Page 24 of Unconditionally With Me
I roll her over to her back and arch my hips into hers, eliciting a moan. “Do you want me to demonstrate my practicalness to you again?”
“That sounds so much better than food.” But just then, her stomach growls, making her words a blatant lie.
Elle bites her lip, but I throw my head back and laugh. Slipping out of her, I reach for a few tissues to clean us both up even as I decide, “Call the lawyer. I’ll see what the brochures say is around here for food.”
“You mean so we don’t go into hock or owe the Fairmont indentured servitude?” comes her smart reply just as she rolls out of bed.
I give her ass a light tap. “You’re an heiress now, babe. You can handle a couple hundred for breakfast.”
“Forget food. I feel faint.”
“You’ll get over it. But in the event the lawyer wants to see us, you might want to hurry. You have sex hair.”
I laugh at the disgruntled expression on Elle’s face before I dart into the bathroom.
* * *
“You’ve redeemedyourself for the sex hair comment.” Elle’s hand shoves deep before pulling out a maple-and-bacon tiny donut from the enormous bag we purchased at Pike Place Market.
“I wasn’t kidding about it,” I defend myself as I reach over to grab another handful.
She slaps my hand away. “You already finished your bag, Julian.”
“And you expect me to believe you’re going to eat two dozen on your own?”
She gives me a beady-eyed stare as we approach a display of salmon and king crab that makes her gawk. I use that moment to shove my hand in and grab a handful of the addictive little bites. But as I munch on the first two, she mutters, “There had still better be maple bacon in my bag.”
I casually exchange the one in my hand for another chocolate without a qualm.
We grin at one another before exchanging a quick kiss. Then I observe, “These aren’t the guys who toss the fish?”
She consults her map. “No, they’re further down. I was just debating whether we should send some back to Trina and Jonas. Kind of a makeup gift.”
“You have nothing to make up,” I counter.
“I did kind of leave her in the lurch.”
“Well, if you’re going to say sorry, king crab’s a great idea,” the fishmonger proclaims.
Elle begins talking to him animatedly, and I just enjoy the interaction as they haggle over the cost of overnight shipping.
She’s emotionally unguarded in a way she hasn’t been since we first started dating. And that both elates and scares the hell out of me because I’ll give Elle anything to make her happy.
That includes leaving New York and starting over here if this building builds a permanent bridge to the places of her heart I can’t always reach. With that firmly in mind, I simply enjoy waiting for Elle to finish her best efforts at bartering before we move on.
“I feel like everything’s so vibrant here. Just so much more,” she says enthusiastically as we pass by a stall of flowers that appear as if they could still be planted in a field. I reach into my pocket to grab my phone because there’s no way Jonas would believe the price of flowers here. “I’ve got to send him a picture,” I mutter. Just as I’m about to take the shot, Elle leans over and buries her nose into the freshly cut blooms. For just a moment, a bouquet of roses obscures her profile. I quickly press and hold the button so photo after photo is taken on my phone. When I check them, they’re absolutely perfect. I flash her a lightning-quick grin when she turns her face to the side and smiles. Then I step up next to her, and we grab a quick selfie before moving on.
“I think I know why they call this place the Emerald City,” she declares.
“Because everything so green due to the annual rainfall?” I remind her of the brochure she read in the hotel.
“No. Because like Oz, it’s as wondrous as you want to make it.” She twines her arms around my neck and pulls my head down for a quick nip at my lips. “And with you here, it’s filled with all kinds of magic.”
Now, my mind urges me.Ask her now.But just then, a silver fish goes flying over our heads, sailing gloriously through the air, and the crowd of people we’ve wandered into applauds loudly.
And another opportunity drifts by. It reminds me all too clearly of how much time we’ve lost between my own laissez-faire attitude and her own caution in the last three years. I hold Elle close as again and again, she’s delighted by the act.
But I want the acting to be over. I want it to be just us. So after a few more minutes, I guide her out of the market on the pretense of finding some food.
