"Fuck, I love how you clench around my fingers."
Still riding the wave of my release, I reach out for him, wanting to give him the same pleasure, but he blocks my hand.
"Let's go back to the apartment. I didn't bring any condoms."
We dress up in a matter of minutes. Since we didn't bring any towels, we try to wipe away the water as best as we can. Without putting the wet underwear on, we slip into our clothes, which will be damp soon, but neither of us really cares. I'm overcome with an almost girlish giddiness.
"What?"
"I haven't done anything this wild in a long time," I confess. My drenched underwear is in one hand, my shoes in the other. "Well, actually since we came to take measurements in your apartment. You're a bad, bad influence on me."
"I'll have you know, my wild side was in hibernation until you stumbled in my life."
"Are you saying I'm the bad influence?"
"Maybe." Kissing my forehead, he adds, "Years from now, we'll look back on this moment and have no idea which one of us was the bad influence."
I swoon all the way to the apartment.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Christopher
"You're a genius," Alice exclaims, looking over the spreadsheet model I have for her on my laptop. I rub my stiff neck, stretching on my seat, glancing around the buzzing restaurant. We're sitting at a table at the very back. When Alice and I met up months ago to look into streamlining her operations, she mentioned she’d like to add a bar area to a third restaurant she plans to open. Recently, Blake said he is looking into opening a second bar, and I mentioned to them that joining forces would be smart. The idea has been nagging at me ever since. So even though I have a million things to do at the office, I drew up a cost model, showing the economies of scale they could achieve among some other operational benefits. Uniting their branding will be tricky, and marketing is not my area of expertise, but Sebastian should arrive any minute now so Alice can pick his brain. Ava, Sebastian's wife and the company's marketing manager, was supposed to join us too, but she had to fly out to Washington on short notice.
"You're a genius," she repeats, murmuring as she inspects the numbers closer. “I can’t wait to show Blake all this. Pity he couldn’t join us tonight.”
"Does your genius brother deserve a second serving of roast duck?" I ask.
"An extra large one." Alice instructs one of the waitresses to bring me a second serving, and by the time she arrives with it, Sebastian steps into the restaurant, heading toward us.
When he's in front of us, I can tell something's happened, because Sebastian is grinning ear to ear.
"Is Christmas coming early?" Alice asks, obviously noting our brother seems a little high.
"Better. I'm going to be a father."
Alice springs from her chair instantly, throwing her arms around our brother's neck, kissing his cheek. I choose a less invasive—and more manly—approach and shake hands with him, then pat his back.
"Ava called me literally the second I arrived in front of the restaurant. She took a test today and at first wanted to wait until she's back to tell me in person, but she couldn't help herself."
"So, this begs the question, why aren't you on a plane to Washington?" I ask as the three of us sit at the table.
"Next flight is tomorrow morning," Sebastian answers.
I smile triumphantly. "You forget Bennett Enterprises owns a private jet?"
Judging by his expression, he did forget.
"Do you have the pilot's number?"
"Yeah. Here." I hand him my phone and can't help feeling smug. It was Max's idea for the company to buy a small private jet, and I was for it from the first moment. Sebastian and Logan, ever the responsible brothers in the family, felt it was an unnecessary luxury. Max and I wore them down eventually; what's the point of having so much money if we can't even travel in style? Until now, our older brothers didn't seem one hundred percent convinced it was the right decision, hence why I'm feeling smug.
"He'll have the plane ready in two hours," Sebastian says after handing me the phone back.
"We'll talk about this another time." Alice points to the laptop, waving her hand. "I can't believe it. You'll be a dad."
"Yeah." After a few beats of silence, he