Making Up (Shacking Up 4)

“I’ll hear from you when you arrive in New York?”

“Yes.”

“Fair warning: You’ll probably have a million messages from me between now and then.”

“I hope they come in out of order so nothing makes sense.”

He dips down to kiss me one more time, and then he disappears down the plank.

My heart already aches with his absence, and I worry that all I’m doing is setting myself up to have it broken all over again somewhere down the line.Chapter Twenty-Two: Port PromisesGriffin

Over the past two weeks, I’ve done all the required paperwork to purchase the Vegas hotel, and we’re setting up a renovation schedule. I’ve also negotiated a deal with my father that between the Vegas project completion and my next venture, which will take me out to Costa Rica, I get to stay in New York for a couple of months. I have a plan for me and Cosy, should we work out, and I need time to execute it without screwing things up. Again.

Cosy’s arriving in New York today. As a result, I’ve taken the next two days off work. I’ll need the time, no matter what her decision. Fingers crossed she wants the same thing I do.

Instead of waiting for Cosy to call, I head for the pier an hour before she’s scheduled to disembark. The boat is already docked, so I hang out close to the gangplank, anticipating her appearance.

My phone rings as I spot her coming off the ship, her own phone at her ear and her friend Earl at her side.

I answer the call before the first ring is even finished. “Hi.”

“Hey.” She bites her lip and smiles, which earns a comment from Earl. Whatever he said makes her elbow him in the side.

“You’re in New York.”

“I am.” She twists a lock of hair around her finger, growing closer with every step.

“Can I come meet you?”

“Sure. I have a flight tonight at six back to Vegas, though.”

“I’ll make sure you get to the airport on time.” I already know her flight details. I’ve also checked in, via Nev, as to whether she has to be back right away. If she wants, she can spend a couple of days here. I need to find out where she’s at before I propose extending her stay, though.

She reaches the end of the gangplank and gives Earl a raised eyebrow and a thumbs-up. “Okay. Where should I meet you?” She rolls her eyes at Earl when he makes some random hand gestures I can’t see but can guess at.

“Under the Parking Lot B sign.”

She scans the pier, eyes snagging on the sign, then dropping to where I’m standing. “Your stalker status is at an all-time high, Mr. Mills.”

“It’s called efficiency and hopefulness, Miss Felton.”

“You should retire from being an heir to a hotel empire and take up professional stalking instead.”

“You should tell your sister not to listen to hotel heirs or take money from them for information.”

She ends the call and hugs Earl, who waves at me from behind her back, then gives me the I’m watching you signal.

I stay where I am, because as much as I want to go to her, I know I need to let her come to me. Earl disappears into the crowd. Honestly he could jump off the pier and I wouldn’t notice because my eyes are glued to Cosy as she slips between families wheeling their luggage toward the parking lot. All Cosy has is an oversize travel knapsack. She’s wearing a pair of torn-up jeans that conform to every single dip and curve of her lean legs and a hoodie with cartoon bacon and eggs holding hands.

When she reaches me, she shrugs off the knapsack and drops it on my foot. It’s damn heavy, but I fight the grimace. “Hi.”

“How much did you pay my sister this time?”

“The disembarking information was included in the original bribe.”

Cosy rolls her eyes. “She’s such an amateur. Doesn’t she realize how much she could’ve milked you for if she’d doled the information out slowly? By the time she was through with you, she could’ve had a brand new car.”

I don’t mention the fact that I wired her sister another two grand to find out what time her flight was leaving tonight and when she absolutely needed to be home by. Or that I’ve booked her a first-class ticket on the last possible flight to meet that particular deadline. “Here’s hoping she’ll spend the money on something useful.”

“That’s highly unlikely.” She steps in closer, until her chest almost meets mine. “You’re here.”

“For you, yes.” I slip an arm around her waist, but I don’t tug her closer.

“I’ve never been to New York before.”

“What do you want to see the most?” Obviously the first and only place I’d like to take her is my penthouse, but since this isn’t about me, my wants take a back seat.