Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 91373 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91373 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
That pleasure was dimmed, however, by Theo’s response when he saw me. “You look beautiful,” he opined in a robotic tone that killed the compliment.
Confused, I dazedly let him help me into my coat and guide me out of the flat. He didn’t take my hand or touch my lower back like usual.
He didn’t touch me at all.
Tension thickened between us once we grabbed a cab. By the time we reached the restaurant, I wanted to yell or shake him or get him to do anything but sit with that bored expression.
I wouldn’t ask him if I’d done anything wrong because I couldn’t imagine that I had. Truthfully, I’d spent every day until the age of thirteen walking on eggshells with my mum and her boyfriends, asking her constantly if I’d done something wrong.
I would never go back there.
Instead, I fell into a sullen mood.
He brought me to a fancy restaurant in an area called Bishopsgate. The restaurant was in a tower with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the city. We could see the Gherkin from it.
The food was delicious, but I wasn’t that hungry. However, my mood seemed to draw Theo from the metaphorical arse he’d shoved his head up and he attempted conversation over dinner, asking about my meeting. Slowly, the tension relaxed between us, but I could still tell something was bothering him.
A few hours later, we walked about a minute from the restaurant to a hotel next door. Confused, I asked Theo where he was taking me, and he said there was a bar in the hotel that did great cocktails. That he’d been a few times with cast and crew, and it wasn’t an overly trendy or A-list celeb spot. He thought we should stop there first before we hit the club.
The bar looked like it should be for VIPs. It was spacious with polished concrete flooring and a large bar in the center with plenty of bar stool seating. Along the room’s edges were curved, plush booths around oval wooden tables. In symmetrical lines across the middle of the room was a mixture of seating. Some low benches and modern comfy chairs between gold oval tables, while others were trendy bistro tables with funky, weirdly shaped chairs. The lighting was low and atmospheric and the music playing was popular chart hits.
Theo explained there was a smaller whisky bar at the back as we strolled through the space toward the bar. I didn’t know if it was because it was still fairly early, but it wasn’t crowded, though most of the seats were taken.
I ordered a mojito while Theo ordered a whisky sour. Leaning against the bar top while we sipped at our cocktails, I people-watched while I tried not to fixate on Theo. Though he was trying a little harder, it was the fact that he needed to try that bothered me. Interactions between us were usually effortless. I wanted to ask him again if he was all right, but my stubborn pride forced me not to chase him for an answer.
Theo seemed happy to let me observe the room rather than engage in conversation with him.
On my second mojito, a couple started dancing to a Lana Del Rey song. I felt a pang of something in my chest. Maybe something a bit like longing as I watched them sway together, smiling into each other’s eyes, uncaring that no one else was dancing.
I wondered if the song had some meaning for them.
But when the song changed to Fleurie’s “Love U Already,” they didn’t sit down, and another couple filled the empty space beside them to slow dance.
“Well, I’ve never seen that happen in here before,” Theo drawled, throwing back the last of his drink.
At his dry tone, I asked, “Do you like to dance?”
“Not particularly.”
Disappointment flashed through me, but I turned away to watch the couples again so he wouldn’t see.
“Do you?”
I shrugged, still not looking at him. “I suppose. Though …” My cheeks flushed with embarrassment. “I’ve never danced with a man before.”
When he didn’t say anything, I wished I hadn’t admitted it.
But then Theo reached over to take my glass and placed it on the bar. I frowned at him until he held out his palm.
My stomach fluttered in realization.
Warmth filled the wee ache in my chest, and I took his hand. Without speaking, he curled my fingers tightly in his and led me to where the couples were dancing. With grace and ease, like he’d done it a million times, he pulled me into his arms and slowly began to sway to the music.
Nervous and unsure at first, it took me a few seconds to find rhythm with him. Relaxing, temporarily happy, and appreciative he’d do this for me, I rested my cheek on his chest and melted as he wrapped his arms around me.