“No way, we’re almost there,” Belle said. “Also, fun fact, did you know Chicago wasn’t actually named the Windy City because it’s windy?”
I cocked a brow.
“Well, I mean, of course the fact that we’re on the water and get a nice breeze is part of it,” she continued. “But another part of it is that when we were really establishing ourselves, we were very competitive and proud. We competed with Cincinnati in trade and baseball, competed with D.C. and New York for the World Fair, and were just generally very loud about our city. It was a nickname that other cities gave us, because we loved to brag so much. Hence, the Windy City.”
I smirked, nudging her. “Look at you, little fountain of knowledge.”
“Hey, you may be the Trivia King, but I’m the Chicago Trivia Queen.” She chuckled, completely oblivious to how much I ate up the fact that she’d just referenced us as a duo, a King and Queen. “I kind of have to be, with my job. I make it my mission with every design I do to incorporate the city, even if it’s in small ways.”
“I love that,” I commented, genuine, and she blushed a little as she peeked up at me through her lashes.
Just as she did, I felt a rain drop on my hand.
I looked down at the affronting drop, my wide eyes connecting with Belle’s next, but it was too late. In the next second, it seemed, there was the distant sound of raindrops hitting concrete.
“Shit,” I whispered, and Belle and I took off as quick as her heels allowed.
“Where is this place?!” she called as we tried to outrun the rain, but it was already sprinkling, and I watched Belle try to cover her hair with her small clutch.
“Just around that corner, across the street!”
I unfastened the buttons of my jacket and ripped it off as quickly as I could given the speed we were moving, but it was useless. Just as I freed it from my last wrist to shelter her with it, Mother Nature poured buckets.
I tried anyway, holding my jacket over Belle’s head as we scurried to the edge of the sidewalk and waited for the light to change so we could cross the street. The rain came harder and louder, pounding the hot pavement and creating a wave of steam. My jacket was soaked in two seconds, which only made more water dump onto Belle’s head, and I cursed, giving up and reaching for her hand, instead, to help her cross the street.
When we finally ducked inside the restaurant, we were both drenched, Belle’s hair a wet blob on her head, and my top hat sunken in. Our clothes clung to us, every inch glistening with water, and the only way Belle’s makeup was still in place had to be from waterproof magic.
We were out of breath, panting, and even though it was the middle of June, the combination of the cool rain and the air conditioning in the restaurant already had me shivering.
I lifted my eyes like a coward, grimacing when Belle met my gaze.
But she just covered her mouth with both hands, and then burst into the loudest, longest fit of laughter I’d ever witnessed.
She bent at the waist, one hand covering her stomach like it hurt how much she was laughing, and the other hand reaching out to squeeze my soaked jacket on my arm. That made her laugh even harder, and in the next breath, she was in my arms, pressed up onto her toes, her mouth on mine and her arms wrapped around my neck.
I inhaled the scent of her, her perfume mixed with the rain, and even though she was trembling in my arms, her body was warm against mine.
“I’m so sorry,” I breathed between a kiss. “I’m a fucking idiot for not getting a car.”
“Stop,” she said, pulling back with her hands still wrapped around my neck. “That was fun. Besides, I hated my hairdo anyway.”
She shook her head like a dog, hitting me with droplets as she laughed again, and I pulled her into me for a kiss like it was the only possible thing I could do in that moment. This time, I held her close, wrapping her in my arms like I could warm her up from the inside out. I kissed her slow and sure, and it wasn’t until someone cleared their throat as they walked into the restaurant and slid past us that I broke the kiss, putting marginal space between us.
“I’m starving,” Belle said, and the way her eyes heated with those words, I wondered if it was the food she wanted, or me.
“Well, let’s get you fed.”
I grabbed her hand, turning and expecting to find us face to face with an annoyed hostess. Instead, I found an almost-empty room, with simple gray tile floors and high industrial ceilings, the brick exposed on either wall, and a whopping five cafeteria-like tables with four fast-food type chairs at each.
I swallowed, looking up at the menu on the wall, and then at the counter where it seemed you ordered your food.
It wasn’t a restaurant at all.
I grimaced, looking down at Belle and expecting to find her nose wrinkled in the same way. But instead, her eyes were bright and diamond-like, fixed on the menu as she read off each item. “Oh, the spinach and cheddar ones sound amazing,” she said. Then, she turned to me. “Are you going to get yours with sour cream and chives?”
I shook my head, watching her in awe.
“What?” she asked. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
Because you’re the most fascinating, beautiful, wonderful woman to ever exist.
“Nothing,” I said instead, guiding her closer to the counter. “You order for us. Let’s get a smorgasbord and try whatever you want.”
“Whatever I want?”
