Uncovered (5 page)

“Nothing!” I muttered as I looked down. “We chatted on the way here and then he left.”

She looked at me as if I didn’t speak English. “He didn’t come in and you didn’t invite him!?”

I shook my head. “Come on Oli, you know I am not that adventurous. I have to tell you though, I was standing there wishing I was after he took off.”

“No kidding.” Olivia studied the article, “You know, this says he is also into all sorts of water sports and sailing on his boat. This could be fate.”

“Yeah right,” I let out a desperate laugh. “What is a guy like that going to want to do with me?”

My phone rang next to me. Unknown number, I was hoping may be it was someone from La Rouge who found my purse.

“Hello? Yes. This is.” my face suddenly turned beet red. I stood up with my mouth half open, listening to the person on the line. Finally I said “Yes, my roommate Olivia. Tonight? I think so. Thank you. Good bye.”

I looked at her phone, then Olivia, then the phone again.

“What, what is it?” Olivia glared at me as I slowly lowered myself back on the couch.

“You won’t believe it… It was
him
, Oli!”

“It was who?” She looked confused.

“Jace Roland!”

Her eyes turned into saucers, “What!?”

“He invited us for drinks at his place downtown."

“No way, when?”

“Tonight! He said a car will be by to pick us up at 9pm.”

“Talk about destiny.” said Olivia excitedly, “Oh, but Kate, we definitely can’t go.”

“We can’t?”

“It’s Cesar’s first night here. He will be lonely by himself!” Olivia looked at me with a serious face. Finally, she bust out laughing. “I am just fucking with you! Let’s take him with!”

Chapter 5

Kate

A black town car pulled up by the prestigious Lake Shore Drive building. The chauffeur opened the door and a big black dog jumped out into the street surprising the door man. Moments later Olivia followed. I was wearing a black strapless dress that I only wore when I really felt like I could feel confident in it. Olivia sported fashionable silk pants with pockets on the outside that looked like small pouches. She decided to wear her canary yellow top with the low cut that showed off her goodies.

A moment after we stepped out of the car a blond smiling guy opened the door and approached us.

“Hello there. You must be Kate and Olivia. I am Ben, Jace asked me to come meet you. Wow, that is a nice dog, what’s his name?”

“Casar.” Said Olivia. “He is very protective.” She slyly winked at me.

“He looks it.” Ben’s smile hadn’t changed a bit. “I think we can find him a nice bone to enjoy once we get upstairs.”

We followed Ben into the lobby past the security desk and the main elevators. The private penthouse elevator was towards the back. Ben inserted a key card and pressed the elevator button that opened the doors.

“33 floors in ten seconds, and no plugged ears.” He said as he held the doors for us.

When the elevator doors parted at the top floor we saw was the large terrace ahead. Cesar took lead by running over to the lounge chairs that surrounded a large pool. On the other side a big table rested on a wooden base that looked like a large tree with spread out branches. A small fountain cascaded next to it, water rushing down onto a pile of river rocks.

“Welcome guys.” Jace stood by the table, opening a wine bottle. In a dark blue dress shirt his body looked just as muscular as I remembered it. It took just one look for my heart to skip a beat. His dark complexion married with his beautiful white smile was intoxicating. “Thank you for coming Kate, and you must be Olivia.”

“Holy shit.” Whispered Olivia as we made our way towards him.

“Nice place Jace,” I said, “I am sure you get that a lot.”

“A little more never hurts.” He smiled.

“This is amazing, I think I can see all of Chicago from here!” Olivia observed excitedly. “And look at this lake view!”

“On a good night like tonight you can.” Jace said as he pointed over the lake, “You see those lights over there? That’s Indiana.”

The lake was right in front of us, a dark spot that blended with the sky. Next to it the city was putting on its best show, the beautifully lit buildings glowing in the dark. On top of the 33rd floor we could see the lake front clash together with the massive industrial jungle behind it. The battle ended up drawing a line in the sand that stretched for miles and called itself the Chicago beach.

“Drinks? Champaign, wine?” Jace said.

“Vodka soda for me please.” Olivia raised her hand.

“You got it, and would anyone like to share a glass of Dom Pérignon champagne with me?”

“I would.” I said. I knew that champaign was as good of a choice as any.

“Me too.” said Ben. “I’ll bring out some raspberries to see how well it plays with the bubbly.”

Jace looked at Cesar who was finished inspecting the surroundings and was now panting next to us.

“Nice pup, had him long?”

“About 6 hours now, his daddy is out of town for 2 months.” Olivia said.

“He is a beautiful dog, I know the breed well. Bernese are exceptional in the mountain rescue operations. Very smart too. What’s his name?”

“Cesar,” I said. “Do you have any pets?”

“I wish I did. I spend too much time at the office so it would be unfair. I would love to have a dog though.” He looked at our guardian. “Let me get Cesar some water.” He poured a glass of cold water and lowered it in front of the dog. Cesar wagged his tail and devoured it.

Ben returned with the raspberries and we sat down on the big luxurious couch nearby.

“So Kate, I heard you like the water quite a bit.” Ben said.

“Yes indeed I do!”

“Where do you usually go?”

“Well, I haven’t been out much around here, but I used to go snorkeling and scuba diving in Florida and Minnesota.”

“Ah, you like boats?” His eyes lit up. “Have you ever heard of the Mangusta boats?”

“Nope,” I said, “Are they supposed to be good?”

Ben laughed, “I guess not that good.”

“Come on, don’t be hard on our guests,” said Jace. “Kate, Ben’s family owns them.”

“Impressive.” I said, watching Olivia fight with her glass trying to get the raspberry out.

“Let’s not bore the girls with the boat talk.” Ben said. “Otherwise we are going to find ourselves in another long debate about who makes the best boats.”

“The Germans, followed by the Italians, then British, Japanese and Brazilians.” I rattled out. Jace and Ben shared a look and turned to me excitedly.

“Nice, we have one of my people here!” applauded Ben. “Miss, I am thoroughly impressed. Please allow me to refill your drink.”

“And how about you Olivia? Are you into boats, jet skis, canoes?” asked Jace.

“Well, I like boats, but jet skis scare me.” She let Ben pour another glass. “The one and only time I went was with my friend who decided I could handle it myself. He forgot to mention that it is much better to hold the throttle with only a finger or two. Like an rookie I gripped it with my entire hand and squeezed the throttle. The whole thing launched forward and I was thrown back like a doll. I was so scared my hand tensed around the throttle and the jet ski roared faster, launching me into the air with each oncoming wave. Finally I flew off into the lake.” She paused. “I said I’d rather doggy paddle to the shore than do that again.”

“Oh, you just need a little more faith.” Ben laughed. “That gripping is a total rookie mistake. I’m sure we could get you back in the saddle.”

“I don’t think so. Those things scare the shit out of me!”

I looked around at the peaks of the surrounding Chicago skyline.

“This is so gorgeous” I said. “I haven’t been this high ever in my life.”

“Ah, no Sears tower visit in your past?” Jace shined his beautiful eyes at me.

“Not yet,” I admitted, “I only moved here a couple of months ago.”

“It’s a huge tourist trap but on a clear day it’s worth it. It really is incredible that someone had to put together something piece by piece that came out to be the tallest building in the world at its time.”

“I was always amazed by large scale architecture,” said Olivia. “It is mind-boggling how the European Cathedrals had managed to get built centuries ago without much machinery.”

“A man can do a lot. Lots of men can accomplish wonders.” stated Ben.

“Poetic, but think about the sacrifices made.”

“During my trip to Russia they showed me the Great cathedral where over a thousand people lost their lives just from covering the cathedral dome with the gold plating. They didn’t have masks, so it poisoned them.”

“A thousand men!” Olivia gasped.

“Think of the pyramids in Egypt.” Added Jace. “Scientists state we still don’t know how it could have been done. But I assure you if you gave me unlimited funds and human capital, I could come close.”

“Yeah, only the marketer genius in you would probably get those people to come work for free for the glory of the accomplishment.” Ben said.

“My tiger hide has some deeply grooved stripes, yes.”

“Well, tiger, how about you show me where you keep more wine?” I jumped in, surprising herself. Jace looked at me and curled his lips up. He was completely comfortable.

“Did I just hear someone purr?” He said. “Let us go then little cub.” He took my hand and looked at Olivia and Ben. “We trust that the two of you will behave.”

“Who, me?” smirked Ben. “I am just here for the fresh air.”

Olivia just rolled her eyes.

I followed Jace inside the huge penthouse. It had been decorated with large paintings with golden hand made frames I’ve only seen in museums. The rose wood trim lined the halls that opened up into the spacious granite kitchen. We made our way into a large wood trimmed room lined with wine bottles. I guessed there must have been at least three hundred. Some bottles had unique shapes looking more like art decorations.

"Are you a big wine snob?” I asked impressed by his vast collection.

“Not really,’ he said. “I usually try wine at business dinners and pick the few I like. The wines on these three racks is what I drink.” He motioned to the bottles next to me “This rack here is all gifts, and over there are a few I keep simply as investments.”

“Investments?” I studied the section which had the most interesting bottles and labels.

“Yeah it’s actually a fairly lucrative investment. A bottle of rare wine can net a better return than the stock market over the time one holds it. Of course you must know which ones to invest in.”

“Wow, it’s the first time I heard about it. How expensive do they have to be to be that valuable.”

“It varies. For example, $10,000 is a good threshold. The wines below that number can float in and out of better restaurants of the world. You’d be surprised how much too, but it happens every weekend that the dinner bill goes way up because of a great bottle of wine. However, the true wine collector will want the rarest, something that is very hard to get. Some bottles go up as high as mid six figures. I guess that’s true for other things too.” He shot me a fiery glance that flamed away a second later.

What was
that
? He was up to something and I wanted to call him on it. “I guess it must be hard having something so rare and not find out how it tasted?”

He turned his back to me pretending to be looking at something in front of him for a few seconds. Finally he broke the silence.

“So, what do you think of Chicago, Kate?”

Taken back by this misdirection, I took a few breaths to compose myself. “I like it a lot.” I said. “I love the city vibe, the amazing food. I have this one theory.” I stopped. “Oh never mind, it’s dumb.”

He kept his back turned. “Don’t be shy, I’ve found you quite sharp so far.” His voice resonated through the room.

“Well,” I said quietly, “I have this theory that when there is a lake or an ocean by the city, people are more relaxed. As if it puts the things in perspective and calms them.”

He slowly turned around and looked at me with his olive eyes. They were glowing with the warm embers deep inside.

“I think you are onto something. I remember for me buying a boat was more about gaining more freedom than trying to prove something by my status.” He curled his lips up as his eyes were looking through to my soul. “I’d say I was right in my opinion of you.”

So this guy wasn’t one of the spoiled rich types that kept trying to show off. He lived on his terms and enjoyed life. That’s always hard to do, especially at the level of success he managed to achieve. I looked back at him with admiration and respect. He must have noticed it, because he leaned in closer and whispered in my ear, causing goose bumps to rush down my neck.

“Not only good looking but also interesting. I like it.”

I gazed into his gorgeous olive eyes, “I was just thinking the same thing, mister.”

Jace almost let out a smile, but not quite, and put his arms on my hips. His strong hands gripping me firm. “I am taking the boat out tomorrow, I want you to come with me.” It wasn’t a question.I couldn’t give in this easy, even to a guy like this,
especially
to a guy like this.

I looked down between us, “Well… I might have some plans,” I looked back up and saw that beautiful face. “But I could be bribed.”

“Oh yeah?” he lifted up my chin with his finger and pressed me closer against him. He placed a soft kiss at the nape of my neck. Feeling his wet mouth on my skin sparked something in my abdomen, that resulting tremor rushing up my spine. His lips slowly glided up my neck and up to the ear lobe, leaving goose bumps in their wake. He planted small kisses as he moved along my chin and up to my hungry mouth. I couldn’t fight it, it was as if someone else took over my body. I was taking him in with every touch and kiss, my excitement building up. I parted my lips and our tongues united. He was such a good kisser, our tongues playing twister was making my legs weak. I felt the need to drink his passion in, to feel it rush deep down into my core.

I let out a soft moan, a moan of a woman who had just released the hunger built up inside her.

He stepped back and looked into my eyes, staring right into my soul. “I think that’s a yes?”