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“All I’m telling you is that we aren’t flying anywhere. Now let’s go. We have a lot of research to do on a Darby…”
“Hotel,” she says, always quick with her comeback.
“That too.” Grabbing my bag and tucking her under my arm, we walk from my office. I know I’m inviting a whole lot of trouble getting involved with a woman who is so much younger than me and still wanting to discover the world. But right now, I can’t stay away from her, and she seems to have the same problem.
One day at a time, they say.
* * *
While Victoria packed a bag, I waited outside her home in the car, calling her boss Doug and explaining the situation. I told him everything. I don’t want him to have the wrong impression of Victoria. I need to protect her from the frenzy that will swarm around me now. He was very professional and asked me to keep him up to date as the week progresses. I promised him we would be working on the account, because what better way for Victoria to come up with ideas than to get to know the real me?
I know she was expecting me to have a car waiting for us outside the office when we left, but I had messaged Wallace to bring my Maserati from my apartment. The way her eyes nearly popped out of her head made me smile. Everything is new and sparkly to her; she’s not concerned about how she appears to others. Her words of“holy shit, this is a bit fancy”had me laughing as I helped her in.
The guys have been updating me since we left, and Jocelyn, as expected, is making noise, but thankfully, the board members have all said they are on team Nicholas. I’m sure they are concerned, probably even more than when I arrived and took over, but hopefully, I have gained enough trust since then.
I hear Victoria coming out the front door before I even see her. “Sorry I took so long. Had to message Elouise, and of course, she rang me straight back. Even left her classroom when she is not allowed. Oops.”
I laugh at her bumbling explanation.
“Does she need proof-of-life pictures again?” I ask, taking her bag from her which is smaller than I was expecting.
“Oh, good idea.” She grabs her phone out of her handbag that she placed on the front seat. “Smile for the policemen,” she says before rethinking her words. Watching her face drop is priceless. “Sorry, not so funny this time.”
“Come here, beautiful.” With my hands on her waist, I spin and place her on the hood of the car next to me. Taking her phone from her, I pull her into my side. “Now, let’s smile for Jocelyn who wishes this was her car.” It has the desired effect with the most natural laugh falling from her as I click the picture.
“I can’t believe you let me sit on your car. Do you have a thing for Maseratis or was it cheaper to buy by the dozen?”
As I lift her down again, my brain is commenting that I now have a thing for her on the hood of my Maserati. It’s a thought to tuck away for another time.
“Why drive an old man’s Volvo when you can have a car like this?” I say, holding open her door and helping her into her seat. “Besides, I’m told women like things that are powerful and with the perfect amount of thrust.”
“True, but I’ve also been told vintage cars fail to perform due to age.” She pulls the door from my hands to close it as she laughs to herself at getting the last say.
Just you wait, my little fireball. I’ll show you that age and experience will far outweigh youth any day of the week. Lack of stamina is not in my vocabulary.
* * *
Pulling up to the entrance of the estate and waiting for the gates to open, I can see the wonder in her expression.
The sign on the front stone pillar gives it away.
“Welcome to Darby Estate, the place I call home,” I say, driving slowly through the entrance while she is taking it all in. That iconic sound of the tires on the gravel is like the trigger point for me to finally breathe. While I’m within the boundaries of the estate, I feel like I can be me. No one to see me or judge what I’m doing, wearing, or saying.
I don’t think Victoria has any idea of the gravity of me bringing her here. The only woman who I have brought here is my mother, and besides that, the guys are the only other people who I let into my personal space.
If she could have seen the comments in the group message with them when I told them where I was taking her. They know what it means. The problem is that I do too, and that’s what scares me.
“Nicholas…” It’s barely more than a whisper from Victoria, and it makes me smile as we pull up to the house. It’s everything you would imagine of an old country estate. It was the first thing my grandfather purchased for my grandmother when he made his first million.
It’s a two-story house that is much bigger than I need, with six bedrooms and bathrooms. But to me, it’s home and somewhere I know that my father spent time as he grew up, riding horses and learning to hunt. Neither of those things interest me, but I feel him here when I come home. It’s a comfort I had longed for all my life and didn’t realize until I stepped foot on the grounds.
The driveway circles a large fountain in front of the house, with gardens all around the edge. The traditional box hedge borders the driveway and two shaped pine trees in large concrete pots sit on either side of the solid front door. It’s not a door I use often, preferring to go in the back door after parking in the garage. It doesn’t feel as ostentatious as the big grand entrance at the front. I didn’t grow up in this life, so falling into it like I did took some adjustments.
“What, this old place?” I pull around the side of the house to park where Victoria can see all the back garden area. My grandmother loved to spend her time back here, and now Henry gets a gardener in to maintain it at its best. It’s the least I can do for a woman I never had the honor of meeting.
“Old seems to be the flavor of the day. You can’t just shrug this off. It’s absolutely gorgeous and not what I would have picked for you. A flashy London apartment is more your style.” Undoing her seatbelt, she turns toward me and sees the smirk on my face. “Of course, you have one of those too, don’t you.” I don’t want to correct her that I own a whole building of them, because it’s not important to me, and I hope it’s not important to her either.
“Come on, I’ll show you inside.” As we get out of the car, I realize I should have warned her about Sid. Before I have time to call him off, he jumps up on her with both front paws, looking for some loving.
