“Didn’t you buy anything?”
“The dress didn’t turn fit the way I liked. I hope I didn’t make you wait too long.”
He said it was fine. We went back to his car. “Straight to the appraiser, then?”
I swallowed, sitting in the passenger seat. “Actually. I called ahead and they aren’t open today.”
> “That’s odd. It’s a weekday. They should be.”
“I’m sorry for making you come here.”
“I was coming back to London anyway. It’s no loss.” I exhaled, feeling my chest release. His easy attitude was exactly what I needed, even though I didn’t deserve it, being the dirty, stinking, no-good liar that I was being.
“Look. How about this? Can you drop me off at my friend’s house in Mayfair? I’d feel strange heading straight back to Belshire like this.”
“I offered you my suite. How about you stay, use the spa, have some pampering before you leave?”
“I don’t feel like I can take that offer,” I said.
“It’s no problem, truly,” he said. I shook my head.
“Missy will kill me if she finds out I came to London and didn’t come to see her.”
“If you’re sure.” He started the car, giving up. I leaned back in my seat, telling myself it wasn’t hurt that I heard in his voice. This had been a total failure and a waste of his time. I couldn’t be around him anymore. He was hiding it well, but he was upset, and I didn’t want to make it worse. If he was this upset now, how bad would it be when he found out what I did to his watch? I gave him directions to Missy’s place then texted her.
Hey, are you home? Heading to yours right now.
She replied almost immediately.
Get over here right now.
I kept my eyes forward so I wasn’t looking at Niall. I needed to fix this. I had to bite the bullet and borrow the money that I needed to pay him back. Missy would give me anything I asked for but I still hated asking. If I got the twenty thousand from her, I could get the watch back and everything with Niall would be smoothed over. He wouldn’t know that I sold the watch and that I had lied to him. He could go his way still thinking I was a decent person and I could die of guilt at peace in my county home. I needed this to end. Anymore time together, and I was afraid of what would happen. I could see myself falling for him and that was impossible.
He’d get too close to my secret and I couldn’t let that happen.
19
Niall
I was out of ideas. Officially, I was done. I didn't know what the hell else I could do to get Eddy to trust me. At this point, it was probably useless because I had tried everything. Short of kidnapping her and holding her against her will until she agreed to love me, what else was there?
I paced my hotel room. The television was on and whatever program was playing was blaring loud, but I could barely hear it. It had been about an hour since I had dropped her at her friend's place. She was supposed to be here with me. Being back in this hotel room would have been a lot more bearable if she was here with me. I offered her a place to stay and she said no. I offered her room service, and the spa and she still said no. She might have loved her friend and wanted to spend time with her, that was a possibility. It wasn’t that she thought I was unbearable and didn’t want to spend any time with me unless she absolutely had to.
Was that the case? Was I simply detestable to her? Because at this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if the answer was yes. It felt like it and she wasn’t giving me any indication of the opposite.
So, there it was. She hated me. She’d do anything to stay away. The thought of staying with me, even with unlimited perks on offer made her skin crawl. I would never have pushed her to do something she wasn’t comfortable with. I wanted her to be comfortable… with me, but it looked like that wasn’t possible. There was no way to keep Eddy close to me. She just didn't want to be.
Well, now what? I was back in my suite and I had the rest of the day to kill. I quickly checked the time. It was late evening. The socially acceptable time to get stinking drunk. Perfect. The bar should have been restocked since the last time I had stayed here. I started heading there to check, when my phone rang. It was all the way in the bedroom. Checking who was calling, I read Charlie’s name. Oh, joy. Did I really need a sermon from him before I drunk my sorrows away tonight? Well, why not? It wasn't like he was going to be able to change my mind.
“Yeah?” I asked, walking back out of the room, towards the bar.
“Hey, what's going on? Where are you?” he asked.
About to indulge in the unhealthy coping method that had been keeping me afloat for the last decade of my life. “Where am I? Where are you?” I asked.
“We’re in London.”
“I thought you guys were going on a tour.”