Chapter 13
Thirteen
" I can't believe he just came to your house like that." Keira was stunned when I relayed last night’s events to her. Three emergency meetings in one week was a lot, even for us, but after the drama I was in need of another girls’ lunch.
"I know. I don't know what to think." I stared down at my pathetic salad.
I couldn't face proper food today, but the salad was just too depressing.
I picked up a napkin and began shredding it onto my plate.
"I've only known him for two days and already I don't know whether I want to fuck him or strangle him. "
Keira stirred her straw in her Diet Coke, giving me an appraising look. "You’re interested in him.”
"He's in my head, that’s for sure." I couldn't explain it. I hadn't told her about the article. I wasn’t sure why exactly, it just felt like something I shouldn’t gossip about. I tried to shake him off and focus on something else. "What about you? Anything happening in your love life?"
"No. Nope. Nothing. Nada. Zip.”
"You sure about that? Because that guy over there is looking pretty interested.
" I nodded at the snooker table behind her where a good looking guy in a t-shirt and jeans had been trying to catch her eye for the last twenty minutes.
She turned back to me, looking like she was about to say there could be potential, when her jaw dropped.
"What?"
"Don't turn around, but I think Mr Arrogant and Intense just walked in." I watched her face as she tried to match whatever she was seeing to the pictures she'd seen on Google.
"Are you serious?" My palms were instantly clammy, my chest already aching as my heart beat heavy.
"I think so…wait…yeah, that's definitely him. Christ, he's hot."
"Focus, Keira. What's he doing? Is he meeting someone? Can I sneak out without him seeing me?" Maybe I could just hide in the bathroom until he went away?
"I don't know, he's just sort of looking around and…he's found you."
"Shut up."
"Nope." She grinned, not bothering to hide her glee. "Making contact in 3…2…" Her words trailed off as she turned her face up to the godlike asshat that appeared at our table. He looked his usual immaculate self in a deep grey three-piece that was sorely out of place in the pub.
"Miss O'Connell, I wonder if I could join you?" he said in a honey-tone voice.
"You're joking, right?" Seriously, after last night he had to be kidding. "I'm having lunch with my friend." I gestured at Keira and he gave me a cool look.
"Yes, of course." He turned to Keira who looked like she was thoroughly enjoying the show. "Alfie Tell, pleased to meet you." He offered a hand, his Rolex winking in the light.
"Keira Larson," she shook his hand. "I've heard so much about you." I glared at her. Mr Tell threw an amused look at me. I studiously ignored him and sipped my coke.
"Is that so? Any of it good?"
She laughed. "Almost none of it."
"Almost? What's the good part?" I stared as he smiled at her, a real, honest-to-God smile that reeked of false charm. There wasn’t a sliver of sentiment behind that smile. Keira gave him an innocent shrug.
"She likes you." Oh god, Keira. I put my head in my hands, trying to drown out the sound of his chuckle.
"Well, Keira, I think you and I are going to get along great. Do you mind if I join you?" I glanced up, trying to figure out this new mask he was wearing. This definitely wasn't the man I knew.
"No, not at all. In fact…" She pushed her chair back. Don't you dare , I thought. But it was too late. "I think I'm going to see a man about his phone number." I glared at her but she trotted off to see snooker table guy, who looked like he'd just struck gold.
Mr Tell took up the seat she'd just vacated and settled himself in front of me. He seemed to take up all of my vision when he was around, like my eyes weren't big enough to see anything else. It was an overwhelming feeling.
"So, you like me." His beautiful face contorted into a satisfied grin, his mask now bearing no resemblance to the affable one he'd worn for Keira.
"Don't. If you think you can charm your way out of what you did last night then you're way off. Other people might let you get away with behaving like that but I won’t."
"Because you're different." He gave me an appraising look, his gaze lingering where my fingers were wrapped around my mum’s necklace.
"Different from what?"
I wasn't sure but I thought I heard him murmur, "everything. "
"Pardon?"
"Nothing. I have something for you." He reached into his pocket, produced a red velvet box, and placed it on the table between us. I eyed it suspiciously until he opened it for me, revealing a beautiful pair of diamond stud earrings.
"What are these?" I asked carefully, my gaze glued to the twinkling stones. I'd never owned anything so decadent.
"They're to fix whatever happened last night." I looked up at him, his face so beautiful it gave these stones a run for their money.
"An apology?"
"Yes, if you want to call it that," he said with a shrug that had my pleasure at the gift souring in my gut. I pushed his pseudo apology back across the table.
"Diamonds don't apologise, Mr Tell, people do."
He stared at me as if I'd just grown an extra head. The small, seemingly inoffensive box sat between us—a bomb that might go off any second. "They're yours, Lola."
"I don't want them.” I wanted a real apology.
Yes, he was beautiful and yes, he blew my rationality temporarily out of the water sometimes, but I was never going to let a man get away with batshit behaviour and just welcome him back for the price of a pair of earrings.
He leaned forward, resting his arms on the table, his shoulders hunching and broadening, the muscles moving smoothly under his perfectly tailored suit. I was quietly aware of the many women in the bar who were staring at us. At him.
He reached for my hand but I snatched it away and sat back in my chair, putting as much distance between us as possible. I did my best to shut him out, to let him see that he wasn't going to win this one, and when he let out a small sigh, I felt certain I'd won.
"Alright." He picked up the rejected red box and returned it to the safety of his pocket.
I felt a weird sense of relief once it was out of sight.
"Lola, it was wrong of me to come to your home and cause a scene in front of your family. It won’t happen again.
" He trailed off, his brow knotted as he seemed to search for the right words.
"I need you to know that if I'd known your son was there I never would have caused a scene like that, I swear to you." It wasn’t quite an apology but he looked so sincere I couldn't hold onto my anger.
"Okay," I whispered. "But Ryan isn't my son, he’s my nephew. My half-sister, Natalie, is his mother.” I couldn't be sure but I thought I could detect a hint of relief in his face.
A silence settled between us for a moment before he broke it.
"Why did you stand me up last night? That's the third time you've run from me. You barely answer my texts, you don't take my calls. Why?"
I sighed in frustration. Did he really not get it? "You scared me and you pissed me off. I don't like being manipulated and I don’t like being ordered around." I’d dealt with that enough from Adam.
I thought about mentioning The Never Tell Club and the article I’d read, but now didn’t feel like the time. This might be the closest he and I had come to having an equal conversation and not one where he was trying to mess with me.
His stern brow knotted as if he was trying to navigate these new waters and recalculate a new route to get to me.
"In my life," he said, clearly choosing his words carefully, "when I say what I want, it is given to me. That especially applies to women."
“Not used to a woman saying no, huh?”
His eyes darkened. “Are you saying no to me?”
“I’m saying that if you say jump, I won't be asking you how high."
He cocked his head at me and I saw there the same curious excitement that I'd seen so often in the short time since we'd first met.
“But you aren’t saying no.” Suddenly, the noise of the bar faded away, and my vision tunnelled until I saw only him.
“Because you’re drawn to me, I can feel it.
Despite all your reservations, you can’t stop thinking about me.
I bet you think about me at your desk, while you sip your coffee.
Do you think about me when you eat dinner with your family?
How do you picture me when you go to bed at night? ”
My chest rose and fell with shallow breaths. There were people all around us and my skin flushed wondering if they could hear him.
“I think about you too,” he admitted. “It’s bothering me more than I’d like.”
“I’m sorry to be a bother. For what it’s worth, I’m not saying no. I’m saying…” I trailed off. I felt a strange pulling sensation, his soul calling to mine. I felt like I was falling. I shook the feeling away and stood. "I’m saying I need to get back to work."
"I'll take you." He stepped around the table and I immediately stepped back out of his reach.
"I can walk. Rosie’s is only ten minutes away."
"For God's sake, why can't you just—" He clenched his jaw together, forcing himself not to let the rest of his frustration out. I wondered what he'd do next. Throw me over his shoulder? Cause a scene? He bit his tongue and took a breath. He was recalculating again.
"Please will you allow me to drive you back to work?" he asked as calmly as he could.
I looked over at Keira who was flirting outrageously with snooker guy. She caught my eye and waved goodbye to me. It was the middle of the day and she'd be leaving soon to get back to work so I had no qualms about leaving her here by herself.
"Alright," I agreed. “Thank you." The relief on his face was so sincere, I felt myself soften despite yesterday's shit show.
I bit my lip as his hand snaked around my waist, a clear sign of his possession. I couldn't help the feeling that I'd just opened up a huge can of worms.