Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad by Scarlett Rossi
Chapter 713 -

*Elio*

"Cat," I said quietly. "Come on, love. I need you to wake up."

Cat grumbled into her pillow and managed to bury herself deeper into her blankets. I chuckled at her weak attempt to avoid getting up and gleamed at her cuteness.

I'd become too fond of the expression she'd wear whenever I succeeded in surprising her. What I found even more adorable was seeing her push her lower lip out and pout whenever she felt even slightly disappointed. Honestly, I had almost caved in the day before in the car when she asked me about our plans.

As if I could plan a trip like this and not include any sort of activity we could do together the very thought made me scoff with indignation.

Nevertheless, she loved the couple massages I'd booked and the romantic dinner out. I probably shouldn't have kept refilling her wine glass as the night went on, but I couldn't bring myself to stop our good time.

By the time we left the restaurant, Cat was more than half asleep. I'd gotten us ready for bed and made sure she drank a full glass of water before truly falling asleep. I was not about to let her suffer through a hangover by being careless. Thankfully, she completely finished the glass I'd given her, which happily allowed her to avoid a nasty hangover. I had quite a bit planned for us today, and the last thing she needed was to feel weak and crummy.

I tried nudging her awake once more. "Cat. We need to get ready. I have our whole day planned out."

She mumbled under her breath. "But... can't we just stay here for a little longer?"

The corners of my mouth curled into an amused grin as I lazily dragged my fingers up and down the length of her bare back.

"Mm, well, although that idea does hold some serious merit, I'm afraid I'm going to have to refuse," I told her gently.

Cat moaned and curled further into the bed. "Mm, why?"

"Because I've already planned for us to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art."

Caterina instantly shot up from her pillows and glared at me through wide eyes.

"Really?" she gasped.

I nodded my head and smiled. "Then afterward, I thought we could grab something light for lunch and then maybe take a walk through Central Park."

Cat quickly sprang from the bed and dove straight into the bathroom to begin getting ready. While that was happening, I made a quick call to the hotel's front desk to have room service brought up to us.

I figured a museum and a nice walk outside would be the perfect activities for the day, since the real business was to happen later that night. Yes, tonight was the night I was finally meeting with some of the restaurant owners to discuss certain future business arrangements. I purposely kept our plans light for the day since I didn't want to be too worn out when getting there later to start negotiations.

And as far as I was aware, Cat hadn't suspected anything out of the ordinary with this trip being anything other than a normal work trip for the development business.

'It's better this way,' I told myself. 'Alessandro is right. The less Cat knows, the better.'

Tonight was going to go smoothly. I was determined to make sure that it did. But in the meantime, I was set on having an easy-going day with my girl.

***

There was absolutely no chance of containing Cat's exuberance once we arrived at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Her pupils were blown wide with wonder, and she took off like a child in a candy store. Who the hell was I to try to contain her excitement? She merely grabbed my hand and took me along for the ride.

The place was decently crowded for a Saturday, but many of the patrons were moving at a workable pace. Then there were the true art admirers who stood in front of a particular piece for what seemed like hours.

I never considered myself to be a real art buff. I was fairly certain that my personal opinion on many of these pieces would fall under that of the average person's. Yet whenever I was with Cat while she was looking at and admiring the various displays, I always felt like she expanded my opinions.

We'd stopped to admire several pieces of art that seemed to grab her attention in particular. She was particularly fond of the European paintings and sculptures.

"Oh, Elio. Look at this one," she said.

I turned my head to see a large scale, framed painting of a naked young woman whose arm was extended outward, reaching toward what looked like a bird.

I thought it was nice, just like all the others we'd previously seen. But Cat's jovial expression was enough to tell me that she had a whole list of thoughts on this painting.

"It's called 'Woman with A Parrot.' It was painted by a man named Gustave Courbet in 1866," she said.

An impressed smile touched my lips. My Caterina was a walking encyclopedia of art and the history behind it.

My voice grew soft so only she could hear me. "And do tell me the significance of this piece," I prompted.

I caught the slight blush of pink touching her cheeks as she cleared her throat before speaking.

"Well, the significance doesn't necessarily lie within the painting, but more so the artist," she explained. "You see, according to some of my textbooks, Gustave Courbet wasn't taken seriously as a real artist when he was younger. Many people considered his work to be unseemly and 'lacking in taste' because he chose to paint what he saw and what he believed to be beautiful. He didn't care about superficial things like class boundaries and academic standards." I found myself smiling at her bout of knowledge that appeared endless and so insightful. I'd come to the realization months ago that I loved just hearing her talk about what interested her.

It was clear that her passions lied with the art of others, but to me she was the very definition of art, a walking masterpiece in every sense of the word.

We easily lost a few more hours just waltzing around the place until we'd had our fill of art. Cat was happily chipper and I was satisfied, knowing that I made her feel that way.

From there, she grabbed my hand and led me down the massive outside steps to what appeared to be some kind of food vendor. I raised my brows and turned to look at her with questionable judgment. Cat rolled her eyes and giggled. "Oh, come on, Elio," she huffed. "Don't tell me you've never gotten a hot dog from a vendor stand like this."

I pursed my lips and feigned offense. "Of course, I have," I said. "I'm just surprised, is all. Are you sure you don't want to go somewhere else?"

She nodded her head enthusiastically. "We're in New York. I feel like it's only right that we get at least one hot dog from a street cart while we're here."

She stepped up to the vendor and we each got a hot dog, and shared one of their salty, soft pretzels. With our lunch in hand, we started our leisure stroll through Central Park. The temperature was perfect for a walk, and it looked like many others felt the same way.

It was truly a relaxing afternoon that was well spent.

By the time we headed back to the hotel, the sun was finally beginning to set. Cat and I decided to each take a quick shower before getting ready for the important dinner.

I let her use the bathroom first while I took the time to check over some messages and emails. I knew if I saw her beautiful body, we might lose control and not even make it out of the hotel room, and I wanted everything to be perfect that night.

Admittedly, my nerves were starting to become a bit on edge. And, once more, it was entirely about the business end itself but rather about Cat's presence.

Her perception was sharper than most men I worked with. If I managed to get through this evening without a single sign of doubt from her, I knew I'd be nothing less than stunned.

I heard the door to the bathroom open and I felt my heart skip several beats when my eyes took in the sight before me. Among the small puffs of steam stood Cat wrapped in a fluffy white towel. Her hair was still damp and small droplets of water were clinging to her skin. But what really caught my attention was how bits of her makeup were still smudged around her eyes.

She looked utterly debauched and downright sinful. I easily abandoned my phone on the bed and sauntered up to her with confident strides.

"Bathroom's all yours," she said with a sweet smile.

My heavy-lidded expression melted into her. My voice felt scratchy in the back of my throat as I spoke.

"Would you be willing to take a second shower with me?" I asked.

So much for control.

Cat's eyes widened with interest. Her mouth curled into a devious smile that only pushed me further over the edge. "You know that's not possible."

"Of course it is," I prompted. "All you need to do is drop that towel and allow me to do the rest."

I leaned forward to capture her lips in a kiss that was filled with promise of pleasure. My tongue played at the seam of her mouth before she let me in completely, letting me deepen the kiss with a fevered hunger.

Cat gave me a solid two minutes before pressing her hands against my chest and pushing me away. She was breathless and her face was perfectly flushed.

"Nope. You'll have to wait. We will not be late for dinner tonight."

I was disappointed by her refusal to let me ravish her in the shower. But all was hastily forgiven when I saw just how breathtaking she looked once we were both ready. I'd chosen a black suit with a charcoal gray shirt underneath, whereas Cat stepped out wearing a deep midnight blue dress with a neckline that dipped well between her cleavage.

'I will never stop being surprised over how utterly stunning this woman is,' I thought to myself.

We finally made our way over to the restaurant where we were immediately greeted by the owners. From what I could tell based on a simple overview, the place did seem a little run down. Some basic repairs definitely needed to be done, but other than that, the place appeared well built.

Both Cat and I were escorted to a large table where the wine was beginning to be poured. Many other men that sat around the table occasionally glanced in Cat's direction, probably wondering what someone like her was doing in a meeting like this.

But none of them really spoke to her directly. About halfway through the night, the owners and I had reached a pleasing arrangement that was guaranteed to work for everyone. It felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I turned my head to check on how Cat was fairing. That was when my stomach dropped and whatever calmness I felt had instantly diminished.

She was not happy.

In fact, she looked down right pissed off.

I hastily excused myself from the conversation I was a part of and pulled her off to the side.

"Are you alright? What's wrong?"

She narrowed her eyes and practically snarled under her breath.

"Expanding the real estate business? You must think I know nothing if you thought I'd believe that."