“Okay,” I began. “Want to tell me what the hell that was about?”
I eyed him beadily but he sat there clam-like. I wanted to reach over and throttle him.
“I was involved in a car accident years ago and that’s all you need to know.”
A light flickered in my head. “So when you see car wrecks, you freak out?”
Pain was etched all over his face as blatant as a Greek mask. “They can trigger episodes, yes.”
“What happened?”
He shook his dark head, his wide eyes looking everywhere but me. “Natalie, please.”
Whatever it was, it was bad. That only added fuel to the curiosity burning inside me. Though, the guilt in his voice didn’t make it too hard to guess what probably happened.
You must despise me.
He killed someone.
The head-rush almost made me black out and my palms suddenly felt greasy over the steering wheel. I stared straight ahead, afraid to look at him with judgment in my eyes.
That was probably what happened. He killed someone—or maimed them so badly that life would never be the same.
Stop speculating. You don’t know anything.
“Think you figured it out, haven’t you?” he said in a harsh voice.
I gave my head a little shake. “Nope.”
He snorted but said nothing more.
We kept the conversation light. I had no desire to send him into another panic attack while I was driving.
It was finally time to get off the highway, a moment I dreaded. I edged up behind the cars leading to the roundabout.
“Take the third exit.”
“Third exit? What does that mean?”
Will’s face contorted strangely as he fought to keep a straight face. “It means you leave the roundabout at the third exit. You can count, right?”
I gritted my teeth. How could someone be so damn annoying? I watched the cars sliding into the roundabout. There appeared to be two lanes.
“Crap. I am so stressed out.”
“Don’t be stressed out, Natalie. You’ll get used to it. I promise.”
Now it was my turn. I had to wait until there was a gap between the cars zooming from the right. We whirled around in a circle and I almost didn’t notice the first exit.
“Shit! Which one is it?”
“The third one.”
But I lost track of which ones were passing by me, and then I looped around the entire circle. “Which one IS IT?”
By now, Will had dissolved into laughter. He reached over and patted my shoulder soothingly.
“Get off here.”
I breathed a sigh of relief as I pulled left down a country road. The GPS lead us deep into the country, until the roads narrowed so severely that I didn’t understand how two cars could fit alongside each other.
It was like something out of a Tolkien novel. There were endless, deep green fields, sheep, unpaved roads, and footpaths that led from village to village. We drove through Ebrington, following tiny, crude signposts. The small, brick cottages, each with a lush garden, looked like something out of a fairytale book. Finally, I pulled onto the street where we would be staying.
The bed and breakfast was a flat-faced, beige cottage with a kissing gate bordered by rose bushes. A wonderful pasture bordered the cottage, where I could make out white dots of sheep and hear the occasional baa. There were footpaths leading towards the pasture that begged to be explored.
I grinned as I turned back to the car to see William extracting an irate Tom from the car. He let the cat out at once, who immediately dashed into the bushes.
“He’ll be fine,” he said, noticing my concern.
As we passed through the kissing gate, I became aware of how desperate my body was for a nap. It was a struggle just to go up the small steps. I knocked on the blue door with William right behind me.
It opened to reveal a slight blonde woman wearing an apron.
“You must be Mr. and Mrs. Pardini.”
My cheeks bloomed.
“Yes, yes we are,” he boomed from behind me.
“I’m Mary. Please come in!”
Mary could hardly contain her excitement over being considered as a potential affiliate of the prestigious Pardini hotel chain.
The cottage was immaculate. There were a living room whose floors looked like they had been polished, a giant solarium with a breakfast table and plush, comfortable looking couches, and a tiny, cramped kitchen. The upstairs led to the rooms. It was the cutest place I had ever seen. Tom the cat darted inside from between my legs.
“I brought my cat with me, I hope that’s all right with you?” he asked in an innocent tone.
From the look on Mary’s face, it was pretty certain that it wasn’t all right, but she was too terrified to say otherwise. I turned around to glare at my husband.
He shouldn’t use his status to bully people like this.
Mary’s face fell but she quickly recovered. “No, no sir. It’s no trouble at all.” She bit her lip as the cat jumped on one of the couches in the solarium.
“Wonderful. My wife and I want to take a nap, then we’ll probably want dinner. Do you have any recommendations?”
“Y—yes! The Ebrington Arms is right down the street. I shall make an arrangement for you for seven.”
“Lovely. Come, darling.”
My face burned, partly in anger, and partly flattered that Mary thought that I was his wife. He carried both suitcases up the extremely narrow stairs, refusing all offers from Mary for help.
“Your room is just to the right. It has a lovely view of the garden. The Wi-Fi password is within the book inside your room.”
“W—wait we’re sharing a room?” My face burned even brighter, completely forgetting that Mary was behind us.
He gave a good-natured chuckle. “Of course, silly!”
William’s laying it on pretty thick.
It reminded me of his antics at the restaurant when he crashed my date with that boring guy; I already forgot his name. Suddenly, I wondered if his pills were wearing off.
“We’re newlyweds,” he explained to Mary. “She comes from a very conservative background, so she was always a bit shy.”
I clenched my fists. Newlyweds who don’t wear wedding rings?
Mary looked perplexed by all of this information. “I had no idea. Well, I’ll go back downstairs to call the restaurant.”
Will’s face crinkled into a smile. “Thank you.” He pushed the door open and wheeled the suitcases inside.
It was a small, neat room. A small, old TV stood on top of a desk in the corner. The bed was small—probably a double, and the tiled bathroom was spotless and the towels were fresh. On the nightstand were a few snacks and a small pot for making tea. Will sat on the bed, his head a few feet underneath the triangular roof. I could see his mind whirring, analyzing every detail. The billionaire looked unimpressed.
I looked out of the window and saw a cute, small garden and even more of the English countryside. How wonderful it must be to live here, I thought.
“I don’t know about this place. It’s a bit—minimalistic.”
“I think it’s great. She was so excited to see you.”
He grinned. “Lots of women are excited to see me.”
I guess I had that one coming. I tried to bury my smile. “Do you have to be such an ass?”
My heart jumped as he pushed himself off the bed and walked towards me. I was suddenly aware of how alone we were, and how tall and imposing he was. My heart thudded painfully. I wondered what it would be like to be married to him. Probably hellish. But waking up to his face like his every morning would be a dream. Overwhelmed with that vision, my hand flew to my necklace and yanked on the chain.
His lips smiled. “You always do that when you’re nervous.”
“What?” I said defensively. “Do what?”
He just gave me a satisfied grin. “It’s flattering, but you don’t need to be nervous around me.”
&
nbsp; His words sent a flash of heat up my spine. The air felt entirely too hot as his hand ever so slightly gripped mine. His thumb stroked the palm of my hand and I felt a wave of dizziness so strong that I stumbled back. Will’s eyes seared through me.
“You’re tired. You need sleep,” he said firmly.
I looked at the one bed. “So much for keeping it professional.”
“Well, I pre-booked everything back when I thought we were going to be fucking.”
“Jesus, Will!”
He shrugged. “Relax, Natalie. I won’t touch you.”
Why not? Was he really going to deny the chemistry we had? I was embarrassed by what he said, but at the same time I felt insulted. Why am I not good enough for that? But I knew why. I turned him off by agonizing over Ben or because I was too uptight.
Still holding my hand, his head bent down to give me a chaste kiss on my cheek. He pulled back, looking a bit pink in the face. “Thank you. For helping me.”
I felt the burn mark of his lips on my face as if he ironed it on. “No problem,” I said faintly.
“Now go to sleep.”
“What about you?”
He shook his head. “I don’t want to sleep right now.”
He didn’t want to return to the nightmares he knew would haunt him. I let go of his hand reluctantly, but my body was screaming for sleep. I threw back the covers and slid inside as Will sat down on a comfortable chair near the windows. I tried not to stare at him too much and I denied the desire coursing through my veins like really good whiskey. More than anything in my life, I wanted to crawl into his lap and lace my fingers around his neck. I wanted his arms wrapped around me, whispering sweet nothings in my ear.
Chapter 6
I woke up to brilliant sunshine pouring into my room and propped myself up on my elbows. Will was gone. Poor Will had spent the night in the chair while I slept on the bed. It was his fault for not booking separate rooms, but I still felt bad about it.
I slipped out of bed and padded to the bathroom. The shower door was sprinkled with droplets. Will took a shower while I was asleep. As I turned the water on and removed my clothes, I imagined him bursting into the bathroom while I was in the shower. A delicious shiver ran up my leg. How hot would that be?
Stop thinking about that. You’re here to do a job.
Right. I was supposed to be thinking about designs, not lusting after a man who, no matter how attractive he was, had emotional problems. I also didn’t forget how cruelly he had shut me down back on the airplane. Stop pining over him!
Dressing quickly after my shower, I left the room and descended the rickety staircase.
“Good morning!” said Mary when I reached the first floor. “Sleep well?”
“Yes, thank you.”
“Breakfast is in the solarium along with your husband.”
Husband? Oh, right. William. I followed the sunshine into the next room, which poured through the glass windows. There, I found an extremely tired looking Will surrounded by a banquet of food. He looked dead on his feet.
On the left was a table with plates and I grabbed one, loading it with food: figs stewed in tea, some sort of concoction with grapefruit, fresh rolls, and homemade jam.
“Would you like coffee or tea? Traditional English breakfast or would you like the American version?”
I might as well go all the way. “Tea and English breakfast, thank you.”
She left the room and I nodded at Will from across the table. His eyes were bloodshot.
He sipped his coffee. “This British coffee is weak shit,” he hissed.
“Will, you should really go for a nap. I can walk around by myself.”
He shook his head stubbornly. “I’ll be fine.”
“What do you think about the food so far?”
Will nodded in a so-so manner. “She wins points for making and selling her own jam. And it’s actually pretty good.”
I spread some of the gooseberry jam over a fresh roll and I moaned at the explosion of flavor. “Wow, that is good.”
“Here it is!” Mary re-entered the solarium with a heavy plate of food for me. She dropped it in front of me.
“Uh—thanks!”
There was a pile of what looked like canned beans in a red sauce, fried tomato slices, strips of what looked like ham, and fried eggs. Will smirked at me from across the table and laughed when I tried some of the beans. On the whole, it was pretty unremarkable.
“What is this?”
I forked the meat, which was very thick and fatty.
He laughed. “It’s English bacon.”
I tried it. It was too thick and reminded me of ham. I immediately set it aside and picked my way throughout the plate.
“I don’t like it,” I said in an undertone.
Will gave me an amused glance. “It’s a traditional dish. If you asked me, I would have told you to avoid it.”
I didn’t ask you. “It’s not too bad.” I shrugged.
After breakfast, Will and I left the cottage to explore the Cotswolds. We drove to Bourton-on-the-Water, where a wide, slow river ran through the whole village. Low-arched stone bridges added to the charm of the bustling village, which looked like something out of a Hollywood set. The little stone houses bordered the river and a market of vendors selling wool clothing made the whole place seem somehow fabricated. Places like this simply couldn’t exist. Most of the village’s population had greying or white hair. William and I were probably the youngest people there.
“God, I would kill myself if I lived here.”
“What did you expect? We’re in the country.”
I bought a Cornish pasty from a vendor on the street, which was delicious. It was filled with spiced meat and vegetables. Then we drove to a pair of villages called the Slaughters and parked the car. I wanted to walk around and really get a feel for the place. I had never seen such beauty. The feeling of being sucked into a fairytale book was overwhelming. The stone cottages side by side, the quiet, little rivers woven through the village, the beautiful green trees and farm fields surrounded us. Everything was so moist and green. I couldn’t believe how quiet it was. It was strange to not hear the sounds of construction, of cars, of anything, really, except songbirds and the rustling of squirrels in trees. I had never been in such a place. I felt totally removed from civilization and I experienced a peace that I never felt before.
We walked along the river, passing by people quietly tending to their gardens, and came upon a mill on the river, which was next to a souvenir shop. Behind the shop was a path to the next village: Upper Slaughter.
Will walked beside me and I gave him a smile. I had to keep resisting the urge to pinch myself. How could this be real? The dirt path followed the river and on both sides were fields of grazing sheep. There was nothing but the sounds of our feet walking, the gentle river playing and the baaing of sheep. I stopped for a moment just to appreciate it and felt the strangest sensation as I looked over the fence to gaze at the sheep quietly grazing. It was like this quiet, sleepy village cast a spell on me.
“Getting ideas for designs?” he asked as he joined me on the fence.
“Yeah.” My brain was already freezing images in my head: the yellow stone cottages, the river, and the green fields. “I’ve never been to such a peaceful place.”
“I don’t know. I think it’s kind of boring.” He pushed himself off the fence and threw small rocks into the river, upsetting a white swan gliding downstream.
I rolled my eyes. Of course Will would find it boring. This was completely the opposite of his home in San Francisco, which was always bustling with noise and activity. In general, it was hard to find peace and quiet in California, where the brown hills were slowly filling up with little boxes. This place looked like the Shire in Lord of the Rings. I took pictures of everything so that I could refer to them later.
He stood close to the river and I was suddenly overcome with an urge to shove him into the water. I was still a little bit angry about how
he treated me, and it would be wonderful payback. Let’s see how little rich-boy handles getting his feet wet.
I tiptoed silently. He still talked to me as if I stood far away. Excitement pounded through my rapidly beating heart as I raised my palms to his back and shoved.
“What the fuck?” he roared.
Will stumbled forward, his right foot sinking into the icy river. He turned around with an extremely offended look as I doubled over and laughed, tears squeezing from my eyes. He looked around as if someone else must have been responsible.
“You did this? What are you, five?”
I clutched the fence, still crying with laughter as Will hopped onto the trail and shook out his drenched tennis shoe.
Through my laughter I managed to squeak out, “That’s for being whiny about this place.”
“I’ve got water in my fucking shoe!” He looked at me dangerously. “Oh, you’re going to pay for this.”
I screamed and sprinted down the trail as he came after me. Luckily, there was no one else around to see us behaving like idiots. Despite his exhaustion, he caught up to me easily and yanked me into his chest. Before I knew it, I was flying in the air and he was cradling me in his arms, smirking.
“Will! WILL!”
He carried me somewhere—I couldn’t see.
“I can’t believe you did that,” he said, smiling down at me. “That’s so out of character for you.”
My face was on his shoulder. He smelled incredible—like pine and cedar. I was caught between the ecstasy of being so close to him and fear that he was planning something terrible. “Will! Put me down!”
He raised his eyebrows. “You sure? Okay.”
“No! Wait!”
There was a slight splash and I knew that Will held me over the river, ready to throw me inside. He looked crazy enough to do it. He loosened his grip and I slid down slightly. I grasped his shoulders and he tightened his arms around my waist. I was absolutely giddy from being this close to him and I was sure my face was burning.
“Apologize,” he demanded, grinning. “Or I’ll throw you in.”
I glared at him. He wouldn’t really throw me in, would he? “No.”
He shrugged. “Suit yourself.”
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