Page 41 of London Dynasty

“Like a proper boyfriend and girlfriend. Let’s see. What else are we supposed to do? Do you want to get some breakfast?” He glanced back at the dress. “I probably have something you could wear in the closet.”

I couldn’t imagine going for breakfast in the wrinkled dress I’d worn to dinner last night. If that wasn’t enough to scream walk of shame, my bare face and tangled hair would do it.

“I think maybe I should head back to my place,” I said. “I don’t want my father to worry about me.”

Spencer shrugged dismissively. Clearly, he wasn’t worried about what Tod Belmond thought. “I should think he’d be happy. It’s a step in the direction he wants us to take.”

“I suppose. Although, things are moving more quickly than I expected,” I confessed, hoping that he would understand. I didn’t regret going to bed with Spencer, but even I was surprised that after twenty-three years of waiting to sleep with someone, I’d slept with him after knowing him only a few days. Still, part of me felt it was only right. I’d known it somehow. I’d been sure. But that tiny voice in the back of my mind kept whispering that everything between Spencer and I was a lie. How could I have gone to bed with a man who didn’t know who I really was? I had slipped into Kerrigan’s life too easily. I needed to clear my head, and there was no way I could do that around Spencer. He had a way of muddying up my brain.

“Well, it’s not as if it will take a year to get to know each other. I simply wanted more time before the press descended upon us and my mother started in on invitations and all that nonsense,” he explained, opening a drawer. He found a pair of jeans and held them out to me. “They’ll be loose on you.”

“Thanks,” I said as I took them. I pulled the pants on over my bare legs, not bothering to figure out where yesterday’s knickers had landed. “At least we have time before they make us get married.”

“The longer we give them, the bigger the spectacle will be. I think when we are ready, we just elope,” he said as though he’d given it some thought.

I swallowed back a cry of surprise at this revelation. Part of my arrangement with Tod Belmond was that the wedding would take a long time to plan — long enough for him to convince Kerrigan to come back and take her rightful place at the altar. That timeline was going to have to be significantly shortened if Spencer decided he wanted to run off to get married. I felt torn. I knew I was going to have to tell Tod about this development, so he would have time to work on tracking Kerrigan down before it was too late. For some reason, I couldn’t imagine taking wedding vows for her. Not only because it wasn’t my place to do so, but because I feared what would happen to my own heart in the process. I liked Spencer. Maybe I liked him too much. I was certainly attracted to him. I had never considered what would happen if we became emotionally attached to one another. I thought of this relationship as more of a business transaction, like the one I’d made with Kerrigan’s father. But things were getting much more complicated than that—much more quickly than I could process.

“I’d always imagined a large wedding.” In truth, I’d never thought about getting married. It’d never really crossed my mind. I didn’t know why. Weren’t girls supposed to think about their wedding days? I hadn’t, but the lie was easily delivered and even more easily swallowed.

“We’ll do whatever you want, of course.” He grabbed the shirt I wore and pulled me to him. “Are you certain you need to go home?”

“Don’t you have work or something?” I didn’t actually know what Spencer did on a daily basis, which was yet another reason things were moving too fast. It wasn’t as if preparing to be Prime Minister in ten or fifteen years was a full-time, paid occupation. Still, no one had mentioned him doing anything else but that.

Spencer checked his watch and grimaced. “I really should be getting into the office. My grandfather tends to be a bastard on Mondays. Secretly, I think he hates taking weekends off. If the man could spend every moment working, he would.”

“If you don’t have time to drop me off, I’m sure I can call a car,” I offered. Each second I spent with him, my brain felt more muddled, as if I had taken a very strong drug. The sooner I could get some space to clear my head, the better.

“Nonsense. I’m not sending you away in a car after last night.” He wrapped his arms around my waist and studied me for a moment with a worried expression, mistaking my confusion for pain. “Holden distracted me from checking on you. Are you okay? Is everything all right down there?”

Despite the anxiety clouding my brain, I giggled. “I think I’ll live.”

“That’s exactly what a man wants to hear after the first time he sleeps with a woman.”

“Sorry. I’m new at this, remember?” I teased him.

“Actually, that reminds me.” He angled his face so that his mouth covered mine, and I forgot about anything but him at that moment. “I hope you enjoyed yourself as much as I did. I promise it only gets better.”

“Promise, huh?” I whispered. “You’re talking a big game.”

“I’m more than willing to back it up right now,” he said, huskily, and his mouth crushed against mine again. I was lost to him, completely drowning in his taste. I wanted more of it—more of him. It took effort to push him away.

“Office, remember?” I said, panting heavily as I pulled away from his arms.

“Right.” He scratched his head as he stepped away, putting some necessary space between us. “I have a feeling I’m going to be late to the office a little more often in the future.”

I hated the thrill that raced through me as much as I loved to hear him say it.

Chapter Twenty-Two

As soon as I reached Willoughby Place, I raced to Kerrigan’s bedroom. I hadn’t bothered with the shoes I’d worn the night before, going barefoot in Spencer’s car during the ride. I wanted to make a quiet entrance. I wasn’t sure that was even possible, given that I had to be let in through the security gate. Still, I didn’t relish the idea of running into anyone while I was holding my Louboutins and last night’s dress in my arms. As soon as I was inside my private sanctuary, I locked the door and breathed a sigh of relief. I tossed the dress and shoes on the couch, making a note to ask Giles what I should do with things that needed to go out for cleaning. Then I looked down at myself. I was still wearing Spencer’s shirt and jeans. Part of me wanted to stay in them all day, but I knew that wasn’t a good idea. I stripped his clothes off as I walked into the closet and dug out more lacy undergarments followed by a pair of Kerrigan’s jeans and a tank top. Since I’d been here, I spent every waking moment dressed like I just walked off the runway. Today, I needed to feel more like my old self. Changing was the first step to that. I had thought of the second step as Spencer drove me home.

Crawling into Kerrigan’s oversized bed, I dialed a familiar number on my mobile. It was early enough in the day that the pub wouldn’t be open. Eliza’s sleepy voice greeted me.

“I’m only answering because I was worried you were dead,” she told me groggily. “But unless you are dead, don’t call me so early in the future.”

I didn’t bother telling her that didn’t make much sense. I’d learned after months of living with my roommate that it took her a while to process things in the morning. Usually, there were only three things that could be counted on to wake her with a jolt: a cigarette, coffee, or gossip. I only had one at my disposal.

“I lost my virginity,” I confessed.