Come Together (The Cityscape 3)

“The hell it doesn’t. What kind of man steals another man’s wife?”

“It wasn’t him. It was me, all me. I’m to blame. I ruined the marriage alone.”

David took my free hand in his lap and squeezed it. I looked at him, and he shook his head.

“I want you to come home,” my dad said. “We need to talk about this.”

“I can’t right now, I have work.”

“Come next weekend then. I’ll buy the ticket and whatever else you need. Where are you staying? Do you need a hotel?”

“No. I’m staying with Gretchen until I find a place.”

David’s hand tightened around mine.

“Get a hotel until you can get here,” Dad said. “I will pay for it. And bring this guy; I want to meet him.”

“I’d like you to meet him, too. I will find a time for us to come out. I do need to talk to you about the divorce and all that. I have no idea what I’m doing, Dad.”

“I’m sure you don’t, baby. It won’t be pretty. You’re sure this is what you want?”

“Yes,” I said, but my voice was meek.

“We’ll handle it. Put the ticket on my card, and come as soon as you can. Bring him.”

“Thank you for being supportive.”

“I love you, sugar. Say hi to Gretchen for me. Olivia?”

“Yes?”

“Don’t make any moves until I meet this guy. I want to know that he’s not screwing around.”

I smiled. “Yes, Dad. Bye.” I sighed and hit ‘End.’ “He didn’t seem that upset, but he wants to meet you, David. Frankly, I don’t think he can wait. He also wants me to get a hotel for the week.”

“We’ll go next weekend,” David said.

I smiled at him appreciatively. “Thanks.”

“But you’re not getting a hotel.”

“I’m not?”

“No. In fact, what was that about looking for an apartment?”

“She’s getting her own place,” Gretchen answered for me.

David gave a short laugh just as I slow-blinked my irritation at Gretchen. “Thanks,” I told her. “I think we can take it from here.”

She shrugged. “Just trying to help.”

David stood and looked between the two of us. “We’ll finish this in the car.” It sounded like a threat, but he held out his hand to me.

Gretchen’s eyes widened, and she mouthed, Sorry.

“Holding hands in public,” he noted as we exited the restaurant.

I laced my fingers through his. Bill and I had held hands plenty of times, but I didn’t realize until this moment how nice it could be. “I love your hands,” I said softly, because I did. They were big, they engulfed mine, and they were capable of making me feel so many things. Protected. Loved. Aroused.

“Okay, gross,” Gretchen said, slinging her purse over her shoulder. “Go bang it out, and I’ll see you two tonight, k?”

We hugged good-bye on the sidewalk, and David carried my duffel bag as he walked me to his car. “I am definitely sending her a fruit basket,” I said.

“You and your fruit.”

Before I could open the door to the Porsche, he maneuvered me up against it. He placed his arms on either side of me, trapping me against the car. “You’re not getting your own place.”

“I can’t live out of a duffel bag at Gretchen’s forever.”

“Move in with me. Today.”

“M

ove in?” I exclaimed. “Today? That is absurd and wildly inappropriate and just, no. We can’t do that.”

His jaw set and his eyes hardened not inches from mine, but his fingers moved into my hair. “Today,” he repeated, tilting my head back. “I’m not wasting any more time. I want you in my place,” he paused to kiss my neck, “watching TV in my den,” he added with a kiss on my jaw, “cooking in my kitchen,” another kiss on my cheek, “fucking in my bed,” a kiss on the lips, “sleeping in my bed, and,” another kiss on the lips, “waking up in my bed. Every day.”

“David,” I said breathlessly, because I didn’t know whether to swoon, protest or rip off his clothing right there. “It’s so soon. Everyone will talk.”

“I don’t give a fuck. Like I promised, I’ll always be your shield.” He gave me a hard peck. “You and I are going to have fun.”

“Tonight?”

“Tonight. This weekend. Forever,” he said. He went to open the car door, but I was struck dumb, still trying to decide how to react. He picked me up by my waist and turned to set me on the curb so he could get to the car. I practically fainted myself into the seat and watched him round the car with casual confidence. Completely unaffected, even though I was hot and bothered and unsure as to whether or not I had just agreed to move in with him.

Once we were pulling away, he said, “So let’s see . . . Burberry, Versace . . .”

I suppressed a smile. “It concerns me that you’re so familiar with women’s designers.”

“Ralph Lauren, Chanel, Prada – aha. Prada it is. We’ll start there.”

I giggled. Should I be more concerned that he knows women’s clothing or that he reads me like a book?

“Come on,” he goaded. “The Olivia I know is not this shy. She once told me I was a player who only wanted what I couldn’t have, but look at us now.”

I rolled my eyes. “Don’t get too cocky. It’s only been a couple days.”

“There she is,” he said, laughing as he shifted gears and sped up.

CHAPTER 4

DAVID HAD IT IN HIS HEAD that he didn’t want to be disconnected from me for any reason. Therefore, the first stop we made after breakfast was to get me a new cell phone. Ignoring my protests, he added me to his plan and demanded the most capable phone available.