“As in I haven’t met the real Henry Bentley already?” I said furrowing my brow as I reached for his neck and pretending to lift off a mask.
Henry laughed, and I loved that laugh so much, especially when I knew that I was the cause of it. “No, I didn’t mean it like that. I just meant, without the distraction of work, the busyness of the city and the many onlooking eyes.”
I nodded. This was the first time that he had mentioned them. I was beginning to think he was so immune to the way that people stared at him.
“Just some more private time, intimate time, and I get to show you the things I love the most,” he added.
I choked on my own breath, coughing as soon as he said “intimate.” Oh God, this was going to be harder than I thought. The rose was standing in front of me, though. This was my gateway right here towards everything that I already clearly knew that I wanted. I could just take it from his hand right now. Say yes and let him pick me up and run with me, straight towards his favorite bedroom in this very lavish mansion. Ileaned forward a single inch before I shook my head out of the thought. No, no, I couldn’t take this right now.
“I think that sounds perfect,” I said. “Now let’s go and have a wonderful long weekend.”
Chapter Seven
Henry wrapped me up in his arms, kissing my cheek before I turned my head meeting his lips. He kissed me so gently, squeezing me tighter into him, his hands slowly dropping down my lower back. I could have stayed liked this forever, until the thorn of the rose that he still had held pricked me, instantly stinging me and pulling me back from his hold.
“What? What happened? Are you okay?” Henry reached out for me trying to pull me back into him.
“I’m fine,” I said, looking down at where the rose had pricked me, just above my belly button. Holy shit, no wonder it was still stinging, blood was seeping through my sheer white shirt.
“Oh wow, oh wow,” Henry sighed, and I wasn’t too sure if he was about to faint from the sight of blood or he was more in shock from how quickly I was bleeding. “Oh God, the flower, I did that too you I’m so sorry.”
“It’s fine, it’s fine,” I waved my hand in front of me, “I have really thin blood, avid fish oil consumer, that’s all. It looks alot worse than what it is.” The woman who was still standing beside us, whose name I still did not know, placed the large bouquet of flowers on the ground, and passed me a white silk hanky from her back pocket.
I held it for a second, glancing back at her. This looked way too fancy for soaking up my blood.
“Please, I insist,” she said in a very British accent that I was not expecting. “It’s seriously, just a rag.” I pulled up my shirt, holding the silk to the very small dot on my stomach.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Henry said, reaching for my hand, keeping his eyes down on my blood-soaked shirt.
“I’m fine, I think I just need to get changed,” I said.
“Of course, right this way, Miss Molly,” said the English woman, taking the rose from Henry, placing it back in the bouquet, and spinning back around, strutting up the path that she had just come from. Henry and I followed after her, hand in hand. Miss Molly? Had Henry told everyone that was my name? And that they were expecting me? I didn’t know if I found it endearing or a joke. Either way, it didn’t matter to me too much. My attention was caught on the views right in front of us.
We had just turned the corner of the path, and there was a distinct line underneath my feet of where the cement path turned into gold cobble stones. As soon as I stepped onto them, I felt like I had walked into a fairytale. Henry’s eyes were locked on me and he smiled. My jaw was open, taking in every little piece of the scenery surrounding us. Watching this islandfrom up above as we descended in the helicopter, it looked stunning, but nothing compared to what was standing right in front of me.
The greenery stopped as I walked up a few golden stairs. To the left of me was the long glass pier that boasted views of the bright blue water underneath, and one of the largest white yachts casually parked at the end. Each side of the golden path contained different pools, very luxe man-made rock pools. One pool was for cold temperature; another was a warm bubbling spa, and yet another was filled with magnesium.
Behind the pools lay the large, rendered cream mansion that Henry had previously called his holiday house. My vision of anyone’s holiday house had always been the small shacks on the coastline or apartment in the cities. Even the most luxurious houses that lined the Hamptons had nothing on this. I felt like a tiny speck standing in front of it. Two large double doors were wide open in the front, and above lay two large glass windows, which expanded all the levels of the mansion, absorbing all the sun. I tried to count the levels but as I gazed up, trying to calculate, I was interrupted by Aaron who walked through the open doors straight towards us, waving at Henry.
“I’m taking off now, but please call if you need anything at all. I’m just forty minutes away and I trust that the two of you will have a fabulous weekend. If I don’t hear from you beforehand, I’ll see you on Monday afternoon.”
I nodded and he thanked me alongside Henry, but he kept his gaze on me for a moment longer before quickly turning away.
“Welcome to my place,” Henry said, leaning in close to me and whispering in my ear. His breath ran down my neck, down my spine, heating my lower belly and down between my legs. Oh God, this would be one hell of an insatiable weekend. Him, this place, my body’s reaction to him from a single, look, touch or whisper. But I had to stick to the plan that I had made with the girls. That rose was mine; this place would not just be the place that I visited one time. It would become my regular destination. With Henry, the man of my dreams.
“This is stunning,” I said. He smiled.
“Jackie will help show you around and help you get cleaned up. If you don’t mind, I’m just going to catch up with the kitchen staff. I’d love to organize a nice lunch for us…”
His eyes drifted somewhere behind me, and his brow furrowed just slightly. “I’ve just had a thought,” he said. “Jackie, show Miss Molly around, help her out with anything that she might need, and we can meet on the back terrace in an hour,” he said, winking as he let go of my hand. He placed a soft kiss on my cheek, before disappearing through the side of the building. Jackie gestured for me to follow her through the front doors.
Other than lunch I didn’t know what Henry was off to plan, but I hoped it wasn’t to show me the house. I wanted to explore every single nook and cranny of this place without hiseyes on me, watching my every move. He would only wonder what I was thinking. This was my chance to get extra curious about him and how he created the very place that he bought no girls to.
“Welcome, Miss Molly. Apologies I didn’t introduce myself properly before. I’m Jackie and I will be your go-to, for anything that you need during your stay with us,” said Jackie as she led me through the front doors of Henry’s mansion.
My jaw dropped open once again as I looked up at the curved staircase standing right in front of me, with golden steps and cream rendered rails matching the exterior outside. Beneath my feet was polished concrete, and I knelt to get a closer a look at the flickers of gold in it. Maybe that wasn’t concrete. Maybe that was a gold laced marble underneath my feet. Each side had a different aesthetics. To the right was a large white curved couch facing the front of the house with views of the pools and the water. And sitting on the wall alongside it was a very abstract piece of art and a record player, but I couldn’t see any records.
To the left of me was a black leather couch, which provided seating for at least twenty people. It looked a lot more corporate, and this made sense since Henry mostly used this place for business meetings. Jackie ran ahead of me, placing the large bouquet of flowers on the large bar that sat behind the stairs. It was an impressive square sitting five people either side, and a tower of alcohol bottles in the middle reached up to the ceiling. Very modern Gatsby.
