Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 86068 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 430(@200wpm)___ 344(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86068 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 430(@200wpm)___ 344(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Silver strappy heels with little diamantes add the final touch, catching the light each time I shift my weight. My hair is down and brushing my shoulders tonight, and my makeup is bolder than normal: smoky eyes and berry red lips. I think I look good. Maybe even better than good. I hope I look like the kind of woman George will regret letting go. That thought warms me for exactly two seconds before a pang of nerves sets in.
I start pacing the floor of my apartment.
The clock ticks slowly toward seven o’clock. Rhett will be here any minute, and I’ll have myself all worked up at this rate. I need a distraction. I grab my phone and scroll through my contacts. My thumb hovering over Lucy’s name. Should I? I hit dial. Lucy picks up on the third ring.
“Tell me that you’re wearing something fabulous,” she says, skipping the hello.
I glance at the mirror again before I leave the bedroom and head to the living room. “I think so. I’m wearing my midnight blue dress, you know, the backless one. And the silver heels that Mom gave me last Christmas.”
Lucy lets out a whistle. “The whole shebang, then.”
“Well, I had to pull out all the stops. This might be my last chance.”
“Girl, he’s going to fall at your feet. And by he, I don’t mean George. I mean, George probably will too, but he’s not the important one.”
I sink onto the sofa and twist a strand of hair around my finger. “About that. I … er … kissed Rhett.”
The shriek nearly bursts my eardrum. “You what? When? How? Tell me everything.”
I lower my voice instinctively, though no one else is here. “It happened at the opera. Before the curtain went up. He just … he just kissed me out of nowhere. And Lucy, it wasn’t just any old kiss. It was like he was Clarke Gable and I was Vivian Leigh from Gone with the Wind. I almost swooned. I barely saw the first act because I couldn’t stop thinking about it.”
“Oh my God, Pippa,” Lucy exclaims, her voice high-pitched and excited. She sounds almost giddy, like she’s unwrapping Christmas presents rather than a bit of gossip. “So, it’s real then? This chemistry thing you kept pretending wasn’t real?”
I pinch the bridge of my nose. “No. It’s not real. It’s new. That’s all. Everyone knows Americans are better kissers, but lust doesn’t last. George is my constant. He’s dependable, he’s … he’s my soulmate.”
Lucy groans. “Your soulmate who is currently dating braless Claudia of the Emerald-Gown? Babe, if you had Rhett in your life, it would be a case of George who? Trust me. Stop pining after the ghost of relationships past.”
I can’t help laughing, even as I shake my head. “You just don’t get it. Aside from anything, Rhett isn’t into me. It’s just a mutually beneficial thing. He kissed me to make George jealous.”
“Whatever,” Lucy says, and I can see her rolling her eyes in my mind’s eye. “Go to that party, look incredible, and if Rhett kisses you again, kiss him back. Hard. After all, you’ve got American blood in you too. Didn’t you have an ancestor who was briefly married to an American?”
The door buzzer interrupts her pep talk. My stomach flips. “Rhett is here. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“You’d better,” she says. “And remember, if he kisses you, kiss him back as hard as you can.”
I am still laughing as I hang up. I grab my clutch bag, drop my phone into it, and head downstairs.
Rhett looks maddeningly good in his charcoal grey suit. The smooth fabric has been tailored to within an inch of perfection around his physique. He has left the top button of his crisp white shirt undone, revealing a tantalizing triangle of tanned skin. So unfair, how effortlessly easy it is for men to look sexy. He holds out his hand like we’re in a scene from a classy black-and-white movie.
“You look devastating,” he says, his eyes gliding slowly over me. “George doesn’t stand a chance.”
Heat floods my cheeks, though I brush past it. “Flattery noted. Let’s get this over with.”
Rhett nods, and we get into the car and set off. Although I am looking forward to seeing George again, I can’t say I am exactly thrilled at the thought of being in Claudia’s home. It feels … wrong. Icky somehow. But I’ve agreed to it now, and we’re almost there. Anyway, it’s a bit late to change my mind, although I’m sure if I did, Rhett would be fine with it.
We pull up outside the address Claudia gave Rhett. It’s a white stucco townhouse in one of those London postcodes that makes your bank account cry just by glancing at it.
“Ready to enter the lion’s den?” Rhett asks, one eyebrow raised.