“I do declare, I might swoon at such a remark,” I said, a fanning myself as a flaming blush rose up in my cheeks. I dropped my eyes to the tablecloth, feeling decidedly pleased. “I do aim to please, Mr. Cross. I suppose my accents are my strong suit.”
“Actually, they’re rather terrible!” he clarified, leaning back in his chair with a chuckle. “In fact, I think they are the worst I’ve ever heard!”
“The worst?” My mouth fell open in dismay. “Why, that is no way to talk to a lady, you scoundrel!”
“Don’t stop. It’s fucking adorable.”
I resisted the urge to throw my napkin at him and bit back a smile instead. The truth was, I was quickly falling in love with many adorable things about him as well, particularly that disarming, magical smile of his. “Perhaps you’ve just forgotten what a proper English accent it supposed to sound like,” I shot back mischievously. “This is your first day back in town, after all.”
His eyes flashed up suddenly, and he shifted a bit uncomfortably in his chair. “Yes, I’m sorry about that. I’m sorry about the whole thing actually. I didn’t expect us to be swarmed the second we walked in. Charlie is an ass.”
My face instantly softened, all the teasing mischief melting away the second I realized I’d touched on something a little too close to home. “Are all those people friends of yours?”
He tensed for a second, then nodded. “Most of them, yes.”
I nodded as well, coaxing him gently forward. I didn’t feel our conversation was all that serious, but he seemed to be quite sensitive about it, and I wasn’t sure why. “I take it that it’s not exactly public knowledge that you’ve been back a while, huh?” I prompted in a quieter voice. “I personally happen to know you’ve been in town at least a few days.”
“A month actually.”
The back-and-forth came to an abrupt stop, and I leaned back in surprise. An entire month in London? Avoiding the usual haunts? Walking the city streets? Unnoticed by the paparazzi all the while? At that point, I had to forgive Madison and Caleb a bit for their cluelessness, because the man was obviously a wizard with some sort of magic invisibility spell at his beck and call.
His eyes met mine, and he hesitated for a moment, as if struggling to decide what to say. After a second or two, he opted to tell the truth. “London is my home, and I adore it, but sometimes it just all feels too...rehearsed, all played out. I tire of the same people, the same parties, the same restaurants.” He flushed a little, breaking my gaze to glance reflexively out the window. “Sometimes I just want to get away from it all, try somewhere and something new.”
I certainly understood that. After all, I’d given the exact same speech to myself in the mirror before taking the plunge and leaving New York, almost verbatim. My mouth fell open in astonishment, but just as I was about to tell him as much, the door opened suddenly and a team of waiters swept inside. The question died unanswered in the air between us, as we leaned back in our chairs, waiting in silence for them to finish.
While one uncorked a bottle of the eatery’s finest champagne, the other started systematically lighting a host of little candles splayed across the center of the table. I didn’t notice till then that the sun had been swallowed up by the horizon, and now a velvet blanket of ebony dimmed the rooftop, adding iridescence to the dancing candle flames. A couple large tapers were lit around the walls as well, and by the time they left, less than a minute later, the entire room was bathed in a soft golden glow.
Don’t look at him, not in this lighting, not this close. If you do, you’ll once again lose the ability to speak. At this rate, you’ll probably just start taking off your clothes.
It was one of those rare occasions when I followed my own advice, and I darted my eyes around the room instead, narrowing them suspiciously as they did a full sweep. Rose petals on the floor, a private room, candlelit table for two... Is this what I think it is?
“Mr. Cross,” I tilted my head to the side, finally daring to meet his eyes, “are you trying to seduce me?”
A burst of laughter escaped his lips, but he recovered almost instantaneously. “Surely that doesn’t require all this,” he replied innocently, waving his arms around. “Your seduction requires merely a humble wristband and a vacant roof, does it not?”
I blushed to high heaven, but he was merciful, his eyes twinkling as he reached out to hand me another glass of champagne.
“I have accomplished my mission, actually tricked you into going on a date with me.”
Despite the fact that I was once again sitting with the man of my dreams up in the clouds, laughing felt like a very natural thing to do. “Is that so?” I asked coyly before a sip of champagne, followed immediately by another. “From what I’ve read and heard, you don’t need to trick anyone into dating you.”
This time, it was his turn to blush again. His eyes flashed up to mine ever so briefly, as if the duke’s cruel joke was still ringing in his ears, before they returned deliberately to his menu. “What have you read?” he said. “Google knows everything, eh?” He didn’t sound particularly angry but not particularly pleased either. It was as if he simply wished the entire thing had never happened, that we had continued to live in our surreal bubble, sitting on a rooftop somewhere and gazing up at the stars.
Like it or not, though the elephant on the rooftop had to be discussed. Undeniably, James Cross was a living legend, the stuff of endless blogs and gossip rags and social media posts. “According to one particularly memorable story, you were once offered a threesome with t
he reigning king and queen of hip-hop, an offer you were forced to decline due to a slight poodle allergy.”
“True. But sadly, I don’t entertain men. So I came up with the poodle allergy.”
“Good one.”
“Thanks.”
He blushed. “Please don’t read any more of those dreadful stories on the internet.”
“C’mon, James,” I teased lightly. “I work for your father’s company, and your brother is acting CEO. It’s impossible not to read up on you, at least a little.”
“But you didn’t before,” James countered, ignoring my point entirely and choosing to focus on what he clearly deemed the bigger issue. His eyes danced with candlelight as he leaned curiously across the table, looking me up and down. “You flew here from New York to work for Cross, yet you didn’t recognize me the day we met. How was that possible?”