We moan and push our bodies closer, hotter, sinking into each other as the cloud that’s clinging to the skyscraper finally moves.
I turn, gasping, as the New York skyline is laid bare before me, seriously like a giant hand is pushing away the shadows.
“Jeez,” I whisper. “This is beautiful.”
“Yes,” Harry murmurs, tickling his fingers over my ears like he used to. “This really is.”
I turn, slapping his firm arm. “I was talking about theview, jackass.”
“Yeah, and what did you think I was talking about, eh?” he smirks. “Notyou, big-head. Nah, I was talking about the food.”
“Food?”
He tilts his head at me. “Come on, Grace. Do you really think I’d take you on a date and not provide a fancy-as-hell meal? Look.”
He points down from the helipad. My legs wobble when I look past the edge of the building, the city hazy and out of focus below.
But then my vision homes down to the table and chairs set up on the edge of the building, a pizza box sitting in the middle, with a bottle of soda and two plates and glasses.
“Guess what toppings I chose,” he whispers, moving up behind me and wrapping his hands around my waist.
I lie back against him.
Just like in the helicopter, it’s so easy to pretend that we’re the only people alive up here.
“I don’t have to guess,” I say. “I remember. It was what we always ordered when we were kids. It’s ham and pineapple, right?”
I feel him grin, his lips twitching against my face as he leans down to press his cheek against mine. “Just like when we were kids.”
***
Harry guides the black sedan into the parking lot of the fitness complex. We sit in silence for a long time, the only sounds that interrupt it a few tweeting birds and the whine of one car as it comes to a stop across the lot.
“Any other surprises?” I tease, getting back into the right headspace. “Let me guess … you’ve got a tank license, as well as a helicopter license, hmm?Orrrr… I know! You’re a secret agent and this whole camp is a terrorist-hunting front.”
He reaches across and takes my hand, which is still warm with sweat from the craziness of today. “Trust my little writer to create a whole story about it.”
My little writer.
I should tell him to blow himself when he says that. I should tell him that I’m not anybody’s little anything.
But instead, I squeeze his cool hand and look into the icy glint in his eyes.
“Did you enjoy yourself today?” he asks, leaning forward slowly. It’s like he’s hypnotizing me with the twist of his lips, the jerk-supreme I can’t seem to despise. “You were so amazing during the rope climbing course. The kids loved you.”
“Yeah, it was fun,” I murmur, as the swelter of his lustful breath tickles across my cheekbones. We’re pushed close now, almost face to face. “But …”
I lean back, the window knocking into my ponytail, hair flattening and pressing against my skull.
“But?” he growls, cocking his head.
“But I think I wanna leave it there, Harry.”
His throat shifts as he swallows. Uncertainty flashes across his expression, the corner of his lips aiming downward in a frown. His grip on my hand weakens slightly.
“Leave it there,” he repeats.
“Yeah,” I mutter, some bite entering my voice. “I amallowedto leave it there, right? I mean, I know we had this deal where I’m supposed to do whatever you tell me, but you’re not gonna go all weird if I say I’ve had a good day and would like to go back to my dorm now?”
