Chantal, Jillian - Surfer Bride (BookStrand Publishing Romance)
Page 17
“Why? It’s clear you want me as much as I want you.” He placed her hand into his lap, and she could feel his erection.
“I’ll not deny that I want you, Finn. I want you like crazy. I want you so much, I can’t stand it, but I can’t act on it. Can’t.” She pulled her hand away from him and opened her car door.
“Quincy, I know you aren’t a tease, but this is getting old. It’s not like we haven’t had a sexual relationship before. I fail to see what the problem is. You get me all hot and bothered and then you turn it off. I can’t do that.”
“I don’t mean to be a tease. I really don’t. I just have some things I need to take care of before I can move on.”
“Are you telling me that there’s hope for us? That you aren’t going to marry Hicks?”
“I can’t really talk about it now.”
Finn slammed his hand on the seat between them. “Then when, damn it. When?”
“Soon. I promise. Soon.”
He looked at her with anguish. “When is soon, Q? I need to know.”
“I don’t know, I just don’t know.” She stepped out of the car and ran to her front door. Before he could get out of the car, she’d unlocked the door and was in the house.
He sat in the driveway for a while before he drove away.
She watched from behind the sheers on her front window until he was gone. The tears streamed down her face. My darling, I don’t want to hurt you, but I can’t let myself go to love you until I’m free. I hope to survive this and tell you I love you for the rest of our lives.
Chapter Twelve
“The quieter you become, the more you are able to hear”
Zen saying, Lao Tzu (6th Century B.C.)
Quincy and Avery arrived at GatwickAirport at seven a.m. local time. They had each slept most of the way on the overnight flight. Once they settled into the high-topped red leather seats on the commuter train from Gatwick to Victoria Station, Quincy said, “We can drop our bags at the hotel, but I recommend we stay awake as much as we can today. I find I have less jet lag if I try to get my body on local time as quick as I can. We’ll walk the streets to keep from lying down in the room. We’ll stay out until dark and then call it an early night. By tomorrow, we’ll be adapted to local time.”
Avery looked at her friend like she’d grown three heads. “You do know it’s still the middle of the night at home, right?”
“Yes. I’m aware of what time it is in Miami. But trust me, I travel all the time, and this is the best plan. And, anyway, you just snoozed your way across the Atlantic. How much sleep can you need anyway?”
“I know. I know I slept a long time, but I’m still feeling drowsy.”
“Tough.” Quincy laughed.
“I can see I won’t get any sympathy from you.”
“You’ll thank me later. I promise.”
“We’ll see.”
The tea cart lady came by and stopped in the aisle next to their seats. Quincy and Avery bought some Earl Grey breakfast tea and scones to munch on. Quincy opened a packet of strawberry jam and spread it on top of the clotted cream she’d ordered with her scone.
Avery chewed her scone for a few minutes. She sipped her tea and after she swallowed, she said, “When are you gonna call Percy? You know you had that whole scene planned at the airport about the wedding dress. To trick him into believing you’re going to marry him. And now here we are on the train making our own way into the city. What’s up?”
As an evasion tactic, Quincy made a face and took another bite of scone.
“You know you have to let him know you’re here.” Avery made a face back at her best friend. “I don’t know how you’re going to pretend to be his loving woman. I’m so tempted to smack him into next week, I don’t know how you can tolerate the idea of the man kissing you hello.”
“I’m going to have to grit my teeth to get through it. I appreciate you being angry on my behalf, but you have to be nice, too. This will only work if we both act like this wedding is going to happen.”
Avery laughed. “I hope you heard yourself just then. It’s too funny. You’re gonna grit your teeth to get through his kiss.” She slapped her own knee. “That’s one way to keep his tongue out of your mouth.”
“Yeah. You’re right. But I think he’d notice.”
“Indeed, I think he would.”
They both laughed louder and longer than necessary due to their nervousness.
Once they sobered, Avery said, “When’s Craig coming in? And Mark, of course?”
“Tomorrow afternoon. He sent me a text while we were in the air.” Quincy slapped herself in the forehead. “Oh yea, before you cracked me up, I was going to call Percy, right?”
“Yeah, you were. May be better to go ahead and get it over with.”
Quincy made a face. “You’re right. As usual.” She opened her phone and dialed her soon to be former fiancé’s number.
He answered on the second ring. “Hullo, darling. Are you ready for me to send a car to the airport for you? Heathrow, right?”
“No, that’s all right. We don’t need a car. Avery and I took the train. We flew into Gatwick. We’re on the way to Victoria now.”
“Darling, you know I have a car I could send. Why would you take that nasty train?”
“I don’t want to inconvenience you. And I adore the scones from the tea lady.” Quincy made a face at Avery.
Avery waggled the remainder of her scone at Quincy.
Percy purred into the receiver. “You have to get used to being married to a wealthy man, my dear. You’ll have to travel in the mode expected of you. And forget the cheap scones.”
“You seem to forget I have money, too, Percy. I don’t need you to support me. And I’ll eat any scone I want.”
“I’m going to ignore that, darling. I plan to spoil you for the rest of your life. You might as well let me start now.”
This time, she made a face at the phone and refrained from making a vulgar gesture as she thought about how he’d spoiled her in Bali by sending his plane and landing her in jail. “I don’t want to argue with you on the train, Percy. We’ll talk about this later.”
“I’m sending a car to Victoria for you. It’ll be Miguel driving. You remember Miguel, right?”
“It’s not necessary, Percy. We’ll take a cab to our hotel.”
“Hotel? What hotel? You’re staying with me.”
“No. I’m not. I have Avery with me, and we rented a hotel room.”
“There’s plenty of room for Avery here. You know I have seven bedrooms.”
“Percy. This is my last few days as a single woman. I want to be with my maid of honor and spend time with her. I won’t see her as much as I used to once I move in with you. She’ll be in Miami, and I’ll be here. Please understand I want to spend this time with her.” Quincy leaned across the seats, squeezed her friend’s thigh and mouthed the words to her, “Hope this works.”
“But, darling, I want to make love with you. As soon as you get here. I’ve missed you. I took the day off to be here with you. I’m nude in my robe, just waiting here for you. Hell, I even bought roses and have the petals strewn over the bedroom.” His voice lowered. “And the bed. We can roll in them and smell like an English garden.”
Quincy stopped herself just in time from gagging at the thought of him naked, hard for her and in a bed of rose petals. “That’s something else I wanted to discuss.”
“What?” Harshness made his voice rasp.
“I think we shouldn’t make love until after the wedding. I think it’ll make our wedding night more special for having waited.”
“I’ve waited long enough. I haven’t seen you in ages, and I want you. Today. Within the hour. I mean it, darling.”
“Well, I’m saying no, Percy. You know you can’t force yourself on me. That would be wrong.” She looked at Avery, her eyebrows raised.
“It wouldn’t be force. As soon as I touch you, you’ll want me, too. You know that, darling.”
“We’ll see about that. I’m sending Miguel to Victoria Station and you will get in the car with him and come to me, Quincy. That’s what will happen.”
“No. It won’t. Goodbye.” She disconnected the call and turned to Avery. “As Sherlock Holmes said, the game’s afoot. We now have to ditch Percy’s driver at the station. Make a mad dash for a black cab. Good thing I didn’t tell the bastard where we’re staying. He’d probably send his driver there to haul me out by my hair like a caveman.”
Quincy’s phone rang, and she ignored it.
“I like that you quoted Holmes. So very British of you. But how are we going to keep Percy from finding us? We’re registered under your name at the hotel. No way he won’t be able to find us.”
“I’m going to have to see him while we’re here anyway, so it won’t matter. I just don’t plan to be alone with him. If we got in his car, we’d be at his house in fifteen minutes, and I’d be at his mercy. As it is, he said he was nude and waiting for me. Makes me ill. If we go straight to the hotel, I’m in control, not him.”
The phone stopped ringing and after three seconds, started again. Quincy ignored it again.
“I hope you’re right and can stay that way. In control, I mean. From what I could hear of the conversation, the man is determined to get you naked. And he’s determined to make you pick up that phone.” Avery pointed to the phone as it continued to ring.
“I know, and it scares the hell out of me. Both the wanting me naked and the control thing.” She held up the phone and waggled it as it continued to blare.
“I confess, it scares me, too. I only hope we’ve done the right thing. I feel something bad looming on the horizon.”
“Stop it. Nothing bad’s going to happen. We’re in, we’re out. A few days max.”
“From your lips to God’s ears, my friend. I hope you’re right.”
“I am. I have to be. I hope I have a life with Finn to look forward to.”
“I hope so, too, Quincy. I hope so, too.
* * * *
Quincy and Avery got to Victoria Station and were successful in eluding Miguel. They jumped off the train and dashed to the back in record time with Avery walking right past Miguel and dropping her bag as a diversion. He had never seen Avery before, so he had no idea Quincy was sneaking past as he helped Avery pick up her dropped baggage. They hailed a cab outside the station and had the hack drive them to their boutique hotel near Notting Hill and Hyde Park. They arrived and went in to register and drop off their luggage.
The Thyme Hotel acted as an oasis in the city. The interior decor modern and minimalist, the walls made of a light brown sandstone. The lobby area held three couches surrounding a large, low coffee table with two large dish gardens in huge black planters full of paper whites. Lit ecru candles sat on the table between the planters. The check-in desk had a light brown marbled counter top on a long ash wood bar. The atmosphere soothed. Along one wall was an open area that led to a bar with the same color scheme.
Avery whispered, “Wonder if the room is this awesome.”
“Yeah. It is. I’ve stayed here before. They even have a Zen garden in the back.”
“Does Percy know about this place?”
“Yeah, he does. But I told you, he’s gonna know where we are at some point anyway. Stop fretting.”
“Fine. You’re the one trying to avoid the man. If you’re not fretting, I’m not.”
“Promises, promises.”
They walked up to the woman at the desk and checked in. Their room wasn’t ready, so they left their bags with the clerk and went out into the city. Luckily, they had both worn khakis and sneakers. Walking about wasn’t as bad as it could have been.
They walked for a couple of hours, taking in the city sights. Avery had never been to London, and Quincy wanted to show her around. Finally exhausted, they stopped at an Indian restaurant, had a bite of lunch, and rested their feet.
After they ate, they made their way over to New Bond Street so Quincy could show Avery where Percy’s auction house was located. They stood across the street and looked at the exterior of the building. It really was impressive, made of aged red brick with a massive arched front, and large windows on the front with white mullions. The only sign on the façade was a large “H” backed by a concrete square on each side of the front doors. Very elegant. The edifice looked spectacular, and Avery gasped at the beauty of it.
Quincy gasped, too, but for another reason. “Crap, just my luck. There’s that damn Miguel standing by the car. Percy will be right behind him.”
“No, he won’t, remember, he’s naked and waiting for you.” Avery poked her in the ribs.
Almost before she finished the sentence, Percy Hicks himself walked out of his building. He was fiddling with the cuffs of his thousand dollar bespoke shirt, a habit that annoyed Quincy to no end.
Before Quincy could count her good luck that he would miss seeing her for his preening, he looked up, almost as if he sensed her across the street. His face creased into a smile, and he strode across the street without looking for traffic. Such was his arrogance.
Avery muttered, “Oh crap, indeed. There he is. Shoot. We stood here too long.”
“Never mind. It had to happen sometime.” Quincy decided it wouldn’t be cool to run, so she stood still until Percy got to them.
Percy took her hands in his and leaned in for a kiss. Just as his lips reached hers, she turned her head and his kiss landed on the outer part of her lip. He frowned as she said, “You remember Avery, right?”
He recovered his charm and held out his hand to shake Avery’s. “Of course I do. How are you? How was your flight?”
“Fine. We had a nice flight and have spent the day exploring London.”
He turned back to Quincy. “Were you coming to see me? I have to get to a meeting.” He frowned at her. “A meeting I scheduled when you refused to come to me earlier. You know I’m disappointed that we didn’t get to spend the day together.”
“No, we weren’t coming to see you. I thought you were off today, but I wanted to show Avery your auction house. It’s such a lovely building.” She touched his hand, “I was going to call and check in. Let you know we’re planning to make an early night of it. We feel the jet lag catching up.”
“I was going to take you to dinner after my meeting.” He looked her up and down, clearly displeased with the khakis. “You could go make yourself presentable, and I can call for you later.”
“Thanks. But like I said, we’re gonna turn in early. See you tomorrow?”
He tilted his head. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were avoiding me. Are you still mad about Bali?”
“I am a little mad, but would I even have come to London if I was avoiding you? It’d be much easier to do from Miami, right?”
He smiled. “Yes, darling, I think you’re right. You won’t let me down, will you? Can I take you to dinner tomorrow?”
She nodded. “Dinner tomorrow.”
He leaned in to kiss her again, and this time she let him. It made her skin crawl, but she did it. He looked at Avery. “I’ll see you both tomorrow. I have a friend you might like, Avery, and I’ll invite him to join us.”
Avery kept herself from shuddering at the thought of one of Percy’s friends as a dinner companion and said, “Looking forward to it, Percy.”
“Good. See you tomorrow then.” He bowed to his fiancée. “In a lovely dress, I hope.”
“Yes, Percy. I’ll wear one of my trousseau dresses.”
“Good.” He nodded, satisfied, and walked back to his car.
As soon as he got partway across the street, Avery said, “Ugh. How could you ever have even thought of saying yes when that control freak proposed to you? He makes my skin crawl.”
“Believe it or not, he was what I needed after Finn dumped me. I needed s
omeone I could lean on.”
“Girl, that marriage would’ve been doomed from the start. Once you came back to yourself, that is.”
“True. That’s probably very true. Now let’s hail a cab and follow that jerk to see just what kind of meeting he’s going to.”
“I’m in. Let’s do it.”
* * * *
Quincy and Avery grabbed a passing cab. They had no idea that Fennimore Smith was following them as they followed Percy in his Bentley. They had no idea Finn was even in England.
Finn had gotten to London a little later in the day than they had. He found out from the use of his ATF badge at the Miami airport just which flight Quincy had reserved and made sure he was on another one so she wouldn’t know he was on her tail, figuring she’d try to thwart him if he knew he was going to follow her to her destination. Hiding from her was important. She’d be mad as hell to think he was following her to make sure she was all right. He also had to know if she was really going to marry the ass. Damn it, she better not marry that prick. She better come home to me.
He rented a car at the airport and came straight to the auction house to set up his surveillance. His patience was rewarded when she and Avery walked up and stood on the sidewalk watching the street.
It was it interesting to him that she’d been looking at the building and made no move to go in or even to cross the street. The greeting she gave her fiancé looked kind of cold, but that could have been wishful thinking. She did touch his hand and finally let him kiss her after she turned her head the first time. Talk about mixed signals.
Why she didn’t get in the Bentley with Hicks but hailed a cab instead was a mystery he intended to solve.
As he drove his rental car behind the cab, he talked to himself. “What the hell is going on? Why wouldn’t he want her in the car with him? Why didn’t he make her get in the car with him? He’s no pushover. If he wanted her in that car, she’d be in that car. Hell, if my girl had come to me after this long, she’d be in my arms. Not in a cab with another woman. I’d have her in my bed by now. Naked.” He shook his head as he continued his way down the street. “This is weird. Very weird.”