Chapter Twenty
It was an anxious Elliot that found me in the RJF kitchen the next day.
I had taken it upon myself to mix multiple flavors of Cheerios together in one bowl and had yet to decide whether it was the best breakfast I’d ever made or the weirdest. Either way, I was halfway through the bowl when he appeared.
“Morning,” he said. He looked tired, his eyes reddened, hair rumpled.
My initial reaction wasn’t anger or even annoyance. It was relief: relief that he was physically okay and in one piece. I took a second to lower my cereal bowl and compose myself. “What happened yesterday?”
“It was a family emergency,” he said. “I had to – I just had to go.”
He looked so defeated that the tirade of criticism I had planned faded away. “Oh God, I’m so sorry.” I was dying to know exactly what had happened, but I didn’t want to pry. “Is everything – should you even be here?”
“Of course I should,” he snapped.
“Hey, I was just worried about you.”
“You were?”
“Well, yeah.” How could I not be? “You didn’t call, I thought we were writing last night.”
“Right.” He closed his eyes, pained. “We have a lot of catching up to do, I’m sorry. Did you do anything fun last night?”
I thought of Ralf, his lips on mine and felt vaguely sick. “No.”
Elliot frowned. “Everything all right?”
“Of course.” I nodded so hard I slopped cereal on the work surface. No way was Elliot allowed to hear about what Ralf did. “We should get to work; let me clear this up and I’ll be right with you.”
With a suspicious nod, Elliot sloped off and I took a few moments to wipe up my mess. As I placed the used bowl and spoon into the dishwasher, Ralf suddenly appeared at my side.
“Morning,” he said, a sheepish grin on his face.
Oh God. “Hi.”
“I just want to make sure there’s no awkwardness between us,” he said. “Sorry again for last night. It didn’t mean anything, and I’d hate for you to be uncomfortable.”
“It’s fine, I’m not,” I said. “Although I hope Vivian didn’t get the wrong impression.”
“Right.” he said in a strangled voice. “Sure.”
“So, let’s not mention it,” I pleaded. “Ever.”
“Agreed.” He dipped his head to catch my eye. “Because I’d hate to think one kiss could be—”
“You guys KISSED?” Juno stood there, her eyes wide, mouth gaping.
“No!” I yelped just as Ralf replied, “Maybe a little.” He shot me an apologetic glance.
“Not at all, actually,” I corrected him irritably before turning back to Juno. “I mean it.”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to cause a fight,” Juno said without a single note of apology in her voice.
“You didn’t!” I said quickly.
“Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone about your forbidden love.” Juno giggled as she headed over to the coffee machine.
“Juno,” I growled.
“Okay, okay.” She lifted in her hands defensively. “Perhaps I’m mistaken, perhaps Ralf begging you to—”
“Begging?” Ralf interrupted, “I don’t need to beg for anything.”
“Sure, Ralf.” Juno smirked.
I shot Ralf a disgusted glance and stomped out of the kitchen, face aflame. It was bad enough Juno overhearing our conversation and getting things twisted but for Ralf to act like he was the office Romeo was downright gross.
Elliot was midway through an epic yawn and stretch as I crankily forced my way through the stiff door. “You good?” he asked.
“Yeah.” I threw myself into my chair. “Just Ralf.” I hadn’t flown all the way to New York to be thought of as the girl who went around kissing colleagues and nothing else.
“What did he do?” Suddenly, Elliot’s laid-back demeanor was gone, and he was half out of his chair.
“N-nothing.”
“Are you sure?” Elliot demanded. “Because if you need me to—”
“I don’t need you to do anything!” I yelped. The last thing I wanted was for him to speak to Ralf. In fact, I needed to keep them far away from each other. “Please.”
Elliot glared back at me. “You’d tell me, right? If he ever did anything that made you uncomfortable or …” He trailed off, swallowing audibly. “Anything.”
The room shrank away to nothing around me, because all I could see was Elliot’s earnest, pleading eyes. “Sure.” I lifted RJ’s script notes with a weary sigh. “For now, we have work to do.”
When I checked the time, I thought I was seeing things.
“Shit, it’s almost midnight!” We’d spent the entire day catching up, thanks to the junket and Elliot’s mysterious vanishing act eating into the time we had until RJ’s deadline.
We’d ordered in lunch as well as dinner, so I’d barely moved from my seat and my muscles were cramping from having been hunched over my laptop for such an extended period.
Elliot looked over at me from the sofa. He had attempted to recline back on it as he reviewed the day’s work, but his sizable frame barely fit. “I know.”
I was proud of our progress though. Somehow, we’d managed to get through the day with only minor bickering and a whole lot of collaboration.
Elliot had actually taken my suggestions on board with just the occasional grimace and although he’d taken the lead with the writing, I was happy with my contribution.
I stood, wincing as my stiff muscles protested. “Do you think RJ will be happy?”
“I think we’ve done enough.” Elliot concertinaed his body in an awkward movement to get himself off the sofa. “But we should do a review first thing before we hand it over.”
“Home to bed then.” I was strangely wired, with a desire to get some fresh air. “I think I’ll walk.”
“The hell you will.” Elliot paused midway through shoving his laptop into his bag. “Get a cab.”
“My flat is only a few blocks downtown!” I said with a snort. “Besides, I need to move my body, get some air.”
“If you think I am letting you wander the streets solo then you’re crazy,” Elliot said.
“I’ll stick to Tenth, I’ll be perfectly safe.” I’d honestly never felt safer out and about than I had since coming to Manhattan.
“I’ll pay for an Uber, seriously.” Elliot began tapping at his phone.
“It’s not the money!” I said. “It’s more that I cannot face sitting down or being immobile right now. I want to move, shake the day off.”
Elliot shoved his phone back in his bag. “I’m walking you back, then.”
“You don’t need to!” I squeaked, it was awkward to be on the receiving end of such chivalry.
“I’m downtown too,” he said with a shrug. “So, it’s kinda on my way.”
“You don’t—”
His glare silenced me. “No arguments.”
We made it out into the night. Despite the lateness of the hour, the city was still alive. As we turned onto Tenth Avenue, I could hear cheers and chatter from a bar a few yards away, while a queue snaked out of a loud little takeaway pizza place.
“Busy,” I remarked.
“It’s New York,” Elliot mumbled as we sidestepped a trio of smartly dressed and very tipsy women. “It’s kinda famous for, you know, not sleeping.”
“God, I can’t imagine sleeping right now,” I said with a nervous laugh. “As tired as I am, I have all this weird energy.”
Elliot stopped, gazed down at me. “Weird energy, huh?”
“Yep.” I avoided his eyes. In London, I’d be reaching for the dating apps right about now, seeing if someone warm-blooded and willing was available to iron out the kinks in my brain.
Elliot grinned. “Follow me.” He led me a few yards down the street to a fenced-off area, where a narrow bank of steps led to a dimly lit, leafy overpass.
“This is the High Line,” I stated.
“Uh-huh.”
“It’s closed.” I pointed at the ‘times of operation’ sign positioned helpfully by the gate.
His mouth twisted. “I know.”
“So then what are we doing?”
He jerked his head and yet again I was following him but this time down a side street, where the fence also ran. We then came to a low wall, which the fence continued across. Elliot hopped up onto the wall with ease, then turned, extending a hand.
“You expect me to come up there?” I gaped. “No chance.”
“Come on,” he said. “I need to show you something.”
“I’ve already visited the High Line.” I’d been at the weekend. I’d loved the novelty of it, of being surrounded by nature and art, mere meters above the busy city.
“Not like this you haven’t,” he said with a wicked grin.
“But it’s trespassing!” My heart began to pound. “There’s signs everywhere.”
“Trust me,” Elliot said. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”
I regarded his hand for a moment, then glanced around. The side street was relatively quiet, most of the windows in the surrounding buildings dark. “You’re sure I won’t get arrested and deported?”
“Well, I can’t guarantee that,” he said with a tut. “But I can guarantee you won’t regret coming up here.”
“Fine.” I placed my hand in his. “But if I do get arrested and deported, I’ll make you wish you’d never been born.”
“How?” he said with a low laugh. “You won’t be in the country.”
“Daily glitter bombs. Nuisance calls.” I shrugged. “I’m actually quite resourceful when it comes to being a pain in the arse.”
“You shock me.” He tugged at my hand as I used my free arm to boost myself up onto the wall but, thanks to my total absence of core strength, I found myself tumbling. “Whoa!” Elliot grabbed me before I could plummet back down to the pavement.
My heart was pounding from the near miss, but not enough to distract me from the fact that his arms were around my waist, pressing me against every damn inch of him. It felt so unexpectedly right.
“You okay?” he asked with a throaty chuckle I felt in my bones.
“Yup.” I really wasn’t. I was coming undone, and it was highly inconvenient.
If Elliot had noticed my unraveling, he didn’t comment.
He merely put a finger to his lips and bade me follow him.
We edged along the wall to another fence that stood in front of a steep bank, on top of which was the converted railroad known as the High Line.
I still didn’t understand why he was leading me here.
What on earth could Elliot show me that was so spectacular it was worth risking a trespassing offense?