Somewhere public! Get to know him and stay safe.
Somewhere private! Take off his pants!
“We could find a club or something?” I hoped my voice sounded surer than I felt. The thumping bass and wall-to-wall people were not my scene at all, but I didn’t want to sound prudish.
“If you want.” He rubbed his hand over the back of his neck. “I’m not much of a club guy, though.”
“Thank God.” I smiled, relief filling me.
Four
The city below sparkled from the ninety-fourth floor of the 360-degree observation deck of the Hancock Building, and Lake Michigan provided a dark contrast to the city lights. I looked around at the thinning crowds—it was nearing closing time, and we were almost to the front of the line. We’d seen a sign advertising TILT on the way in.
“I can’t believe I let you talk me into this,” I said.
“Believe me, I didn’t talk you into anything.” Jake’s hand brushed mine. “You suggested this after the last round of drinks.”
“That doesn’t sound like me.” Am I slurring my words?
We stepped forward in line. “You said you needed to try something new and marched right over to buy tickets. I tried to pay, and you wouldn’t let me. You were a little bossy about it,” he said, playfully.
Standing in a glass cubicle as it tilted forward over the Magnificent Mile fit the bill for taking a risk. Doing it next to my handsome stranger made the risk that much more appealing.
“Insisting on paying sounds like me.” I giggled, then paused, remembering the flirting articles. “Is that a turnoff, when a woman wants to pay?”
His hand fell to my lower back. “I don’t think anything about you is a turnoff. I’m going with you, aren’t I?”
My back straightened at his touch, the tingle extending lower. “And I didn’t even have to twist your arm.”
“No, I came willingly.” Jake dipped his face close to me, and his mouth was near my ear.
He smelled like the scotch he’d ordered after we arrived. The strong scent was not something I normally enjoyed, but it made me feel warm and tingly.
My cheeks flamed, and a swirl of excitement twisted low in my body. He’d found small ways to touch me since we’d left the ice cream shop. Brushing his arm against mine as we wandered the observatory, or his fingers lingering near mine when he handed me a drink. The pressure of Jake’s hand on my back was intoxicating in a different way. His wide palm swept up my spine, and I imagined it traversing my hips.
“And bossy doesn’t bother you, huh?”
“I have four sisters. I spent a lot of years being told what to do.”
“Well, I am usually quiet like a little mouse,” I mused, taking a step forward to the first position in line with Jake, his hand sliding down my back.
“Really?” He quirked an eyebrow. “That’s hard to believe—you seem pretty outgoing.”
“It’s an act,” I said in a quiet voice. “Squeak!”
His laugh was low and hearty, and his big hand slipped further to rest on my waist before pulling me against his side.
I allowed my eyes to close and focused on his palm stroking between my waist and hip and not on how many drinks I’d had throughout the night. My thoughts were fuzzy and my limbs loose. Six? Smiling at my joke, I let my head fall against his shoulder. “Do you have a wedge of cheddar?”
“That was cheesy.”
I groaned, opening my eyes and looking up. “Your joke was worse than mine.”
His cheeks were a little red—he’d been drinking strong beer before switching to scotch. “You don’t think I’m funny?”
“I think it’s a good thing you’re cute,” I volleyed back, and his grip on my waist tightened, his fingers stretching toward my stomach and his thumb rubbing small circles on my lower back.
“So, you think I’m cute?”
He opened his mouth to say something else, but the staff motioned us forward to take our places in the cubicle, guiding us to the last two spots. I shot Jake a wide-eyed stare as we settled in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows. The city stretched out in front of us, the lights from thousands of other people’s nights twinkling.
“You ready?” he asked as the staff prepared us for the apparatus to shift.
“Ready or not,” I responded as the structure tilted forward, the hydraulic mechanism loud in my ears. The view shifted, and we were no longer looking out across the city; we were looking down on it. I felt like I was flying above the streets, above the people, above everything that normally kept me quiet. My head spun as the angle increased, and I gripped the handrail. Below us, cars flew by in streams of white and red, and the shadowed rooftops of nearby buildings came into view.