All Messed Up: Windy City Kink, Book 2 (18 page)

“Don’t say it,” she warned him as he took it all in.

He grinned, that sexy, charming grin that made her knees wobble a little. “You’re right. It’s very nice.”

“I can walk to work,” she said. “It’s got good security and it’s very practical.”

“Practical. Yeah.”

“Where do you live?”

“Streeterville. North Lake Shore.”

Huh. Not actually that far away. And not exactly cheap. She lifted an eyebrow.

“It’s okay,” he said a shrug. “A loft near the hospital. Nothing special.”

She nodded. “Thanks for the ride. I hope Paige is okay. I’ll keep trying her.”

“Game’s at seven,” he said. “I’ll pick you up at five-thirty and we can get there early and grab something to eat before.”

She found herself reluctantly agreeing to what was sounding more and more like an actual, serious, normal date. “Fine.”

He moved closer, set his hands on her waist and pulled her up against him. For some reason, this was weird. And yet it was so normal. Seeing Joe in her apartment, feeling like she’d known him forever and yet he’d never been there, was weird. Having his hands on her, pulling her in for a sweet, soft kiss on her lips, when they’d been far more intimate than this, felt normal…but weird in this environment. It was messing with her head.

“See you in a few hours,” he said after he kissed her. And then he left.

She had another bizarre feeling as he walked out the door, an unexpected, irrational rush of fear that he was going to disappear and she’d never see him again. Now, back in her normal surroundings, Joe seemed like a figment of her imagination, a hot sexy dream she’d been living for the last week. Unreal.

Shaking her head, she moved into her condo. She had unpacking and laundry to do and should probably go pick up some groceries to get through the rest of the weekend and into the work week.

Work.

She had to go back to work on Monday morning. She’d been so sure this vacation was going to clear her head and she would see exactly the path she needed to take, what she had to do. But she found herself just as confused as ever and dreading Monday morning. A knot formed in her gut as she opened her bags and pulled out all her shit, moving her makeup back to the dresser in the bedroom, her flat iron into the small bathroom attached the bedroom, setting shoes and boots neatly in her walk-in closet.

As she did all this, she kept her cell phone close at hand, frequently checking for messages from Paige, and she tried calling her again. She couldn’t help but be annoyed that Paige had blown her off like that without even letting her know.

Her apartment had a small washer and dryer in a utility room off the kitchen, so she started a load of laundry then grabbed her purse and went out to Trader Joe’s to pick up some things. It was busy on Saturday afternoon. She picked up bread and milk, some fresh pasta and sauce, a bottle of wine, some things for sandwiches.

She walked back beneath the leafy canopy of turning leaves above her. Autumn in Chicago could be so beautiful, but this blustery day with spatters of rain beginning to come down made her miss California.

What she really missed was the distance that had put between her and her work problems.

Chapter Nineteen

Joe arrived home with an unsettled feeling. Yeah. Back to reality. And reality sucked.

The phone call from his dad just as he’d been about to get on the plane pissed him off. But there was something else too, something he didn’t want to examine too much or even admit. A faint feeling of hope. Relief. Excitement.

He’d put too much hope into going to California and then had gotten kicked in the teeth. He should have known better, because his whole life he’d learned not to get too excited about people giving a shit about him.

And then he thought of Mallory. Because maybe he shouldn’t be too excited about her either.

He had the tickets to the game, although he’d vaguely talked to Beamer about going with him. Beamer would understand.

He found himself with a strange need to hang on to Mallory. His life was all twisted up and somehow she made him feel okay. Better than okay. Great.

Now he was back, his reprieve from reality was over and he was going to have to figure out what to do with his family. He hadn’t seen Dad—as in, the dad he’d grown up with—since he’d learned the truth from Grandma, then had it confirmed by Mom. He had no idea what he was supposed to do now. Now he could understand why the guy had hated him his whole life, but even so, that still burned. That was still a crap thing to do to an innocent kid who had no clue. If Dad had been pissed off at Mom for leaving and cheating on him with another guy, her former lover, why had they stayed together all this time? Why take it out on him?

There’d also been tension between Mom and Dad for many years. He’d always felt he was the cause of that and now he knew why.

This was the stuff he’d been putting off thinking about. While he’d taken off with a wild hair up his ass about meeting his real dad, finding the biological father he’d somehow thought was going to immediately love him and accept him, unlike the man who’d raised him.

That hadn’t worked out so great.

Whether Tim would actually come to Chicago remained to be seen, although he’d sounded like he was pretty definite. But Joe knew better than to get his expectations up about something like that.

Then there was his relationship with his mom and his brothers. Half brothers. He’d also put off thinking about what his mom had done. Judging her. She’d cheated on her husband. She’d gotten pregnant with another man’s baby. He had no idea whether she’d been upfront with Dad early on or if he’d found out the truth some other way. She’d also let him be raised by a bitter man who hated his guts. His brothers…they’d always gotten along fine, even though he’d resented them for a lot of things when he was younger. When he’d realized how much attention they got from Dad that he didn’t. Now he was older, he’d already accepted that it wasn’t their fault. They hadn’t even seemed to realize what was happening, and in many ways this had created a divide between the two of them and Joe that was subtle, but nonetheless there. Did this change anything?

He had no fucking clue.

The week away hadn’t helped him get his head on straight at all.

But he was seeing Mallory tonight, so things couldn’t be all bad.

He had shit to do. Shower, shave, change. Call Beamer and tell him the game was off. Eh.

He was coming out of the shower when he heard his cell phone ringing. He’d tossed it on his bed so he hustled across the room and grabbed it. He gritted his teeth when he saw who it was. Ugh.

“Hi, Mom,” he said.

“Joe. Where are you? Are you home yet?”

“Yeah. Just got home.”

“How did it go?”

“Shitty.” No point in beating around the shrubs. “If you mean how did it go with Tim. Otherwise, I had a great trip.”

“Oh.” More silence. “What happened?”

“I went to Disneyland. It was fun. Saw Mickey Mouse—”

“Joe. I meant with Tim.”

“Yeah. I knew that. He didn’t want anything to do with me. Basically showed me the door. But then…” He sighed. “He did call me this morning, actually. We talked a little bit. He, ah, says he’s gonna come to Chicago to see me.”

After a thick pause, Mom said, “Really?”

Joe narrowed his eyes. “Yeah. Who knows if he really meant it.”

What the fuck? Did Mom still care about him? Christ. He rubbed his forehead. “Whatever. It doesn’t matter. I understand that it was a shock for me to show up out of the blue like that. You were right, I probably shouldn’t have gone there.”

“I’m sorry, Joe.”

“No, no, don’t be sorry. It was fine. Like I said, it doesn’t matter.” He shrugged.

“I know it was a shock for you too.”

“No kidding,” he muttered.

“You’re angry with me about it, aren’t you?”

He stayed silent for a moment. For years he’d pretended it didn’t bother him that his dad had treated him differently. For some reason, at that moment, he was tired of pretending he didn’t care. “Yeah,” he finally said. “Yeah, Mom, I kind of am.”

He could feel her waves of sadness even through the phone. “I’m sorry,” she said. “So sorry.”

“I know.”

“How was he?”

He paused. “You mean Tim?”

“Yes.”

His chest got tight. “Do you care, Mom?” Dense silence was the response to his question. “Look, I gotta go. I’m going to the hockey game tonight.”

“Will you come for dinner tomorrow night? It’s Sunday, and I’m making roast beef.”

Fuck no. “Yeah, sorry, I have plans.”

“You’re lying.”

He couldn’t help but smile. “Yeah, Mom. I’m lying. I need some time.”

“Okay. I understand.” But he heard the thickness of her voice and knew she was upset.

“Don’t worry, Mom, I’ll be fine. I’m always fine. Talk soon.”

He ended the call and tossed the phone back on the bed. His head tipped back and he closed his eyes. Fuck.

Might as well get the next call over with. He grabbed the phone again and called Beamer. “Hey, dude,” he said. “I’m back.”

“’Sup, man? How was L.A.?”

“Great.” He hadn’t told his friends what he’d learned and the real reason for his spur of the moment vacation. “You’re not going to believe what happened.”

“I’m all ears.”

He told him about meeting Mallory, the night in the hotel room in Denver and then seeing her again in California, the story cleaned up out of respect for Mallory. “I’m taking her to the game tonight,” he said.

“Fuck! I thought you were taking me.”

Joe cringed. “Sorry.”

Beamer laughed. “I’m fucking with ya. It’s cool. I was going to have to tell you to find someone else. I’ve got a hot date too.”

“Shaddup.”

“Yeah. You know Kevin’s seeing Emma? She introduced me to a friend of hers and she’s pretty sweet. We’re going to a movie.”

“Huh. I thought Emma and Kev broke up.”

“Yeah, something happened. They broke up then got back together. Honestly, I’m not sure what’s going on with them.”

“Well, shit.” Even though he and Kev were good friends, and Kev had clearly been miserable, he hadn’t shared any details about what had transpired between him and Emma.

“Okay, so no worries, dude. What’re you doing tomorrow?”

“Nothing planned.”

“Call me. Football game. Bears are in Washington.”

“Yeah. Okay. Later.”

Okay. He was set now. He’d go through his mail, chill for a bit then head out to get Mallory.

That gave him a bump of pleasure.

He stopped at a bank machine for cash, picked up Mallory at her condo that had probably cost around seven hundred Gs, for fuck’s sake, found not bad parking near the United Center, and then they were sitting in a brew pub ordering beers and sandwiches.

“Happy to be home?” he asked her once they had beers in hand.

“No.”

“Me either. Cheers.” He lifted his glass and with a smile she did the same. They touched rims with a gentle clink. And both of them feeling the same, sharing that, made it seem somehow better. “Did you get ahold of your friend?”

“No.” Her forehead creased. “I don’t know what’s going on with her but I’m kind of pissed off. The least she could do is call me. Of course, if she’s been murdered and is lying dead somewhere, I’m going to feel horribly guilty about being pissed off at her.”

“I’m sure she’s fine,” he said. “Wonder what happened though.”

They chatted easily about all kinds of stuff as they ate and drank, until it was time to go find their seats for the game. They watched the Rangers and the Blackhawks warm up as the arena filled with spectators, music blasting over the sound system.

Mallory impressed him with her hockey knowledge, and he remembered when they’d first met and had that drink in the airport bar, her telling him that she liked hockey. Holy shit, it seemed like that was a year ago.

At the first intermission they went to get another beer. Standing in the crowded concourse, he spotted a familiar face. “Hey, Sasha.”

The pretty blonde stopped and smiled at him, putting a hand on her companion’s arm to stop him too. “Joe! How are you?”

“Good.”

“I thought you were in Los Angeles.”

“I was. Just got back this afternoon. Had tickets to the game.” He smiled at Sasha’s boyfriend. “Hey, Jack. How’s it going?”

“Good, thanks.”

“Mallory, this is Sasha Bendel and Jack Grenville.”

Greetings were exchanged, then Sasha said, looking at Mallory, “Don’t I know you from somewhere?”

Mallory tipped her head to one side, then her eyes widened. “Yes! From hip hop class.”

Joe and Jack exchanged a look. “Hip hop?” Jack said, smiling down at Sasha with a raised eyebrow.

She elbowed him in the ribs. “Yeah. It’s good exercise. I haven’t gone for a while. But it was fun.”

“You should come again. Do you remember Paige? Paige Nelson? We still go every week.”

Sasha nodded. “I remember her. That’s cool.”

They made some small talk about their jobs, Joe’s trip and the game, and then it was time for the second period.

“That guy is freakin’ loaded,” Joe said as they took their seats. “Jack Grenville.”

“Yeah, yeah, he moved his business here to Chicago a while back—it was all over the news. He’s some kind of wunderkid entrepreneur techie guy. I thought I recognized the name.”

Joe laughed. “Yeah, that’s about it.”

“How do you know Sasha?”

“She lives with my buddy Kevin. They’re roommates.”

“Oh. Cool.”

When Kev had first introduced him to Sasha, Joe had been mildly interested in her. She was gorgeous and smart and sweet. Kev always said they were just friends, but seeing as she lived with Kevin, Joe had never been sure if there was more to their relationship than just roommates, so he’d never let himself go there with Sasha. But then she’d hooked up with Jack Grenville, so clearly she and Kev were just friends. “Kevin’s actually seeing Jack’s sister, Emma. And…” He laughed. “This is funny. When I called Beamer to tell him I was taking you to the game tonight, he tells me he already had a date—and it’s with a friend of Emma’s.” He shook his head.

“Small world.”

“It is.” He looked at her. “Can you believe we met on a plane to L.A. and here we are back home in Chicago?”

Her eyes met his and he tried to figure out the expression on her face. She didn’t exactly look as happy as he felt, but then her eyes went soft and the corners of her mouth tipped up. “It is hard to believe.”

He leaned over and gave her a quick kiss. “I’m having fun.”

“Me too.”

It was probably the tamest date they’d ever had, but it was true. He was having fun.

“I talked to my mom,” he found himself telling her.

“How was that?”

“Not great.”

“You told her about your dad?”

“Yeah. She sounded…sad. And then she asked me how he was.” He gave a short laugh. “Fuck, I can’t believe she still has feelings for him. What the fuck, Mal?”

She reached for his hand and squeezed it, both of them with their eyes on the game. “She might not have feelings for him. She stayed married to your dad all this time.”

“I know. But she asked. I feel all kinds of fucked up about this.”

“I get it.” She nudged his upper arm with her shoulder. “It’s a lot to process.”

“I thought going away and meeting my real dad would help me process it. Instead, I think I was just putting it off.”

She sighed. “I thought the same thing about my trip. Maybe I was procrastinating. Now we’re back and we both have shit to deal with.”

With her small hand clasped in his, all he could think was that he was glad he had her there. And he wished he could help her with her shit. He’d tried. But she had a tough road ahead.

“You’ll figure it out,” she said, and he blinked. She was still thinking about him whereas his thoughts had turned to her problems.

“Yeah,” he agreed. “I will.” He paused. “I was just thinking I’m glad you’re here with me while I sort this shit out. And I wish I could help you more.”

Now they turned to look at each other and their eyes met. They shared a long, wordless exchange, and then Mallory whispered, “Me too.”

He squeezed her hand again and they turned back to the game.

“Fucking hell. Suck me, baby. Oh yeah.”

Mallory was already doing what he’d requested, on her knees in her living room in front of floor-to-ceiling windows. Nobody could see in, of course. Well. She hoped nobody could see in. It still felt risky. That little kick of danger that they both liked. They’d already stripped each other out of their clothes during a hot make-out session on her couch, and now he stood, feet apart, hands holding her hair back from her face while she sucked him.

Her fingers gripped his hips, then she slipped one hand beneath his balls to fondle them. They were hot and full and tight, and the feel of them in her hand excited her. Wetness grew between her legs.

She let him fall from her mouth then circled the tip of his cock with her tongue, exploring the ridge of the crown, then licking up and down the shaft. “Mmm,” she murmured, enjoying the texture of his soft skin over male hardness, enjoying the taste of him on her tongue. With her other hand she lifted his cock up so she could drag her tongue over his testicles, and his groan sent a shiver of delight through her.

His fingers tightened in her hair, teasing her scalp deliciously. Tingles cascaded down her spine.