Avery bit her lip, lowering her gaze. “It was lovely to meet you, too,” she said softly. Victoria gave her a quick hug, and we both watched as Avery practically ran out of the room.
Victoria turned to me with a frown. She indicated her head towards the hallway, and I followed her out.
“Okay, what have you done?”
“What do you mean, what have I done?”
She tapped her foot impatiently, her hands on her hips. “Ethan, it’s obvious that you’ve done something to upset Avery. I’m here to talk some sense into you, because I know how obtuse you can be, and I don’t want you to ruin things between the two of you. I can tell how much you care for her, and her for you.”
I stared at her incredulously. “Let’s get one thing straight. There is nothing between me and Avery. We’re friends. I invited her here as my date and asked her to pretend to be my girlfriend for the weekend to get Mother off my back. And Clarissa, for that matter. We would never date in reality—
we’re far too different.”
Victoria rolled her eyes and huffed. “While I can’t say that your tactic has surprised me, you are in deep denial if you think that there’s nothing between the two of you. The way you look at each other…” She trailed off, shaking her head. “Ethan, you can’t fake that kind of chemistry. There’s a connection between you that you can’t ignore. Your feelings are written all over your faces.”
“That’s completely untrue.” I folded my arms across my chest, annoyance creeping into my tone.
“Why must you be such an idiot?” Victoria muttered. “I’m not arguing with you about it anymore, but you need to fix whatever you did wrong and make Avery your girlfriend for real. Okay?”
I looked at my sister, her dark eyes huge and serious. “Come here.” I pulled her into my arms. “I love you. Come and visit me in London soon. Bring Ralph, if you must,” I added reluctantly.
“I love you, too,” she mumbled. As she stepped away from me and began walking away, she threw over her shoulder, “Just think about what I said.”
I sighed heavily. “I’m leaving now. Bye, V.”
As I reached the lobby, I saw Avery standing in the open doorway, her hair blowing slightly in the breeze, her yellow dress hugging her curves. There was no denying her beauty, but unfortunately looks didn’t matter when we were so different, and most importantly, my work came first. I knew Avery, and she was not the type of woman that would be happy with snatched moments here and there. She’d want, and deserve, way more time than I could ever give her, even if we weren’t such opposites in our personalities. No, it was far better this way. Soon we’d be back in London, living our own lives, only crossing paths in the office, and this weekend would seem like a distant dream.
11
Avery
How did things become so awkward? It was now Friday, and since our silent car journey back to London, and the past week in the office, Ethan had been acting distant, barely speaking to me unless he absolutely had to. Lost in thought, my mind returned to the morning after the best night of my life.
I took a tiny bite of my croissant, my appetite non-existent. Ethan’s words rang in my ears. “That kiss shouldn’t have happened… It won’t happen again.” That resolute look on his face…he’d meant everything he’d said.
I looked up and noticed Victoria watching me with concern, so I made an effort to smile, pouring tea from my individual pot into my tiny china cup, which balanced on a matching saucer. As I added milk, Ethan leaned over to me.
“What’s the matter?”
“Nothing.”
He frowned, then shrugged, deciding to take me at my word, turning to engage an older lady in conversation. As we got up to leave, Victoria took him aside, and I decided to go and wait in the lobby. I passed Derek, who was wheeling a suitcase towards the large front doors.
“Avery, hi.”
I joined him in the doorway, enjoying the feel of the light breeze on my skin. “Hi. How did things go with Clarissa?”
He tapped his chin, contemplating. “Well, let’s just say that I was there to console her after Ethan’s rejection, but she has no plans for anything to happen beyond this weekend.” His focus switched to me. “Why the downcast face? Did Ethan do something wrong?”
How could I explain? “Not ‘wrong,’ exactly. More like giving me mixed signals, and I’m kind of confused about everything at the moment.”
“Well, for what it’s worth, the two of you seem to have great chemistry. Give him time. I’m sure you can sort things out.”
“Thanks, Derek.”
He glanced at his watch before smiling at me. “You are most welcome. I must get going—I have a long drive ahead of me, but I’m glad you caught me before I left. Maybe we’ll meet again in the future.”
We gave each other a brief hug, and he was gone, tooting the horn of his vintage car as he pulled away from the manor, gravel flying up in his wake.