her messy up-do, keeping it in place. “I left because cuddling and staying for breakfast are things couples do, and we are not a couple.”
Sarah lifted her chin, her eyes narrowing into a squint behind her glasses. “Nice hickey.”
What? Leia winced. “Where?!” Her hands flew to her throat. “I didn’t see it last night.”
“The hollow by your collarbone. Left side,” said Sarah. “He’s a bit of a keener, eh?”
Fuck. Leia grabbed her phone and opened the camera app. How bad is it?
“When are you seeing him again?”
Reversing the camera, Leia angled the screen in front of her neck. “I dunno.” She tilted her head and tugged her pajamas aside. Ah, jeez! Tarquin’s amorous souvenir earned a frown and a terse “Ugh.” This is my fault, telling him to kiss me hard. She closed her eyes tight for a beat and dropped her phone in her lap, but her fingers fled back up to her stretched collar, yanking it over the purple mark. “We had fun, but…I think we want different things.”
“What? Anal?”
Leia snorted out a laugh. “Saz! No! I think he might be looking for something more than sex.”
“Didn’t you discuss that?”
“Yeah, but still. It’s just a feeling I have.” Leia closed the neck of her pajamas one button at a time ensuring that Jordan—when he snored himself awake—wouldn’t spot Tarquin’s love bite and piggyback on Sarah’s teasing.
Sarah scooped up her Will and Kate mug. “I think you’re overreacting.” She peered inside and sneered at the cold dregs of last night’s milky tea swirling in the bottom of the cup.
“No, I’m being cautious. I can’t get involved with someone who wants something I can’t give.”
“Just because Tarquin was a gentleman last night doesn’t mean he’s catching feelings, Ley. It means he’s nice! You’ve just forgotten what that’s like. Seriously, your alarm bells are triggered too easily. Not every guy is an asshole, you know.”
No, just the ones I get mixed up with.
“What was his place like?”
“Like a castle in the sky—no joke.” Leia slumped back into the couch. “Imagine a historic warehouse converted into apartments, and his place is the lavish penthouse with five massive floors.”
Sarah’s eyebrows disappeared into her bangs. “Five?”
“Yep! We took his private elevator to get to the top one.”
Mouth agape, Sarah curved forward in her wheelchair. “He has his own elevator? God, he’s a man after my own heart.”
I knew she’d love that. Leia chuckled. “I wasn’t surprised he has lots of man-toys, but I didn’t expect so many books. They’re everywhere! On shelves, coffee tables, all neatly stacked—even inside a red telephone box.”
“What? Like a real one?” Sarah giggled. “You took a selfie with it, didn’t you?”
“No!”
Sarah reached out. “Let me see your phone.”
“I didn’t!”
“Well, it must be the only one in London you haven’t snapped.”
Leia shrugged. “So, I like them.”
“You love them!”
I do. I’m obsessed. “Tarquin’s also got a baby grand piano and a pop art collection. And he loves to cook.”
“Jeez, Ley, you read him all wrong.”
She picked at the case on her phone. “Yeah, I couldn’t believe it when I spotted Warhol and Lichtenstein originals in his place.”
“Christ on a bike! Jordan’s gonna freak when he hears that! They’re having a huge Warhol auction at his work.”
“Well, it gets better,” said Leia. “He owns an original signed Banksy, too.”
Sarah’s jaw dropped. “You love him!”
“Yeah, and his print is my favorite: the young girl reaching for the heart-shaped red balloon—”
“Drifting out of her grasp!” Sarah finished Leia’s sentence. “Wow, I hate to think what that must’ve cost. Where does he keep it?”
“It’s in his living room overlooking that gorgeous bridge. You know, the old one that looks part castle, part bridge?”
Her sister squeezed the mug in her grasp. “Tower Bridge? That’s his view?! Oh, man. That’s just—wow. A view you could fall in love with, and despite all that, you still don’t want to date him?”
Leia rolled her eyes. “Saz, if you like him so much, maybe you should.”
“He sounds perfect for you, that’s all. I’d hate for you to kiss him goodbye just because—”
“Tyler sounded perfect, too, remember?” She shook her head. “I uprooted my entire life for him—twice. I won’t let myself go down that road again.” Her sister opened her mouth to say something, but Leia cut her off. “Even for great sex with a rich British guy with a castle in the sky.”
Twelve
TARQUIN
One week later
Fighting the heaviness squeezing his chest, Tarquin peered through a floating veil of dust and ash, his polished shoes crunching shattered glass and scorched beer