Chapter 37
Henry took his employee to the ball as his plus-one! What was he thinking? Everyone’s talking about her, but he seems completely oblivious.
Message from Charlotte Ashford to a friend
Kate
I was no longer alone. I had my back turned to the door, but I didn’t have to see Henry to know he had joined me. His presence was like the sun—even with my eyes shut, I felt it on my skin.
With a soft click, the glass door closed behind him.
The lively voices, the laughter, the music—all of it faded into the background.
Only the sounds of the city remained. I kept my eyes fixed on the Thames.
The lights of the surrounding buildings were reflected in the dark water, which lay still and peaceful below.
“I was looking for you,” Henry said. Despite the balcony heaters, he took off his tailcoat and draped it over my shoulders. The fabric was warm and heavy, and smelled of him. The unfamiliar sense of security, overwhelming in its intensity, returned. “How long have you been standing out here?”
I wasn’t sure. I only knew I couldn’t bring myself to go back to the ball, unable to bear the thought of subjecting myself to the judgemental stares of the other guests.
I hadn’t wanted to leave Henry in the lurch either, so I had fled to the balcony, trying to muster the courage to go back in.
But there was no way I could pretend I hadn’t heard the spiteful things that had been said about me.
I pulled Henry’s tailcoat tighter around me. “A while.”
He leaned his hands on the railing, his right one only millimetres from my left.
He playfully extended his little finger and touched it against mine.
I smiled, reminding myself why I was still here.
It would have made sense to leave the ball and accept that Henry and I were just too different, but I was incapable of making reasonable decisions about Henry.
When it came to him, I couldn’t think—I only felt, my heart overriding all reason.
“Thank you,” Henry said unexpectedly.
I looked up from the river to him. He was gazing out at the Thames, his mask looking even more diabolical in the dim light on the balcony. He looked like he’d just stepped right out of hell. “What for?”
“For coming with me tonight. The conversations at these events can be pretty dull. I hope you aren’t too bored.”
“Not at all.” But Henry’s sceptical expression told me he clearly didn’t believe a word. “OK, I was a little bored. But there’s no one I’d rather be bored with than you, Snowflake.”
He grumbled. “So we’re back to Snowflake. What happened to Mr. Darlington?”
“I decided I didn’t like it.” His last name reminded me too much of who he was and what I wasn’t.
When I called him Snowflake, he wasn’t Henry Darlington, billionaire heir—he was simply Henry.
The man who ate pizza sitting on the floor, wore holey socks, thought dirty thoughts about me, and secretly bought my favourite book to read it himself.
The man who, after months of uncertainty, made me feel like I’d finally found a place where I was safe.
“Kate?” His tone was sharp, but not demanding. When I looked up to meet his eyes, I realised he could see right through the carefree front I was putting on. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing,” I lied. “Why?”
Shit. Rule number one: Never ask why.
“Why were you out here alone?”
My mouth felt dry. Part of me wanted to tell him the truth, but I also didn’t want to repeat what the women had said about me—which was presumably what everyone was thinking. “I just needed some fresh air.”
“Why didn’t you find me? I would have come out with you.”
“I . . .”
I didn’t want to interrupt your conversation.
I needed a moment alone.
I just wanted some fresh air, and I lost track of time.
But by the time I’d invented these lies, Henry had noticed my hesitation. His expression darkened. “Did my parents say something to you?”
“No, they didn’t say anything.”
“Someone else?”
God, I wished I had a glass of champagne to hold. I lowered my eyes, uncomfortable. Why did I feel so weak right now, when I had managed alone on the streets for months?
“Maybe.”
“Who?” Henry demanded.
I couldn’t keep up the lie. “Two women. I don’t know who they were. I overheard them in the restroom. They had no idea I was there and could hear them.”
Henry’s jaw tensed. “What did they say?”
I really didn’t want to repeat it, knowing it would make him angry, but it was too late to backpedal.
“They said my dress looked cheap and that—that I’m ugly,” I confessed hesitantly.
“They think that you’re only here with me to divert attention from your dad.
They think I’m beneath you. And that I’ve lowered the bar for whoever you’re with next. ”
“That’s a load of bullshit.”
“It’s fine.” I didn’t want to ruin his evening.
“No, it’s not!” he hissed, and I saw his hands clench into fists on the balcony railing, the skin of his knuckles turning white. “You really don’t know who they were?”
I shook my head.
“That’s a shame. I’d have thrown them out if you did. They don’t know what they’re talking about. You’re not beneath me—they’re beneath you. And you’re not here as a distraction, but because there’s no one else I’d rather be with.”
I swallowed hard. “Really?”
“Really.” He turned to face me, standing so close that our bodies touched.
He had unclenched his fists, and with a tenderness that had been unimaginable just moments ago, he stroked my cheek.
A hot shiver ran up my spine as Henry gently reached for my angel mask and carefully pulled it off my face, leaving me with nothing to hide my feelings behind. “Promise me something.”
“Anything.”
He placed my mask on the balcony railing and then touched my face again, gently tracing its contours with his thumb until he reached my chin. He gripped it with a tender firmness that made it impossible for me to look away. “Promise me you won’t believe those women.”
I wanted to reply, but I couldn’t—Henry left me speechless. Maybe it was his words. Maybe it was the warmth of his fingers on my skin. Or maybe it was just the tenderness in his eyes, a look that was at odds with his devilish mask.
“Promise me,” Henry insisted, pressing his thumb against my lower lip as if he could coax the words from me.
“You can’t believe it. They’re wrong. You’ve never looked more beautiful than you do tonight.
You’re gorgeous. Your dress is stunning.
And I have no idea how it’s possible, but my tailcoat looks a thousand times better on you than it does on me.
You could wear a bin bag, and you’d still be beautiful.
There’s nothing in this world that could ruin your beauty, my angel. ”
My heart faltered at the nickname, and the butterflies in my stomach intensified when Henry cupped my face in his hands.
Without taking his eyes off mine, he leaned towards me.
I felt his warm breath on my lips. My eyelids fluttered in response, mirroring the pounding of my heart, and then his mouth touched mine.
I let out a sigh of pleasure. The kiss was everything I’d dreamed it would be—and more.
It was sweet yet insistent, tender yet firm.
It was as though Henry was trying to tell me with his body as well as his words that the gossip meant nothing to him. It didn’t matter.
Only we mattered.
Henry and I.
A we I certainly hadn’t seen coming when I had stolen his phone from his coat—one of the best decisions of my life.
I stood on my tiptoes, pressing myself against him, letting him know that while I appreciated his tenderness, this wasn’t the moment for it.
I had been craving his kiss for much longer than I wanted to admit, and I had no patience for his restraint.
Emboldened by his words, I parted my lips for him.
He didn’t hold back, kissing me deeply, as if he had been just as impatient as I was.
His tongue flicked between my lips, making me feel briefly but intoxicatingly dizzy, a sensation I felt all the way to my fingertips.
The taste of Henry was exhilarating: sparkling champagne and the thrill of something new.
I wrapped an arm around his neck to press myself even closer, while his hands slipped beneath his tailcoat to touch my bare back, exposed by the deep cut of my dress.
I cursed his gloves. I could almost feel his skin against mine, but it wasn’t enough—I wanted more.
Just ten minutes ago, I had regretted coming to the ball, but in this moment, my only regret was that we hadn’t done this sooner.
Kissing Henry felt overwhelming and was unlike anything I had ever experienced.
I hadn’t known it was possible to be kissed so all-consumingly.
His hands trailed down my back until they reached my bum.
The long tailcoat he’d draped over me hid what was happening beneath.
He gripped me, pulling me against his hips.
I gasped, and a low growl rumbled in Henry’s chest as my pelvis pushed against the unmistakable evidence of his arousal.
He was hard. Rock-hard. And that was just from our kiss. Wow.
The molten heat spreading through me pooled between my thighs. I surrendered completely to Henry’s kiss, only dimly aware of the balcony door opening. The sounds of the ball grew louder—but I didn’t care. Nothing but the sensation of Henry’s lips on mine mattered.
At least, not until Mr. Darlington’s sharp voice sliced through the night. “Henry, get your arse back inside. You have guests!”
Henry muttered a quiet curse against my lips and kissed me again before pulling away.
I loved that he didn’t jerk back like a teenager caught doing something forbidden by his parents.
And why should he? He wasn’t a teenager, he was a man—the evidence of which I could still feel pressing against my hip.
Henry met my eyes for a moment, assuring me silently that the kiss would be continued, before turning to face his dad.
Richard stood impatiently in the doorway.
I could only imagine how surly his expression was beneath his mask.
“I’m coming. Give me a minute.”
His dad hesitated, as if considering insisting that Henry come immediately, but then he gave a curt nod and stepped back inside, leaving the glass door open as a pointed reminder. The moment when it had been just Henry, me, and the fire between us was over.
Henry turned back to me. His cheeks were flushed, his lips moist, and his eyes dusky with the desire that had overcome him.
He didn’t speak, kissing me again instead.
This time, the kiss was slower, less urgent—he couldn’t possibly rejoin the guests in the ballroom with an erection, after all.
The thought of how outraged the people in their fancy designer gowns and tailored three-piece suits would be if Henry strolled through the ballroom like that made me giggle.
That would be a true distraction from his dad’s misdemeanours.
“What’s so funny?” Henry asked, smiling as though simply seeing me happy was enough to make him happy too.
I grinned. “Nothing. Forget it.”
“OK. But do you know what I won’t forget?” His face was so close to mine that I could feel his breath and the hum of his words on my face.
“What?” I asked curiously.
“That you, my angel, didn’t object to your new nickname.”
“That wasn’t really possible with your tongue in my mouth.”
He shrugged. “Well, it’s too late now to veto it.”
I placed my hands on his chest and stroked the silky material of his vest. “That’s OK. If you kiss me like you just did, you can call me whatever you like.”
Henry inhaled sharply before breathing out with control, as if summoning every last shred of willpower to fight the urge to kiss me again.
“I’ll bear that in mind. But duty calls, unfortunately,” he said, pulling his coat off my shoulders to go back inside.
“How about you head up to your room? I’ll stay for another hour, shake a few more hands, and then I’ll join you and we can fulfil your pizza-and-film fantasy? ”
I smiled. “That sounds perfect.”
“See you in your room in an hour.”
I nodded eagerly, grateful for the escape he was offering me.
I wished I could be a better date, but under the circumstances, our plan seemed for the best. He pulled me close and kissed me one last time before pressing his lips to my temple.
“I won’t be able to think about anything else for the next hour except kissing you again, angel,” he murmured against my skin before releasing me.
I left the ball with a wide grin.