“Yeah, but it’s got the best view in the city as far as I’m concerned.” His gaze swept down my body, filling with masculine appreciation as he took in all my naked skin. “And it’s not like I haven’t been able to sample some of the best food the city has to offer between the deep-dish pizza and Italian beef sandwiches we had delivered yesterday.”
I sat up, pulling the sheet over my breasts to block his view. “Ah! But you haven’t seen the famous green river in honor of St. Patrick’s Day yet.”
“Green river?” he echoed in confusion.
“Yeah, I heard the city has a tradition where they dye the Chicago River green,” I explained. “It’s supposed to be pretty damn cool.”
“You really want to see it, don’t you?”
“Maybe,” I drawled with a grin.
“Then that’s what we’ll do,” he agreed, rolling off the mattress.
After we dressed, we downed some coffee and finished off the last two slices of pizza. Vaughn packed his bag before we headed down to Michigan Avenue, so we just needed to pop back over to my place to pick it up before going to O’Hare in a couple of hours.
When we made it down to the street in front of my building, Vaughn threw his arm out to hail a cab. One pulled over less than a minute later, and we climbed in. “Michigan Avenue, somewhere we can easily see the river.”
“You got it,” the cabbie agreed, swerving back into traffic.
I held Vaughn’s hand, squeezing it tight as our cabbie switched from lane to lane in a mad dash to get us to our destination. I’d thought LA drivers were crazy, but that was before I’d gotten to Chicago. By the time we made it to a bridge over the river, I was thrilled to climb out of the car.
We walked hand in hand to the railing of the bridge and peered down at the water. It was a shockingly green color, reminding me of an emerald. “Whoa! I wonder how they get it to look like that.”
Vaughn pulled out his cell phone and tapped against the screen. “It takes them two hours on a boat, going up and down the river with sixty pounds of vegetable-based dye.”
“See”—I elbowed him in the side—“I told you this was pretty damn cool.”
He nodded, chuckling. “That you did.”
I pointed down at the people milling around on the walkway next to the river. “Want to take a walk and see what else we can find?”
“Sure,” he agreed with a smile.
We found our way down and walked a little way, stopping to grab a green beer and corned beef sandwiches. Nobody in the crowds paid attention to us—the green hat I insisted on buying Vaughn acted as the perfect disguise.
Much too soon, it was time for Vaughn to go. He hailed down another cab, and the driver waited at the curb while he ran upstairs to grab his bag. We were quiet during the ride to the airport. His arm was wrapped around me, and I leaned my head against his shoulder.
As we neared the departures area, I looked up at him. “I hate that you have to go already.”
“Me, too.” He brushed his mouth over mine and whispered, “But it’s only another twelve days until I’m back again, and two weeks after that, you’ll be home, and then we can spend as much time together as we want.”
“All of it,” I blurted out. “I want to spend all my time with you.”
“Then that’s what we’ll do, baby,” he promised, kissing me again.
“American, right?” the cabbie asked.
“Yeah,” Vaughn confirmed. Our final seconds together ticked down as the cabbie pulled up to the curb in front of the airport. I slipped my arms around him and held on tight. “I’m sorry, baby. I’ve got to go.”
“I know.” I reluctantly let go. “Text when you land and call when you’re on your way home.”
“Will do.” He gave me one last kiss before climbing out of the car. I watched until he walked through the doors before turning to the cabbie with tears in my eyes and said, “Back to our last stop, please.”
I felt like I was at my lowest point since I’d arrived in Chicago, but I’d learn too soon how wrong I was.19VaughnAfter our last weekend together, I knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that I was in love with Allie. It was fast and might have seemed foolish to anyone on the outside looking in, but I didn’t care. Allie was my life, and I planned to tell her as much when I got to Chicago on Friday. I knew she felt as strongly for me as I felt for her, and I was anxious for us to start our future together.
That was how I wound up seated in a chair across the table from Rory. In addition to being Mason’s girlfriend, she’d recently taken a job as a senior sales executive at Harry Winston on Rodeo. Not only was she extremely knowledgeable about jewelry, but she also knew how to keep things to herself, which was a rare commodity in Hollywood. Asking her for help picking an engagement ring for Allie had been a no-brainer.