The Himbo and the Lord (Love On The Flip Side #1)

Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

Ru

“Fuck!”

I say it in a loud whisper, and mostly to myself, but I can tell from the scowl that settled on the hotel receptionist’s face, he heard me.

“Are you sure you don’t have a room?” I try again, as if checking his system again would magically conjure up a vacant room. But I’m very tired and barely thinking straight. I’m also extremely pissed off.

This situation is completely the fault of Alex, my father’s secretary, and I’m pretty sure he did it on purpose.

My reservation for The Empire is for tomorrow, not today, though it is almost tomorrow already, which is just another reason for me to be annoyed. He’d got the date of my landing in Sydney wrong and added a day.

I’d checked my hotel reservation just before getting on the plane at Heathrow over twenty-four hours ago. When I noticed the mistake, I sent a text to Alex to find me another hotel for tonight, and when I stepped off the plane an hour and a half ago, the details for this hotel were in a text. But it appears there is no reservation. I’m still convinced he did this on purpose. I know he doesn’t like me.

I have a lovely suite waiting for me, my home for the next two weeks... tomorrow. But I need to sleep now because I barely slept on the plane. I’ve never been able to, even in first class.

In a few hours I have a meeting with the team overseeing the setting up of an Australian branch of my father’s financial investment firm. A firm that will be mine one day.

“No sir, I’m sorry. We have no available rooms for tonight.” I can tell by his voice that he isn’t sorry at all, which just fuels my anger.

I don’t usually let things like this get to me, at least not to a level that I act like a brat, but in my defence, I’m very sleep deprived.

“Do you know who I am?” I give him my best haughty look—well, the best I can manage in my current state.

He raises his eyebrows at me, giving me a look that tells me that not only does he not know who I am, but he wouldn’t care if the Prince of Wales was standing in front of him.

I briefly consider telling him that the prince is a distant cousin, but dismiss it immediately. I am not in that bad a state—yet—and it isn’t likely to work. I wonder whether he would be open to a bribe.

“You can stay with me if you like, handsome.” A voice with an American accent cuts across the lobby. The receptionist raises his eyes to the source, which prompts me to turn round.

Not ten feet away is a dream.

Even my addled brain can appreciate the man standing in front of me. He’s a smidge taller than me, lean, with rich brown hair and light green eyes.

“My rates are very reasonable.” He smiles, and I can’t help but check him out. He’s just the sort of guy I’d hoped to meet on my trip out here, where I can be myself and not have to suffer my father’s disapproval.

I trail my eyes up his body but when I get to his face his smile has changed into a shit-eating grin. He noticed.

I’m not at my best; I really need to sleep.

“No, I...” I falter, feeling my face get hot. “I’ll be ok.” I reluctantly turn away and start to wonder what time the new offices open and whether I can drink enough coffee to keep going until then.

The handsome guy appears next to me. “Dude, you look like you need a break.”

“That bad, huh?” I huff a laugh, inwardly cringing that I look so bad when he’s, well, gorgeous, even if his easy smile annoys uptight British me.

“I was joking before, no strings, but you’re welcome to share with me tonight.”

“Why?” I’m confused by his charity.

“I haven’t had a pretty boy in my bed for a day or two.” His shit-eating grin is back.

“No, I’m alright.”

In reality, I don’t want to stay awake any longer, and I know that even with more coffee, if I sit down somewhere, I’m going to fall asleep. But he’s annoying and pushy.

He looks around the lobby and back to me. “I don’t see any other offers lining up.” That pushes me over the edge.

“Fine.” I realise it’s the most ungracious answer I can give, but he’s too much for me to cope with right now.

“See, that wasn’t so hard, was it?” I’m regretting my decision already, but I’m too tired now and the thought of just being able to lie down is too tempting.

The guy says a room number to the receptionist, who signals to one of the porters to gather my bags.

“C’mon, sleepyhead.”

Yes, I’m really regretting this, but I follow him anyway as he leads the way to the elevator.

Once inside, the door closes and he punches in a number. Then he holds out his hand to me.

“Nate.” It’s only when he says this that I realise I was going to sleep with—well, not with, but in the same room as—a guy I didn’t know the name of. The disapproving look my father would give me crosses my mind. It’s a good job he’s thousands of miles away and one of the reasons I readily agreed to this assignment, apart from wanting to prove myself.

I shake his hand. “Rupert.”

He sniggers. “Rupert.” The way he repeats it, mimicking my accent, sets my teeth on edge. I can’t help but reply.

“The Honourable Rupert Francis Harrington Cardew.”

I don’t know whether I thought he’d be impressed or not, but he obviously isn’t since he just keeps smirking.

“What, like an actual lord?”

“Yes, like an actual lord. Well, my father is.” It sounds ridiculous when I say it out loud and I feel heat flood my face again. I look away and can’t bite back the retort even knowing I’m being petty. “At least I’m not a himbo .”