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I open the door for her to slide in. “You can go straight in. We have the back seat.”
I move in next to her and close the door behind me. The overwhelming urge to put my hand around her and pull her close comes over me.No, that is ridiculous.Maybe I could just hold her hand? Would she like that?
Enough. This isn’t a date.
Stealing a glance, I struggle to look away from her. This may turn out to be a very long night. Here’s to hoping I survive it.
At dinner, I can barely focus on my meal while the conversation between Lucy and I flows as if we’ve known each other for years. We speak not only of the success of my social media presence, but she has many new ideas she shares in attempts to win me the director role I so longingly desire.
It’s easy to fool myself into thinking she is doing this for me and my professional pursuits, but I know that she is really doing it for Jane Austen and her characters. Regardless of her motives, I find myself thankful for any reason to have her here speaking with me.
During a pause in conversation, I take my chance to get to know Lucy better. “I don’t think I ever asked, what motivated your international move?”
She smiles at me with flushed cheeks. “It wasn’t one specific thing, and when everything in my life felt like it was pushing me toward change, I figured why not just make the move.” Her face relaxes. “It’s always been a dream of mine to live in the UK.” Given her love of Jane Austen’s work, it’s her obvious destination of choice.
“Do you miss your friends and family? That’s an awfully brave move to be so far away from everyone you care about.” Hopefully, my question isn’t too obvious, but I’m trying to get more information on the relationship she spoke of with Finn and Oliver.
“I call my mom just about every day, and I’ll be visiting her for the holidays. As for my friends, we are still in regular contact, and hopefully, they will be coming in to visit soon.” She turns to look over at the rest of the party. “I’m very fortunate to have made such great friends so soon after moving here.” She beams in their direction.
Lucy answered my questions without any indication that she was in a relationship prior to leaving. Could it be that she is still so broken up over this heartbreak she can’t bear to speak of it? My jaw clenches as my mind fills with fantasies of destroying the man who could hurt her so much. Although, without such heartbreak, I would have never found myself sitting next to her tonight, admiring that beautiful dress and the breathtaking smile on her face when she looks in my direction.
It is a long-standing joke that I do not believe in love, and she claims to only be interested in fictional men. We are the two outcasts in our group with four individuals who have found a true love connection. I stand firm on my take on romance, but a small part of me is relieved that she has not voiced her intention to date since we’ve met.
I daresay I am enjoying our new friendship, but I know better than to want it to be anything more.
Well, after seeing her in this dress, maybe a little more.
Twelve
HENRY
I tryto rid myself of the memory from the last time we went out and the events that followed, tonight is a new night. I am not sure how it will end, but it will certainly not end as it did then. I shake my head to bring myself back to the present. This bar is different from the one we last visited. When we enter it is far more crowded and takes more time to make our way to the booth Mia has reserved for us in the back. I make sure Lucy is in front of me with Oliver in front of her. There are too many people—men—in here. I want to keep an eye on her.
She turns her head over her shoulder and catches my eye. “Looks like tonight you’ll have plenty to choose from.” She tilts her head in the direction of the large group of young women on the dance floor. Nothing about those women tempts me in the slightest and not just because of what paparazzi photographs may come of it, but I am enjoying my time with my family and don’t want another night of Lucy and I going our separate ways. Iwill be the one to get everyone home at the end of the night, and that includes Lucy.
Shaking my head, never looking away from her, I lean in. “Keep walking,” I say with a firm tone while placing my hand on her lower back, giving the slightest bit of pressure. She laughs and follows my directions. “Good girl,” I whisper. She shivers under my touch.
The booth we are given is in an L shape with two square tables in front of us, allowing for people to get up as they need. This is much better for our large party and much less restrictive.
Lucy and I take the two seats at the bottom of the L shape, with me on the end and Hannah on her other side. After our drinks are delivered, Mia raises her glass in cheers to another amazing evening and then passes something to Lucy. I noticed quickly it’s a pain reliever. “Take it now,” Mia yells, “No headaches tonight. We are partying until the sun comes up.”
Lucy laughs and places the package in her tiny handbag.
“No e-reader tonight? Won’t your fictional boyfriends miss you?”
She smiles up at me. My breath catches, and before I can look too deeply into why that is, she answers, “The bag isn’t big enough for it. So sadly, I will not have their company to fall back on.”
“No need, I plan to provide you with constant and exceptional entertainment this evening.” I have no plans of leaving her side, but I’m not sure if she believes me.
“Take a photo of the table with the drinks,” she says with her glass in her hand.
“I thought we were trying to put distance between the pub scene and myself.”
“The bars were never the concern—it was the company you were keeping. This is a nice night out with your family. It shows your fun side and that you are spending time with your sons and their partners. You can caption it ‘An entertaining evening with my family’ and then link their accounts.” Even in this poorly lit bar, her eyes sparkle as she shares her idea. I don’t hesitate to take the photo while she sips on her red wine.
The waiter comes to take our order for the next round of drinks and yells loud enough for us to hear, “And for the couple at the end, same as before?”
Together, we reply loudly, denying being a couple. The waiter doesn’t care. “Okay, not a couple, same drinks as before?” he says, with intense exasperation. We both nod quickly with everyone’s eyes on us as we avoid eye contact with each other.
