Building Our Love (Griffin Brothers #2) (21 page)

I didn’t want to be
too dressy, so I found a cool white dress at Zara that looks like
graffiti exploded all over it. I’m pairing it with strappy black
heels. My hair is in several braids twisted into a bun and my
original butterfly necklace is my only jewelry.

I walk out into the
living room area where Ryan is wearing a black jacket paired with a
green button down over dark jeans and boots. “Will it make me sound
too fangirl if I say ‘yum’ again?”

“Fangirl? Are you a
Ryan Griffin fan, sweetheart?” he asks as he walks over and pulls
me into his arms.

“I most certainly
am.”

“Is it my buildings
that you’re a fan of or my other talents?”

“Other talents?
You’re good at something other than designing awesome buildings,
Mr. Griffin?”

“Well, I once made my
girlfriend come more than twenty times in a day. Some would consider
that a talent, Ms. Jamison.”

“Your girlfriend
definitely appreciated that. In all seriousness, Ry, I’m a fan of
everything about you. I’m so proud of you.”

“Right back at ya,
Chlo.”

We kiss but don’t let
it go too far since we can’t be late for our own party. We meet
everyone in the lobby and get in the Hummer limo. I’m excited but
nervous, and so is everyone else. When we pull up to the building and
get out, Scott, Yasmin, Sean, and Erika start gushing about the
building. The rest of the Griffins pull up to the curb a minute
later. We all walk inside together.

Everyone compliments me
on the lobby, and then we head to the employee break rooms. “Holy
shit, Chloe. This is sick,” Scott tells me.

“Yeah, seriously,
this is pretty damn awesome. Are you sure you aren’t a secret
gamer?” Sean asks me.

“No. My only vice is
shopping…and Ryan.” I laugh as I admit that.

“I don’t game, but
I think that I may want to live in these rooms. Can you redo my condo
for me?” Luke asks.

“Sure. I’d love to
do that, Luke.”

“Let’s go up and
see the rest of what my woman has done,” Ryan says with pride in
his voice.

Scott and Sean love the
upper floors and tell me the design will make the employees happy. We
all compliment Candi on her photos. It’s time to head back
downstairs as everyone will be arriving shortly. We have a huge
buffet set up for them in the employee cafeteria, as well as an open
bar. Gary opens the doors, and a few minutes later, the employees
begin to trickle in. I wait nervously in the lobby as they look
around.

Gary calls everyone
into the cafeteria through the P.A. system. He makes a speech about
how technology is important to the company, praising Scott and Sean
along with all of the employees. He introduces Ryan and Owen, who get
thunderous applause. Then he introduces me, telling them that
everything inside of the building was my idea. I go almost deaf as
they cheer and yell my name. I’m so happy knowingthat they like the
building, and what I’ve done for them.

I still feel like I’m
floating when we head back to the W. I barely notice us entering our
room until Ryan picks me up and carries me to our bed. He pushes my
dress up and starts using those talents of his on me. I show him some
of my talents, too, before the night is over.

* * *

Ryan

The employee preview
last night went really well. I’m glad that they all seemed to love
the building. Chloe was a big hit. She deserved all of the applause
and attention. My building’s pretty great, but her interiors are
amazing, too. We had interviews all day with local media, and now I’m
waiting for her to finish getting ready for the party tonight.
Architects and interior designers from all over the world will be
seeing our work tonight. It’s one of the two formal parties, and I
can’t wait to see what she’s wearing. I have on one of my black
tuxes.

I don’t know why I
always doubt that she’ll top what I saw her in before. Because she
always does. If she wasn’t in interior design, Chloe should
definitely be doing something in fashion. Tonight’s black dress is
one shoulder with embellished lace covering the entire shoulder and
all across to just under the other one. There is lace going just past
her waist, and then under that is swirls of stiff, sheer material
that is shorter in the front than the back. There must be a dress
under there because I can’t see anything indecent, but I’ll have
to wait to find that out when we get back to the room tonight. I’m
literally speechless when I see her.

My eyes must betray me
while I am at a loss for words. “You like it.”

“I-I love it, Chlo.
I’m one lucky guy to have you on my arm tonight.”

“Whatever. You know
all of those barracudas are going to be swarming you, hoping that
you’ll ditch me for them.”

“Never gonna happen,
sweetheart.”

“I know. I trust you
and your love for me.”

The party goes really
well. As I expected, several guys hit on Chloe when I’m distracted
by someone else. They aren’t stupid enough to do it while I’m
focused on them, though. And as she predicted, quite a few women hit
on me, some right in front of Chloe. She just smirks at me, and I
kiss her hard when it happens, letting them know that I’m not
leaving her. We get a ton of compliments on the building and
interiors. Many people tell us that we’re a shoo-in for the big
awards. We go back to the hotel, and I find out all the secrets about
her dress and what she’s not wearing underneath it. Yeah, I would
have pulled her into an empty office if I had known that she was
going commando. Probably why she didn’t let on about it.

The next day is filled
with more interviews, and then it’s time for the press opening. I’m
wearing another tux, and Chloe is in one of the most conservative
dresses that I have seen her in yet. She’s still smoking hot,
though. I don’t think anything could dampen my lust for her. This
dress is navy blue with a sheer panel on top and white flowers
scattered all over it. It’s sleeveless and goes past her knees. She
has crystal encrusted high heeled sandals on.

The press love Chloe. I
had no doubt that they would. In addition to the design and local
press, there are some fashion magazines represented. They ask her how
her style has changed since she dressed so traditional for the past
three years, but her public outfits are more stylish now. They also
ask her why she limits her accessories. She tells them she has
finally found her love of fashion, and that the butterfly jewelry
I’ve given her is all she needs to wear.

Our last event is the
public opening. We always open our buildings to the public since they
are the ones living with them. We, of course, limit access to the
private offices, but all of the public areas and employee break rooms
are open so that people can see them. We set out tons of food and
make it a party. The mayor will be there and my dad will cut the
ribbon, officially opening the new tech headquarters.

Chloe is continuing her
own personal fashion week with another sleeveless dress with a sheer
panel on top. This one is black with a black and white cut out flower
design covering most of the dress. It comes to just above her knee.
She tells me that this one is also by Oscar de la Renta, which is why
the design of the dress itself is somewhat similar to last night’s
dress. Her shoes are what’s really doing it for me today, though.
They’re black and go up high on the sides with mesh inserts. I tell
her they’re staying on when we get back to the hotel. She laughs
and agrees.

As with the other
nights, the public opening is a big hit. We get more compliments, and
even a few requests to build some other buildings for corporations
here in Seattle. My dad fields those requests. He and I will go over
them later and then decide which ones we’re interested in.

Chloe and I are barely
in our room for a minute before she has her dress off and is standing
before me in her black strapless bra and tiny thong. Along with the
shoes, of course.

“I’m ready for you
to unleash all of your non-architecture talents on me, Mr. Griffin.”

“All of them?”

“Yes, all of them. We
need to celebrate properly, and we have the hotel room until noon
tomorrow.”

“We have an early
flight back.”

“No we don’t. Your
assistant cleared your schedule for tomorrow and booked us onto a
commercial flight that leaves at 2.”

“I think my assistant
needs a special bonus.”

“Yes, please.”

I drop to my knees in
front of her and give her the non-cash bonus that she deserves. We
uses our hands, mouths, and other parts of our anatomy to bring each
other pleasure until the sun comes up. We kiss and cuddle in our
first class seats for most of the flight back to Vegas. I can’t
imagine ever living without Chloe again. It may sound corny, but
she’s the other half of me. I’m not whole without her.

Chloe

Ryan was right when he
said I’d be getting offers from other companies once the Seattle
building was revealed. My phone and email have been blowing up over
the past week. Many of them didn’t interest me, but there’s one
that I’m seriously considering. I haven’t told Ryan yet, because
I want to meet with them first. They wanted to meet as soon as
possible, and when I told them I had to travel to Chicago, they
agreed to meet me there. We’re all going a couple of days early to
try to relax. I can’t wait to see my dad and my older sister, Addy,
and her family.

It seems like we all
have something that we would like to do. Yasmin confided in the girls
that she’s getting a tattoo from Scott’s tattoo artist and
friend, Zane, as a surprise for him. Candi’s looking forward to
seeing all of Owen’s murals. Luke’s happy to see his old friends
and so is Alex. My man wants to see his construction buddies. Some of
them will be at the meeting, because they get a vote in whether
anyone will work with Gary and Ryan on a new building.

I still worry that my
reputation is going to be more damaging to the cause, but Gary told
me that my positive press from Seattle is going to far outweigh the
negative from several months ago. I hope that he’s right. I can’t
legally defend myself publicly from an attack by Adam. And I know
that he’s going to attack me, just to rile up Ryan. I won’t let
him jeopardize all that he’s worked for just to kick Adam’s ass.
The bastard is not worth it.

We all fly in on the
biggest of the Griffin jets, but then go our separate ways. Sean,
Erika, Sam, Danny, Candi, and Owen are all staying at the W. Gary,
Maggie, and Alex are staying at their house. Scott and Yasmin are
staying at Scott’s apartment. Ryan’s apartment is in the same
building so the four of us are riding there together. We get to the
building, and I’m introduced to Bobby, one of the security guys who
Yasmin met on her previous trips here.

Ryan’s apartment here
is functional without feeling warm like his Vegas place. When I
comment on it, he tells me that he took most of his personal
possessions with him. He worries that I don’t like it, and I tell
him it has a bed and that’s the only thing we need. We go ahead and
try it out before getting ready for dinner.

Everyone meets for
dinner at one of the Griffin family’s favorite restaurants. I used
to eat with them here all the time, and the owners greet me warmly.
After dinner, we girls tell the guys that we have plans and that
we’ll meet each other back at our respective rooms and apartments.
They’re a little taken aback but recover quickly. The Griffin boys
tell Sean and Danny that they’ll take them to their favorite bar.

“Don’t get too
drunk, or I may take advantage of you tonight,” I tease Ryan as
we’re all leaving.

“In that case, I’ll
be close to passing out when you get back.”

“You better not be.
I’m looking forward to a full night of you and that beautiful cock
of yours.”

“Well, when you put
it that way, I’ll make sure to limit myself to two beers.”

“Good choice. I’ll
see you later. I love you.”

“I love you too. I’ll
have Bobby give you my spare key. You behave yourself.”

“I always do,” I
tell him with a wink as the other girls pull me away.

We take a cab to Windy
City Tattoos. Yasmin is greeted by a beautiful, tattooed blonde girl
as we enter the shop. Yasmin introduces her to everyone else. I’ve
already met her. She’s Quinn, Zane’s girlfriend.

“I’m so excited
that you are finally getting a tattoo, Yasmin. Scott will love it.”
She turns to me. “You were here for Scott’s first tat, Chloe, and
now you’re here for Yasmin’s.”

“I didn’t know you
were here with Scott.” I nod. “I’m a little nervous.”

“You’re not nervous
that I won’t do a good job, are you?” A tall, hot, tatted up guy
comes around the corner and pulls Yasmin into a hug.

“Never, Zane. I’m
very familiar with your work, and I know how talented you are.”

Yasmin introduces Zane,
who nods at me in acknowledgement, and then they head back to his
workspace. The other girls and I hang out with Quinn. She’s really
nice and cool. I like her a lot. We used to hang out when Scott
started getting tattooed by Zane.

“So, Chloe,” Quinn
says to me.

“Yes, Quinn.”

“I’m glad that
you’re back together with Ryan. He seemed lost for the last few
years. I mean, a couple of my friends had a really good time with
him. But he never spent more than a night with anyone. He always
seemed like too nice of a guy to be a player.”

“Yeah, he is a nice
guy.” I swallow the lump that has gathered in my throat. I said
that I would get past the fact that Ryan was with many girls while we
were apart, and I meant it. So now I have to do it.

Zane calls us back a
couple of hours later, and we file in to see Yasmin’s tattoo. It’s
on her hip and has the same “LOVE” made out of game controllers
that was on her shirt in Orlando. We all assure her that Scott’s
going to love it. Quinn hugs us all goodbye as we leave, and we
promise to see Zane if any of us ever want a tattoo. He’s really
talented.