“You always were a multitasker.”
“They’re usually happy to talk books with me.” Cassie grinned, but then her face grew serious. “You’d be amazed how often an interview with a female tennis player will center on crap like what makeup they prefer to wear on the court.”
“Are you serious?”
“I wish I were joking.” Cassie shook her head. “Can you imagine? As a journalist, you’ve been given the golden opportunity to talk to a world champion, an elite athlete, and the first question that comes to mind is what mascara does she like best?”
“Maybe you should interview some of the sports journalists too,” Bonnie suggested. “Call them out on it directly, see if it motivates them to reconsider their talking points.”
“Now that’s some multitasking,” Cassie said, clinking her glass against Bonnie’s. She took a sip, and then leaned closer, giving Bonnie a wicked little grin. “Speaking of multitasking, I hear you’ve been keeping yourself busy on the weekends too.”
Bonnie almost choked on her cocktail. She forced herself to swallow, alcohol stinging the back of her throat. “Theo’s been talking to Logan, I gather?” she asked, setting her glass down carefully.
“Hey, at least Theo tells Logan stuff,” Cassie said, a twinge of hurt reflected in her voice.
“There’s nothing to tell.” Bonnie fought off a reciprocal twinge of guilt. “We’ve been getting together on Saturdays. It’s been nice.”
“Nice?” Cassie’s eyebrows rose.
“Fun.” Bonnie shrugged.
“Fun, huh?”
Her best friend studied her, eyes shrewd. Bonnie stared at her drink, squirming under the assessing gaze. She might have a theatre degree, but she’d never been able to fool Cassie. Talking about this was a bad idea. Cassie would want to know how she felt about Theo. How could Bonnie discuss this with Cassie when she wasn’t even ready to have that conversation with herself?
After a moment, Cassie leaned back, her gaze softening. “Well, good for you.”
Bonnie held back the sigh of relief, trapping it in her lungs.
“You could do with a bit of fun,” Cassie added. “Hell, we all could.” She elbowed Bonnie playfully in the ribs. “I’m looking forward to having lots of fun at my bachelorette party.”
Right. Bonnie exhaled. The bachelorette party. The plan was for Cassie and the other girls still stateside to fly in to Heathrow first, party in London, then keep the party going on a luxury overnight train to Inverness. They’d be renting a suite of apartments within walking distance of the castle where the wedding was to be held. Logan’s mam had invited them to a special wedding party breakfast, and then there was the rehearsal dinner, and finally, the actual wedding. “Do you have any ideas of what you want? Any preferences?”
“I want it to be memorable.” Cassie stirred the ice in her cocktail. “Magical.” She waved her stir stick in the air and grinned. “No pressure.” When Bonnie didn’t smile in return, Cassie patted her hand. “Seriously, whatever you come up with is fine. You’ve got a lot on your plate, and I realize maybe it’s not fair to ask you to plan something like this with, well … with everything you have going on.”
“Like my fiancé cheating on me and my own wedding getting called off?” Bonnie held Cassie’s gaze, a flicker of irritation flaring in her chest.
“Um, not just that, you’re busy teaching and—”
“It’s fine, Cass. I got it covered.” At least, with the help of Theo’s sister, Bonnie hoped she had it covered. They still had about a month to plan. Plenty of time. She made a mental note to ask Theo for Tabitha’s number next time they got together.
Thinking of Theo reminded Bonnie of what they’d been doing the last time they were together, not that she’d ever really stopped thinking about it. She may not want to examine what being with Theo did to her heart too closely, but there was no question about what being with him did to her body. The kiss on her resident hall steps had been so freaking hot, she’d been burning up ever since. Bonnie added a few other things to her mental to-do list, things she’d like to do to Theo. Things she’d like him to do to her.
With any luck, she thought, her body growing warmer, he was good at multitasking too.
* * *
When Theo had asked her to meet earlier than usual for what was becoming their standing Saturday date, Bonnie had been curious, but he wouldn’t tell her why. Her curiosity piqued even further when he wouldn’t tell her where they were going, only what stop she should meet him at in London. The Blackfriars station was near all kinds of tempting possibilities, so many she couldn’t begin to guess which it might be.
“You’re lucky I like surprises,” she said as they crossed Millennium Bridge. He didn’t reply, just reached for her hand, and the brush of his skin against hers made a burst of light glow inside her, warmer than the sunshine gracing the sky above. It was a gorgeous summer Saturday in London, and the pedestrian bridge was packed with people out enjoying an afternoon of fun.
Bonnie was dying to ask Theo where they were going but decided to keep quiet and play along. The anticipation heightened the experience, a little like Christmas. At first, she’d wondered if he was planning to take her to the Tate, but when they’d crossed to the south side of the Thames, she’d crossed off that possibility.
“Now don’t get too excited,” Theo warned her as they exited the bridge and turned toward the Globe.
“I’m not,” she lied. Had he managed to score tickets? She knew from planning the trip she took with her friends last year, seats in the open-air theatre were hard to come by—especially on a gorgeous day like this. She held her breath as they got closer, scanning the playbills plastered along the low wall surrounding the theatre. When she realized they’d passed the entrance, a little sigh escaped her.
“Hold on, we’re almost there,” he promised. A few steps later, he pulled her through the door of the building right next to the theatre.
“Welcome to the Swan,” a young woman in a crisp black pantsuit, her accent equally crisp, greeted them as they entered.
While Theo confirmed his reservation, Bonnie absorbed the details of the space. She thought he’d outdone himself last week when he’d taken her to the Library, but this was even better. Antique bits of props and costumes were featured in little nooks, and large vintage stage lights were placed in various corners.
“This way, please.” The woman led them down through the restaurant, sunlight spilling in from the wall of windows, sparkling off the Thames and the dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral in the distance.
“What a view,” Bonnie breathed, almost bumping into Theo when the woman stopped at a table.
“We’re quite fond of it.” She smiled, waiting for them to settle into the plush cornflower-blue sofas bracketing the booth. “You’ll be taking afternoon tea?” she asked Theo.
He nodded. “Make mine the gentleman’s tea, please.”
“Of course.” She turned to Bonnie. “And for Miss? Bubbles or no bubbles?”
“Um…” Bonnie glanced at Theo.
“Bubbles,” he replied for her. He winked. “It’s champagne.”
“Oh.” She smiled. “Yes, bubbles, please.” The woman nodded and headed off, and Bonnie leaned back, bouncing a little on the springy cushion, giddy with pleasure.
“You like it?” he asked, watching her with amusement.
“I love it,” she gushed. “Tabitha’s idea?”
Theo shook his head, a cocky grin tugging at the corner of his lips. “Actually, I came up with this one myself.”
Again, her chest suffused with a warm, sunshiny glow. She was, quite simply, happy. Happy to be out on this gorgeous day, spending time with this gorgeous man, who seemed to have made it his mission to find ways to please her. She hoped to be able to return the favor. “I like spending time with you,” she admitted.
“Good. I like spending time with you too.” His smile widened, and oh, Lord help her, here came the dimples.
Thankf
ully, their tea arrived, and Bonnie distracted herself by watching as tiered trays, similar in style to the ones the Drake used, were placed on the table. She looked closer, studying the plates. She gasped, delighted when she realized each plate was painted with characters and quotes from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. “These are beautiful.”
“They were designed especially for our tea service,” the server proudly informed them as she poured a measure of piping hot tea from a sterling silver teapot.
“What’s this?” Bonnie asked the girl, holding up a tiny stoppered bottle filled with a sparkly, mulberry-colored liquid.
“That’s our special Love Potion cocktail.” The server winked and finished arranging the tea service before moving on to her other tables.
“Do you think it works?” Theo asked.
Bonnie held the bottle up to the light, turning it from side to side. “Only one way to find out.” She glanced at him. “In the play, Puck drops the potion in people’s eyes.”
“I think we should stick to drinking this one,” Theo suggested.
“You’re probably right.” She unplugged the stopper and took a sniff. It was tart, but not with the sharp bite of lemon, more like something berry, and a little sweet, like honey. “Here goes nothing,” she said, and took a sip.
“How is it?” Theo asked, brows raised.
“Not bad.” She licked her lips. “It tastes like blackberries”—tiny bubbles fizzed on her tongue—“and booze.” She handed him the bottle. “Your turn.”
“Bottoms up.” Theo took the bottle and downed the rest in one gulp. “Oh, that is boozy.”
She giggled. “Do you think it’s working?”
“You know”—he stared at her across the table, the secret shards of indigo surrounding his irises glinting in the afternoon sunlight—“I think it might be.”
Swallowing, Bonnie dropped her gaze, eyeing the trays of food in front of Theo. “So why do they call that a ‘gentleman’s tea’ anyway?”
“Because it’s full of manly stuff,” he teased, puffing out his chest and lowering his voice to a baritone. “Like beef and fish fingers.”
She snorted. “Fish fingers don’t sound very manly.”
“What would you call them, then?”
“Well, in America, they’re called fish sticks…” She started giggling again as a thought occurred to her. Her head swam a little, warm and fuzzy. Maybe she shouldn’t have ordered the bubbly, not on top of the boozy Love Potion.
“What’s so funny?” he asked.
“I thought of a joke,” she said, stifling another giggle and shaking her head, “but it’s kind of crude.”
“You don’t say.” He bent toward her. “How about you whisper it to me?”
Just tipsy enough to do it, Bonnie leaned across the table and told him the fish dicks joke.
“Hmm.” Theo straightened, mouth quirking as he poked his fork into a Scotch egg.
“I know. It’s not that funny,” she said, resting her head back against the cushion of her seat, giggling some more.
“I do believe you’re drunk.” Theo chuckled, clearly finding that more amusing than her joke.
“Highly probably.” She wrinkled her nose. “Probable,” she corrected. “Low tolerance.”
“Very low,” he agreed. He pointed his fork at her tea tray. “Perhaps you should eat something to soak up some of the alcohol in your system.”
“Perhaps I should.” She popped a tiny sandwich in her mouth. Then tried a few of the mini quiches.
Moving from savory to sweet, Bonnie considered the plate piled high with adorable little cakes and macarons. “I can’t decide,” she said, finally choosing a miniature fruit tart. She examined the delicate pastry. “It’s almost too pretty to eat.”
“I know the feeling.”
The rough edge of Theo’s voice caught her off guard, and she glanced up. His eyes were on her mouth, hot and hungry. Then he lifted his gaze to hers, and there was no mistaking his meaning.
Liquid heat pooled low in her belly, tingling between her thighs as she recalled the words he’d whispered to her, remembered his mouth on her, there. Bonnie swallowed.
A charged moment passed, and then Theo shifted in the booth. “I don’t know about you, but I could use some fresh air. Ready?”
She nodded, and he handled the bill before leading her back outside.
They strolled along Bankside path. A slight breeze blew in from the Thames, cooling the flush of alcohol from her cheeks, but doing nothing to ease the warm ache inside. Bonnie leaned into him, craving his touch.
“Have you ever been to the Lakelands before?” Theo asked.
“You mean the Lake District?” Bonnie sighed. “Only in books. And my dreams.”
“My family has a cottage up there. I’ve been thinking of taking a little holiday.” He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her even closer. She snuggled into him, enjoying the solid feel of his strong arm and broad chest against her. “Why don’t you come with me?”
“I don’t know.” Her brain was still pleasantly fuzzy, but she was sober enough to recall the Lake District was all the way across the country. “How long would it take to get there?”
“About five hours,” he admitted.
“Oh, that’s not so bad.” She forgot all the way across the country of England was only across a state or two in America. “When would you want to leave?”
“When does your last class end next week?”
“Before lunch.” She shrugged. “The students have Friday afternoons off to go on day trips to museums and such. The teaching staff takes turns chaperoning.”
“Is it your turn next week?”
“No.” She paused to mentally make sure. “I’ve done the last two.”
“Well, then. Spend the weekend with me.” He pulled the hand she rested on his arm up to his mouth and pressed a kiss to her fingers. “I’ll sweeten the deal with another surprise.”
“That’s not fair. You already know I can’t resist surprises.” She looked up at him, batting her eyelashes. “What kind of surprise is it?”
“Uh-uh.” Theo wagged his finger, schoolmarm face on. “It’s a secret. If I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise.”
“I just want a hint.”
“No.”
“Please,” she pouted. “Just a tiny one?”
He stared at her mouth, catching his lower lip between his teeth. Bonnie’s breasts tingled, nipples tightening at the memory of his teeth on her, his lips and tongue making her come. She shivered, wondering if he had any idea what he was doing to her. She also wondered if he knew she would have said yes to spending a weekend with him regardless of the promise of surprises.
“Fine,” he acquiesced. “One hint.”
Perhaps it was wrong to be so pleased with herself, but she was. She loved that she could make this man cave. Or at least make his defenses crumble a bit.
“I’m ready.” She made a gimme motion with her fingers. “What’s my hint?”
“LMP.”
“LMP?” she repeated. “What kind of hint is that?”
“A tiny one,” he teased. “Never say I’m not a man who gives a lady what she asks for.”
CHAPTER 23
THE WEEKEND COULDN’T get here fast enough. More than halfway through the summer semester, up until now the days had been flying by. But this week, the hours dragged as Bonnie counted each one until her trip with Theo. To keep herself occupied, she visited several more of the local tea shops on her checklist and spent most evenings writing in her journal. She’d had various story ideas flit in and out of focus, and she ran with them for as long as they held her interest. So far, nothing had stuck beyond a few pages. But that didn’t matter; she was rediscovering her love of words. As long as the ideas kept coming, she’d keep writing.
At last, Friday afternoon arrived, and she hopped a train. Since the Lake District was in the opposite direction of Cambridge, Theo had suggested she take a train to the station closest
to his home. Rather than waste time driving in a circle, he’d pick her up from there and they’d be off. He was waiting for her when she arrived and helped carry her things to the car. But it wasn’t the classy aging James Bond–mobile he usually drove. “What happened to 007?”
“I love her, but I don’t think she has many long road trips left in her,” Theo admitted. “This is my sister’s car.”
“I will never understand why cars are referred to in the feminine,” Bonnie mused as he held the door open for her. She realized she’d been letting him do little things like that more often. But somehow, she wasn’t bothered by it. The gesture didn’t feel patronizing. Maybe it was because of the way he did it or maybe it was that the chip on her shoulder had lifted. Or maybe it was both.
“I never really thought about it,” he admitted, setting her overnight bag in the back.
Overnight bag. As in she was staying overnight. With Theo. They hadn’t discussed sleeping arrangements, but she’d rather hoped things would figure themselves out. Bonnie buckled her seat belt. Beneath the strap, her belly quivered. She felt all nervous and giddy. Like she was headed to her first school dance or something.
“So, you live nearby?” she asked as he left the station and headed north.
He nodded. “The Abbey is about ten minutes from here.”
“Abbey?” That sounded grand, and very Jane Austeny. Part of Bonnie wished they’d stop by his home on the way. She was dying with curiosity to see what it looked like, but also a little ashamed of her curiosity because it stemmed from her fascination with the fact that he was a duke. A fascination she couldn’t completely deny.
For the most part, she forgot Theo held the highest rank in the aristocracy, save for a monarch. But sometimes, she’d remember, and a little thrill would shoot through her. She wasn’t proud of it, but there it was. And it helped her understand why he might be wary of letting people know.
It was closing in on seven in the evening when Theo pulled up to a quaint gray stone building, long fingers of ivy stretching toward the cobbled roof. “Is this it?” Bonnie yawned. She’d nodded off somewhere around Darrington, where the endless stretches of highway surrounded by green pastures reminded her of driving through Wisconsin.
Smitten by the Brit--A Sometimes in Love Novel Page 24