Page 16 of Manhattan Kiss

But I don’t.

Somehow, I can’t. I don’t want to.

As I near the room, I can’t hear anything. I hold my breath for a few seconds, to see if I can hear anything, but there’s nothing.

I slow as I approach the room—and then suddenly the door opens and my stomach flips over.

Oh my god.

Did they hear me approaching?

I don’t know what to do. Should I acknowledge whoever’s at the door? Or walk by and ignore them?

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Ms. Gordon at the threshold of the door, her jacket over her arm.

I don’t know why I do it. I should just keep on walking, keep looking straight ahead, keep my stride purposeful.

Instead, I turn my head. For some reason, I have to see if he’s there too. I don’t know why, it’s like I’ve lost control of my decision-making and something biological, something innate, is seeking out this man.

Deacon Black is standing there too. His shirt off, his muscular torso on display. I glance up and catch his eye.

He’s glaring at me like he wants to kill me.

I panic and quicken my pace. Avril has told me that Mr. Black is one of their most important guests. If he reports me for suspected eavesdropping, I’m sure to get fired. I’ll be on the first plane back to Heathrow with my tail between my legs. That’s the last thing I want. Now that I’m here, I have to see out my three months. Giving up everything in Chilternshire has to be worth it.

My fate is in the hands of a man who doesn’t know me, other than to think I caused him to spill his coffee.

SEVEN

Deacon

There’re not many times I would make a call to meet someone for a social drink after work, but tonight is one of those nights. Tomorrow’s Wednesday, which means I’ll be back at the townhouse. I’ll have to interact with Gabby for the first time since she told me about her engagement on Sunday, and I still haven’t figured out if I can handle whatever it is she’s going to say. If she says anything. My conversation with Chloe and how everyone handles things differently has been circulating in my head.

“I’ve ordered a bottle of tequila and two beers,” Ben says as I near the table. He gets up and we give each other a hug. I’m not a hugger, but Ben is one of my few friends and we’ve known each other a long time.

“Jesus,” I say. “An entire bottle? Are you trying to kill me?”

I haven’t seen Ben for over a year, but he’s really important to me. Anywhere I’m with him feels like home. Maybe because the years we lived together—first at university and then in New York were the most stable, most secure I’d ever felt up to that point. Gabby and I made him Willow’s godfather, although he wasn’t Gabby’s first choice. For me, there wasn’t another man I’d want my daughter to have a connection with other than Ben. I can’t believe it’s been so long since we caught up. It’s not because I don’t like him, but life’s busy. Especially as I try to spend as much time as possible with Willow at one end of the week. It means that I spend the other end of the week trying to catch up on work. It doesn’t leave much time for socializing.

But Ben is someone I can trust to tell me the truth. And I feel like I need a little truth telling tonight.

“No, but Bray might join. So we need enough to go around, and anyway they don’t do the good stuff by the glass.”

It would be good to see Bray. It’s been even longer since I’ve seen Ben’s brother. “Oh, great.”

“It’s good to see you, man. How have you been?”

I frown as I slide into the booth. “Okay,” I say. “You?”

“Okay?” he asks. “Is that Deacon for terrible, but I can’t share my feelings?”

I chuckle. “Maybe.”

Even though I haven’t been to this bar before, it feels familiar somehow. Safe. It’s because Ben’s here. He feels like family. It’s like I’m meant to be here. I didn’t stay in touch with many kids, as we moved around so much. But I met Ben at eighteen, and he’s the oldest friend I have. When we graduated, I didn’t know what to do, and Ben was headed to New York, so I decided to go with him. What started off as a friendship that consisted of drinking, playing rugby, and him taking the piss out of me being miserable, evolved into a brotherhood as we both tried to make it in Manhattan.

“I’m sorry I haven’t seen you in a while.” I take a swig of my beer.

“I get it. My sister has kids, remember. Although they’re older now, so I get to see her a bit more. The first five years seem brutal.”