“Holy shit,” Ruby blurted. Exeter was a chain of high-end hotels with locations all over the world. She’d never actually stayed at one because they were well outside her budget. Flynn’s family was loaded. Probably the kind of loaded she couldn’t really even wrap her mind around.
“It’s less impressive than it sounds,” he said. “Or my role in the family business is unimpressive anyway. They have me lined up to oversee a new location being built in Dubai starting next month.”
“Is that not something you want?” she asked, stepping closer to him. Something restless, almost sad had come over him since they’d started talking about his family’s hotels.
“It’s a very exciting opportunity,” he said, not quite answering her question. “I enjoy getting to see new places. I’ll be living in Dubai for the next six months or so.”
“It does sound exciting,” she said cautiously, because it was obviouslynotexciting, or at least not in a good way, for him. But she didn’t know him well enough to pry or to understand what else was at play here.
He moved restlessly around the capsule, pausing to lift their bottle of champagne. “Shall we crack this open? We’ve got about forty-five minutes in here to drink it.”
“Well, I do like a good challenge,” she said with a grin. “Let’s do it.”
He wrapped a cloth napkin around the neck of the bottle and popped the cork, then poured two glasses. He handed one to her, and they clinked their glasses together.
“To exciting adventures,” he said.
“For both of us,” she added. “Whatever or wherever they end up taking us.”
“I’ll drink to that.”
She lifted the glass to her lips and took a sip. The cold, frothy liquid seemed to sparkle on her tongue, as heady and bright as the week ahead promised to be. She was in a private capsule on the London Eye with a handsome, chivalrous hotel heir, drinking champagne. If the rest of her week was half as exciting, she’d call her adventure a win.
They stood together in silence for a few minutes, sipping their champagne and watching London unfurl beneath them as their capsule crept toward the top of the Ferris wheel.
“Oh, I see Big Ben,” she said, looking down at the oversized clock tower that contained the famous bell. The buildings spread out below them, a mixture of sleek, modern designs and old stone structures that were works of art all on their own. In between them, the river Thames twisted like a glistening serpent, moving steadily toward the ocean beyond.
“And right over there is Westminster Abbey.” Flynn pointed out the famous building.
Laid out beneath them like a postcard were all the famous London landmarks that she’d heard about and never seen. She set down her empty champagne flute and pressed her fingers against the glass. “Kind of dizzying, isn’t it?”
“A little bit.”
The pit of her stomach tingled as she looked at the city below, a combination of the height and the champagne. It was oddly disorienting, being alone in this little bubble suspended above the city—just her and Flynn—but also intoxicating, like she was separated from the real world, responsibilities, her past, her future. None of it seemed relevant as she glided toward the top of the London Eye. “I think I could stay in here forever.”
“You’d miss fresh air.” Flynn walked up behind her.
“True.” It was kind of stuffy in here.
“It’s nice to be suspended in time for a little while, though, isn’t it?” There was something nostalgic in his tone.
“Yes.” She pulled out her phone and snapped a photo of the view before asking Flynn to take one of her. She posted them both to her hashtag before putting her phone away. Ruby was going rogue right now, all right.
He refilled their glasses as Ruby looked down at the capsule below them, then up at the top, drawing ever closer. Her stomach lurched as they swooped upward. It was a ghost sensation, though, more a product of her anticipation than reality, because the capsule moved slowly enough to allow passengers to keep walking around, observing the sights without losing their footing. That dip in her stomach was one hundred percent in her own head.
She walked to the other side, taking a drink of champagne as she went. Already, she could feel the warmth of it spreading through her body, fizzing in her veins.
“Now, isn’t this better than sharing the capsule with dozens of other people?” Flynn said from behind her, his accent exaggerated either by the alcohol or her own semi-buzzed state.
“Much better.”
He topped off her glass, and they drank as their capsule crested the top of the wheel. “I’m not much of a tourist here in my own city, but even I have to admit this is pretty nice.”
“Hard to imagine anything topping this.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that,” Flynn said with a smile.
She polished off another glass of champagne, by now feeling delightfully buzzed as they glided around the Ferris wheel. She set her glass down and turned, her hands landing on Flynn’s chest. Before she could second-guess herself, she brought her lips to his.
