“Natalie,” he finally murmured. “You look beautiful.”
I flushed expectantly. “Thank you. You look pretty good yourself.”
“Pretty good?” Amy asked. She brushed past me and stepped up to the limo. “You’re wearing a Savile Row suit. You look hot as fuck.”
“Nice to see you again, Amy.”
“Good thing you’re not my type.”
“Such a charmer.” He tilted his head at Enzo. “Your date?”
“Enzo, Lewis. Lewis, Enzo.” She shot Lewis a daring smile. “You’d better have champagne in there.”
“I don’t disappoint.”
Amy grinned and entered the limo with Enzo, leaving us alone for a minute.
“After you, Miss Bishop,” Lewis said with a grin.
“Thank you for picking us up,” I said as I stepped up to him. I had always considered myself relatively tall, and still, I barely reached his shoulder. I looked up into his open expression. “I appreciate it.”
“It’s really my pleasure.” He gestured for me to enter. “Don’t let Amy drink all the champagne.”
I laughed and shuffled into the limo. As expected, Amy had popped the champagne bottle, and she and Enzo were already imbibing. Lewis followed behind me, and we started off as soon as the door was closed.
“You really went all out,” I told him.
“How could I not?” Lewis took the champagne bottle and poured each of us a glass. Then, he raised his champagne flute. “To Natalie and the release of her debut novel!”
Amy and Enzo raised their half-drained glasses, and I held mine up too. I downed most of mine for liquid courage. Today had been a day of nerves. I didn’t know if it was worse or better that my book was doing well. I couldn’t imagine feeling any worse about the release. Despite the fact that, after I’d left my meeting with Caroline, Amy and I had dragged ourselves all over Manhattan. We’d peeked into every bookstore to find my book. And to my amazement, it had been there.
In every bookstore.
On every main display.
With giant letters of recommendation to patrons and rave reviews from booksellers and displays in the front of Barnes & Noble.
I was blown away. It was more than I could have ever dreamed of.
“You really do look beautiful,” Lewis whispered, leaning close to my ear.
I flushed at his praise. “Thank you. It’s all Amy’s doing.”
“Don’t be modest.”
“I’m not. It just doesn’t really feel like me.”
His eyes swept down my body to the place where the short hem barely grazed the top of my thighs and then back to my face. “Why didn’t you wear something you were more comfortable in?”
“We’re celebrating. So, I got all dolled up.”
“This might not be what you normally wear, but it suits you.”
“Thank you,” I whispered.
I bit my lip at his searing look. It had been easier when I was on guard with him. Now that he was within my realm of security, I was off-kilter. And those looks…I probably shouldn’t like them as much as I did.
It was a short drive to Club 360, which was situated on top of a Percy hotel. As in Camden Percy, Katherine’s fiancé and the most despicable person I’d ever met, owned this hotel. This was Katherine’s stomping grounds, and I’d been here with Penn. Unease bit into me at the memories.
Club 360 was the place where I had decided I was going to move forward with my relationship with Penn. Put my heart on the line. And that night was the first time we’d had sex since Paris. The start of a new beginning.
And a new end.
It didn’t matter that Warren had rented the place out for a couple of hours before the club’s official opening time or that it was a Tuesday night. I couldn’t stop the nerves that jolted through me.
“Are you okay?” Lewis asked, as if he knew how terrifying this was for me. He had been there that night after all.
“Fine. Just nervous, is all.”
“It’s going to be great.” He offered me his arm. “New memories.”
I nodded reluctantly. That was what I wanted. New memories to replace the ones that were now tinged in sadness whenever I got too close to them.
Lewis and I entered the Percy hotel and took the elevator up to Club 360 with Amy and Enzo. It was exactly as I remembered it. Open-air club with a large dance floor buffeted between a horseshoe bar and VIP booths. Only, now, a retractable glass roof had been put in place over top of most of the dance floor, and heat lamps lined the room. The room was crowded with people here for the event, and I picked out my agent, editor, and some of the Warren staff in the crowd. A sign hung across one wall that read, Congratulations, Olivia!
“Oh my god,” I gushed. “This is so amazing. Thank you all so much for coming.”
Caroline peeled away from the group and pulled me into a hug. “It’s all for you.”