Chapter 43
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
Gabriel
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been away from Bethany overnight, but I was surprisingly relaxed about it.
“Why don’t they have these kinds of waitresses in London?
” Tristan asked, glancing around at the women in white bikinis and nearly see-through cover-ups who were distributing cocktails to the patrons at the rooftop bar.
It was a little weird for a five-star New York hotel, but it was hot as hell and this was America, so I wasn’t about to complain.
“Alcohol tastes better when served by a woman in a bikini.”
“You’re a sexist dick at times, Tristan,” I said, kicking at his chair under the table.
“We’re in a hotel bar. Not a strip club. Don’t be a twat,” Joshua said. “Keep your eyes on New York.” The city stretched out all around us. Three hundred and sixty degrees of Manhattan. From up here we could see everything from the Chrysler building to the Brooklyn Bridge.
Dexter just shook his head. “I can’t wait for you to fall hook, line, and sinker for a girl. You’ll realize what an idiot you’ve been.”
“There’s no way I’m settling down,” Tristan replied.
“You will fall at the feet of the first woman who falls in love with you,” Joshua said. “All your chat is just that. Chat.”
“Whatever you say,” Tristan replied. “At least I actually get laid. Unlike you.”
“I have sex plenty,” Joshua replied. “But I’m not a fifteen-year-old boy so I don’t have to tell everyone about it.”
“How’s Bethany,” Dexter asked, clearly wanting to change the subject.
“I spoke to her just before I came up. She’s good. Excited that Penelope’s staying over.”
“Oh wow,” Beck said. “Penelope is looking after her?”
“The nanny’s there as well. But yeah, it’s good for the two of them to have some time together.”
“Sounds like things are still going well,” Beck said.
I blew out a breath. “So far, so good.” In many ways it would be easier if we could slip into our life before she left. Especially now when we knew each other and ourselves in a much deeper way than we had done before.
“She still want you back?” Beck asked.
I shrugged, swirling the whiskey in my glass. Penelope hadn’t said anything more since we’d had dinner together. She’d been seeing more of Bethany, but she hadn’t suggested dinner again and neither had I. “I don’t think so.”
“And you’re not interested?”
I shook my head. “She wasn’t the woman I thought I married.
I’m not saying that to criticize her. It’s more a reflection of me having an image in my head of what I wanted and trying to mold everything to fit.
That image is gone. And Penelope and I are Bethany’s parents, but we’re not ever going to be husband and wife again. ”
“You sound okay about it,” Andrew said.
“I am. But . . .” I wasn’t a man who asked for help or advice. Tonight, I needed both. “I do have other things on my mind.”
“You need to leave your job.”
“Oh, I did that already. Just before I left for the airport.”
Dexter beckoned one of the waitresses over. “A magnum of your best champagne, please.”
“We have a double celebration on our hands,” Beck said.
I winced. Dexter might cancel the champagne if he knew what I was about to say next. “I’m also in love with Autumn.” I glanced at Dexter. “Sorry, mate.”
“Yeah, I had a feeling,” he replied. “You spoken to her?”
“Not since she left. She made me promise to give things a go with Penelope. But it’s not my wife I want.
It’s Autumn. I never thought I could ever see myself trusting a woman, trusting myself to be with a woman again.
Not like I had with Penelope. But I love Autumn.
I trust her. I want to build a life with her. ”
“You can’t help who you love,” Beck said.
“You okay with this?” I asked, looking at Dexter.
“I’m with Beck on this. I can’t speak for my future wife, but we’ll win her round. She’s very fond of you.”
“Thanks, Dexter,” I replied. “I appreciate it. I’ve got to focus on winning Autumn over first. I need something .
. . big. To show her that I’m serious. She might have given up and moved on—it’s been weeks, and she was determined I should get back together with Penelope—but I’ll do what I need to do to get her back. ”
“Right,” said Tristan. “The best brains in London are around this table. We can figure something out.”
“A coven emergency, as Stella would describe it,” Beck said.
“Stella thinks we’re witches?”
He shrugged. “She’s just jealous.”
“But she comes to most of our drinks nights,” Andrew said.
“I know,” said Beck. “But she’s not here tonight, so she’s jealous.”
“You should tell her that we’d prefer her company to yours any day,” Joshua said.
“I’ll make sure I pass the message on. And while we’re passing messages on, get your fucking hair cut. You look like a student.”
“I’m busy, and what can I say, Miss Tuesday Night likes something to run her fingers through.”
“Miss Tuesday Night?” Beck asked. “You don’t even have names for the women you fuck now? You’re starting to sound like Tristan.”
“Maybe I’m concealing her identity,” Joshua said.
“You’re both animals,” I said.
“I’ve got it,” Tristan said. “You go down on one knee during Dexter and Hollie’s wedding breakfast. During the speeches or something.”
“Firstly—no,” Dexter said. “And secondly, no fucking way. What are you thinking, Tristan? Sometimes I wonder how you manage to dress yourself in the morning, let alone trick people into paying you to mess about with their computers.”
“What’s your problem? Proposing in front of everyone’s a grand gesture,” Tristan said, looking genuinely confused.
“That will take the focus off the bride and groom and their wedding,” I said as if I was explaining to Bethany that she shouldn’t eat the sandwich she’d just dropped in the dirt.
Tristan shrugged. “Don’t blame me that Dexter’s a selfish narcissist who wants all the attention to himself. The brief was to think up a grand gesture to win back Autumn. I fulfilled the brief.”
“When’s she back in London?” Andrew asked. I couldn’t answer him. I didn’t know where Autumn was, who she was with, or when she was coming back.
“I guess she’s coming back for the wedding.” I glanced at Dexter.
“Yup. She’s back next Wednesday.”
My heart tumbled in my chest. In just days she’d be back in London.
“She’s coming back on Eurostar.”
That little piece of information planted a seed of an idea in my brain. “She’s in Paris now?” I asked.
“I think that’s what Hollie said.”
Paris. We should be there together. I wanted to kiss her by the Seine. Hold her hand over moules frites. Watch her face when she saw the Venus di Milo for the first time. Plans started to form. I could go to Paris. Find her. Tell her I loved her.
“You know where she’s staying?” I asked.
“No clue,” Dexter said.
That wasn’t a dealbreaker. I could ask Hollie, or I could call Autumn and just ask her. We might not have spoken in weeks, but it wasn’t like she hated me. There’d be no reason for her not to pick up . . . unless. “She on her own?”
“I don’t know.” Dexter pulled his phone from his pocket. “Let me ask Hollie.”
Did it matter if she was on her own? It wasn’t like that was going to stop me.
If she’d met someone, I’d just have to fight for her.
I could do that. She might not have told me she loved me, but I knew her well enough to be confident that what we had was special.
The kind of thing that wasn’t just replaced in a few weeks.
She’d left for me. She’d stayed away for me.
Well, I’d done as she’d asked, and I knew there wasn’t a future with me and Penelope.
There was no reason for Autumn to be anywhere but by my side.
“It doesn’t matter,” I said standing. “I’m going to leave you guys to it.
Sorry to miss the rest of your stag do, Dexter. ”
“What?” Andrew said.
“I’m going to get a flight to Paris.” I beckoned the waiter over.
“Just like that?” Tristan asked.
I nodded. “Yeah. Just like that.” I gave the waiter my card. “Put everything from tonight on here, please.”
“Sometimes you’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do,” Dexter said.
“And I’ve got to go and get Autumn.”
“Good for you, mate,” Beck said. “Go for it. Keep us posted.”
Beck got it. Dexter got it. The others would someday.
I didn’t want to be away from Autumn for another moment.
I didn’t even want to wait until next week.
I didn’t have to be back in London until the day after tomorrow.
Hopefully it would be time enough to find Autumn and make her realize that I loved her, that she loved me, and that our futures were inextricably linked.
There was no point in resisting it any longer.