We stand holding hands, and when a rep in a bright orange and slate grey uniform comes up to us, he doesn’t even bat an eyelid at us. “You must be Casey,” he says, though there’s an air of doubt to his statement – he can’t be sure, of course, since we’ve never met.
“That’s right,” I tell him. “I’m here for the tour.”
“Great! And, will…”
“Edward,” he supplies.
“Edward be joining us for the tour?”
“Edward will,” he intones, solemnly, though I can’t help but feel like he’s making fun.
“Alright,” the guide says, taking it in his stride. “If you’d like to follow me. We’ll start with the dorms. I will note that if you’re staying on campus, the rooms are single occupancy only. That does mean that off-campus boyfriends aren’t really supposed to visit, though you can get an occasional visitor’s pass if you need to drop by.”
I feel a warmth spreading through my chest, making me squeeze Edward’s hand tighter. With the age difference between us, at first I was a little worried that people wouldn’t see us as a couple. That maybe they would assume he was a father escorting his daughter around, especially considering that we both have American inflections in our accents – even if Edward’s is fading. To be recognized as a couple is strangely empowering. I decide that I like it a lot. I’d like it if everyone could look at us and know that we’re together.
But it does make me falter. As the guide shows us around the dorms, even letting us see what a typical room looks like when empty, and then around the rest of the campus buildings, I find my mind starting to wander. I can’t help but think about the fact that at the end of this week, I’m going back home.
And then I have a big decision to make. Whether to come back here, to England, or stay in the US to study.
It should have been a simple decision, about what the best school will be and whether I want to broaden my cultural experiences or do a more traditional college thing. But now it’s much more complicated, because of Edward. I might be coming back here so that I can be with him. Or I might be coming back here thinking I will be with him, only to find out that it’s over.
I know what he said before, that he’s been looking for someone like me for a long time. He as much as told me that he wants me to live with him, to be his wife, to give him children. Except he didn’t actually make that completely clear, and the thing is, this is just one week. One week of our lives. It feels so good, but what if I go home and Edward decides that it was all just an infatuation? What if he doesn’t want to know me anymore when I come back? What if he’s only saying this because there are just two days left before I go home?
I don’t want to believe it. Especially not given the fact that he’s been friends with my Dad for such a long time. But I can’t help but wonder. Nothing is secure, and I have this big decision hanging over my head, and only two days left to get any idea of what to do.
The college tours are one thing. I’ve seen enough to know that they’re both good schools, and the statistics and league tables tell me the rest. But what I really need to know now is where this is all going – and whether changing my school plans to be with Edward would be the best decision of my life, or the worst.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Edward
I wait outside for Casey as she asks a couple more questions and picks up a few leaflets and other bits of literature to help her with her decision. I made the excuse of getting a phone call from work, which wasn’t true at all, so that I could quickly duck out of the room and leave her to it. It’s a little white lie, that’s all.
Because I have some important plans to make, and I have to make them very quickly. Quicker than most people would think was reasonable, I suppose, but we only have two days left. And I’m used to having things go my own way. I have a good assistant and a lot of clout, and I can get things done when I need to.
“All done?” I ask Casey, looking up as she emerges from the building, stuffing a handful of papers and leaflets into her purse.
“Yeah,” she says, giving me a quick and tight smile. I wonder if she’s feeling emotional, this was her last college tour. Her time here is getting short, and what’s more, she’s facing a huge decision. I don’t blame her for getting a little in her own head, if that’s what’s happening. “I’m free now. What’s the plan for the rest of the day?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” I say. “I didn’t book anything, just in case we took longer than expected. But how about continuing your tourist attraction tour? Chinatown?”
She laughs. “They have a Chinatown back home, you know.”
I chuckle. “I know. I did live there too. But it’s a good Chinatown, and Soho is right next door. We can wander around until we get hungry.”
“Alright,” Casey nods, ducking her head and tucking her hair behind her ear as we fall into step. Am I imagining it, or was she a little slow to take my arm this time?
We only have two days left, so we make the most of them. I check Casey out of her hotel early to save her money and she moves her things to my place, and I get a preview of the kind of bliss that awaits me when she’s here permanently.
Chinatown, Soho, art galleries, and museums; all of it is framed by mornings and evenings and nights at home, in bed together. And every time we get into bed is just as exciting as the last. I love making her throw her head back and grip hold of the sheets, pulling them up in her fists as she moans my name. The more practice she gets at this whole thing, the bolder she gets, reaching for me to wake me up with a stroke, crying out loudly to let me know of her pleasure, pulling my hands to her breasts when she wants me to touch her. I don’t want any of it to end.
But her last day comes, like we knew it would, and I feel a wrench. I don’t want to lose Casey – in fact, I refuse to. She’s mine now, and that is never going to change. She will wear my ring. She will carry my children. But with so little time together, it was never going to be enough.
And now Casey is not the only one who has a big decision to make.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Casey
I swallow hard, looking at my packed suitcase. All of my things are inside of it, packed up and ready to go home. Not a single piece of clothing left behind, including the things Edward bought me. He insisted that I take it all, because it’s mine, and he doesn’t want me to go without while I'm back home.
We still haven’t spoken about the future, and I don’t know if I want to. Edward has been strangely cagey all morning, as if he was avoiding me, and I’ve barely even seen him. But now the time has come, and it’s too late for anything else. My bags are packed, and it’s time to go to the airport. If I don’t go now, I’ll miss my flight.
“I’m ready,” I say.
Edward looks up from the kitchen table, where he’s sitting with his phone, poring over something on the screen. He gives me a tight nod, smiles, and gets up. “I’ll carry your bag to the car,” he says, reaching out for it.
I almost stop him. I don’t want him to take it to the car at all. I don’t want to drive to the airport. I don’t want to get on the plane. I don’t want to leave him.
But I know I have to. There’s more in my life than just this – I have plans, responsibilities. All of my things are at home, my family and friends. I can’t just stay here. That’s not how life works.
I get into the back of the car and we sit quietly together as the driver takes us to the airport. I can’t say a thing, because my mind is too full of thoughts, about the fact that this is it, the last day, my last moment. After this, it might all be over. It might be the last time I even see him.
I sit in silence, my head taking over, my racing thoughts too loud for anything else to break through. What can I do? What should I do? What should I say? How can I ask him what I’m terrified to know – whether he will still feel the same about me when I am on the other side of the ocean?
I miss what should have been my last look at the streets of London. I can�
��t focus. I can’t say whether we passed Big Ben or the Empire State Building – none of it exists for me right now. As we travel closer and closer towards the one place where I really don’t want to go at all, I can feel everything slipping through my fingers. What am I supposed to do? How can I stop this from happening?
We pull up at the airport far too soon, and I’m startled from looking out of the window – seeing nothing except my thoughts – automatically unbuckling my seatbelt and getting out. I’m not at all sure how my body is still managing to move. I know for sure that my head isn’t behind it, and my heart isn’t on board either.
I head to the back of the cab, where Edward has already lifted my suitcase down to the sidewalk. But then he lifts down another case, one I’ve never even seen before.
“What’s that?” I ask, startled. “I only packed one bag.”
Edward gives me a slow smile, digging into his pocket. He digs out a piece of paper and holds it in front of me, letting me read it. For a moment nothing sinks in. It’s a ticket for my plane. So what? I already know I’m flying.
“I’m coming home with you,” he says, and my eyes pick out the name on the ticket, not mine, but his. “I need to talk to your father. Before we make this openly official, I have to get his blessing.”
I cover my mouth with my hand, tears glistening in my eyes for a moment, before I fling my arms around Edward’s neck, holding onto him like I never want to let him go. Because I don’t. His arms go around me in return and we remain close, my heart swelling fit to burst. It’s not over. He does want me for good. Everything I was afraid of was just my own insecurities talking.
“Hey,” the taxi driver says, making us jolt apart in surprise. “Are you two going to get a room or what? I’ve got another fare to pick up.”
And we laugh and pick up our bags, closing the trunk and moving out of the way, so we can get on a plane together and go home.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Edward
I should be looking forward to seeing one of my oldest and best friends again, but the second we pull up outside Rick’s house, instead I’m ready to just turn around and head back to the airport.
If it wasn’t for Casey at my side, and the knowledge that this has to happen in order for us to be together for the rest of our lives, I might just have done that.
“Are you ready?” I ask her, squeezing her hand one last time as we get the bags from the trunk.
“Of course,” she says, looking at me with an adoring gaze. It almost makes me flinch. I hope her trust in me is not misplaced – that I can win Rick over the way I’ve won her heart. Because if I can’t, this might make things very difficult and uncomfortable in the future.
“Hey, you’re back!” I hear Rick’s voice as he rushes out of the house to join us on the sidewalk, but I look up in time to see him falter as he recognizes me. “Ed? What are you doing here?”
“I thought I’d make sure Casey got home alright,” I say, with what I know is an awkward smile.
“What?” Rick looks puzzled. “You didn’t come all the way over here just to do that, did you?” He approaches me for our habitual man-hug even though he seems confused, and when we part, I have to take a slight step back. I feel guilty. I know he isn’t going to like this, but what can I do? Casey is mine, and I can’t let the fact that I know her father change that.
“Actually, no,” I admit. “I didn’t. We should talk inside.”
“Well… okay,” Rick says, getting the door for us. I carry both my bag and Casey’s, and since they aren’t very heavy, there’s no need for him to help. “Are you staying here, too?”
“That might be a little odd,” I say, with a half-laugh, exchanging a look with Casey. “Awkward, maybe. I’ll get a hotel after we talk.”
“Awkward? What are you talking about? There’s no need for that. You know you’re practically family here,” Rick says, as we head into the lounge and I set the bags down.
“I’d like it to be more than practically,” I say. There’s no sense in dragging it out, and now that he’s given me the opening, I have to take it.
“What’s that?” Rick asks, screwing his face up as he looks at me. I can tell he’s having a hard time figuring out what’s going on. I need to make it as clear as possible.
“Look, Rick,” I say with a sigh. “Something happened in London. Casey… we didn’t plan it. But Casey’s the one for me. I mean it. Somehow, we fell for each other.”
Rick blinks at me for a few moments. Just when I’m wondering whether he actually heard me, and if I should repeat myself, he shakes his head a little and sits down. “I know I must have heard you wrong,” he says. “Because it sounds like you might be taking advantage of my daughter.”
“That’s not true,” Casey says quickly, rushing forward. “It’s not like that at all!”
“Well, let me tell you how it looks to me, and you tell me if I’m wrong,” Rick says, raising his voice. His face is flushed with anger. “I asked my best friend to look after my daughter, twenty years his junior, because she needed help looking at colleges. Instead, he – what? Got her in the sack and decided he wants a young mistress to have around when he’s bored of work?”
“No,” I say, grinding my teeth. “For starters, not instead. I did take her on those college tours. I did make sure she was safe and that she had a good time, and saw all the sights.”
“And you just happened to get her into bed as a reward,” Rick sneers. “I told you how important it is for Casey to focus on her studies! What, is that when you decided to pounce on her? Found out how innocent she was and couldn’t wait to get your rocks off, is that it?”
“Dad!” Casey protests, though we both know that her Dad isn’t listening to her at all. Rick only has eyes for me right now, and I’ve got a feeling that he’s seeing red.
“It was before that,” I say, raising my chin and speaking evenly. “Before we spoke on the phone. I actually called you to tell you that I was falling for her, but after what you said, I couldn’t.”
“This is ridiculous,” Rick snaps. “Why would you come into my own home and say this? Why flaunt your shame in my face? Why not just hide in England with your tail between your legs where my right hook can’t reach you?” He leaps up with those words, his hands really curled into fists – though I don’t quite believe he will use them.
“Because it’s not like that,” I tell him. “It wasn’t just an opportunistic thing. I wasn’t bored. I love her.”
“Edward,” Casey breathes, staring at me. “I… I love you, too.”
It’s not the perfect setting for the first time we’ve ever said it to each other, but I’m not going to complain. Hearing it is sweet enough. I look at her for a moment, a smile creasing my lips, before Rick snaps my attention back to him.
“Answer the question,” he shouts. “What are you doing here? Why rub this in my face?”
“I’m not rubbing it in your face!” I say with exasperation. “I keep telling you, it’s not like that. I’m here to get your blessing. Because it’s important to her, and it’s important to me. We will be together, and your approval will mean a lot.”
“Oh, you will be together?” Rick yells, and I groan inwardly. It’s like I can’t say the right thing. “Then why the hell am I here? You don’t need my approval!”
“But we want it, Daddy,” Casey says, stepping in front of me. I can tell she senses just how angry her Dad is getting, and how important it is to get him to listen. “I want it. He makes me happy.”
“Happy?” Rick blinks, then shakes his head. “You’re just a kid. You don’t know anything about this kind of stuff yet. You don’t even know what you want.”
“But I do.” Casey takes a breath. “Edward is everything I’ve ever wanted. He’s kind to me, takes care of me, gives me everything I want. I know he’d do anything to make me happy. He appreciates me for who I am. The woman I’m becoming. He wants me to follow my dreams and be a success. He wants to give me a family, an
d I want that, too.”
I can see that Rick is listening, though he isn’t quite calm yet. “How can you be sure?” he demands. “It’s been – what? A week? Less than that? This hasn’t been going on before, has it?” For a second he looks thunderstruck, as if he’s wondering whether I was the whole reason Casey went to London in the first place.
“It’s been less than a week,” I tell him quickly. “But that doesn’t matter. I know what I feel for Casey. She’s the one I’ve been waiting for, all this time. You know I haven’t had other relationships. I never married. I’ve been waiting. And I’ve finally found who I was waiting for. The perfect woman.”
Rick shakes his head. “How can you even tell?”
“I can’t describe it to you,” I tell him. “I just know. When I look at her… I just know.” Casey tilts her head to look back at me and our eyes meet, and for a moment nothing else matters. Just the two of us – happy with one another.
But Rick is still here, and he still isn’t happy, and I have to do something – some big gesture that will show him how serious I am.
“I was going to save this for later,” I say. “I was going to wait to have your blessing first, because that’s how you do this kind of thing. That’s the way it’s done. But I don’t know how else to show you that this is real. It wasn’t just some vacation romance, a fling that I’m going to forget now that Casey is stateside. It doesn’t matter to me how far apart we are – we’re linked forever.”
“Do what?” Casey breathes, her eyes wide and her expression uncertain. I know she can feel it – the way the atmosphere in the room has changed. The new charge all around us. The nervous energy I’m giving off.
I look at her, and make a conscious decision to shut Rick out of my mind and my vision for this moment. This is about her – about me and her. Whatever he does next, it doesn’t matter. I know I’ll still feel the same. As much as I want for both of us to keep a relationship with her father, I know which of the two of them I would put first.
London With Dad's Best Friend: An Instalove Possessive Age Gap Romance (A Man Who Knows What He Wants Book 198) Page 7