“Two days. Two nights,” he confirms, moving his phenomenal hands to my shoulders. “No responsibilities. No worries. Just you and me, baby girl.”

“It sounds perfect,” I squeal, rising to my feet as the fireworks finale shoots off in the distance.

“Wait—where are you going?” Dempsey calls after me as I run toward the house. He can grab the blanket and citronella candles—I’m a woman on a mission.

“Dem—you just said we’re going to New York City this weekend. That’s only six days from now. I have to start packing!”

35. Dempsey

Chapter 35

Dempsey

We arrived in the city early after a quick, mostly uneventful flight. My little spitfire of a girlfriend tried more than once to tempt me into getting cozy under a blanket in first class. But sitting toward the front of the plane meant the flight attendants were right there, and I wasn’t about to get us banned from the airline for indecent behavior.

We dropped our bags at the hotel, then I took Maddie to Juniors and insisted she have a piece of cheesecake for breakfast. We walked down to Bridge Park and along Pebble Beach. Then she practically dragged me to the carousel when she spotted it across the way. We watched the thing spin three times before she set her sights on what she declared to be the prettiest horse. But once it was our turn, she realized her dream pony didn’t actually move up and down. She made me switch mid-ride, which resulted in a scolding from the ride operator and me ultimately riding the prettiest, albeit stationary, horse on Jane’s Carousel.

Only for her.

We took the subway to Manhattan after that and spent the rest of the afternoon in Central Park. We made it just in time for the final penguin feeding session at the Central Park Zoo, then we grabbed gyros from a food cart and settled in for a picnic near Strawberry Fields.

Strawberry Fields with my sweet, strawberry-scented girl. Being in the city with her is fucking heaven. I shouldn’t be surprised. She’s proved to me time and time again—everything is easy when we’re together.

I took care of the paperwork I needed to sign while we were in Manhattan, then we took a cab back across the bridge to get ready for the night. Now we’re all dressed up, sitting in the back of one of my father’s Escalades, being driven into the city by Glenn, one of my favorite drivers from when we were younger.

“Have you had a good day so far?” I ask, draping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her into my side. We barely had enough time to get into our room, washed up, and changed. We’ve been together all day, but my body still craves her, even when we’re close.