Ruby leaned in, pressing her lips against his ear. “But I might text you anyway.”
They walked outside into the cool, gray London morning, with Ruby leading the way toward the café where they would meet Megan and Jake.
“Does the sun ever come out here?” she asked, squinting up at the sky, which was fairly bright despite the overcast haze in the air.
“It does, although fall is our rainiest season, so this is likely to be the kind of weather you see for the majority of your trip, I’m sorry to say.”
“It’s okay,” she said. “I don’t really mind it. Mother Nature can’t rain on my parade.”
“That’s the spirit.”
They walked several blocks before she turned left, following GPS directions on her phone. She stopped in front of a glass-fronted café. “This is the place.”
A woman inside—Megan, presumably—waved excitedly when she caught sight of them. Ruby waved back, clasping Flynn’s fingers in her own as she led the way inside.
“Hi,” the brunette said with a wide smile. “I’m Megan, and this is Jake.” She gestured to the man beside her, who nodded politely.
“Flynn Bowen. Very nice to meet you.”
“Likewise,” Megan said, still smiling. “We’ve all been dying to meet the man who swept Ruby off her feet the other night.”
“Megan.” There was a slight rebuke in Ruby’s voice, but she was smiling too. “He didn’t sweep me off my feet so much as untangle me from a rosebush.”
“This is very true,” Flynn agreed.
“Ah, you guys are adorable.” Megan gestured to the empty seats at the table. “Sit down. We waited for you to order.”
Flynn and Ruby sat across from her friends, exchanging casual conversation until the waitress approached to take their breakfast orders.
“Coffee?” Ruby asked in disbelief when the waitress walked away. “I thought you guys only drank tea.”
“I hate to break it to you, but we Brits drink almost as much coffee as you Americans do, although I do enjoy a good cup of tea.” This morning, he needed the extra caffeine boost of coffee after being up half the night with Ruby, working their way through that box of condoms, but he thought it best not to mention that detail in front of her friends.
“Flynn, what do you do for a living?” Megan asked.
“My family owns the Exeter line of hotels and resorts,” he told her. “I’ll be overseeing the newest location in Dubai beginning next month.”
Megan’s eyes widened dramatically. “Um, wow. Sorry. Just…ouch!” She glared at Ruby, who had obviously kicked her under the table.
“Don’t mind her,” Jake said amiably. “She’s nosy and easily flustered.”
“I am neither of those things,” she said, giving him a look of mock exasperation before returning her gaze to Flynn. “Sorry for being dramatic. I know Theo has a lot of rich and important friends. I just didn’t realize I was having breakfast with one of them.”
“Wishing you’d held out for one of Theo’s rich friends?” Jake asked, eyebrows raised.
Megan’s expression softened as she gazed adoringly at him. “Hardly.” She nudged him playfully with her shoulder. “It’s funny. Of the three of us—Elle, Ruby, and me—I probably would have been most likely to say I wanted to fall in love with an earl or a hotel heir. But I would have been wrong, because I only have eyes for the horse trainer.” And she turned and kissed Jake full on the mouth.
Ruby cleared her throat. “Get a room, you two. Anyway, Flynn and I aren’t together, really. Not after this morning, anyway. He’s got to get back to work, and I’m carrying on with my solo trip.”
“Maybe your solo trip needs to keep you here in London a bit longer,” Megan stage-whispered to Ruby with a wink.
Ruby mock-glared at her. “Solo trips are, by design, meant to be undertaken alone.”
An air of awkwardness descended over the table then. Megan turned to say something to Jake, and Ruby gave Flynn an apologetic glance before fiddling with the contents of her purse. Their food arrived soon after, and they turned to more casual topics again as they ate. Megan and Jake were headed straight to the airport after breakfast.
“I’ve already been away from the horses longer than I’m comfortable with,” Jake explained. “Not that I don’t trust the guy I’ve got looking after them, and I’ve sure as hell enjoyed our trip to London, but it’s time to go home.”
“And one of us needs to get back to the castle,” Megan said. “We run an inn out of Rosemont Castle,” she explained to Flynn. “We closed it for the long weekend since we were all here for Elle and Theo’s wedding, but we’ve got guests booked tomorrow night.”
