Chapter 15
FIFTEEN
Aurora
Darcy is the only person in the world who can help me figure out whether or not I should call Deacon Black.
It’s late in the UK, but hopefully she’ll pick up.
Of course, what she’ll want to talk about is how it’s been in the job so far.
After my training, I’m now officially director of rooms and deputy manager.
Honestly, I’ve learned a lot from the training and the transition has been relatively easy. It’s all fine.
What’s been dominating my thoughts is a who. Deacon. That’s what I want to talk about.
“Finally,” Darcy says as she answers the call. “I’m in bed, Daphne and William are asleep, and I get to talk to my best friend. I miss you so much.”
She sounds exhausted. I wish I was there to give her a hug. “I miss you too.”
“But do you? Or are you loving New York too much? This is what happened to Ryder. He got sucked in by that city and left me here. Tell me that’s not going to happen to you.” Darcy always jokes about how New York City stole away her brother. She’s a tad dramatic, but she owns it.
When I arrived, I definitely didn’t think I’d stay longer than three months. Part of the reason I said yes to Avril and Poppy was because it was only a temporary position. They knew I’d be leaving. It didn’t feel like much of a risk. Three months away would go by in a flash.
But now?
I’m already nearly a month in, and I feel like I’m just finding my feet in the job. I also think that Avril and Poppy could really be friends. I met Poppy for a drink after work this week. It was really good fun, and it felt like I could actually start to put down some roots here.
“You know it’s only a three-month thing.”
“But they’re going to love you. You’re amazing at your job and they’re not going to want to let you leave.”
Darcy might have a point. The conversation with Avril and Poppy at Tavern on the Green about a hotel in Boston that they want to open was interesting.
They’ll definitely need a manager for Hotel on Ninth Street if they have more than one hotel.
Of course, I’d have to prove myself. I’ve only been doing the director of rooms and deputy manager role for a few days.
They might not think I’m the right person for the job.
And even if they did, I only accepted this job for the summer.
“How are things at home?” I ask. “How’s William’s arm?” Just before I left, Darcy and Logan’s son broke his arm when he fell from a tree.
“It’s fine. He’s loving the attention. Although, he doesn’t like that he can’t climb trees anymore. Honestly, I’m thinking about stopping Daphne’s riding lessons. There’s just so much that can go wrong.”
“Really?” I ask, surprised. “But you love riding.”
She pulls in a breath. “I know. But my most important job is to keep Daphne safe. And William. And I haven’t done such a great job, given his broken arm. Getting thrown from a horse could end a lot worse.”
“Isn’t that the risk you take?”
“I see things differently since having kids.”
My insides twist. She’s not trying to make a point, but the point is made anyway: I’m not a parent, so I can’t understand.
“You can’t wrap them up in cotton wool,” I say.
“I know, but I want to. Anyway, enough about boring old Chilternshire. What’s going on in the Big Apple? Met any handsome New Yorkers?”
“No,” I say.
“Bad for you. Good for me. I don’t want anyone who’ll keep you from coming home.”
“Really?” I ask. “I thought you’d want me to find someone.” I’m not under any illusion that Deacon is my someone. He’s just a hot guy with a hard-on the size of the Empire State Building.
Darcy sighs. “I do. I just want you to find him in Chilternshire. Ignore me, I’m just being selfish.”
“I want to find someone at home too,” I say.
“So you haven’t found anyone?”
“No one I think is my soulmate,” I say, although as I say the words, something inside me doesn’t feel right. It’s not because I think Deacon might be my soulmate. Of course not. But saying he’s not…writing him off like that? Somehow, it doesn’t seem right.
“That sounds like there is someone.”
“I don’t know about someone, but I kissed a guy.”
Darcy squeals, and it transports me back twenty years when we’d do nothing but talk about boys and ride horses. Life was so simple back then.
“Tell me everything,” she says. Her not wanting me to find anyone in New York seems to have been forgotten.
I give her a quick update about how Deacon spilled coffee on me, I hated him, he apologized, how we ended up having dinner together, how there’s definitely chemistry between us.
“So now what?” she asks.
“He gave me his number. He wants to go to dinner. I told him I’d think about it.”
“Because you want to think about it or because you want him to sweat for a bit?”
I don’t think Deacon is the kind of guy who sweats over whether a woman will call him. “Because I want to think about it. He’s a guest in the hotel. I’ve never been in this situation before. There’re no written rules about not fucking the repeat guests, but Avril and Poppy probably won’t like it.”
“Do they have to find out about it?”
“If we’re going out to dinner, then…”
“New York’s a big city. It would be a coincidence if they ran into you.”
Poppy ran into her boyfriend’s wife, so I’m not sure how big of a city it really is. And anyway, the way I see it, the likelihood of getting caught shouldn’t factor into my decision.
“Right. But they’re both really lovely. They’ve taken a huge risk bringing me over here. I don’t want to piss them off.”
“I get it. But you have to think about your happiness, Aurora. You always put everyone else first. Maybe they wouldn’t like it, but maybe it’s worth the risk.”
“I understand what you’re saying. It just makes me feel uncomfortable. It feels like I’m lying to them.”
“So tell them,” Darcy says.
“What? The hot guy in Room 325 wants to take me to dinner, do you mind?”
“Yes,” she replies. “Why not?”
“I don’t know. Isn’t that a weird thing to go to your boss about?”
“I think it says you’re being respectful.”
“Maybe,” I say.
“Aurora, this is your summer to live a little. I think you should take everything New York is offering. A summer fling seems like it should be mandatory. Just don’t fall in love with him and stay stateside. Or I’ll have to move over there. It’s bad enough having Ryder and Scarlett out there.”
It feels strange that Darcy’s brother and his wife live in this city. It’s a long way from home—geographically and…psychologically.
“They’ll be back from Colorado soon. You’ll all have to meet up,” Darcy says. “And you’ve got Ryder’s fortieth in the diary, haven’t you?”
“Yes, the party’s in my diary. Are you going to be able to make it?” Ryder is having celebrations on both sides of the Atlantic. Because he’s Ryder Westbury. Darcy didn’t know if she was going to be able to come over, but it would be so good to see her.
“I don’t know, especially now William has broken his arm. But you’ll go, and you must see them before then anyway. I hate that you’re on your own over there. Even if you have been kissing randos.”
I laugh at Deacon Black being considered random. “I’ve messaged with Scarlett. We’re going to have brunch. The Americans love brunch.”
“It’s ridiculous,” Darcy says. “It’s basically lunch with a few egg courses on the menu. I honestly don’t see what the fuss is about.”
I grin, hoping she hears it down the phone. “I miss you, Darcy.”
“I miss you too. Speak to Avril and Poppy. And go to dinner with that guy.”
I want to go to dinner with Deacon. But I don’t want to piss off Avril and Poppy. Darcy’s right, I should just talk to them. What’s the worst that can happen?
“Maybe,” I say.
“Enough with the maybes. Go have some sex. Have fun. And then come home.”
Home. Darcy’s home to me. Talking to her was like teleporting back there for a few minutes.
Even though I’ve been gone a month, I don’t feel homesick like I expected to.
I feel excited. It’s good being in a new hotel where I don’t know every nook and cranny like the back of my hand, where I don’t know everybody who works there as well as I know myself.
I can be a new version of myself. The kind of woman who dates, takes risks, goes to brunch, and kisses strangers.
New York is exactly how it brands itself—new. Darcy’s right, I need to squeeze out every last drop from this Big Apple.