Aces surround it. An antique dresser and armoire stand at its side across from a vintage vanity.
But I’m mostly interested in the bed. Especially since Bianca has just lain down on it and spread her legs.
I suck in a breath. “God, you’re gorgeous.”
“You, too.” She glances around the grandiose bedroom. “And well connected, it would seem. How did you manage to talk your way into the upgrade?”
“I’ll tell you later.”
“No. Tell me now. I want to know my man’s secrets, how he moves about the world with such an air of confidence.” Her eyes smolder. “It’s hot.”
I chuckle. “It’s not actually that impressive. I ran into the man who owns the hotel downstairs, and he recognized me.”
“A patient of yours from St. Charles?” she asks.
I shake my head. “He didn’t recognize me from the hospital. He recognized me from Aces.”
Her eyebrows shoot up. “What?”
“It’s okay, babe. He recognized me as the Ace of Clubs from Tuesday evening.”
“But—”
I press a finger against her pretty lips. “I took care of it. He was… He was trying to take me behind the curtains at Aces. But obviously I refused his advances.”
She strokes her chin. “Really?”
I shrug. “I guess both sexes find me attractive.”
“I certainly do.” She tousles my hair.
“But anyway, turns out he has a wife and family. So when I figured that out, I told him if he didn’t want them finding out about his little extramarital exploration, he’d keep silent about seeing me at the hotel.”
“Good thinking.”
“I thought so. It led me to you nearly naked in this magnificent suite.”
She giggles. “Who was it? I always enjoy hearing the tea about the Aces patrons. So many of them act so high and mighty. I love hearing about the sticky situations they land themselves in.”
“Of course you do.” I brush a lock of hair off her forehead. “It was Mr. Rose.”
She sits up with a start, knocking me to the side of the bed. “Mr. Rose? As in Florian Rose?”
I frown. “I don’t know his first name.”
She looks around the room uneasily. “And he owns this hotel?”
“Yeah, he does. But babe, it’s okay. I fixed it—”
She raises a finger, the color completely drained from her face. “Harrison. We have to get out of here right now.”