AllFreeNovel
Share Us
And I will be your date for the event.
Her date?
She slanted a sidelong glance at him – perhaps her thousandth since they’d set out from Barnwell that afternoon, and then quickly jerked her attention away as he she felt him turn to look at her.
“You’ve been quiet.”
She nodded. It wasn’t for the usual reasons either. Claudia always felt a whisper of anxiety before she went into nights like this, knowing what was expected of her, and the part she would need to play. The gregarious party girl routine was one she had perfected, and yet there was an increasing pressure that she struggled with.
“Just running over my speech in my mind,” she said softly.
“Want to practice it on me?” He prompted.
She shook her head. “No.” Her door was opened then, by a suited doorman with a shining top hat.
“Good evening, miss.”
“Hi.” She stepped out of the car. Stavros was right behind her, his frame strong and warm as he put a hand in the small of her back.
It was the first time they’d touched since they’d spoken in the kitchen, the day before, and her senses went into overdrive, regardless of the fact it was a perfectly innocuous contact.
She moved further ahead, dislodging his hand from her. The glass doors opened automatically, welcoming them into the grandiose foyer.
“I thought you’d have a place here,” she murmured.
“In London?” He asked, moving towards the reception desk. “I do.”
“So why are we at a hotel?”
“It is being renovated,” he said. “And we both know why your home is not suitable.”
They’d discussed it, heatedly, and he’d won. As usual. He didn’t want her going anywhere near where the paparazzi might be camped out, even when she’d pointed out all of her suitable dresses were there. Instead, he’d told her to buy something and have it delivered to the hotel, which she’d done. He’d also all but forbidden her from contacting Arthur, and even though it hadn’t even occurred to her to do so, Claudia was suddenly very tempted to call him up, just to annoy Stavros.
It was childish but he did bring the worst out in her.
A woman smiled as they approached the counter. “May I help you?”
Claudia looked up at Stavros just as he pulled his phone out of his hip pocket. “Check us in, Claudia. I have to take this.”
She resisted the urge to poke her tongue out at his retreating back, then turned her gaze back to the receptionist.
“Is this your first stay with us, ma’am?”
Claudia nodded.
“Excellent. Welcome to The Maychester. I’ll just need you to fill out this guest registration form,” she handed the sheet of paper over to Claudia with a pen, obviously having no concept that she might as well have slide Claudia an arsenic pill lined with snake venom and told her to ‘eat up’.
“A guest registration form?” She murmured, her eyes blurring as she looked down at the page. The words were gobbledygook, like any time she felt pressured to read. Her hand trembled as she lifted the pen, hovering the tip over the first box and then blinking.
Failure settled around her.
She forced a bright smile to her face.
“I’m sorry,” she leaned closer to the receptionist, her tone conspiratorial. As though they were good friends rather than strangers. “I had a few too many champagnes with lunch and I think I’ll make a mess of this if I even attempt it. Would you mind?”
The receptionist looked surprised at first, but she covered it swiftly, and then she was smiling. “Of course, ma’am.”
Claudia was still dictating information to the receptionist as Stavros disconnected the call, and made his way over.
