Playing Dirty: Windy City Kink, Book 3 (20 page)

“Fuck,” Raff muttered. “How old’s her brother?”

“Seventeen. He’s hanging out with people they don’t know, and he’s hardly ever home. The school called because he’s been missing so many classes.”

“What’s his name?” he asked. “And where do they live?”

“Calvin. Calvin Strong.” She turned to him, her forehead furrowed. “And I don’t remember her exact address, but it’s in Franklin Park.”

He nodded. He knew that hood. “Just her and her dad?”

“Yeah. Her mom died a while ago, from cancer. Her dad hasn’t coped well with it. He drinks a lot.”

“Shit.” And didn’t pay attention to a kid who needed it. He nodded. “Sorry she’s dealing with that. You care about her, don’t you?”

“Well yeah. I haven’t known her long, but she’s helped me out so much. She works hard and has a good eye for putting together clothes, so she’s done more than just assist me with administrative stuff.”

“That’s great,” he murmured, just as the Blackhawks scored again and the arena roared.

Dutch and Maria turned down an invitation to join them for drinks after the game. But Maria hugged Paige when they left and said, “Raff will bring you for dinner this Sunday.”

Paige slanted him a look and he smiled.

“That would be lovely,” Paige murmured. “Thank you.”

“We’ll get to know you better then,” Maria said with a smile.

Perfect
.

They met Jack and Sasha in a sports bar inside the arena, a noisy place with big-screen televisions playing highlights of the game. They climbed onto stools around a tall oak table.

“I hear you’re a landscape designer,” Raff said to Sasha once they all had drinks sitting on cardboard coasters.

“That’s right. I actually did some work for your company, years ago, when I worked at Dreamscape.”

“How about that.”

Another connection, along with him knowing her father and brother. Raff learned more about her business and the kind of work she did, and Jack invited him to come see his rooftop patio that Sasha had designed, when the weather got warmer.

At one point, Sasha leaned closer to Paige and asked, “Did you talk to Kevin?”

Paige shook her head, her forehead creasing. “I’ve barely seen him the last few days. I was away all weekend, and we’ve never been home at the same time since.” She bit her lip. “He’s avoiding Emma—do you think he’s avoiding me?”

Sasha rubbed her cheek, her expression also troubled. “Possibly.”

“Should I be worried about him? I mean…you seem to know more than anyone what’s going on with him. Is there anything I can do?”

“I don’t think so.” Sasha sighed. “Maybe I need to kick his ass.”

Paige’s eyes tightened. “Is that what he needs? Last night you were telling Emma to cut him some slack.”

Raff listened to this with mild curiosity about what was going on with Paige’s roommate.

“I know I was. But you guys are right. He can’t go on like this. It’s not fair to her to string her along if he has no intention of ever making a commitment.”

Jack muttered something under his breath and looked down at the beer he held in two hands. Right, Emma was his sister. He obviously wasn’t happy about the situation either. He looked up at Sasha. “Want me to help you kick his ass?”

They exchanged a long look, clearly communicating without words. “I’ll talk to him,” Sasha said quietly.

“Why’s he so afraid of commitment?” Paige asked. “Typical guy stuff?”

“Not all guys are afraid of commitment,” Jack put in.

Sasha gave him a look, a slow smile, her eyes warm. “True.”

Jack reached for Sasha’s hand and gave it a squeeze.

They were good together. Really good. Raff felt a pulling sensation in his gut.

“Then do it,” Paige said, returning to the conversation about Kevin. “Kick his ass. Make him realize what he’s at risk of losing.”

“I think he knows exactly what he’s at risk of losing,” Sasha said slowly. “That’s why he’s acting so weird. Pulling back.”

Paige lifted her hands. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. I feel clueless. But if Kevin wants to talk, I’m there too, another girl to give a girl’s perspective.”

“I’ll get hold of him tomorrow,” Sasha said.

“Good.”

Raff had no clue either what was going on, other than Kevin was apparently stringing Emma along, but if it affected Paige, he wanted it taken care of too. Only this time, he had a feeling this wasn’t something within his control.

Chapter Twenty

“I can’t believe Sasha met him before me!”

Paige grinned, her cell phone at her ear as she waited at the warehouse the next day for Amanda to arrive with her designs for the new space. “Sorry, Mal. I didn’t have any say over it. Somehow Raff and Jack set it up.”

Mallory huffed. “Well, we have to rectify this immediately. Friday night we’ll have dinner—you and Raff, me and Joe.”

“Oh man.” Paige sighed. “This is going so fast and turning into so much more than I’m ready for.”

“You okay, hon?”

“Yeah, I’m okay. He’s just such a force. Although, it will be a change of pace, me making the plans and telling him what to do. Ha. I kinda like it. Okay, dinner Friday night.”

As soon as she hung up she started having second thoughts. Would Raff turn her down? It seemed unlikely, but he was a busy man and could easily have plans for that night, maybe business plans. Or, like Del, would a control-freak guy like him be annoyed if she made plans for them without consulting him? Jesus. If that was the case, she’d best find out now because she had no intention of being in a relationship with a man like that again. Before she lost her nerve, she found Raff in her contacts and called his cell.

“Paige,” he answered warmly. “What’s up, sweetheart?”

Her chest got soft at the sound of his voice. “Hi. Um. I was just talking to Mallory—my friend—”

“Yeah, babe, know who she is.” She heard the smile in his voice.

“She was upset that Sasha got to meet you before she did, so she wants us to have dinner with her and Joe Friday night. I said we would.” She paused.

When he didn’t answer, her breath quickened. Shit.

“We don’t have to,” she burst out. “If you’re—”

“That would be great,” he said, now his voice sounding different, low and rough.

“Oh. Okay. Um. We’ll figure out a time and place.”

“Let me know.”

“Okay. Oh. Amanda’s here. I have to go.”

“I have a business dinner tonight,” Raff said. “So I won’t see you till tomorrow night. Be careful, okay?”

She frowned. Be careful? She shook her head. “Of course. I’ll text you the plan for tomorrow.”

“I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” His tone went firm.

Trenise had let Amanda in and was leading her toward Paige, who had her butt leaning against the edge of her desk. She tossed her phone down and smiled at the designer. “Hi, Amanda.”

“Got some great stuff for you,” Amanda said.

They took her coat, offered coffee and got chairs set up at the desk. Amanda pulled out a portfolio and began to show them her sketches.

“Oh wow,” Paige said moments later. “You were so right. These are amazing.” She blinked and looked between the three different concepts Amanda had presented.

“This one,” she said, touching her fingertips to a sketch, one of a series. “This is almost exactly what I wanted.”

“What’s ‘almost’ about it?” Amanda asked.

Paige looked up at her and grinned. “It’s not lacking anything. I said ‘almost’ because you have things there I never would have thought of. It’s amazing. Like these posts separating the dressing room…does something like that really exist?”

“Of course.” Amanda grinned. “I’ve pretty much sourced everything I included. I thought they were really cool too.”

The posts were elegant, black and brass, with gilt finials on top almost resembling a fleur-de-lis. Amanda had sketched lime-green curtains, a wall of black shelving, drawers and racks for hanging clothes, and a turquoise couch sitting atop an elegant patterned rug in shades of gray, black, turquoise and green. Several oval floor mirrors were painted pale turquoise.

Paige looked at the design for the entrance. The feature wall behind the reception desk was a pale-turquoise color with a sketched-in large piece of art that was blank.

“That’s the only thing I didn’t source,” Amanda said. “I thought we could take a trip to the art store together to find something for you.”

“I can’t afford expensive art,” Paige said immediately.

“No no, not expensive. This place I go to has thousands of prints, some framed, some not. They do framing. We might find something you love for, like, ten dollars.”

“Okay.”

As she’d imagined, two turquoise love seats flanked the entrance, with funky little charcoal-colored tables and a similar rug on the hardwood floor.

Paige swallowed hard. “It’s so beautiful. I can’t believe it could be mine.” She glanced at Amanda. “How much is this going to cost?”

“The couches are from IKEA. They’re about three hundred dollars each. The wall unit is also from IKEA, about a thousand dollars altogether. That’s the most expensive thing. Oh wait, those posts add up to about a thousand too.” She gave a little wince. “I know they’re pricey, but throwing in a few things that are higher end as accents will give a more luxurious feel. The mirrors are from a little shop I know that sells unfinished wood furniture. We’ll paint them ourselves. Challenger is paying to have the space painted, I’ll give them the colors. It’s not going to be that much. I’ll do up a quote for you.”

“Thank you. This is so awesome. I absolutely love it.”

“Great! I’m so pleased. You did a good job of sharing your vision with me. You already have the color scheme on your website; I used those colors and played around with them a bit.”

They chatted a bit more about details and timing, and then Amanda left.

“Exciting!” Trenise said. “I can’t wait to move in there.”

“It’s going to be so different. Can you imagine going to work every day in a place like that, instead of this dump?”

“Aw, this dump kinda grows on you. You were smart to start somewhere affordable.”

“Raff hates this neighborhood.”

Trenise grinned. “Spoiled rich boy don’t like hangin’ in the hood?”

Paige tipped her head. “Actually, he grew up in ‘the hood’, as you both put it. I guess he just doesn’t like going back.”

Trenise made a face. “Don’t blame him.”

Dinner Friday night turned out to be fun. They ate at Chop Gastropub, a packed, vibrant place on South Michigan in an old restored building, divided into small, dark rooms with intimate lighting above each table. The interesting menu ranged from unusual things like Scotch eggs to more typical escargot, from elk to fish and chips. They shared appetizers of roasted cauliflower, at which both guys turned up their noses initially, then grudgingly admitted were really good, and a sort of fondue with brie and toast.

Joe and Raff did some alpha-male sizing each other up but then seemed to relax. Mallory too was taking Raff’s measure, peppering him with questions like she was interviewing him for a job. His lips twitched as he answered her questions, ones about his business, his education, his family. Finally they managed to veer the conversation away from interrogating Raff. Joe’s job as a SWAT officer was interesting, and he told them a hilarious story about the SWAT team being called to a home where the wife was concerned because her husband had barricaded himself in the bedroom.

“When I finally breached the locked bedroom, I discovered the guy on his bed, buck-ass naked, masturbating while watching porn. He had headphones on,” Joe explained as everyone choked with laughter. “So he couldn’t hear his wife calling him.”

“Oh my God,” Paige wheezed. “That must have been a sight.”

“I’m scarred for life,” Joe said with a grin. “There are some things you don’t want to see.”

They talked about progress on Paige’s new space, and a little gossipy speculation about what was going on with Emma and Kevin.

“I saw him last night, finally,” Paige told Mallory. “But only for a few minutes. He definitely wasn’t himself. He was hungover from the night before, but was already chugging back tequila.” She nibbled her bottom lip. “Now I
am
worried about him. Something’s wrong.”

The two women pinned Joe with their gazes. “Do
you
know anything?”

Joe was Kevin’s best buddy. He should know what was going on. “Fuck no,” he said. “Wish I did. He won’t tell me. It’s something…hell, I better not say any more.”

“Sasha’s the same,” Paige pouted. “Only I think she knows.”

Joe’s eyes narrowed. “Really? Sasha knows?”

“Um…I think so. Didn’t you get that impression, Mal?”

“Definitely.”

Joe lifted his chin. “Huh.”

“She said she was going to talk to him, but I have a feeling he’s avoiding her too. He’s avoiding everyone except Jose…” she paused at their blank looks, “…Cuervo.”

They all laughed briefly.

“Jack’s pissed off because Emma’s upset. Sasha’s annoyed too, at Kevin, but at everyone else for not giving him a break. Except nobody knows what he needs a break for.” Paige shook her head. “I haven’t even known them very long, but I’m worried for both Kevin and Emma.”

Raff reached for her hand and squeezed it. “It’ll be okay, babe.”

Paige caught Mallory’s soft expression as she watched that.

“I need the ladies’ room,” Mallory announced, reaching for her purse. “Come on, Paige.”

Paige started to protest but knew it was futile. “Sure,” she muttered, picking up her own bag. She smiled at Raff. “Back in few.”

She and Mallory walked down a dim hall with strategic pot lights and located the ladies’ room behind a dark wood door. Inside, bright lights made them blink. They met up again at the sinks a few minutes later.

“Okay, Paige, he is totally yummy,” Mallory said. “I absolutely love how protective he is of you.”

“I don’t need protecting. Why does everyone think that’s a good thing? I told you he’s overbearing, domineering and a control freak. Those are the qualities I’ve been trying to avoid in a man.”

Mallory grinned. “Tell me you didn’t like those qualities in bed.”

Paige’s cheeks heated.

“You already told us it was amazing,” Mallory reminded her.

Paige pursed her lips. “Um…we haven’t had sex since last weekend.”

Mallory’s eyebrows flew up. “Really?”

“Yep.” She met her friend’s eyes in the mirror. “That kind of worries me.”

“Well…it can’t be that he’s lost interest in you.”

“I don’t get it. He’s kissed me, but hasn’t put a move on me. Took me home both nights we went out and then left.”

“Maybe you should be glad he’s interested in you for more than sex.”

Paige tipped her head and smoothed her hair around one ear in the mirror. “Yeah. That’s right. I always think the worst.”

“Paige. You’re beautiful and sweet and funny. You’re a smart, creative businesswoman. You’re a catch for any man.”

“Delmer did a number on my confidence,” Paige admitted. “I know it. It’s hard to stop those old doubts from creeping back in.”

“Forget him. He’s way in the past now. You haven’t seen him or heard from him, have you?”

“Not at all. Thank God. I guess he’s finally given up.”

“Maybe he’ll sign the divorce papers now.”

“Whatever. I don’t even care.”

Mallory narrowed her eyes at her in the mirror as she touched a lip-gloss wand to her mouth. “What if you want to get married again?”

“Not gonna happen.” Although… No. She couldn’t think things like that about Raff. Never mind everyone else going too fast! That was crazy.

“You might need to contact him and tell him to sign those papers.”

“I’ll do it through my lawyer.”

“Yeah. Yeah, of course. Get on that, hon.” Mallory screwed the lip-gloss tube back together. “From what I see, you might want that done sooner than later.”

“Oh my God, Raff does not want to marry me. We’ve known each other a few weeks!”

“Sure, hon. Sure.” Mallory patted her shoulder.

Paige rolled her eyes. “Well, glad to know he meets with your approval.”

“So far. It’s only a first impression. I’ll see what Joe says. He’s a good judge of character.”

Paige and Raff sat inside his car as he let it warm up for a minute. The night was clear and cold. The light of city skyscrapers glittered against the black sky all around them.

“I like your friends, babe,” Raff murmured, shifting to look at her.

“Thanks. Mallory approves of you too.”

“Not Joe?”

“I didn’t get a chance to sneak into the bathroom with him to find out.”

He smiled. “So.” He lifted his chin. “Wanna spend the night with you tonight. We going to your place or mine?”

She blinked at him, something rushing through her that was warm and could have been relief…or maybe arousal. Or maybe both. “If we go to my place, Kevin will be there. But that’s okay.”

“My place,” he decided. “Should’ve told you to pack a bag.”

She bit her lip. “I’ll be okay. I actually have a little toothbrush in my purse.”

“Yeah?”

She shrugged. “I hate not having clean teeth.”

His lips twitched. “Dental hygiene is very important to overall good health.”

She burst out laughing. “True.”

He put the car in gear and backed up, then pulled out of the parking spot. “It’s not far from here, which is another factor in favor of my place. Been dying to get my hands on you all week.”

She let out a long, shaky breath, with a little flutter in her belly. That was both good to hear…and scary. And exciting.

She wanted his hands on her. Her inner muscles squeezed tight.

He drove very fast and it wasn’t long before he was entering an underground parking garage beneath the Challenger Building. She did recognize it of course; it was a unique and striking design amongst the other high-rises of downtown Chicago.

He pulled into a spot near an exit and held her door for her as she slid out of his car. The elevator lifted them smoothly to the eighty-first floor, taking only seconds, although Raff took advantage of those seconds to pull her into his arms and kiss her breathless. His mouth hot and hard on hers, she sank into his kiss, liquid heat gathering between her thighs.

They stepped out into a foyer and Raff unlocked his door by entering numbers into a keypad on the wall. He held the door for her to enter. She walked in, her gaze moving all around to take in her surroundings.

Hardwood floors stretched out in front of them, the entrance giving way to a spacious living room. She paused to take off her boots. Raff moved up behind her, ready to take her jacket. He unwrapped her big scarf as she undid the buttons, then took both from her and hung them in a roomy closet. They both moved into the living room.