27

Chapter 27.

He slid his tongue up past my navel, in between my breasts. “You’ll stop playing games with me?”

I nodded my head.

“Say it.”

“I’ll stop...”

His eyes softened as he looked at me, as he contemplated what I’d said. He slid into me and thrusted in and out—slowly, gently, and within minutes I was shutting my eyes and screaming, reveling in a much needed climax.

“Fuck...” Jason collapsed on top of me seconds later.

We were both panting heavily, in sync with one another, and before I could catch another breath, I felt him kissing my lips and pulling my dress down.

I didn’t want to open my eyes yet. I didn’t want to look at him or see his ‘I’ve got you right where I want you’ face. I simply spread my legs and felt what I already knew was coming: the soft swipes of a cloth, the gentle kisses against my forehead and neck.

“Via?” His sultry voice almost made me wet all over again.

My eyes fluttered open and I realized he was staring at me. I wanted to look away from him, to pretend that I was mad for that ridiculous orgasm denial, but all I could do was stare back.

“You’re so fucking beautiful.” He pulled me up and put his arm around me, holding me against his chest.

We quickly slipped into silence, into that ‘I’m-perfectly-comfortable-with-you-silence’ that I’d only ever enjoyed with him.

I looked out the window and saw that we were still in the city; I figured that Jason saying “scenic route” must have meant drive around in circles because my house was a mere ten minutes away and we’d been in the car for much longer.

I started wondering about where we were going—tonight and long term. I didn’t want to think about it, but I couldn’t help it since he’d seen through my distancing attempt: What if this turned into an actual relationship? What if we did last a long time and he wanted kids in the future? Should I introduce him to Ashley and Caroline? Were we at that point yet? Did I really like him that much or was my “like” clouded by his good looks and the mind blowing sex? Was this something we were both doing to—

“Stop that.” Jason tilted my head up and kissed me.

“Stop what?”

“Thinking—about this, about us.” He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “Stop it.”

“Mr. Ice?” The driver’s voice came over the speaker.

“Yes, Greg?”

“We’ve arrived sir.”

“We’ll be right out.” Jason kissed me again and waited for the driver to open the door. He stepped out of the car and reached for my hand. “Does this place look familiar?”

“Yeah, it’s the Golden Gate Br—” I stopped and looked around. There were no cars coming or going in any of the six lanes, no tourists camped out on the railings, no pedestrians taking a late night stroll.

In the distance I could see a single table covered in a white tablecloth and hundreds of giant red candles surrounding it.

“You had the entire bridge blocked off?” I gasped. “I—”

“I did.” He squeezed my hand and walked me towards the table. “You mentioned liking the architecture of this bridge before. I thought you would appreciate it a lot better if you had it to yourself for a while.”

He remembered that? “I thought we agreed on no public—”

“I took care of everything.”

My mind was spinning. For one, I didn’t think he’d really been listening when I was talking about my love for the structure of bridges—I’d said that the first time we spoke on the phone. And two, I was remembering how it cost my team fifty thousand dollars to reserve a small photo-esque landing on the bridge for the sPhone blue commercial. I couldn’t fathom how much it cost to completely re-route traffic and shut down the entire bridge.

I looked up and expected to see news helicopters humming about, trying to zoom in on who or what had shut down the largest bridge on the West Coast, but there weren’t any. It was eerily calm and the only noise was coming from the sloshing waters below.

He pulled my chair out and motioned for me to take a seat. He planted a kiss on my forehead before sitting down across from me.

“Good evening, Mr. Ice, Miss Donovan.” A waiter in a white suit appeared. “What type of wine would you prefer tonight?”

“I’ll have whatever she’s having.” Jason looked at me as if he were waiting for me to choose.

“Do you have DeLille Chaleur Estate Blanc? 2010?” I asked.

“Yes. Excellent choice, Miss.” The waiter walked away and quickly returned with two crystal wine glasses. He filled them and handed us a menu. “This is the menu for the Michael Mina restaurant, Miss. The chef has substituted all the seafood items with his signature French and Italian dishes. I’ll return shortly to get your order.”

“Any particular reason why you chose the Michael Mina menu?” I smiled at Jason.

“I was stood up there once.” He sipped his wine. “I never had the chance to enjoy it with the beautiful woman I was supposed to meet.”

I looked over the menu, appreciating the fact that he’d remembered I didn’t like seafood. I decided to order the nine course option that featured baked lamb and caramelized chicken.

Jason ordered the same and the first course was brought out within minutes.

The presentation of the food was surreal. Every vegetable was bright and plump; every piece of meat was tender and brown. It almost looked too perfect to eat.

I took it all in once more before picking up my fork and tasting a bite of the appetizer.

This is amazing...

I tried to think of something to say, something to discuss, but I was utterly speechless. No man had ever paid so much attention to a date’s details before, not even Ryan.

“Do you like the food, Via?” He looked into my eyes.

“I love it...Its perfect.” I smiled. “If you don’t mind me asking, how much did you have to pay to get the city to let you do this?”

“You really want to know?”

I nodded.

“Why?”

“I just want to know...It cost us fifty thousand to rent a quarter mile with traffic. Did this cost you one million? Two?”

“A lot more than that, but you’re worth it.” He smiled and sipped his wine. “Ready for the next course?”

The waiter brought out course after course, and by the time dessert was brought out, I could only eat a spoonful of the peach flavored mousse.

“Come on.” Jason stood up and reached for my hand. “Let’s go for a walk.”

––––––––

I stepped over to the railing of the bridge, looking down at the ocean. A strong gust of wind blew against me and I shivered.

“You’re cold?” Jason took off his jacket and placed it over me.

“Thank you...I know we’re barely in spring, but have you ever wondered why it’s so cold here in the summers? When I first moved here I was looking forward to sunny summer days but they’re worse than the winter months.”

“The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco. That’s what every local says when people ask about the summers.”

“A Mark Twain quote?”

“Supposedly.” He laughed. “They claim he said it but I’m not completely convinced...I like to read a lot too.”

Really? “What’s your favorite book?” I asked.

“I’ll tell you, but you have to promise not to laugh...”

“I promise.”

“Harry Potter.”

I tossed my head back and laughed hysterically. “What?”

“You promised.” He pulled me close and kissed my hair.

“I’m sorry. I wasn’t expecting that at all. Were you one of those people who went to all the midnight book releases?”

“No.” He shook his head. “No one ever took me to anything like that. I snuck off to the bookstore on the weekends and read the entire book in the store until I went off to college. As a matter of fact, the first purchase I made once I started making money was the entire collection in hardback and paperback. I even have the signed editions. What’s your favorite book?”

“I have way too many...”

“Top five?”

“What genre?”

He looked down at me and smiled. “Are you naturally difficult or do you work extra hard to be?”

“I’m not difficult...I like Animal Farm by George Orwell, Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, any book written by Joan Didion, and The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi.”

“Hmmm. I’ve read all of those except Eat, Pray, Love. I’ll have to check that one out to see where your head is...Can I ask you something personal?” He backed me against the red railing.

“Yes.”

“Are you sure?” He lowered his voice and looked into my eyes. “It’s a really personal question...” He tugged at my necklace.

“Yes...”

He pressed his chest against mine. “In the past, how many guys have you been with?”

“Two.”

“Two?”

I nodded.

He smiled and clasped my hand, walking me further and further down the bridge, towards a group of black benches that were spread out across the lanes.

“So, is the third guy the charm, Via?”

“No, that’s not what I....I meant two including you.”

“What?” He stopped walking. “Your ex-husband was your first?”

“Yeah, we were high school sweethearts...Before him I messed around with a few guys here or there, but we never had traditional sex—just kisses and dry humping and...” I sighed. “Are you in desperate need of an ego boost right now? Are you going to ask me which one of you is better?”

“I don’t ask questions I already know the answer to. What is traditional sex?”

“Are you twelve or twenty eight?”

“Twenty-nine in the summer.”

“It’s just sex. You know, what you and I have been doing for a while.”

“Does ‘traditional sex’ include oral?” He joked.

I stilled. I looked out over the ocean and focused on a small tugboat that was making its way towards us. I needed to figure out a way to change the subject.

“Via?” He cupped my chin. “Did you say yes?”

“That’s too personal...”

“No it’s not. Tell me.”

I sighed. “Of course I gave him—”

“I’m not talking about him. I’m talking about you.”

“No...But that doesn’t mean—”

“Ever?” His eyes widened.

“My ex was very straightforward. He always said that wasn’t his thing. I was a virgin when we got together so it never really bothered me. You can’t miss what you’ve never experienced, you know? What we had was good.”

He stared at me a long time, slowly blinking, shaking his head in disbelief. “Okay...Let me ask you another question. Did you two ever have sex outside of your bedroom?”

“He never fucked me in a room full of people if that’s what you’re asking.”

“Did he talk dirty to you?” he whispered in my ear.

“Jason!”

“Did he?”

“These questions are completely—”

“Necessary. I’ll take that as a no...” He trailed his fingers down my backside. “Did he ever explore you here?”

“No...And that’s not something I ever wanted him to do.”

“Why not?” He gently squeezed my ass.

“Because that’s...It’s—”

“Immoral?” He laughed and pulled me down onto a bench. “We’ll discuss it one day.”

“How many women have you been with, Jason? Fifty?”

“Fifty?” He smirked. “Including you?”

Oh my god, there’s MORE? “Is that number too low?”

“Too high.”

“Forty nine?”

He laughed. “Seventeen.”

“Wow...”

“Why do you look so shocked?”

“It’s...It’s less than what I expected, but that’s still a lot of women...Were you in relationships with any of them?”

“A few. One was a friend with benefits who I saw whenever I wasn’t in a relationship.”

“And before you had sex with me, when was the last time you’d had sex?”

“Six months before you.”

“Well, that’s actually quite shocking. Were there no other women at corporate who wanted to be dragged into secret rooms or bent over your desk afterhours?”

He shrugged. “No reason, really. I was too busy and I have to be extremely careful when it comes to women.”

“Because you have attachment issues?”

“Would you like to be fucked on the Golden Gate Bridge tonight?” He narrowed his eyes at me. “I don’t have attachment issues...I have to be careful because some women are only into me for my money, or are more interested in going to the press and blackmailing me than dating me.”

“Has that ever happened?”

“Not unless you’re going to attempt it. Should I be worried?”

“No...” I leaned back. “So, where do you honestly think you and I are—”

“I told you to stop thinking about that.” He moved me so my back was flat against his lap.

“I just want to know if—”

He bent down and kissed me. “It doesn’t matter right now,” he whispered. “I’m not dating anyone else and neither are you. Let’s just see where it goes...”

I lay like that for a long time, gazing into his eyes as he gazed back into mine. I wanted to ask him more questions, questions about all those women he’d slept with, but after he kissed me for the umpteenth time, I forgot what I was going to say.

Over the sound of the sloshing waters, I heard the roaring of a car in the distance and realized the limo was driving back towards us.

“Mr. Ice, the bridge will re-open in ten minutes sir.” His driver pulled in front of us and rolled down the window.

“Thank you, Greg.” Jason eased me out of his lap and helped me back inside the car.

I thought we were going to continue our epic-long-silence-saga and ride back to my place without talking, but he pulled me into his arms as soon as the car pulled off.

He crushed his lips onto mine and kissed me passionately, making me wish he would take things further and undress me. But he didn’t. He used every single second of the ride to explore my mouth with his tongue and possess my lips with his.

When the car stopped outside of my house, he slowly moved away from me and sighed. He walked me up to my door and slipped his arms around my waist. “Did you have a good time tonight?”

“Yes. Thank you very much...Are you sure—”

“No one saw anything. You and I are a secret—just like you wanted.” He gave me another open mouthed kiss that made me lose my balance and fall right into him. He held me tighter, rubbing his hands up and down my back, kissing me so intensely I lost all my thoughts.

I didn’t want our kiss to end. I didn’t want our night to end, but I wasn’t sure if Ashley and Caroline were in the living room; I hadn’t told them anything about him yet.

Before I could consider the idea any further, Jason gave me one last passionate kiss and stepped back. “Goodnight, Via.”