He dragged his gaze down the length of the blue dress. The fabric shimmered beneath the lighting in the store. It had a snug bodice and a full skirt that fell to her ankles. “It’s beautiful.”
“But?” she prompted, frowning at herself in the mirror.
“Who said there was a but?”
“I heard it in your voice. Or maybe I wanted to hear it, because I don’t know why, but I just don’t love it.”
“That’s the only reason you need,” he told her. “But I happen to agree. It doesn’t suit you as well as the red one. I think it’s a bit too formal.”
“Okay,” she said with a succinct nod. “Moving on.”
In the end, they didn’t like the pink dress either. And so, they left the store hand-in-hand with the red dress neatly packaged inside the shopping bag that now dangled from Ruby’s arm.
“You know, I’m going to need new shoes too,” she told him as they set off down the street.
“Then let’s go get you some.”
Ruby lay flaton the bed in her hotel room, idling twirling a lock of hair between her fingers. She didn’t want to be presumptuous here, but she just might be having the best day ever. She’d walked through a castle that dated back to the Middle Ages, drank champagne in a private capsule on the London Eye, made out with Flynn with an intensity she wasn’t sure she’d felt since high school, and gone on the most extravagant shopping spree of her life.
And the day wasn’t over yet.
He was picking her up for dinner in half an hour, which meant she should really get up and start getting ready. But maybe she had just another minute to lay here on her bed, feeling giddy about her day. She closed her eyes and let out a happy sigh.
Flynn Bowen of Exeter hotels. What an enigma he was. He was sweet and charming and genuinely fun to be around. He hadn’t complained a single time while she shopped, had even seemed to enjoy himself. There was something sad lurking behind his easygoing veneer, though. Not a tragic kind of sad, or at least she didn’t think so. More like unhappiness with his work and his role within the family business. It must be hard, having a legacy like that that you had to fulfill. What if his dreams were calling him in a different direction?
Well, it really wasn’t her business, after all. He was taking her to dinner and the theater tonight, but tomorrow she’d be on her own. She needed to get on with the solo part of her adventure, even if she was already a little bit sad about saying goodbye, which was ridiculous since she’d only met him yesterday. She and Flynn had just clicked from the moment they met.
With a sigh, she sat up and walked to the closet where she’d hung her new dress. It was pretty, fancy but not so fancy that she wouldn’t get other opportunities to wear it, other nights out on the town. Dates, maybe. It was time for her to go on more of those.
She laid it on the bed and stripped out of her clothes, taking a moment to freshen herself up before she got dressed. She took a wet face cloth to wipe the residue of the city off herself, rubbing her favorite lotion into her skin in its place. It smelled like honeysuckle blossoms, and the scent was familiar and soothing, reminding her of home. Not home in the sense that she’d grown up smelling honeysuckle, but she always wore this lotion. It was familiar, maybe the most familiar thing about her day so far.
She stepped carefully into the dress and zipped it up, smoothing her hands over it as she surveyed herself in the mirror. The dress had a high neckline, so it wouldn’t need a necklace, but the gold cuff bracelet she’d worn to Elle’s wedding should go nicely with it. She redid her hair and touched up her makeup before fastening the black strappy heels she’d bought earlier. Her toes, already painted a bright cherry red, accented her outfit perfectly.
She got the black clutch she’d used at the wedding and added her phone, credit card, and other essentials. And then—because this was her adventure and she was committed to being spontaneous—she tucked one of the condoms from the pack she’d bought in the gift shop earlier into her purse…just in case.
Finally ready, she headed down to the lobby, where Flynn waited, leaning against a column and looking at something on his phone. She paused for a moment to admire the sight of him, tall and lean in a charcoal-gray suit with a burgundy tie. His dark hair was again neatly combed, although that one unruly lock had broken free to tumble over his forehead. She’d noticed him swiping irritably at it during the day, but she loved the way it looked, the hint of carefree boyishness it added to his otherwise polished appearance.
“Hi,” she said.
He looked up, his gaze traveling appreciatively from her face to her toes. “Beautiful.”
She stepped forward, close enough to catch a familiar hint of his aftershave. And then, she kissed him, a quick press of her lips against his, just enough to feel the jolt of electricity that sparked in her belly every time they touched. “You look pretty handsome yourself.”
“Do I?” Flynn’s gaze dropped to her lips before he dipped his head and kissed her back. “I think it might just be a byproduct of standing beside you.”
“Stop it.” She swatted playfully at his arm. “Um, you have a little…” She reached up to wipe her lipstick off his lips.
“Ready?” he asked.
She nodded, taking the elbow he’d extended for her and walking together out the hotel’s revolving door onto the street.
“I used a car service tonight, so we didn’t have to concern ourselves with parking or trains whilst dressed like this.” He gestured toward a sleek black sedan parked a few spots away.
“Oh.”Right. She was going out with a hotel heir tonight. “Okay.”
“You don’t mind, do you?”
“Not a bit.” Tonight—and this week—she was committed to rolling with the unexpected, and finding out she had a driver for the evening was definitely not a bad thing.
