And as she heads out for lunch with her parents, I get together with Lucas to figure out how to secure a popular Chicago nightclub on a Saturday night.

“Wow, Julian, this is amazing,” Nora exclaims as we walk into the high-end French restaurant I chose for our dinner. “How did you get a reservation? I heard people have to wait for months…” Then she stops and rolls her eyes. “Oh, never mind. What am I saying? Of course you of all people can get a reservation.”

I smile at her obvious excitement. “I’m glad you like it. Let’s hope the food is as good as the ambience.”

The waiter leads us to our table, which is in a private nook at the back of the restaurant. Instead of wine, I order sparkling water for both of us, and also request the tasting menu after first explaining the restrictions associated with Nora’s pregnancy.

“Very good, sir,” the waiter says, bowing slightly, and before we know it, the first course is on our table.

As we nibble on asparagus risotto and langoustine ravioli, Nora tells me about her lunch and how happy her parents were to celebrate this birthday with her. “They got me a new set of paint brushes,” she says, grinning. “I’m guessing that means my dad’s no longer as skeptical about my hobby.”

“That’s good, baby. He shouldn’t be. You have an amazing talent.”

“Thank you.” She gives me a glowing smile and reaches for her water glass.

As we talk, I find myself unable to look away from her. She’s radiant tonight, more beautiful than I’ve ever seen her. Her strapless blue dress is sexy and elegant at the same time—though much too short for my peace of mind. When I saw her coming down the stairs tonight, in that dress and her silvery high-heeled shoes, it was all I could do not to drag her back upstairs and fuck her for three days straight. It doesn’t help that she used some kind of make-up that makes her lips shiny and extra-lush. Every time she wraps those lips around a fork, I picture her sucking my cock and my pants get uncomfortably tight.

“You know, you never told me what you were doing in that club when we first met,” she says when we’re halfway through the third course. “Why were you in Chicago, in general? Most of your business is outside the US, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” I say, nodding. “I wasn’t here for business in that sense. An acquaintance of mine recommended this hedge fund analyst to me, so I was interviewing him for the position of my personal portfolio manager.”

“Oh.” Nora’s eyes widen. “Is that the guy you were meeting with the other day?”

“Yes. I liked what I saw two years ago, so I hired him. And then I decided to go out and see a bit of the city—which is how I ended up in that club.”

“You weren’t worried about security back then?”