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Luce laughed. ‘Trust me. The father is about as far from Dennis as you can imagine.’
‘In that case, I really want to meet him,’ Dolly said. ‘I take it it’s the old university friend, then? The one you got snowed in with?’
Luce nodded. ‘That’s him.’
‘Funny...I didn’t even know you were still in touch with any of your friends from then.’
‘You mean, you didn’t know I had any in the first place.’ She hadn’t, really. Mandy had been her housemate, but had only been friendly when it suited her.
‘That, too.’
‘We weren’t...close then.’ Understatement of the year.
Dolly nudged her with her shoulder. ‘You obviously are now. Have you told him?’
God, how had things changed so that Dolly was the one asking sensible questions? Luce had imagined this conversation the other way round all through Dolly’s teenage years. ‘Not yet. He’s away on business. I don’t want to tell him over the phone.’
‘Fair enough. How do you think he’ll react?’
Luce thought of Ben recounting his life rules over dinner in Chester, his explanation of the one-night rule, and said, ‘Badly.’
Really, who wouldn’t? Yes, he’d asked if he could call her when he got back from his business trip, but that wasn’t the same as having a lifetime tie to another person and the responsibility of a baby thrust upon him. Of course he was going to react badly. It was what he did next, once he’d calmed down, that mattered. How would he try to fix her life this time? Because if his answer was to throw money at the problem, rather than time or love, she was done with Ben Hampton.
‘Then he’s an idiot. Clearly having you in his life would be the best thing to ever happen to him.’
Luce looked up, astonished. ‘Thank you.’
‘And, anyway, it doesn’t matter what he says. Auntie Dolly will be here to make things brilliant every step of the way.’
To her surprise, Luce found that made her feel a whole lot better.
* * *
Ben stared up at the building of the Royal Court Hotel, the February wind whipping down the cobbled streets and through his coat. How the hell was he going to look at this place objectively, think about changing anything, without thinking about Luce? Hell, she was all he’d thought of for over a month. In every Hampton & Sons hotel he’d visited there’d been something to remind him of her. A bedspread or a cushion in the same soft fabric she loved. A gin and tonic at the bar. Shining dark hair glimpsed across a room. She was haunting him, and he couldn’t even figure out why. Was it because he’d left her as broken as he’d found her? Maybe more so? Or was it as simple as a bruised ego? He’d offered to break his rules for her and she’d turned him down.
He’d considered finding someone else—someone to prove the validity of his one-night rule—but none of the women he’d met seemed to appeal. Nothing did. Not the New Year’s Eve party he’d found himself at in New York, nor the cutting-edge restaurant in Sydney. And as the jobs dragged on and delays crept in all he wanted was to be back in his cottage. With Luce.
He’d even thought about calling, asking her to join him, but he couldn’t bear to hear her say that she couldn’t leave her family, her job, whatever else it was that mattered more than he did.
The woman might think she wanted to settle down, find true love, but until she cut those ties—or at least slackened them a little—no man stood a chance.
Besides, it wasn’t as if he was looking to settle down anyway. His job—his life—still involved travelling the world, getting out there, and what woman would put up with that long-term?
She could come with me. Write on the road... Except she wouldn’t. And so he wouldn’t ask. Even if the thought of waking up next to Luce Myles every morning was incredibly tempting.
Shivering, Ben pushed open the door at last, and memories made him grit his teeth at the sight of the lobby. The desk where he’d first seen her. The bar where he’d stolen her diary. And, upstairs, the suite where she’d taken that long, long bath. God, knowing what he knew now, he wished he’d just walked in on her then. All that time wasted...hours and hours when he could have had her in his arms and hadn’t.
And even more of them ahead.
‘Mr Hampton!’
The blonde behind the reception desk beamed at him and Ben tried desperately to remember her name.
‘It’s so wonderful to have you back so soon.’
Which meant that the entire hotel staff were panicking about why he needed a repeat visit, and wondering if it was a sign that their jobs were in danger. Great. ‘It’s lovely to be back...’
