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‘You love to pry. You’re officially nosy.’
‘Okay, yes, I am.’ How had he got to know her so well, so fast? ‘I saw the YouTube video.’
‘You and every other person in the country with eyes.’ There was a bitterness to his words Faith didn’t like. Was he still in love with Kat?
She tilted her head round to see his face. ‘Want to tell me what happened?’
‘You want a blow-by-blow account?’ he asked, eyebrows raised. ‘I thought you saw the video.’
‘Not that,’ she said. ‘Between the two of you. A woman doesn’t just go off and betray her fiancé on the Internet for no reason.’
He sighed, and she could feel the air leaving his chest, leaving him smaller, sunken. ‘She didn’t know she was being filmed, apparently. Not that it’s much of an excuse.’
‘It really, really isn’t.’
There was a pause, and for a moment she thought that was all he would say on the matter. Then he spoke again. ‘She was unhappy. With me, mostly. She...she wanted me to let her in, she said. She never felt like she was a real part of my life.’
Faith winced. She could see that, could see Dominic defending everything he held dear, holding it so tight that there was no room for anything else. Until tonight.
‘You loved her, though?’
Dominic shrugged. ‘She seemed like a good fit. Similar background, similar ambitions. She’d have been a great lady of the manor.’
Faith frowned. ‘You make it sound like you were marrying her to enhance your brand, not because you loved her.’
‘Maybe I was,’ Dominic admitted, and Faith’s eyes widened. ‘Not intentionally, of course. I thought it was the real thing. But now, I wonder... Maybe she’s right. Maybe I never let her in.’
‘Because then she couldn’t really leave you.’
She’d turned almost completely round in his arms now, Faith realised too late. His grip had tightened too, and anyone seeing them would surely have no doubt that they were lovers, held close in a lovers’ embrace. Her body pressed up against his chest, her hands at his back. Would he kiss her this time? Would she let him?
Somewhere, a car horn blared, a crowd of guys laughed out loud and music played. Dominic ignored all of it, staring straight into her eyes. Then, without giving any indication of what had changed between them, he said, ‘So, what’s next on this tour of yours?’
Faith blinked, trying to break out of the moment. And then she realised that there was still one very special place she wanted to show him. ‘Let’s go see the pelicans.’
* * *
‘Are you going to make me break into a zoo?’ Dominic asked as they crossed back over Westminster Bridge, the Thames gleaming with lights below them. ‘Because I think not being Lord Beresford for the night stops at criminal behaviour.’
Faith rolled her eyes, then tugged on his hand to make him keep moving. ‘Have you honestly never seen the pelicans in St James’s Park before?’
‘Didn’t even know we had any.’ How many times had he walked through that park, on the way to somewhere? A few, at least. Wouldn’t he have noticed big white birds swooping overhead?
The gates to the park were still open, thankfully, which meant it couldn’t be too late, even if it felt like some magical witching hour. That was probably just Faith’s influence.
‘What time does the park close?’ he asked as they headed into trees and lush grasses, just moments from the busy city centre.
‘Midnight,’ Faith replied, her tour guide brain still working.
‘Do you know everything about London?’ He’d lived in the city most of his adult life, and apparently missed everything of any importance. He had to spend more time exploring. If he ever got the chance.
‘I know that the park has been home to pelicans since 1664, when the Russian Ambassador gave the first ones as a gift. And I know that the city of Prague gave the park three new ones last year, and I haven’t met them yet.’
She talked about them like friends or relatives, he realised. ‘You like the pelicans?’
‘They’re my favourite part of the city,’ she admitted, stumbling to a stop on the lakeside path. ‘Look!’
Dominic’s gaze followed where her finger was pointing, into a clump of reeds at the edge of the lake. It took him a moment to spot the white feathers in the moonlight. ‘It’s asleep.’
Faith gave him a scathing look. ‘Of course he is. It’s late.’
Glancing at his watch, Dominic realised she was right. ‘Eleven-thirty. Cars should be picking up from the theatre around now. Heading to the after-show party.’
