Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 94279 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 471(@200wpm)___ 377(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94279 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 471(@200wpm)___ 377(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
I opened the door to the lobby just as my cell buzzed. It was my assistant. I’d texted her earlier for an update on Sloane’s lost luggage.
“Not great news on your bag.” I put my hand out for Sloane to enter first.
“They didn’t find it?”
I shook my head. “They put a tracer on it, but they don’t even know what country it’s in.”
She sighed. “It could be worse. I could not have a fairy godmother who bought me a brand-new wardrobe.”
We walked to the elevator. “Do you mind if I walk you up?”
“Not at all.”
The doors slid closed, and a sudden wave of nerves hit me. I felt like thirteen-year-old Wilder. Should I try to kiss her? What if she invites me in? Are my palms freaking sweaty?
I didn’t get a chance to finish debating things before the doors glided open once again. Sloane’s room was a few doors down. She found her key in her purse and looked up at me, chewing on her bottom lip. “Would you … want to come in for a little while? Have a drink or something?”
I wanted to or something more than anything, but the nerves I saw in her eyes answered all the questions I’d been kicking around in my head. “I’d love to. But I’m gonna pass and head home.”
“Oh.” She looked down. “Okay.”
I slipped two fingers under her chin and nudged until our eyes met. “I’m saying no because you looked nervous that I might say yes. Not because I don’t want to.”
She smiled and shook her head. “Okay. Thank you.”
I kissed her forehead.
“You know,” she said. “I never would’ve taken you for such a gentleman.”
I leaned close. “Fair warning, Cupcake. When I come into your room—not if, but when—the gentleman in me will be staying at the door.”
19
SLOANE
“So, tell me everything.” The car door was barely closed before Elijah started the interrogation. He looked around the back of the stretch limousine. “And does this thing have champagne or what?”
The uniformed driver looked in the rearview mirror. “There are two bottles in the cooler on the left side. Glasses are on the right. Would you like me to wait so you can pour before I start driving?”
“Pour?” Elijah waved him off. “What’s there to pour? You said two bottles and there’s two of us. Do you have straws?”
The very British driver looked appalled. Elijah couldn’t have cared less. He waved goodbye to the man as he pushed the button to raise the privacy screen.
I shook my head. “You are so rude.”
“Me? He’s the one butting into our conversation.” He pulled the chilled champagne out of the cooler box and turned the bottle to face me. “Ooh … Dom Pérignon. The company really went all out for this trip.”
“I doubt it was the company.”
“What do you mean?”
“Wilder’s been intervening on all the plans the company made and upgrading them—my flight here, my hotel. I’m sure the car service that was supposed to pick us up for the wedding tonight was a Volkswagen Rabbit before he quietly stepped in.”
Elijah pulled the cork from the champagne with a loud pop, then put his mouth over the top to catch the foam bubbling out.
“Classy.” I laughed.
“No judging.” He swallowed a mouthful of champagne and used the back of his hand to wipe his cheek. “Or I’ll stick my tongue in the hole before I give you your bottle, and you do not want to know where this tongue was last weekend.”
My nose scrunched up as I plucked the other bottle from his hand. “No, I definitely do not.”
The wedding tonight was at Hedsor House, a country estate forty-five minutes outside of London. So I slipped off my gorgeous but extremely high-heeled sparkly new shoes.
“Wow. Jimmy Choos.” Elijah gestured to the floor with his champagne bottle. “Someone didn’t get the same shitty three percent raise as me at Christmas.”
“They were a gift from Wilder. As was this dress. I don’t even want to know what they cost.”
“So you’re like Cinderella going to the ball? Except your fairy godmother is a hot rugby player.” He wiggled his brows. “Tell me, is he big and brawny all over? God couldn’t be so cruel as to give a man with those shoulders and that face a tiny dick.”
I sighed. “I wouldn’t know.”
“You didn’t go all the way yet?”
“We haven’t gone any of the way yet. Wilder hasn’t even kissed me since I landed in London.”
Elijah’s jaw dropped as he covered his heart. “Oh my God. Is he gay? Please, please tell me he’s gay?”
I laughed. “He’s not gay, but he has been a gentleman.”
My friend wrinkled his nose like he’d smelled something sour. “Yuck. Why?”
“It’s my fault. The guy scares the crap out of me.”
“You’ve seen the outline and it’s that big?”
I chuckled. “No! I meant he makes me feel things.”