Once she was gone, I sat taller, looking again around the restaurant, thankful that we’d missed the lunch crowd and were too early for the dinner crowd. “I’m not much for restaurants. I don’t care for public exposure. However, breakfast was a long time ago, and I figured a burger joint was better than starving.”
Julia looked up from the menu. “I forgot to be hungry when we were at Wade. Since you mentioned lunch, I’ve been famished.”
“You truly were spectacular at Wade.” I wasn’t giving false praise. I didn’t do that. Julia McGrath embodied the hope and idealism that had died within me until I found her along the side of the road. In the short time we’d been together, I was addicted to her vitality.
“I’m excited to get back to the suite and dive into the information.”
I shook my head.
“What?”
“We have another stop after lunch.”
She let out a long breath. “I could go back to the suite alone. The hotel isn’t far away.”
It wasn’t.
We had walked from the hotel to the restaurant. Our next destination wasn’t far either. A five- or six-minute walk, and I’d already prepared our security team. “I’m sure you’re very capable alone on the streets of Chicago, but I want to keep you with me. We can walk.”
“What are you planning?”
The waitress delivered our drinks, and we ordered our meals. Julia asked for a Chinese chicken salad, and I requested a Mediterranean shrimp salad. For a burger joint, they had an extensive menu.
Julia was placing the straw in her water glass when she asked again about where we needed to be.
“What if I want it to be a surprise?”
Her lower lip came forward in an adorable pout. “Then I’ll obsess.”
“You will?”
“Yes, I like surprises, and knowing one is coming will be all I think about.”
I gave that some thought. “What if I told you that I have surprises planned for every night and every morning.”
Julia’s smile blossomed. “I like those surprises too.”
“You may have an idea of what I have planned for the evenings and mornings, but I promise to keep you guessing.”
I watched as her complexion filled with more pink, radiating from below her blouse, up her slender neck, and to her cheeks.
“Tell me what you’re thinking,” I whispered, my timbre filling my thoughts with possibilities. Though she didn’t answer, my attention was drawn to the way her blouse tented with her hardening nipples.
Leaning forward, Julia giggled. “Stop that.”
I lifted my brow in question. “I simply asked you a question.”
“No, you have my thoughts going places that makes the need for food suddenly secondary.”
“Good. Keep your thoughts there. Then when we get back to the suite, you’ll be wet and ready.”
“I already am.” Her words were barely audible as she looked down with her cheeks blushed and the waitress appeared with our food.
Despite Julia’s comment about food being secondary, we both dug into our meals as our conversation waned. While I was anxious for our next destination, my mind went back to my meeting with Marlin.
He’d take the bait. I had no doubt.
Getting him out of Wade was not enough. Jeremy had provided me with an extensive list of both Marlin and Gwen’s joint investments as well as Logan’s portfolio, including information on offshore accounts that contained both common currency and cryptocurrency savings. My thoughts were a cyclone of ideas that would separate them from their money. I wouldn’t be satisfied until their demise was both public and humiliating.