Love in London (Restless Hearts)

by Keane, Hunter J.

  As if that wasn’t enough to ponder, I got the official invite the next morning for his event. He was hosting a launch party at one of the trendiest places in London. It was one of the biggest events of the year, and I was his guest of honor.

  That’s when I started hyperventilating.

  Because I know how much you love a good party, I’m going to try to give you all the details. Bear with me. I might even include the salacious bits if you’re lucky.

  * * *

  I don’t know who was more excited for my date- me or Cessy. She made me try on all of her dresses, some of them twice. Even Camryn would have been in awe at the amount of clothes that came from my cousin’s closet.

  “No way. You can pretty much see my nipples,” I said, horrified at the lack of fabric that I had just put on. Cessy had claimed it was one of her best dresses, but it looked more like a see-thru slip.

  “But you look smashing!” she protested. “You can’t wear just any dress tonight, cousin. Do you know how many women are going to be throwing themselves at Dexter Sanders?”

  “You don’t have to say his full name every time,” I said, hurrying out of the scrap of cloth. “It’s not like we could be talking about another Dexter.”

  Cessy was already digging for another dress. “This is the one.”

  I eyed it skeptically, but I was pleased to see that it had sleeves and a decently high neckline. As I pulled it on, I realized that the modesty up top was negated by the lack of modesty on the bottom.

  “Be honest- can you see me ass cheeks?” I craned my neck to get a look at my rear in her mirror.

  “Only if you bend over.” She winked. “Dexter will love it.”

  I weighed my options carefully. I could protest, and be forced to endure even more of our pseudo fashion show. Or I could count my losses and go with what I had on. Based on all of the other things I had tried on, it seemed this was my best bet.

  “Fine. I’ll wear it.” When I saw the look of pride on Cessy’s face, I added, “Thanks for your help.”

  “Anything for family.” She gave me a tight hug. “I will gladly be in your wedding party when you marry Dexter.”

  Even though I felt naked, I had to admit that I did look pretty good. Especially after Cessy spent an hour fixing my hair and makeup.

  “It takes a lot of work to make it look like you didn’t do any work,” she explained as she arranged the last few strands of hair.

  If Cessy wasn’t already working successfully as an event planner, I would’ve strongly encouraged her to become a stylist. She had transformed me from an average looking college student into a stunning woman.

  “I don’t even look like me!” I said, surveying the results in her mirror.

  “Correction- you look like an enhanced version of yourself.” She smiled proudly.

  Her intercom buzzer sounded and my heart skipped a beat.

  “That’s him,” I said, frowning.

  Dexter had insisted on swinging by to pick me up, even though I knew it was out of his way. We’d been communicating through texts, so I hadn’t had a chance to ask him about recently acquired information. Then again, I had no idea how to bring it up. Hey, Dex. What’s with all the money you have? And why didn’t you tell me all about it since we’ve known each other for about five minutes?

  Now that he was standing downstairs, waiting for me, I could feel myself start to sweat. “I don’t know if I can do this, Cess,” I said, fanning myself with my hand.

  “Too bloody bad! I’m buzzing him in.” She ran to the door.

  I went to the bathroom to dab away the sweat and when I returned, Dexter was standing in our small foyer, laughing at something Cessy had said. He heard my heels clacking on the wood floor and turned.

  “Taylor.” A dazzling smile spread over his face. “You look amazing.”

  My mouth went dry. “Thanks. You look alright, too.”

  In fact, he looked downright hot. He was wearing another perfectly tailored suit, this one with a vest.

  “I brought you these,” he said, holding out a bouquet of beautiful flowers. I had been so distracted by his beauty that I hadn’t noticed them.

  I stepped closer and took them, their fragrance nearly as intoxicating as Dexter’s as I leaned in to kiss his cheek.

  “You spoil me,” I said, letting my hand linger on his arm.

  “I’ll put them in water!” Cessy rushed forward and snatched away the flowers.

  “She’s delightful,” Dexter said, chuckling as he watched her skip away.

  I had to agree. “Shall we go? You don’t want to be late for your own party.”

  “Yeah, about that…” He grinned sheepishly. “Sorry I wasn’t completely honest with you.”

  “That’s okay. I understand.” I took his hand, enjoying the way my skin tingled under his touch. “Bye, Cessy!”

  “Have a wonderful time, darlings!”

  Dexter’s car was parked out front. It was nice, but nothing too extravagant. It was exactly the kind of vehicle I would expect him to drive.

  “No limo?” I joked.

  He opened my door for me. “I prefer to be in charge of the drive.”

  “I like a man that takes charge,” I said as I slid into the smooth leather seat.

  Dexter winked at me, then shut the door. While he walked around the front, I rubbed my hands over the lush upholstery. It was clearly brand new.

  “Are you really alright driving on the opposite side of the road?” I asked as he made himself comfortable behind the wheel.

  “It doesn’t take long to get used to it.” He turned on the ignition and the car barely made any noise. “Don’t forget- I’ve been doing this for a while.”

  “So. Tell me about your company.” I figured we might as well get it over with now. I didn’t want our whole night to be awkward.

  “What do you want to know?” he said with an uncomfortable laugh as he pulled the car away from the curb.

  I shrugged. “Everything. What do you do?”

  “Should I assume you’ve never used Scuttle?” he shot me a quick glance.

  “I may have dabbled,” I responded coyly.

  The truth was that everyone I knew used Scuttle. I’d been on the site just this morning to see how the girls were doing on their respective trips.

  “Then you understand the basics. It’s all about allowing people to connect, share their lives with each other.”

  “How did you get started?”

  “I started developing the site back in college with a couple of buddies. We started small, mostly just a campus thing. But it started to grow. Eventually we all dropped out of college to run the company.” He stopped the car at a red light and turned to me. “We got really lucky. We worked hard, yes, but we had no idea what we were doing.”

  “It seems to have worked for you.”

  He smirked. “I’m doing alright.”

  “So you never finished college?” I asked, trying not to sound judgmental.

  “I did.” He looked away. “It always bothered me that I never finished my degree, so I started taking classes again. I got my MBA last year.”

  “Oh.” The next question that popped into my head I blurted out without thinking. “How old are you?”

  “28.”

  I was just a few weeks shy of 22. That made him six years older than me. As if I wasn’t feeling insecure enough, I now had to worry about our age difference. “That’s a good age.”

  “You’re worried about the difference in our ages, aren’t you?”

  “Not worried per se. But it’s something to consider.” I had never dated anyone more than a year or two older than me. Dexter wasn’t just another guy; he was a man. “What should I know about this event we’re going to?”

  “About a year ago, we decided we needed a physical presence abroad. A month ago, we opened our offices here in London and we’re having a party to celebrate. It will be a lot of hand shaking and patting on the back.” He gave me an apologetic look.
“Hopefully it won’t be too miserable for you.”

  I was starting to think that he might not be exaggerating. “Will all of the guests be your employees?”

  “Technically, yes. They’re a really great group of people, though. I’m fairly confident that you’ll have fun.”

  We had made it over the bridge and I got the feeling based on traffic that we were getting close to our destination.

  “Will you have any fun?” I asked.

  “A little.” He shrugged. “This party isn’t for me. I’m the boss, so most people won’t feel comfortable with me there. I’ll make the rounds and then we can go somewhere else.”

  “Ugh,” I groaned.

  He looked at me in alarm. “What’s wrong?”

  “I just realized that I’m the boss’s date. No one is going to talk to me.” I sighed dramatically. “This is almost as bad as having your mom as a teacher in school.”

  “But think of it this way- you’re making my night so much better just by being there with me.”

  “Yeah, yeah. Don’t you understand that this isn’t about you? This is about me.”

  He smiled. “I’ll try to keep that in mind. Now put on your party face because we are here.”

  Quest didn’t look like a fancy nightclub from the outside. It looked just like any other building except for the velvet rope and bouncer at the door.

  Dexter opened my door and gave me his hand. I took it, hoping that my legs wouldn’t shake as I stood. While he gave his keys to the valet, I took a few deep breaths. I had mostly been teasing Dexter about no one liking me, but I was also fairly certain that was also going to be reality. I knew if I was one of the employees, I wouldn’t want to spend my evening schmoozing with my boss’s date.

  As if he sensed my concern, Dexter leaned close, his body pressing against mine, and whispered in my ear. “They’re going to be just as smitten with you as I am.”

  When he was standing that close to me, I couldn’t think about anything other than the feeling of his body on mine and his delicious scent surrounding me.

  “I think you’re giving me too much credit,” I said, but I suddenly felt much better about everything.

  “Two hours,” he said. “If either of us wants to go after that, we’ll consider this a success.”

  “Deal.”

  Dexter led us past the line out front, putting us on the receiving end of a number of dirty looks. When he gave his name to the bouncer, we were immediately allowed to enter.

  “It pays to be with the boss,” I said, feeling much cooler than I deserved.

  “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet,” he replied. The palm of his hand pressed against my lower back as he escorted me into the club. “Our party is upstairs.”

  I felt very self-conscious as I scaled the stairs, slowly because of the heels Cessy made me wear. I was quite aware of Dexter’s presence behind me, no doubt staring directly at my rear as I climbed.

  “You lead the way,” I said when we got to the top.

  He took my hand again and this time his grip was a little tight. It occurred to me then that he was just as nervous as me. As he composed himself, I took my time surveying the room. About a hundred people mingled about, holding fancy drinks and generally having a good time.

  “Looks like a fun group,” I commented.

  Dexter look unconvinced.

  “Come on,” I said with a laugh, tugging him forward. “If you’re good, I’ll take you for ice cream after.”

  “Okay then.” He begrudgingly stepped into the room.

  Almost instantly, we were surrounded by people smiling earnestly and speaking in overly polite tones. It didn’t take me long to understand why Dexter had been so quick to warn me about the awkwardness of the evening. While everyone was perfectly nice and friendly, it was clear that they were filtering their words and behavior while talking to Dexter.

  They were even more awkward around me. Several of them asked how long I’d been seeing Mr. Sanders, which made me felt like I was about eighty years old. Other small groups stood around talking in hushed voices while staring in our direction.

  The scrutiny finally got to be too much so I excused myself to use the restroom. It was nice and quiet inside, allowing me to clear my head. I sat in one of the stalls and took several deep breaths.

  The door opened, sending in a wave of laughter and music. When it shut again, two female voices began to speak.

  “The boss looks good tonight,” one of them observed.

  “The boss always looks good,” the other said and they both giggled. “Did you see his date?”

  “She was pretty. But she’s probably a bit dim. She looks like the type that would date a man because he is wealthy.”

  “She’s American.”

  “Well, that would explain it.”

  Again they both laughed.

  “Do you think the new girl knows about Laurel?”

  “If she knows about Laurel and she still came here with him, then she deserves what she gets.”

  “Hope she’s ready to be a step-mum!”

  My heart thudded in my chest so loudly that I was certain they would be able to hear it. But they didn’t. After a quick discussion about hair, they left and I was alone again. Leaning over the sink, I splashed cool water on my face. As I was dabbing myself dry, the door opened again.

  This woman I recognized- Marian. Dexter had introduced her as his assistant. She had been one of the only people to have a normal, relaxed conversation with me.

  “Needed a break?” she guessed sympathetically.

  “It was a bit tense out there.” I locked eye contact with her in the mirror. Based on what I had overheard, I needed to know some answers about Dexter and I was willing to bet Marian could help me out. “Can I ask you something?”

  “I suppose,” she said with a frown, as if she could sense what I was about to ask.

  “Who’s Laurel?”

  She sighed. “Let me guess- the marketing girls got to you?”

  “Not exactly. I overheard some people talking.”

  “I guess you better hear it from me,” she said. “Laurel used to work on the marketing team. She quit a couple months back after becoming pregnant. Some people speculate that she’s carrying Dexter’s baby.”

  It wasn’t too far off from what I had guessed. “Why would they think that?”

  “Laurel is quite beautiful. Dexter seemed fond of her. Now she is with child and doesn’t need to work? That only makes sense if the baby’s father is wealthy.”

  I couldn’t keep the look of surprise from my face.

  “You shouldn’t listen to office gossip,” she said with a smile. “Dexter has always been a perfect gentleman in my eyes. But then again, my eyes are a bit blinded by his good looks.”

  “Welcome to my world,” I muttered.

  After another deep breath, I headed back to the party. Dexter was standing more or less where I left him, near the bar. I stopped for a drink before rejoining him. He was just wrapping up a conversation with a very serious looking man when I approached. When his eyes found me stepping through the crowd, he smiled broadly.

  “I thought maybe you snuck out the bathroom window,” he said.

  “That would’ve been tricky on the second floor.” I had a hard time staying irritated when he smiled at me like that. “Did I miss anything?”

  “Hopefully me,” he said, laughing when I rolled my eyes. “You should know that many women find me charming.”

  “I’m sure they do,” I mumbled, thinking about Laurel. “It’s amazing you are still single.”

  He didn’t seem to get that I was being serious. “It’s good news for you.”

  “Right.”

  I noticed two women standing about ten feet away, staring hard in our direction. I was certain that they were the chat queens I had overheard in the bathroom. My stomach began to twist.

  “Are you okay?” Dexter asked, noticing my sudden change in demeanor.

  “Actually, I’m
not feeling very well suddenly.”

  “Here, let’s get you a seat.” He grabbed my elbow and ushered me to a bar stool. Once I was seated, he scanned my face. “You look a bit green. Do you want to go home?”

  “I’ll be okay,” I said, fighting back a wave of nausea. “On second thought, maybe I better go.”

  Dexter looked around, flustered. “Okay. Let me quickly tell someone that I’m leaving and then we can go.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous. You can’t leave your own party. I’ll just get a taxi.” I started to stand, but Dexter held me down.

  “It’s fine. I can go-”

  “Stop.” I gave him a hard look. “I’m quite capable of getting home on my own.”

  “Alright. But you aren’t taking a taxi. I’m getting you a car.”

  He had his phone out before I could stop him. In less than five minutes, a car was waiting for me out front. Dexter insisted on walking me out.

  “Straight home, young lady,” he said as he opened the car door for me.

  “Yes, sir.” I smiled sheepishly. “This is pretty embarrassing. Sorry to be such a pain on your big night.”

  “It happens.” He shrugged. “There’s always tomorrow.”

  I nodded, wondering if I would feel any better in the morning or if the truth would still be gnawing at me. “Thanks for putting up with me tonight.”

  “It was my pleasure.” He grinned and leaned in, kissing me softly on the cheek. “Good night, Taylor. Feel better.”

  “Good night.”

  My cheek still tingled after the door was shut and we pulled away. I glanced out the window and saw that Dexter was still standing there, watching us disappear around the corner.

  I was glad to find the flat empty when I got home. Cessy was out with friends and likely wouldn’t be home for hours. Rather than spend time pondering the thoughts in my head, I found a bottle of wine in the kitchen and opened it, taking the whole thing with me as I started a bubble bath.

  By the time I was neck deep in bubbles, half of the bottle was gone and I was feeling much better. While I sang along with the radio, I started to think more about what I had learned about Dexter.

  He had been nothing less than a perfect gentlemen to me during our time together. But if the rumors about Laurel turned out to be true, then Dexter wasn’t the kind of man I wanted to waste time on. But if it was really just a rumor and I accused Dexter of fathering a child and paying off Laurel, he would probably never want to speak to me again. Now I just had to figure out how I could learn the truth without jeopardizing whatever might be developing between us.