Chapter One
SEPHY
The worst part about travelling over the holidays was the airport. It was always filled with screaming kids and frazzled parents and even more tired staff. It was the time of the year that plenty of people dreaded, including me. The holidays, specifically Christmas for my family, were hell.
I was an introvert and truthfully my parents were exhausting at the best of times, but then with the addition of my brother and my cousins and my grandparents on my dad’s side and – well, to say I was happy to be going on this three-week conference was an understatement.
Even if I did have to give a small speech at the end of the trip.
Having to work over Christmas would probably be considered most people’s nightmare.
And while, of course, there’d be no actual work happening on Christmas Day and Boxing Day itself, I found myself grateful for the reprieve.
It was a big deal that I’d been asked to come on this trip and even more exciting that I’d been tapped for the closing speech – for a while I hadn’t been sure that staying at the firm had been the right decision, but everything was starting to pay-off.
Quinnings was a big league banking company and they’d clearly done well this year to be inviting so many of us on this work retreat.
Last year it had been for the directors only, a pretence of work while they all skied no doubt.
I’d made it through security and all the way up to my gate with plenty of time and it was a good thing I’d left so early or that might not have been the case.
I’d dodged not one but two instances of sticky fingers as a stray child escaped a harried looking parent and ran almost directly at me.
Then I’d nearly joined the queue for the Wetherspoons by accident, mistaking it for the toilet line.
My department had paid for speedy boarding and I was in first class too, which would be a new experience.
To be honest, it felt like the least they could do after how hard my team and I had been working the past few months.
The majority of people had flown out yesterday but I’d had a few last-minute things to tie up at the office and had opted to fly out early today so I could finish up.
I couldn’t say I was sorry to miss the group flight.
I liked my team, they were great, but I’d prefer to stick my headphones on and nap rather than make small talk.
It was an early flight, but I was kind of hoping they’d still offer us booze.
I probably should have been feeling a little guilty about missing the big family Christmas get-together, but all I could manage was relief.
My brother, Jay, was only a few years older than me but we were polar opposites.
He had a big personality and generally wasn’t shy about keeping it under wraps.
I loved him, but he could be exhausting and after everything that had happened the past year… I was long overdue for a break.
I’d stowed my overhead bags with little fuss and was pleased to find my seat was next to the window.
I hardly ever got to fly anywhere, usually my holidays stayed within the U.K.
or I took the train abroad because it was sometimes cheaper.
We took off with a jolt that alarmed me for a second and my ears popped as we climbed into the sky.
The flight attendant passed around complimentary breakfast and I grinned down at the cheap prosecco that came with my croissant and fruit salad.
It would probably taste like crap, but it was free.
Happy fucking Christmas to me, I thought as I took a sip and winced.
The guy one seat over from me grinned as he took a taste of his.
“Five o’clock somewhere, huh.”
I laughed politely and then looked away, just glad to finally be in the air as I reached for my headphones.
The ski resort Quinnings had booked was apparently super fancy and while I wouldn’t be on the slopes at any point, I was excited to try out the sauna.
I’d never been in one before and had packed both a bikini and an all-in-one, unsure what was deemed ‘appropriate’ for sweating with strangers.
A faint blush tickled my cheeks and I willed it away.
Maybe there was one person I wouldn’t mind sweating with a little more than the others.
Of course, it was a terrible idea and he wasn’t anything more than an occasionally flirtatious friend, though maybe I was reading into his small comments more than they warranted.
It didn’t help that he was technically my boss…
and the Big Boss’ son. But what harm was there in fantasising?
It wasn’t like anything would happen. Probably.
“Visiting family for the holidays?” The guy in the aisle seat asked and I turned back to him with a smile that froze when I met his eyes. Holy hell.
“Er,” I said inelegantly and gulped some more of my cheap prosecco as I paused my music. “No, actually. I’m on a business trip.”
A dark eyebrow raised. “Me too. You’re not out here with Quinnings are you?”
Great. Small talk after all. I was surprised anyone else had opted for this early morning flight instead of the more sleep-friendly one that had been available yesterday.
I was even more taken aback by the fact that this guy was American, though I was pretty sure that we had people coming from a variety of our offices abroad but I wasn’t sure why he’d bother coming to the UK first unless he wanted to check out our London office.
Seemed a long way to travel to look at boring grey cubicles and a glass lift.
“Oh! I am, actually.”
“Cool,” he said with a slight smile and I stared for a second longer than was necessary.
“Cool.”
We lapsed back into silence and after a moment I pulled my eyes away from his face and stared resolutely back out of the window as I hit play on Dua Lipa.
What was I doing? This was ridiculous, I’d dated a little since Seth and I had broken up a year or so ago, but nobody serious.
Not that this random attractive stranger had the potential to be someone serious. Or even someone at all.
I wanted to groan but bit it back so I didn’t seem even weirder. My brain had the tendency to overthink things a little. I had what my parents always called an overactive imagination.
I was so lost in my own thoughts that I almost missed it when he tried to talk to me again.
“Pretty brutal of them getting us out here over Christmas, right?” His American accent was so thick that I found myself fascinated by the way his mouth shaped his vowels – Quinnings was an international company but other than the occasional video meeting I’d not had the chance to interact with anyone from our other offices yet.
Really, I didn’t even know everyone in our London office, let alone abroad, but it was true that I didn’t really go out of my way to make new friends either.
Talking to new people… well, it was something I was working on.
“Oh I’m actually happy to be here. It’s always a nightmare at my parent’s every year around the holidays.” I bit my lip, realising I probably sounded all bah humbug and was relieved when he laughed.
“Fuck, I’m so glad it’s not just me. Plus, I heard the Christmas Eve parties are always great.”
“There’s free drinks,” I offered and he grinned, his teeth white and even except for his bottom canine which was a little crooked. It was cute.
No. Not cute! It was a tooth! Teeth weren’t cute.
“So are you new to the company then?” He seemed surprised and I smiled. “If you haven’t been to one of the Christmas parties,” I explained.
“Yes actually, I only signed my contract last week.”
“Oh wow, welcome I guess!”
He chuckled as we clunked our plastic prosecco glasses together. “Thanks.” We sipped quietly before he looked back up at me and smiled, his brown eyes warm and friendly. “I’m Drew, by the way.”
“Sephy,” I said and shook the hand he was holding out, surprised when he lifted it to his mouth and pressed a quick but firm kiss to its back that sent a line of heat through my chest.
The bing-bong of an aircraft announcement made Drew look up in time to miss the blush skating its way across my cheeks.
“Good morning this is your Captain speaking, on behalf of all of us here at Let’s-Go we’d like to wish you all a very pleasant journey and happy holidays.” I groaned as the familiar tinkle of my mum’s favourite Christmas song began to play out of the plane’s speakers.
Drew laughed and we chatted idly about the company and the upcoming conference for a while as a flight attendant walked the aisle, topping up our prosecco, surprisingly I was even enjoying the conversation.
I explained that I had recently worked my way up to head of human resources and was rolling out a new initiative to encourage more entry-level talent to join the company and he seemed suitably impressed.
I’d given up a lot for that job, but I knew that I couldn’t hold myself back for the sake of a guy.
In the end, my choice had been to move to the states with Seth while he pursued his career or to stay in London with Quinnings and take the promotion they were offering me.
Most of the time, I didn’t regret my choice.
By the time we’d moved onto our fourth prosecco, Drew had moved into the middle seat next to me and we watched in amused silence as the woman who’d walked past us about twenty minutes ago headed back to her seat with three buttons mixed up on her blouse.
Her seatmate followed a minute later and Drew and I exchanged a look that made me laugh breathlessly.
“I don’t know how they even managed that in the toilets on here, they’re ridiculously small.”
“You mean, you’re not a member?”
“Member?” I asked, scrunching my nose.
“Of the mile high club,” he whispered and tapped my nose like I was adorable.
I laughed as I swatted his hand away. “Definitely not, there’s nothing as unappealing to me than banging over a toilet in a cubicle that’s barely big enough for my hips and then doing the walk of shame.”
Drew grinned. “That’s fair, I guess. Remind me to show you how big the bathroom is on my private plane sometime. Maybe you’ll change your mind.”
I raised a cool eyebrow, this guy was forward and… I didn’t think I minded it. “If it’s a private plane why would you bother with the toilet?”
He choked on his prosecco as he snorted. “What, you think I’ve got some kind of Austen Powers disco bed on there?”
“You could,” I reasoned. “I don’t know you well enough to know what kind of taste you have yet.”
“Yet,” he mused and I felt a burn of embarrassment sting my cheeks before he smirked. “Well I suppose we’ll just have to remedy that, won’t we? I’m meeting with a friend for dinner tonight at the lodge, but how about tomorrow? Dinner and drinks?”
“Sure.” I smiled and it felt real. “I’d love that.”
I was friends with surprisingly few people at the company, so it would be nice to have someone to hang out with, as much as I loved my own company.
“So what exactly do you do at Quinnings to get you a private plane? And how do I transition?” I teased and he chuckled. “Or maybe more importantly, why are you flying commercial with the rest of us?”
“Oh well, it’s good for the soul you know – don’t want to inflate my sense of self-worth too much.
” He grinned and I rolled my eyes. “A friend of mine actually used to work for the company and thought I’d be a good fit as a new investor, so I decided it would be good to get to know the company and its employees a little better. ”
I blew out a sharp breath. Crap, he was one of the new shareholders. Well, as long as he wasn’t on the board of directors he wasn’t technically my boss, I already had enough of those I was lusting after – in a never-gonna-happen way, of course.
“So your job is that you’re rich?”
He gave a shrug that drew my gaze to his broad shoulders. “Yep.”
“Must be nice,” I mused. I did okay financially, but I worked and lived in London.
My one-bed apartment ate up the majority of my pay and I’d been thinking about moving out of the city altogether.
I used to love being on the doorstep to so many things to do and see and places to eat and shop but the truth was…
I didn’t utilise any of it. Sure, Seth and I had gone out to see shows and for food all the time, but since we’d split up it wasn’t something I’d bothered doing for myself.
Yeah, my commute was short. But living in London, one of the busiest places in England, and having nobody to hang out with just made it feel… lonely.
“You okay? You drifted away for a second there.”
I smiled as I turned back to look into Drew’s concerned bambi eyes. “Yeah, just thinking about work.”
He gave a low whistle. “Good to know the staff are dedicated then if they’re anything like you.”
I laughed. “So tell me more about this friend who brought you to us.”
“What, I’m not enough for you?” He gave me a mock outraged look before smirking. “I’ve known him for years, we actually went to college together in the States and he just recently moved back. One of our friends knows the boss, so when he suggested we come into the fold I agreed.”
“It’s good that you guys have been friends for so long. I never went to uni, most of my friends are old work acquaintances.”
“We kind of fell out of touch for a while when he moved back to England after college, so it was great to reconnect. It’s nice having someone who just gets you, you know? I don’t have to explain the joke to them because they were there.”
I didn’t know, but I nodded anyway.
“So yeah, Seth and I got back in touch after he’d come back from overseas and—”
I tuned out the rest of his words. There was no way that his Seth and my Seth were the same person. Right? How could he have a close friend that I’d never met or even heard of before?
“Sephy?”
“Hm?”
“Are you… okay?”
“Oh, yeah, fine. Just tired, you know, early flight.” I laughed to cover my babbling and Drew eased back against his seat with a nod.
“That’s who I’m meeting tonight, actually, Seth and my other friend from college. He worked for Quinnings before actually, I wonder if you guys worked together?”
My eyes flew to his before they darted away. Was he being serious right now? Had Seth really never mentioned me to him?
“Oh, doesn’t ring a bell,” I said faintly and Drew nodded with a little hint of disappointment tugging at his mouth.
Fuck. I’d been flirting and having a good time with my ex-boyfriend’s best friend, and he didn’t have a clue. One thing was for certain, there was no way I could go for drinks and dinner with Drew now.