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For the record, I don’t. And, forgetting my snarky answer, I opt for honesty instead.
‘What do you want, Will?’
‘I want to take you out tonight.’
‘I don’t think that’s a very good idea,’ I begin, stopping as he speaks again.
‘Hear me out, please. I want to say sorry. Take you out somewhere you’ve never been—somewhere off the tourist list. Look at it as one more experience to add to your vacation list.’
‘How do you know I won’t already have done whatever it is you’re talking about?’ Over the course of the last week, I’ve checked quite a lot of experiences off said list. Though I still haven’t braved the Tube.
‘I guarantee this is one place you haven’t been. One place you’d never find without the help of someone like me.’
There’s a note of something strange in his voice. A tension around his eyes? But whatever, all that is forgotten the moment Sir Lancelot’s deepwoofsounds from the stairs below.
‘Looks like your charge is home,’ he says, his tone lightening again as Sir Lancelot drags Katie, the doggy daycare delivery driver, up the last few stairs.
‘Lord alive, he’s—’
Her gaze flicks upwards to Will’s presence standing at the foot of the next flight of stairs.
‘Hello, Katie,’ he says amiably.
Katie’s face turns six shades of red immediately.
‘You know Katie?’ I ask. Through my teeth.
‘Katie and I have seen a lot of each other,’ Will answers smoothly. ‘Or at least, Katie has seen a lot of me.’ He winks in my direction before turning to climb the stairs. ‘Towel’s don’t leave much to the imagination, do they, Katie?’
Katie shakes her head rapidly.
‘I’ll be back for you up at nine,’ he calls over his shoulder.
‘I haven’t said yes,’ I call back.
‘No, but you will.’
Chapter Twenty-Eight
WILL
‘What’s so special about this place.’
‘You’ll see,’ I tell her, opening the passenger side door to my car. As Sadie slides in easily, her black cocktail dress flashes a little too much thigh. She turns her face up to me, all kind eyes and trusting smiles as she wiggles it back down.
I am a bastard of the first order as I try not to stare down at the valley of her cleavage, fixing a smile on my face.
Until I close the door and it falls.
My stomach twists as I round the car, the knife of betrayal delivered by my own hand. I climb in, belt up, and start the car, all the while repeating my incantation ofthis is the only way.The only way to protect her. The only way for her to see me as we really are. The only way to ensure she never wants to see Julian again.
‘What’s funny,’ I ask, catching her smiling to herself. The Friday night traffic is a bitch, adding to my woes. Because of it, I can’t keep my gaze on her for very long, despite her thrall.
‘I was just thinking about the last time I was in this car.’ Her cheeks pink slightly in the dusky light.
‘Haven’t you ever fooled around in a car before?’
Well, sure,’ she says, turning her whole body to face me. ‘But a little kissing and over the bra high school kind of fumbling just isn’t the same.’
