[New York] [Late Morning]
Jennifer opened the door wearing fitted jeans, a loose white blouse, and her hair tied back in a ponytail that made her look considerably more relaxed than she ever did beneath stage lights.
Alex barely had time to smile before she caught the front of his shirt and pulled him inside for a kiss. He kissed her back with equal intensity. When they pulled back... "You're three minutes late," Jennifer said as she stepped backward, keeping one hand against his chest while pretending to look disappointed.
Alex glanced toward the clock across the room and slipped an arm around her waist. "Three minutes feels like a dangerous standard to establish when you're dating somebody whose schedule occasionally involves three companies and a production meeting before lunch."
Jennifer laughed and kissed him again before walking toward the kitchen. "I'm still counting those three minutes against you, because accountability keeps relationships healthy."
Alex followed her into the kitchen and immediately noticed bowls, fruit, eggs, bread, vegetables, and enough ingredients spread across the counter to suggest Jennifer had planned something beyond ordering breakfast.
"You're cooking?" Alex asked as he leaned against the counter and watched her open the refrigerator.
Jennifer looked over her shoulder with mock offense. "You sound surprised, and I'm deciding whether I should be insulted."
"I've seen your schedule, so I assumed breakfast usually involves somebody handing you something while you're walking toward a car."
"That happens more than I'm admitting," Jennifer replied as she handed him a carton of eggs. "Today we're making brunch together, which means you're officially responsible for those."
The next forty minutes became considerably more competitive than either of them expected.
Jennifer made French toast while Alex handled eggs, bacon, and potatoes. She criticized the amount of butter he used, Alex accused her of stealing strawberries from the cutting board, and both repeatedly reached across each other until cooking became an excuse to stay unnecessarily close.
At one point, she bumped her hip against him while reaching for a plate.
Alex caught her around the waist before she could move away. "Was that an accident, or are you trying to sabotage my side of the kitchen?" He lowered his hands and cupped her butt cheeks, giving them a quick squeeze.
'Can't keep your hands off my ass, can you?' Jennifer rested both hands against his shoulders and smiled. "Maybe I'm testing whether the richest man in the world can concentrate while distracted."
Alex leaned closer until their noses nearly touched. "That experiment seems biased."
Jennifer kissed him quickly, stole a piece of bacon from his plate, and escaped before he could retaliate.
They ate near the windows overlooking Manhattan, lingering over coffee long after the food disappeared. Conversation moved between music, family, work, and the strange realization that their relationship had crossed the line from casual attraction into something neither of them wanted to pretend was temporary.
By early afternoon, Jennifer decided they needed to leave before they spent the entire day talking at her dining table.
Their first stop was a small independent record store she had visited years earlier, one with narrow aisles, old posters covering the walls, and shelves filled with vinyl from nearly every decade. The owner recognized them immediately, although he recovered quickly enough to treat them like ordinary customers once Jennifer asked him not to make a production out of it.
Alex disappeared into the rock section while Jennifer searched through Latin records and old R&B releases.
She eventually found him holding three albums and studying another shelf.
"Found anything you like?" Jennifer asked as she stepped beside him and examined the stack beneath his arm.
"A few things," Alex replied as he looked at her. "This is actually my first time inside a record store."
Jennifer looked at him with surprise. "Seriously? You've never gone shopping for records yourself?"
Alex shook his head. "Usually I make a list and give it to one of my guys. He gives it to another guy, and eventually everything shows up at the house."
Jennifer stared at him for a second. "That sounds unnecessarily complicated. But given how busy you're, I'm slightly less surprised."
They spent nearly an hour wandering through the store, recommending songs, disagreeing about artists, and making increasingly unreasonable claims about which decade had produced the best music.
Jennifer bought a couple of old recordings she had been looking for sometimes. Alex found a rare soundtrack and immediately purchased it after Jennifer accused him of having the collecting habits of an eighty-year-old man trapped inside a billionaire's body.
...
Their next stop was considerably louder.
Jennifer reserved a private dance studio for the afternoon. She wanted to dance together since it had been a while, and she enjoyed their time on the dance floor without cameras or choreographed routines. They had quality time a few months ago.
She hit play on something with a solid beat and walked straight up to Alex.
"Come on," she said. "Show me you still remember how to move."
He pulled her in by the waist. They started moving together, close from the first step. Jennifer stayed pressed against him, her body brushing his with every shift of her hips. Alex's hands slid lower, resting on her ass through her jeans.
She turned her back to him without warning and started grinding, shaking her ass right against his groin. A knowing smirk pulled at her mouth as she looked over her shoulder.
Alex ran his fingers over her butt, feeling the shape of her through the denim, then squeezed both cheeks hard.
"You like my ass?" she asked, still rolling her hips against him.
"I love your ass," he said, squeezing again.
Jennifer pushed back harder, grinding in slow circles. One of his hands slid up her side and cupped her breast over her blouse, squeezing gently at first, then firmer. She let out a soft breath and arched into his palm.
She turned in his arms and kissed him deep, open-mouthed, while his hand stayed on her chest, thumb brushing over her through the fabric. Her own hand dropped between them. She pressed her palm against the front of his pants and felt how hard he already was. She gave him a slow squeeze.
"Damn," she murmured against his mouth. "You're really into this."
"You're grinding on me," Alex said. "What do you expect?"
She kissed him again, harder this time, while her hand stayed right there, rubbing and feeling him through his pants. His other hand stayed on her ass, squeezing and petting, keeping her pressed tight against him.
They barely danced after that. Mostly they just stood in the middle of the empty studio, kissing, touching, grinding slowly against each other. Jennifer kept her hand on him, feeling every twitch, while Alex's hands moved between her chest and her ass, squeezing and holding her close through their clothes.
"Want to fuck me, don't ya?" Jennifer whispered.
"I'm gonna eat you, then fuck you in doggy style," Alex replied, kissing her again.
She pulled back with a smirk. "Hmm~ That's a tempting offer. But if you can endure the teasing till night, I'll let you fuck my ass."
"Well," Alex said, touching her chin and looking straight into her eyes. "Tease me all you want. I'll let you play. But tonight I'm burying my cock in that ass, and you're going to take every bit of it."
"With pleasure," Jennifer said before they resumed their makeout session.
...
After a quick lunch, they spent some time aboard a small boat cruising along the Hudson. Jennifer removed her shoes and sat beside Alex near the rear while Manhattan stretched around them beneath the afternoon sunlight.
The conversation became quieter there.
Jennifer talked about the pressure she'd carried for years to remain successful, beautiful, relevant, and constantly productive. Alex listened without trying to solve everything, occasionally asking questions while she explained how exhausting it could become when the public expected confidence every moment of the day.
"I like this version of us," Jennifer said eventually while resting her head against his shoulder. "Nobody needs anything from either of us right now."
Alex wrapped an arm around her. "That's probably why I like these days more than premieres."
Jennifer looked up at him with an amused smile. "Careful, because that almost sounded romantic."
"I've been accused of worse things."
They returned to Manhattan near sunset, stopped for dinner at a small restaurant Jennifer liked, then went back to her place long enough to change for the night.
Jennifer walked out of her room wearing a fitted black dress with silver details and heels that immediately added several inches to her height.
Alex looked at her for several seconds before speaking. "You know, I had an entire compliment ready, then you walked out, and I forgot what I was about to say... You look just... Wow! Beautiful..."
Jennifer's smile widened as she approached him. "That was much better than whatever you originally planned."
Their final stop was one of Manhattan's most exclusive nightclubs, where the music could be felt through the floor before they reached the main room.
Jennifer pulled Alex onto the dance floor before they had even finished their first drinks, moving with the effortless confidence of somebody who had spent half her life performing in front of millions.
Alex kept up with her.
Jennifer noticed.
"I should tell you," she said while wrapping one arm around his neck. "You look ravishing hot tonight."
Alex kept his hand at her waist as they moved together beneath the lights. "Tell me something I don't know."
Jennifer leaned closer, her lips nearly brushing his ear. "You're getting cocky again."
"You seem to enjoy fixing that problem."
She laughed and kissed him beneath the shifting lights before pulling him deeper into the crowd.
They danced until both were warm from the movement, returned to the bar for another round, then ended up back on the floor less than ten minutes later.
Jennifer pressed close against him while the music changed, one hand sliding over his shoulder as she smiled into his eyes.
"You know what I like about today?" she asked while they moved together.
Alex held her comfortably against him. "I'm hoping the answer involves me somewhere."
Jennifer laughed and kissed him again, slower this time. "I got you for an entire day, and nobody asked you to save a company, direct a movie, launch a console, or solve somebody else's crisis."
Alex smiled against her lips.
"You're saying I should clear my schedule more often."
"I'm saying next time, I'm stealing you for two days."
Alex pulled her closer while she laughed against his shoulder, and they stayed exactly where they wanted to be, drinking, dancing, flirting, and occasionally forgetting the crowded nightclub existed whenever one of them leaned in for another kiss.
--
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[5 advance chs] [All chs available for all tiers]