Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 80651 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80651 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
I didn’t have time to explain. Pulling out a twenty-pound note, I said. “Would you give them up for twenty pounds?”
She shrugged, handed them over but didn’t take the money. “Just give them back to me tomorrow.” Angie earned minimum wage.
“Please let me buy them from you.”
“You can have them,” she said.
I stuffed the purple note into her hand and she handed them over.
“You’re strange, Dr. Cove,” she said in a tone that told me she didn’t really care—she was just going with it.
“Thanks so much,” I said and raced back to Barnaby.
Maybe I’d make it to the restaurant on time after all.
Three
Jacob
Security at the NatWest Tower was like getting on a flight—complete with bag scans and metal detectors. I’d been to my fair share of nice restaurants, but they’d never come with a full pat-down.
When I finally made it to the forty-second floor, I was three minutes late. I hated that.
“Table under the name Beau.” Beau had said Sutton was a doctor. Hopefully she was young enough not to have heard the Cove name. It was a stupid hope, but maybe she’d do me a favor and pretend. I didn’t want to spend the evening listening to how she thought my parents were awesome. They were awesome, but I didn’t need to hear it from a perfect stranger. As much as I loved my parents and was proud they had such phenomenal reputations, it sometimes felt like I’d never grown up. They were always there—in interviews for university and when I was applying to hospitals. At Christmas parties and leaving dos. The first thing strangers wanted to talk to me about was my parents.
It was a lot to live up to. And a lot to put up with. Sometimes I wish I’d been an architect.
“I think we’re having dinner together,” a woman called from behind me. I turned to find a beautiful woman staring up at me expectantly, and my entire body flushed with gratitude that my brother had broken his nose. Her long, chestnut-brown hair was pulled back from her face in a casual way and she had a beauty spot on her right cheek. Her smile was wide and warm and right then, I knew I needed to buy Beau a drink next time I saw him.
“You must be Sutton,” I said and I leaned forward to kiss her cheek.
“It’s quite the rigmarole to get up here,” she said. “I thought I was going to be late.”
I swallowed a chuckle. We had both made it up by five past eight. If there hadn’t been a security check, we would have both been early.
“But I hear the view is worth it,” she said.
“That’s definitely true,” I said, not taking my eyes off of her.
She blushed and I put my hand at the small of her back as the hostess led us into the dining room.
“Whoever told you that was right—the city looks fantastic,” I said, taking in the views. The restaurant was floor-to-ceiling windows. The sun had almost disappeared completely, leaving a hazy pink on the horizon and allowing the lights of the buildings surrounding us to glow like stars.
“It’s sensational,” Sutton said and I couldn’t help but smile at her enthusiasm. “We’re right in the middle of the City, but it’s so peaceful.”
We took our seats, sitting a right angle to each other, the table arranged so we could both see the view. It felt intimate, regardless of the fact Sutton and I had just met. Our knees touched and I moved out of the way so she didn’t feel awkward. She caught my eye, obviously wondering, like I was, whether we should acknowledge the contact.
“Can I get you a drink?” the hostess asked us.
“Sutton, what would you like?”
She chewed the inside of her cheek before she said, “I’ll have whatever you’re having.”
“Well I’m not working tomorrow,” I replied. I didn’t add and my brother is paying, because I didn’t want her to think I was just here for the free meal. Doctors in the NHS weren’t well paid, but I could handle dinner and drinks in any restaurant in the world, and the private jet to get there, thanks to a side hustle I’d had as a student. She wasn’t to know that though.
“Me neither,” she said. “And I’ve never been known to say no to a margarita.”
Margarita wasn’t exactly my drink. But why not? “Two margaritas, please.”
“You’re a doctor, right?” Sutton asked as she watched the waitress head off with our order.
I nodded. I was pretty sure she didn’t know my last name, because I’d met her more than two minutes ago and she hadn’t mentioned my parents. “And you are as well, I hear?”
“Sort of . . . Actually, I’ve got a proposal for you.”
“So soon? We’ve not had any drinks yet.”
She gave a small laugh and her shoulders dropped visibly. She was nervous, which was kind of endearing. Her swept-up hair revealed her long neck, its graceful curve making me want to reach out and touch her.