Mr. Richardson glanced back and forth between us. I expected him to reprimand me. To tell me to get back to my desk and get to work.
But he didn’t. Instead he nodded as if that was a reasonable request. “Of course. Help yourself to tea or coffee. There are biscuits in the tin.”
My mouth practically fell open. Lucas patted my boss on the shoulder and the older man looked as though he were going to openly fan girl at any moment. “Thank you, Peter. You’re a proper gent.”
Mr. Richardson left, closing the door behind him. Lucas opened the tin and took out a few chocolate cookies, offering me one. I shook my head.
“This stuff happens all the time doesn’t it?” I asked.
“What stuff?” Lucas spoke with a mouth full of cookie.
“People letting you get by with just about anything.”
Lucas raised an eyebrow. “Not all the time. There are people that don’t let me get by with anything.”
“You need to kept in check, Bradley. Otherwise you’ll become truly insufferable.”
Lucas wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and opened the fridge, getting a bottle of water. “So, London?”
I had been dreaming of going to London since I was old enough to dream about anything. When I was a girl I would read history books, pouring over facts about the lives of the people that lived in the English capital. I had imagined a million times in my head, so the idea of actually going there made me giddy.
But…
“I’ve been saving up so I could take a trip to London, but I can’t really afford it yet. Maybe in a few weeks—”
Lucas waved away my comments. “It’s on me. I’ll get a room and train tickets for you.”
I balked. “No. That’s not necessary.”
Lucas looked confused. “I want to do it. I want you to come. It’s no big deal. A hotel room won’t break the bank, love.”
He was so blasé about money. It was mildly infuriating.
“Then let me pay you back,” I went on, not letting it drop.
“Stop being ridiculous. I’ll get the train tickets and book the hotel—”
“I can book the train at least.”
Lucas drained the bottle of water and dropped it in the recycling bin. “What’s the big deal? I can afford it, you know.”
I threw my hands in the air in exasperation. “I know you can afford it, Lucas, that’s not the point. I don’t want you to think you have to pay for things for me. I’m not a mooch.”
“A mooch?” he asked.
“Yeah, a mooch. I don’t want you to think I expect it.” I was feeling embarrassed. Maybe I was being silly, but the last thing I wanted was for him to think that I wanted him to spend tons of money on me. I could imagine other women would be fine with that. Not me. I wanted to make my own way in the world, or not at all.
“I know you don’t expect it. But isn’t this normal? When a man asks a woman he’s seeing to go away with him, it’s customary to pay for it.”
We were ‘seeing’ each other? Since when?
“I don’t like it, Lucas,” I replied stubbornly.
Lucas sighed and closed the distance between us again. He cupped my elbows and pulled me towards him. “This is a big deal to you, isn’t it?”
I nodded. “I know I probably sound stupid, but my mother raised me to never depend on anyone for the things I want in life.”
His hands swept up my arms to cup my face. “She sounds like a smart lady.”
