When Stars Collide (Second Chance Romance #2) - Sara Furlong-Burr Page 0,52
back to Phineas and me as we walked away, waving at them, laughing when the elevator door closed.
“Friends of yours?” I asked.
“God, no. I can’t stand those pretentious pricks. And after that exchange, perhaps they’ll quit knocking on my door to request donations to their various ridiculous charities, like Seeing Eye Dogs For Blind Penguins, for example.”
“I’ll have you know the plight of the blind penguin is quite the harrowing tale.”
“One of which I’ll never put a dime toward.”
“Heartless bastard.” My gaze drifted to his hand on my shoulder and back at him again.
“Oh. Sorry.” In the dim light available from the strands of fairy lights strung above us, I swore I saw his face flush just the slightest shade of crimson.
I stared in awe at the extravagance before me. In the middle of the rooftop paradise was a large pool, closed and covered for the season. Off to the side of the pool stood a bar, illuminated with blue and purple LED lights and still teeming with more people than I wanted to be around. Circling its perimeter, all-weather couches and furniture made to withstand the elements were arranged in clusters next to the frameless glass railing, designed to provide an unobstructed view of the city while keeping the rooftop’s visitors safely on the rooftop.
“Come on.” With a nod, Phineas motioned for me to follow him.
Despite the amount of people surrounding it, I was a little disappointed when he passed the bar in favor of a group of couches situated on the east side of the building, which remained relatively vacant, save for a few small groups of people here and there. In the middle of the seating area Phineas selected, a fire crackled in a glass fire pit, a welcome amenity. I held my hands over the pit, warming them. In spite of the unseasonably warm, early November weather, a slight chill had begun to take over with the arrival of nightfall. The chill wasn’t an uncomfortable one, just enough to cause a brief shiver to make its way up a person’s spine before their body could regulate itself.
“Mena,” Phineas called my name from where he stood in front of the glass railing.
I shrugged on Phineas’s suit coat, sticking my hands in its pockets to keep them warm, and joined him at the railing. As beautiful as the rooftop haven was, the view from the spot Phineas had chosen gave it an admirable run for its money. Below, the East River, illuminated by the full moon above us, looked more like a stream of black ink painted with pockets of blue as though a giant pen had been broken open, its contents spilling through a chasm. Eerily still, yet soothing at the same time.
On the banks of the East River, New York City rose to the sky for as far as the eyes could see, its nightlife evident in the light that illuminated from it like a beacon at its core. On the outer edges of the city, along the river, the lights became more scattered, twinkling like stars.
“It’s absolutely breathtaking,” I marveled.
“I know. I do a lot of my work up here when I’m not in the office. Even when it’s at its peak and packed with people in the summer, it’s still oddly relaxing.”
“Your place doesn’t have the same view?”
“Not of the river, unfortunately.”
“Oh, so you’re really slumming it, then?”
“I knew I wouldn’t get any sympathy from you.”
“Do you want sympathy from me?”
He looked out into the distance, lost in thought, taking a moment before he answered me, “No, I suppose I don’t.” Sighing, he tore himself away from the railing and headed back toward the fire pit to warm his hands. “Would you like a drink?”
“God would I.”
“That bad, huh?”
“It’s not you. After that waste of oxygen at the club and all the other things I have going on in my life, the thought of winding down for a bit is appealing.”
“I can drink to that.” He smiled. “And I think I will.”
“How long have you been waiting to break that one out?” I dug in my purse, but was promptly stopped by him.
“You aren’t paying for your drinks. I brought you here. They’re on me.”
“Drinks, huh? You may want to set a cap on that, if you know what’s good for your wallet.”
“With your size, I can’t imagine you would be able to drink that much. My guess is what, two, maybe three, tops?”