Chapter 21
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Dante had slept like the dead.
He hadn’t fluttered so much as an eyelash until his phone buzzed.
He cracked open one eye, temporarily disoriented by his surroundings.
Green plants were draped over a tall white dresser, a full-length mirror in the corner.
A floral quilt was covering his lower half, Honesty was blanketing his upper half.
He’d check his text after he made sure he wouldn’t disturb her. She’d had a long day yesterday, starting with a sleep deficit after Jaylyn had been a bad influence.
He inhaled the fresh smell of her hair as his fingers curled around her upper arm.
Last night he’d been halfway to dreamland after the sex they’d had, but she’d been the one urging him to the bathroom to share a shower. He’d borrowed her mouthwash, but that perfunctory swish had been the end of his evening routine. He’d crashed onto her floral bedding and died.
His eyes went to the mirror with regret. He wished he’d have noticed it there. Watching her would have heightened everything. Not that anything had needed to be heightened. He was pretty sure the top of his head would have blown off if he’d watched her reflection sucking him off. Jesus.
Just the thought of it had his cock stirring to life.
This woman.
How had he gone eight years plugging away without realizing how much he’d missed her? Erm…sex. How much he’d missed the sex.
God dammit.
That was not the way he was supposed to be thinking about her. He was supposed to be waking her up for a round two, or was it three? Four? Whatever. Not lying here, her on his chest while he tried not to wake her.
Carefully, he reached for his phone on the nightstand and checked the text message. It buzzed again as a second text came through. The messages were from his assistant, Jennifer.
North Shore Style wants to profile the Refurbs partnership and the nutrition pilot for their Purpose + Power issue. They mentioned the viral photos from the event. Said they’d love to chat with you and Honesty as a unit.
A surge of adrenaline swept through him.
This was exactly what Long Live Food needed.
Her charity would bloom under the right publicity.
It was easy enough for Dante to show up and talk about community outreach.
It was an entirely different beast if passionate Honesty told the story of how Christian had inspired her to help others.
He scanned the second text.
The cover is yours if you want it. They were asking if you had time for a photoshoot!
If he wanted it? He almost laughed out loud, might have if he’d been alone. Of course he fucking wanted it. He typed in a reply.
Confirm and let me know a time. Send me the location.
1 pm. Honesty, too? she texted back.
Maybe.
Beside him, Honesty shifted. He didn’t know how she’d feel about coming with him to do an interview, and a photoshoot, but this was an opportunity they absolutely shouldn’t pass up.
Even if the questions flirted with gossip.
Especially if they did. Readers would love it.
The more attention for her pilot the better.
One o’clock. That was four hours from now, which sounded like plenty of time, until he factored in going back to the hotel, getting ready, picking her up, and then traveling to wherever the hell this place was.
He checked his email and his calendar to be sure nothing stood in the way or needed to be moved. Then he did some research.
North Shore Style was a respectable social magazine for local readers in the affluent Illinois areas.
They had featured Crane Hotel before. And had done write-ups on many of the restaurants in town.
It wasn’t outside of their purview to take an interest in charity organizations, either.
This issue in particular would feature several local charities.
That Honesty would have the cover was a huge coup.
He had the gods to thank for that. The curiosity about them as a couple from that first round of viral photos had never fully died.
He lowered his phone, his mind spinning with ideas.
“Everything okay?” Honesty asked, startling him.
He hadn’t heard her morning voice—low, sleepy and borderline sexy—in a long time. He gave her a smile. She was radiant and beautiful, her long dark hair starkly contrasted against his bare chest. Her cheeks were warm and rosy, and she was gloriously naked under that sheet.
“Dante?”
“Uh, yes. Fine. Sorry to wake you.”
“Don’t be. What time is it?” She reached for her own phone on her dresser, losing a goodly part of that sheet and gifting his eyes with a view of her smooth back and amazing ass.
“Nine-thirty.”
“Nine-thirty?!” She huffed as she thumbed through her phone. “Gabby texted to tell me to take my time and enjoy my company. She is the worst.”
Dante chuckled. “Have I mentioned how much I like her?”
She didn’t laugh with him. “I need to get going. I don’t have any appointments until one o’clock, but there are a lot of to-do’s that I’ve back-burnered. I don’t even want to look at the number of emails in that red dot.”
She flipped her phone so that the screen was facing him. With one eye closed, she asked, “What’s it say?”
“Forty-three.”
Her jaw dropped before checking for herself. “It says twelve, you jerk.”
“You might want to let Gabby know to push your one o’clock.”
“What? Why?”
“I have a proposition for you.” He took her phone and his and set them on the nightstand. When he rolled over to face her she was already laughing and shaking her head simultaneously.
“You cannot be serious. I can’t stay in this bed with you all afternoon. I need a break!”
“As tempting as that is…” He snuggled her close, bracketing her with his arms. “I’m not talking about having more sex. North Shore Style wants to interview us about Long Live Food.”
“North Shore Style?” She blinked up at him. “As in North Shore Style who gives out the Purpose Award to local businesses each year?”
He was impressed. He’d had no idea she kept up with socialite magazines. “One and the same. This is their signature issue. Purpose Plus—”
“Power. Oh my God.” She shoved him aside and climbed out of bed, naked for a few blessed seconds before she pulled on a cotton robe with a jungle motif print and tied it around her waist. “I have wanted to win that award since I opened Honest Nutrition. I tried for the first two years to get the attention of the editor so that I could do an interview but they ignored my emails.”
Her hand went to her forehead as she paced the floors. Then she stopped and faced him.
“You’ve been in town a little over a week and they’re offering it to you.”
“To us.”
She tucked her hair behind her ears and frowned.
“This is good news, Honesty.” He stood and cupped her forearms with both hands. “This is great for the charity, for Eli, for my foundation. Everyone wins with this article. We have the cover if we want it.”
“The cover?” she squeaked.
“What’s the problem? It sounds like everything you’ve wanted is arriving on a silver platter.”
“Yeah, a silver platter with the Crane family crest on it.” She sat on the edge of the bed. He sat with her. “Would I have been able to do any of this on my own? Or is it happening because you’re involved?”
“There wouldn’t be an offer of a grant if you hadn’t had the idea in the first place. You are the one who holds the vision, remember? That’s the most important part.”
“I still haven’t tracked down Michael. He replied, but to delay our meeting again. I want to help people, and I don’t have anyone to work with yet. It’s beyond frustrating.”
“Give it time. It’ll come together. Eli is betting on you because you gave him a good reason to bet on you. You don’t have to prove anything to him. Or me. Pretty soon there will be plenty of people to help. You’ll be overrun with people to help.”
“Great.” She gave him a wan smile. “Then it’ll be too big.”
“You like to worry, do you know that?”
“Yes, actually. I do know that.”
He leaned over and kissed her, lingering until she softened beneath him. When he pulled back, her mouth flinched into a smile. “I’m not doing that to shut you up. I couldn’t resist those lips.”
Those same lips pursed as if she doubted what he said was completely true. It was. “There are always ways to handle growing big fast.” He waggled his eyebrows. “If you know what I mean.”
She rolled her eyes, but she was smiling again. He’d take that as a win.
When his phone buzzed he stood to check it. Jennifer had sent the location.
“Can you be ready in an hour? I’m going to run back to the hotel and change, and I can pick you up on the way. They want us there by one, but I say we shoot for twelve-thirty.”
“Dante, I can’t be ready for a cover shoot in an hour. I have nothing to wear.”
“My favorite look on you is when you have nothing to wear.” When she shot him a glare he held out a hand in apology. “Okay, okay. I’ll be serious. Pack your three favorite dresses—not the one you wore at the event. They’ll probably use the photo of you wearing it as an inset for the article.”
“I don’t have any formalwear. The dress I wore at the event wasn’t mine. I rented it.”
“Plan B.” He keyed in a text. “I am asking Jennifer to have options sent over to the magazine’s office for you to choose from. What size do you wear?”
“Are you serious right now?”
“The magazine will do your hair and makeup. We’ll likely have the interview first and then you’ll have time to get ready for the shoot. Size?”
“I can’t let you do that.”
“Beautiful, this is what I do.” He leaned down and gave her another kiss. She took the phone from him and responded to Jennifer. When she handed it back to him there was a slew of numbers—her bra size, hip measurements, and sizing for skirts, dresses, and blouses.
“Women have lots of ‘this unless’ rules when it comes to clothes. An hour is pushing it, but I’ll be ready.”
“‘This unless,’” he repeated.
“You have a lot to learn, Crane.” She turned for the bathroom.
“Honesty.”
“Yes?” She paused, resting one hand on the edge of the doorframe.
“Never forget, you’re the heart and soul of this charity. An independent woman with a passion for food and people and health. I’m just a billionaire writing a check.”
“Just a billionaire?”
“We’re a dime a dozen.” He winked. “I’ll see you in one hour.”