"We're going to have to make this quick,' Bridgett said when I was done. "You look like you're going to pa.s.s out. Just lean against the tiles."

I was too weak to argue with her.

The tiles were cold on my back, but the water and Bridgett's hands were warm. She started with a small handful of shampoo, and I had to lean forward a bit so she could reach around my head and wash my hair. Her fingers ma.s.saged my scalp, and I didn't want to think about how good it felt.

She moved down my neck to my shoulders, filling her hands with liquid body-wash and coating my skin in lather. She washed my chest, my stomach, and down my legs. My eyes closed as she ran her hands all over me, and my c.o.c.k remembered the way she had touched me in the past.

With my eyes opened just a slit, I watched her mouth move close to the head of my c.o.c.k as she washed my feet and legs. As my body reacted to her on her knees in front of me, Bridgett glanced up at me her look questioning.

I shook my head.

"I'd just fall over," I informed her, and she nodded.

Her hands still ran over me, cleaned me from top to bottom, and I made a mental note to bring her back in here when I was healthy again. Images of her sucking my c.o.c.k or with her back up against the tiles floated around in my dizzy head until she pulled me into the water, rinsed and dried me, and then hauled me back to bed, naked.

By the time she got herself dried off, I was already asleep.

The next morning I was markedly better. I even took Odin out for a quick trip to the gra.s.sy area of Lake Sh.o.r.e East Park. It ended up being all I was up for, but I figured it was still progress. The air was warm for the end of February, and after I brought Odin back up to the apartment, I went out on the balcony and looked over at the lake.

"You have such a beautiful view up here," Bridgett said as she came up behind me. She wrapped her arms around my waist and placed her head against my shoulder. "Is that Millennium Park over there?"

She pointed off to the south.

"Yep," I replied.

"It's on my list of places to visit," she said quietly.

"Visit?"

"Yeah, when I first moved here I had this big long list of places I wanted to see the Art Inst.i.tute, the Shedd Aquarium all those places. I haven't been to many yet."

"What about The Bean?"

Bridgett snickered.

"Never been there," she said with the emphasis on the pun, which I ignored.

"What do you mean you've never been to The Bean?"

Bridgett shrugged.

"I only moved here a few months ago," she said. "I haven't exactly had a lot of time to check out the city. It was always part of the plan, but then again there are a lot of things I had planned that didn't happen. Ultimately, I have to make a living, and that pretty much takes up all my time. I never got around to doing any sightseeing."

"So what places in the city have you gone to?" I asked.

"A friend took me up to the Observatory when I first arrived," she said. "I've been out to Navy Pier and went to the area where all the museums are but never actually saw the exhibits. I was just applying for jobs."

"Why didn't you go work at one of those places?"

"I didn't get hired," she shrugged.

I looked over to her and carefully observed her posture as she looked out over the balcony rail, obviously not actually looking at anything outside of her own mind. I watched her hidden memories move around in her head as her tears formed in the corners of her eyes but wouldn't fall from her lashes.

She'd come here from where? looking for something new, something better. So many people did. She was actually far luckier than a lot of those who ended up homeless and strung out on the street. Not that she was in the best of places, of course, but I had seen far worse. She had a good head on her shoulders, and had found a practical way she could get by. It was far from the ideal, but there were far worse options.

Part of me wanted to keep asking questions to pry into her background, her history, and get to know her better. The rest of me knew that was a really, really bad idea.

This was just f.u.c.king.

"You should see The Bean," I finally said as I turned to go back inside.

There was just no way she could live in Chicago without seeing The Bean.

Chapter 9 Evening Interlude.

"There's something in the back for you."

I wouldn't have admitted it to anyone, but I was really looking forward to tonight. Reservations were made, certain people expecting us, and I even suited up, which I didn't do often. I was decked out in a pinstripe suit, white b.u.t.ton-down, dark purple tie, and dress shoes. I wasn't wearing any socks a habit I picked up from my Italian co-workers. I had planned for tonight far more than I had for anything that didn't involve my Barrett and a hole in someone's head.

Bridgett glanced at me over the hood of the car with suspicion in her eyes. She'd been giving me the same look since I picked her up, and she asked why I was all dressed up. She leaned back a bit and looked at the package on the back seat of the car before she looked up at me again.

"Get it," I said with a nod, "but don't open it until we get upstairs."

She pulled the box out from behind the seat and followed me up to my apartment.

"I didn't have you pegged as the gift-giving type," Bridgett said as she sat down on the couch with the box in her hands.

"Just open it," I said as I rolled my eyes.

Bridgett's eyes opened wide as she stared into the box with the Armani name on the lid. The sleek dress inside of it was deep purple, matched my tie exactly, and had a black, wool shawl to go with it so she would stay warm. There was also a pair of black heels with straps that would go around her ankles. They weren't too high, so she could still walk comfortably, but they were s.e.xy as h.e.l.l.

"Put it all on," I told her. "We're going out to dinner."

"Are you serious?"

"Of course I am."

She looked back to the box and slowly pulled out the dress.

"It looks like the right size," she commented.

"It is the right size," I said.

She looked up at me for a moment but didn't say anything else. Her eyes went back to the dress and then the shawl below it.

"This, too?" Bridgett asked as she held it up.

"Of course," I said. "That f.u.c.king rodent in Pennsylvania might have thought spring was coming, but he's an idiot. It's cold out there, and I don't want you to freeze your a.s.s off. I have plans for it later."

I raised my eyebrows at her, and she shook her head at me. Moving up behind her, I wrapped my arms around her waist.

"I'm taking you for a night on the town dinner, drinks, shopping everything. You go get yourself ready."

I smacked her a.s.s with the palm of my hand, and she shrieked as she ran to change in the bedroom. I leaned against the kitchen counter and sipped from a bottle of flavored water, which didn't taste too bad. Jonathan had been going on about them lately, so I had finally given them a shot. They were all full of vitamins instead of sugar, so they had to be better for you than a soda.

Bridgett came out of the bedroom looking like she belonged on the television as a f.u.c.king fashion show celebrity. I had to admit that I had done a great job picking out the dress it fit her perfectly but the rest was all her. Round a.s.s, long legs, face cleaned off of wh.o.r.e paint and just lightly made-up. She was all looks.

"Beautiful."

She blushed.

For dinner, we went to the restaurant on the other side of the little park behind my apartment building. It was a nice steak place, cozy and quiet enough that Bridgett didn't seem to be overwhelmed or anything. Once we were done with our meal, I wrapped the shawl back around her shoulders and walked her out the front and over to Millennium Park.

She started laughing immediately.

"It is a giant bean!" she squealed.

I couldn't help but smile. I also couldn't explain why I loved the sculpture. Sure, there were a lot of people who considered it more comical than artistic, but I thought it was absolutely brilliant.

And shiny.

I took a picture of our reflections in the polished silver with my phone before we walked back towards my building. I held her hand and helped her down the long staircase on the east side of the park, then across the sidewalk and into the parking garage.

"We're not going upstairs?" Bridgett asked.

"Not yet," I said. "We're going to the Magnificent Mile."

I led her over to my parking areas but steered her away from the car she was used to being in.

"This is your car?" Bridgett's eyes widened as she examined the exterior of the Audi R8.

"Shut up and get in," I replied with a smile.

It wasn't quite warm enough to put the top down, but it was still a nicer ride than the Mazda for the kinds of places we were going. I drove in silence across the Michigan Avenue Bridge and up north towards all the best shops. Bridgett just stared out the window at the people going by, most of whom were looking over at us. Once I got to the general center of the area, I pulled off in front of a hotel and let the valet take the car.

"Checking in, sir?"

"No, just shopping," I replied as I handed him some cash.

"Very good, sir."

I took Bridgett's hand again as she stepped out of the car and then escorted her across the street and up the sidewalk to one of the shops. I held out my hand to allow her to enter first.

"Evan, what are you doing?"

"Taking you shopping on the Magnificent Mile," I informed her. "Once we've hit the highlights, we'll have drinks at one of my favorite bars. It's got a great view of Michigan Avenue."

"You can't be serious," she said quietly. "You aren't going to buy anything here. The dress I can understand for the place we had dinner, but ..."

Her voice trailed off, and I just gave her a half smile as I grabbed her waist and shoved her through the revolving doors and into Tiffany and Co's.

The thing I found most noticeable about the store was just how sparkly everything was. It was like walking into a place full of tiny little dis...o...b..a.l.l.s there were rainbows everywhere. I thought that chick who wrote about the sparkly vampires must have gotten the idea by standing in the Tiffany's store and staring at the diamonds.

I had a feeling Bridgett wasn't going to just pick something out for herself, so I already had something in mind. I led her to the back where all the charms were kept.

"Mister Arden?" A tall, lean blonde walked around the counter and held out her hand.

"h.e.l.lo," I replied. I reached out and shook the salesperson's hand. She smiled at Bridgett before leading us around to the back counter. She brought over a velvet box and opened it up as I watched Bridgett's expression go from curiosity, to surprise, to bemus.e.m.e.nt.

"That's a gold bean, isn't it?" she asked.

"It is," I said with a smile. "Rose gold with earrings to match."

The salesperson held Bridgett's hand and slipped the gold chain around her wrist. The bracelet included a rose gold bean as well as a traditional Tiffany's padlock charm.

"Beautiful," the salesperson said as she affixed the charm around Bridgett's wrist. It jingled as she moved, and when she turned her wrist slightly, the charms sparkled in the store's lights.

"Evan..." Bridgett's voice evaporated again, and her eyes started to brim over with tears.

"Stop that," I said quietly. I took my finger and placed it under her chin. "You deserve a night on the town after putting up with me for all that time when I was sick, and I'm going to make sure your night is perfect. This is just a little memento of the evening."

"It's hardly a little thing," she argued. "This is..."

She glanced over at the salesperson, but she was now ringing up the bill and a bit out of earshot. Bridgett lowered her voice anyway.

"This is more than you would pay for me for a whole week," she said.

"So?"

I ignored her remaining protests, took her by the hand, and led her back out onto the street. We stopped at a few more stores but mostly just window-shopped. I pointed out the window of the Armani place where I had acquired Bridgett's dress she hadn't known Armani catered to women as well but we didn't go inside. I wasn't in need of a new suit just yet and probably wouldn't need one until Moretti's daughter got hitched or something. Then I'd come get one.

Ice cream at Ghirardelli's Chocolate and a quick carriage ride down a few blocks to my favorite drinking establishment came next.

The 676 Restaurant and Bar was just a block down from the famous Tiffany's jewelry store and in the same building as the Omni Hotel. I helped Bridgett dodge the drunks and other pedestrians as we made our way into the building. The downstairs was your usual hotel stuff front desk, concierge, bellhops but upstairs there was a small restaurant and bar that mostly catered to the hotel's guests.

I wasn't sure what was better the food, the drinks, or the banter between the staff.

"This place is...nice," Bridgett said softly.