A burst of sparkling laughter rang out behind me, and I whipped around to see James Cross standing in the middle of the sidewalk. He clapped slowly before offering his hand.
I ignored that gentlemanly gesture and leapt instead into his arms, grinning breathlessly as he pulled me in for a deep kiss.
“I take it you won,” he said, his eyes lighting up with that twinkling smile as he pressed his forehead lightly against mine. “You’ve beaten down a company of men, forced them to worship at your feet.”
I bit playfully at his lips. “Always...and I love nothing more.”
“Yeah, that includes us, mate.” Caleb shook his head, wearing the self-righteous look of a martyr. “The second David said, ‘First place,’ all memory of us went out the door.”
“Actually,” I said, swinging myself down from James to stand on the sidewalk beside him, flicking my eyes at my new best friends, “I was thinking that instead of going to the Alps with Madison for the week, maybe you could go with her instead.”
Caleb straightened up in surprise. “What?” he said.
Madison, just as shocked at my suggestion, yanked me closer, staring incredulously into my face. “Are you serious right now? You don’t want to go?”
“Are you kidding? A luxury resort in the Alps? If course I want to go, and it sounds incredible. It’s just...” My eyes darted over Caleb’s hopeful face before landing on James. “I think it would be great for you two to go, because I have...some things to tend to here.”
The two of us locked eyes for a moment before she pulled away with a mischievous grin on her perfectly made-up face. “You know, Jones, I think that’s a damn good idea.” Then, with a flip of her blonde hair, she spun around to Caleb. “What do you say, Hart? You up for a week of sexual servitude?”
“I suppose I could be persuaded.” He held his hand out, and she took it, and the two started walking away. “There are sure to be some gorgeous women at the resort. Certainly I can find a couple snow bunnies who will ha
ppily serve me for the week.”
Madison burst out laughing and rested her head against his shoulder.
They were almost out of sight when Caleb glanced back at me and mouthed, “Thank you.”
I flashed him a grin, and a second later, the two disappeared down the street.
“That was very sweet of you.” A pair of arms slipped around my waist, and without thinking, I leaned back into James’s chest. “I know you were looking forward to a week away, especially after all that hard work.” He spun me around to face him, staring down into my eyes. “Are you still be up for a vacation? We can go wherever you want. Would you like Paris, Bermuda, Milan? Just say the word, and we’re off.”
“Are you serious?”
“Always,” he said with a wink.
I took his hand as we started walking slowly toward the car. Now that our Spartan sprint to the corporate finish line was over, a whole new list of issues suddenly sprang to the forefront of my mind, the primary question still lingering: What the hell are we doing? We’d been too busy to focus on romance, too tired to focus on sex, and my best friend and her new boyfriend were always right down the hall. Amidst all the corporate chaos, we hadn’t bothered to talk about one intimate thing. Now, he was asking me to join him for some romantic holiday, and I had no idea how that figured into the equation. Does it mean something is...different? Does it mean anything at all to a guy who can take off to Paris anytime he wants?
He guided me effortlessly through the busy crowd, keeping a gentle hand on the small of my back. “I think it would be good to get away for a while, don’t you?” He leaned down with a smile as people jostled us from side to side, bracing himself as a passing man bumped into his chest. “Just you and me, with no work, no distractions. Nothing but a week to...” All of a sudden, he stopped where he stood. A strange look passed over his face as his hands came up to pat down his chest and fumble around in his jacket pockets. A second later, his face paled, and he spun around in a quick circle, scanning the crowd. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“What is it?” I asked, coming to a stop beside him and staring at him in concern.
“My wallet.” He cursed under his breath, shielding his eyes against the sun as he scanned the horde of pedestrians. “Someone just grabbed it.”
“Missing something?”
We both spun around and saw an insanely beautiful couple walking through the crowd. They were so gorgeous that we couldn’t look away, like a mythical prince and princess in real life. They also looked extremely familiar; unless I was mistaken, I had seen their faces haunting the magazines on every street corner of New York City. The best part, though, was that the man was waving a wallet in the air, donning a huge, movie star grin.
“Gettin’ sloppy, Cross,” he said before he tossed the leather billfold into James’s hands. “Even less than a year ago, I couldn’t have pickpocketed you so easily. I do believe you’re losing your edge.”
If James heard the insult, he didn’t seem to care, because the second the man’s voice rang through the air, he was in full bliss. His face lightened with a look of absolute delight, and he took a tentative step closer, looking at the man cautiously, as if he feared he was dreaming the whole encounter and might accidentally wake up. “Nick?” he said.
The next second, they were colliding in the middle of the sidewalk, completely oblivious to the throng of pedestrians careening hastily out of their way. They laughed aloud and embraced each other without restraint, in such a boisterous, loving way that I pursed my lips to hide a smile.
“Enough already, you two.” The girl pushed her way between them with a pleasant smile on her face. “We all know how you lovers feel about each other.”
The men separated, sharing a laugh, and James scooped her up and spun her around. I might have been insanely jealous over that if it was not clear that they were as enraptured with each other as I was with James.
“So good to see you, Wilder.” He kissed her on the forehead and clapped Nick again on the back before turning around suddenly to me. “Meet Della,” he said proudly, then pulled me eagerly forward, like a kid showing off his newest toy. “Della, Nick and Abby Hunter.”