Chapter 2
CHAPTER TWO
Noah Ellington
“Wow, you look—” Petra exclaims as I’m shown into the drawing room of Shelton Hall, Ru’s family home, or rather mansion.
“Is it too much?” Sudden nerves at her reaction bubble up and I look down at myself.
I did think long and hard about what I wanted to wear to the wedding, but the pale blue suit won.
I’d bought it on a whim a few months ago, and I’ve been waiting for an occasion to do it justice.
Nate told me he and Ru were wearing white, so I thought the blue would be okay, paired with a crisp white shirt and of course a bow tie.
One of my favourites. It’s silk, and also light blue, but has tiny flowers outlined in dark blue ink on it.
“Gorgeous, I was going to say gorgeous.”
“Oh.” Petra takes hold of my hands and laughs.
A friendship with Petra was one of the most surprising results of that weekend in Ibiza for the bachelor party a month ago.
I’d gone because Nate is a really good friend, which still baffles me after two years.
I like him a lot, but we couldn’t be more different.
He’s loud, American, confident, extremely wealthy, and did I mention loud?
How he could be friends with me—quiet, usually nervous, rather be reading than partying—is a mystery.
Well, not a total mystery, as Nate is smart and he can be serious, but yeah, he likes to party, and Ibiza was definitely that.
Not that I don’t like to party, just not twenty-four seven.
Luckily they’d arranged two villas, so I could escape the music when it was too much, and I spent some of the weekend with Petra, Jenna, and Nate’s sister Chelsea.
“I knew it was a good idea to ask you to be my date today.” I try not to flinch at the word date, and she laughs again.
I remember her asking. I was sitting on the couch one morning.
It was early and not many people were awake yet, and I was rereading Frankenstein, an old favourite, because I love a good horror story and I needed something familiar to disappear into when there were too many people around.
Petra had plonked herself next to me and asked if I’d be her date.
“Surely you don’t need a date for your own brother’s wedding,” I replied without even looking up from my page. “Also, I’m gay.”
“Well duh,” Petra said, and I looked up, but there was only a kind smile on her face. “Please, it’s the society wedding of the summer and I need some good eye candy on my arm.”
I’d never been called eye candy before, and I studied her face again, finding no hint of irony. It was flattering, but still.
“Don’t you have any straight friends?”
“I don’t want to be photographed with any single straight guys. I can’t stand the gossip, the speculation, and the labelling, especially when I’m bi.”
Huh, that was something I didn’t know, not that it was any of my business, so I focussed on something else.
“Photographed? I thought it was a private wedding?”
“It is but Nate and Ru are allowing Renown magazine exclusive rights to cover it.”
“So I’m to be your patsy?” I asked. “You know, being the only single gay guy you know isn’t nearly as flattering as being called eye candy.”
“I know, that’s why I led with that.” Petra grinned and I found myself smiling back. But still.
“No,” I replied and she sighed a little.
“What are you reading?” I tipped my book up to show her the cover.
“Oh. You know we have a first edition of that back in the library at home?” she said casually. That does get my attention and I close my book.
“You have a first edition of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein at home?” I couldn’t believe what I’d just heard.
“I think it’s a first edition. Daddy mentioned it once.” She shrugged like it was no big deal, which it definitely was, and my skin tingled like it always did when I thought about rare books.
“Do you know how much it’s worth? There are only five hundred copies of the first edition, and the last time one was sold it went for over a million pounds?”
She shrugged again.
“What else is in your library?” I couldn’t keep the excitement out of my voice, and I saw the moment Petra realised she’d got me when the sly smile appeared on her face.
“I’ll let you look if you’ll be my date for the wedding.”
So now I’m two hours early for the ceremony, ready for Petra to uphold her part of our deal before I do mine.
There’s something about viewing a private collection of books that excites me.
I love being a literary agent, and over the last two years I’ve built up a solid client base.
But old books, literature and their preservation, is a passion of mine.
Studying someone’s library, especially one that’s been kept and added to for generations, is fascinating.
Not only the books themselves, but their choices.
Are they purely an investment or is there personal interest?
A connection with the author perhaps. All of it is interesting.
The library at Shelton is a very large room.
One end is completely lined with shelves, floor to ceiling.
There’s a large mahogany desk in the centre and a large leather chair.
The other end has tall windows that allow light in, but I notice—approvingly—no direct sunlight touches the books.
There are also a couple of tables with wing-backed chairs arranged round them.
I stand in the shelved section and take a deep breath, savouring the scent of the old books.
I half close my eyes and let them roam over the shelves.
Sometimes when I do this an interesting book will catch my eye.
After a couple of minutes, when nothing jumps out at me, I inspect the shelves more closely.
I want to make the most of the time I have, and a small part of my mind wonders whether anyone would notice if I stayed here all day and didn’t attend the wedding.
Petra would. I suppress a small groan and go back to scanning the shelves.
I locate the Mary Shelley and pull it out carefully.
I check and confirm it is a first edition.
Now I’m really interested, as this is a true collector’s piece, and I wonder what other gems I’ll find.
I put the Shelley back and let my finger trail across the spines of the old books. They stop on a spine. I almost gasp. Surely not. I pull out the book carefully and open it to check.
“Holy shit,” I mutter to myself. I’m actually holding a first edition copy of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
Not just any first edition, the one owned by Lewis Carroll himself.
I knew it had sold at auction about a decade ago for more than a million, but no one knew who bought it.
I wonder who the collector is in the family.
Somehow I don’t think it’s Ru. I need to talk to them about their security.
“Do you like ancient things?”
The voice startles me and I nearly drop the book.
“Shit!” I catch it before it tumbles to the ground and then clutch it tightly to my chest. “How to give a guy a heart attack,” I grumble and look up, straight into the face of Chase Knightly.
I nearly do have a heart attack; it at least skips a beat.
Super handsome and uber rich Chase, who hasn’t got in touch since I gave him my contact details a month ago.
I ignore the pang of disappointment that gives me.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to surprise you,” he says smoothly and nods towards the book. “Is it rare? The way you looked at it, I thought it might be.”
It’s not my place to discuss another person’s collection, or its value, so I shelve the book. “It’s interesting,” I give as my answer.
“You didn’t answer my question.” He smiles and my brain scrambles to remember what he asked.
Oh, about ancient stuff. I wouldn’t call Chase ancient, he’s maybe twenty years older than me, but he’s fit and gorgeous.
He’s still looking at me, and I realise I still haven’t answered.
I need to get my mind back on track as that wasn’t what he meant.
“Um, yes, books. I like old books. It’s a hobby of mine. Well, more than a hobby, as I did my degree in book preservation.” I tend to talk a lot and fast when I get going, especially if I’m nervous. Which I am, a little. Finding my hands with nothing to do, I push my glasses up my nose.
“Why did you become a literary agent, then?” He seems genuinely interested, so I answer.
“I also like the publishing business, I find it interesting. And I like helping authors, working with them to find the right publishing house. There’s something extremely satisfying about getting a really good deal for an author and seeing them hit the bestseller lists.”
There’s a gleam in his eye as if he knows what I mean, and I wonder if the finance business is like that for him.
“So, you’re the agent for five authors right now. Do you have time for any more?”
I rock back a little as that information isn’t readily available, in fact, the only way he would know is if he’d contacted the agency I work for. Which is interesting in itself.
“I offer my authors the best service they need. I would never take on so many that I could no longer do that.” All my authors need different levels of support, and of course it changes depending on where they are in the publishing process, but my answer seems to satisfy him as he nods.
“I’d like to talk to you about it soon. How about Wednesday? Two o’clock at my office?”
His words catch me off guard as I was sure he wasn’t interested when he hadn’t contacted me.
“Um, yes, of course, thank you. That would be great. Um, thank you.” I stop because I’m just repeating myself now.
I push my glasses up my nose again. A gesture that Chase tracks with his eyes.
Neither of us moves. I just look at him, and his sexy silver hair.
No, I can’t have thoughts like that. For a start, if I become his agent, anything like that would be against the policy of the agency.
But more importantly, Chase would never be interested in a guy like me.
Silence hangs in the air for an eternity and I barely breathe. Then the spell is broken as the door opens.
“Are you done with the musty old books yet?” Petra puts her head round the door. “Oh, hello Chase, I didn’t know you were in here too.”
“I needed to quickly look at a report and Ru said it would be fine to come in here.” He turns towards Petra as she approaches us.
“It’s time for the wedding if you’re finished,” she says and takes my arm.
“Yes, of course. But what do I have to agree to for another visit?” Because no, I’m definitely not finished here.
“I’ll think of something,” she laughs, and as we pass Chase I see the hint of a smirk on his face.