But there were other people at stake here. Other families. So I kept my hands to myself.
“Why did you come back here?” James asked as we stood waiting for the baggage to arrive. “I thought you'd be going to New York, not home.”
“Right. Because Nicole is the person I want to see right now,” I replied.
“Fair enough,” James agreed. “Do Mom and Frank know you're coming?”
I closed my eyes and shook my head. “Nope. I totally forgot to call them.”
Right then, the baggage arrival light went off and a small alarm filled the room. Luckily, my bags were the first ones off the plane. I assumed James didn't have any bags, especially since he hadn't planned on taking the flight at all.”
“Good. Then we don't have to call and cancel with them,” James continued, scooping my bags from the carousel.
“I can carry those,” I offered, holding out my hand. James glared at me, glancing at my stomach. I dropped my hand and let him carry it. He started walking and I followed him out of the airport, unsure of what he meant by not having to cancel.
Outside, James navigated to a waiting town car. I figured it was one of the texts he had sent out while I was in the bathroom. I was glad he had it. I had been planning on just taking a taxi and asking Dad to cover it again. Like at Christmas.
“Royal Crown Hotel,” James told the driver. I raised my eyebrows at him. It was the nicest hotel in all of Springfield, which given that it was Springfield wasn't all that impressive.
“So, no parents?” I asked.
“No parents,” he confirmed. “Not with what I want to do to you.”
I licked my lips. “Yeah?”
He reached over and pushed a strand of hair out of my eyes and back behind my ear. His hand brushed my cheek with the motion. Electricity flowed through me at his touch.
“Yeah,” he repeated. He glanced up at the driver, then shook his head slowly. I knew what that meant. Not in front of him. I sighed.
James frowned and leaned forward. For a moment, I thought he was going to go against what he had just motioned to me and kiss me anyway. But instead, he just moved to the side so he could whisper in my ear.
“I don't have to worry about knocking you up,” he whispered. “There's things I want to do to you.”
I shivered with anticipation. My heartbeat thudded in my ears and warmth flooded the core of my being. I scooted closer to him in the backseat. Not enough that it would raise any eyebrows, but as close as I could get. The hair on my arms raised, as if electrified by his presence. I wasn't sure I was going to make it all the way to the hotel room with him whispering things like that.
***
Here, nobody knew who we were.
Here, we could be ourselves.
As soon as the elevator doors closed behind us, we were free to be ourselves. Before it even started moving up, James had his hands on my ass, lifting up. I followed his lead immediately, wrapping my legs around him and grinding against him.
We made out like that the whole way up. I didn't know why anyone would be going up from another floor, but when the doors opened, I jumped off of James quickly.
Luckily, we were at our floor. James swept me up in his arms, carrying me as he walked toward the room. We had a room on the penthouse floor, but there were four rooms up there. I ran my fingers up and down his pectoral muscles as he walked. He moved with purpose, determined to get in the door to take advantage of my body.
He scanned his keycard easily and carried me across the threshold to the room, and for a moment I imagined he was carrying me into our honeymoon room. I knew I shouldn't think that way, that we could never get married, but I couldn't help it.
Still, he looked down at me like I was his new bride. In a moment, we were in the bedroom. He set me down on the bed gently, as if I were fragile. I didn't want to correct him. I wanted him to pamper me.
He pulled my shirt up, exposing my stomach. I had been touching it every chance that I could get, and now he seemed to be touching it the same way I had. “He's in there?” he asked.
“Or she,” I added quickly.
“Or she.”
“Yes, they're in there,” I said, smiling.