Chapter 11
eleven
AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS
“In a moment we will pass through the first of the Seven Bridges, where at the right angle seven bridges line up for a simply stunning photograph.”
That’s our cue. “Hendrik, would you mind?” Avery asked, holding out her phone.
“Of course, but first may I offer you some champagne?” he asked, walking into the narrow galley and pulling out a bottle of Veuve Clicquot.
“I don’t see why I couldn’t have just a little glass?” Teddy grinned.
“Teddy, care to do the honors?” Hendrick asked, passing him the sweating bottle.
Teddy cleared his throat. “Sure. Let’s see if I can manage this without taking out someone’s eye.”
Teddy grimaced and turned his head away from the cork as he tried to work it loose.
Avery raised her hand to her mouth and stifled a giggle.
He cut an absolutely dashing figure on the boat, wearing those rolled-up jeans with a few centimeters of ankle showing above his navy loafers, looking like he’d stepped out of the pages of Yachting Weekly Magazine.
And yet, he was afraid of a flying cork.
This is intimate, learning the little idiosyncrasies that make him a person, not just a ruthless driver in a helmet.
“Here, hand it over to the expert,” she smirked.
“By all means,” Teddy said, bending over into a little bow of deference.
Avery shook her shoulders out and stretched her arms. She’d known how to do this since she was eleven.
She’d done it so many times that the only sound was a faint hiss as she removed the cork.
“The trick is…” she said, handing the cork to Teddy, “…to keep your thumb steady on the cork on the top and just twist the bottom back and forth.”
“Well, color me impressed,” he said, grinning. The way his hazel eyes shined when he looked at her made her insides fizz as much as the champagne he was pouring.
“And now you are ready for your photo with the seven bridges,” Hendrick announced, ushering them to the back deck of the boat.
They held their glasses up in a mock toast and smiled as Hendrick captured the moment.
The captain handed Avery back her phone. “And now I’ll get out of your hair and back to the captain’s chair up front. Please let me know if you need anything at all.”
He retreated, leaving Avery truly alone with Teddy for the first time since they’d originally hatched their plan in London. No fan was going to interrupt them, there was no one to put on a show for. The line between fake and real was muddier than ever.
The fact that they had never set any ground rules for their fake dating relationship had been gnawing at her since Italy.
She couldn’t deny her attraction to him, or the fact that she was beginning to care for him.
And now we’re alone. With champagne. For ninety minutes.
You’d have to have a heart of stone not to enjoy being on a romantic boat ride with an insanely attractive man, no matter how weird the circumstances were.
She took a sip and admired the historic townhomes as the boat slowly glided down the canal, a light breeze off the water mussing her hair.
“Lovely,” Teddy said quietly right behind her.
“This city is so charming,” Avery said in agreement, warmth spreading through her chest.
“Sure, I was talking about the city,” he said, taking a few of her curls that had flown in her face and tucking them back behind her ear.
A pleasant shiver ran down Avery’s spine.
“Have you ever been here before? Wait, that’s a dumb question, of course you’ve been here for the race before,” Avery bit her lip, suddenly feeling shy in his presence.
“Right, I’ve been to the track, but I’ve never had the opportunity to tour like this. We didn’t have much growing up. My dad left my mom to raise me and my brother on her own. We never got a penny from him.”
Avery burned at the injustice. What kind of man did that to his family?
“You told me your family had made sacrifices for you, and you’d never mentioned your dad, but I didn’t know any details.” She gently touched his forearm. “I’m sorry you had to go through that. Your dad leaving, I mean.”
“It was a long time ago, but thank you.” He looked her deep in the eyes before he cleared his throat. “Now, tell me where you learned how to pop a bottle like that,” he said, changing the subject. “I’ve never managed it without everyone in a 5k radius having to duck and cover.”
“Well, when I was little, my parents threw tons of cocktail parties at our house. I would always sneak downstairs after bedtime and hang out in the kitchen with the staff. By the time I was eleven, I convinced a bartender to teach me.” Her chest glowed with pride at the memory.
“And then I walked into the living room in my pajamas, grabbed a bottle from the wet bar, and offered my parents’ guests champagne. ”
“Cheeky,” he chuckled. “Were your parents mad?”
“Nah. Once they saw how delighted their guests were by my performance, they didn’t care. Plus, my mom was probably two sheets to the wind by that point in the night. It wasn’t long after that she had to go take a little break from life for ninety days, if you get my drift.”
Teddy pursed his lips.
Avery’s hand flew to her mouth. Shit. She’d never told anyone about her mom’s drinking problem, or her stint in rehab.
Not Stacey, not Caroline, not Josh. It was a well-guarded family secret, one that her mother was deeply ashamed of.
Somehow, telling Teddy felt safe, maybe because they were already in on a big secret together, or maybe because he was becoming Teddy to her.
Not young gun Silver driver or partner in crime, but her Teddy.
“I had assumed every family with as much money as yours has at least one family member with a drinking or drug problem. I’m glad you didn’t tell me you were a secret sex addict. Now that would send me running for the hills. Or not,” Teddy raised his eyebrows.
Suddenly, every nerve ending in her body was on guard.
“Seriously. Don’t sweat it,” he added. “It doesn’t change my opinion of you, or of her. I’m glad you feel comfortable enough with me to be vulnerable. Most people don’t.”
That had been the perfect response. She tilted her head to look at him as her lips turned up in a small smile.
He put his arm around her. An arm around her shoulder could be a friendly gesture meant to comfort her after what she had just confided. But the way he was tenderly rubbing her arm; it didn’t feel like the sort of thing a buddy would do, not after making a sex joke.
She put her head on his shoulder, and her hand naturally slipped around to his back.
She could feel the dip in his back between mounds of smooth muscle on either side.
She wanted to slide her hand under his shirt and run it up along his spine through that divot.
To see if she could give him the same tingling nerves she always felt being this close to him.
But that would be crossing the unspoken, invisible line they were skating on.