“Somehow, I knew you were going to say that.”
Karina smiled as she swung her feet back and forth on the brick wall we’d taken up residence on. We’d pretty much walked the entire grounds and needed a moment to relax and take in the rest of the scenery. She had snacks in one hand and her flowers I’d just gotten her in the other.
The way she was smiling made me smile. I could tell she was genuinely happy to be here with me, and that gave me hope. I didn’t have much of that after the first morning she walked into my Vegas office, but only a few hours and two flights later, I had something to hold on to.
When Karina felt like she’d seen everything she wanted to see at Kew Gardens, I decided to take her out for a day filled with all the touristy shit people did in London. There were so many spots to hit up while we were in the city that we honestly needed more time to check them all off.
I had always seen in the movies people would hop on and off buses to see a large city in one day. Lucky for us, my driver was willing to take us anywhere we wanted to go.
“So, where do you want to go first?” I asked Karina as we got settled in the heavily tinted black truck.
Milo, my driver, had given us a website with curated site lists we could follow. Karina was already diving deep into the site to see what she wanted to do first.
“Um, I like this list the best. It basically hits all the spots I want to see.”
“Then that’s the one we will do.”
I handed Karina’s phone to Milo to show him which one we planned to go with. He nodded his head, and I handed the phone back to Karina. She wore the goofiest smile, which made me chuckle against my will. I really forgot how funny she could be.
“Why are you smiling like that?”
“I’m just enjoying you spoiling me like this. A girl could get used to this.”
“You should already be used to this, but since you’re not, I don’t mind being the one to give it to you.”
Karina took a sip of her water and sat back in her seat. She focused her attention out the window, while mine was still fully on her. We settled into a comfortable silence as Milo merged into the busy London traffic, taking us to our next destination.
Our next stopwas the London Eye, and Karina didn’t seem as excited about seeing that, but since it was first on the list, she wanted to go in order. From what I could tell, it was like a gigantic Ferris wheel smack dab in the middle of London.
“I heard if you get on the London Eye, you can see the entire city in one fell swoop. That will help us decide what we want to see up close.”
I was talking to Karina, but she seemed really focused on everything around us. The closer we got, the more focused shelooked. There was a long wait time, but I had no plans to wait in line. I definitely wasn’t about to make my girl stand in one.
“You good?”
This time, I held out my hand to stop Karina from walking. She still hadn’t said a word, and the look on her face had changed from deep focus to fright. She was scared.
“Yeah, of course.”
She was lying, but since she kept walking, I followed. I paid for VIP access, and we were taken to the front. We only waited two minutes before we were escorted to our seats. After we were seated, they gave us instructions on how long we would be up there and how to keep ourselves safe.
Karina patted her feet against the floor of the ride and closed her eyes as we were being lifted in the air. The way she gripped my arm was its own aphrodisiac. Nothing was sexier than a woman relying on you for safety.
“Are you scared?” I asked as she squeezed my arm tighter.
“Only a little.”
Her eyes were still closed when she answered. I didn’t know how she planned to see anything if she didn’t open them. I kissed the top of her forehead.
“Karina, open your eyes for a second. I got you.”
Just as I thought, we could see the entire city of London when we reached the peak height of the ride. Big Ben and the Cathedral were two of the most prominent landmarks and seeing them from above piqued my interest. I couldn’t wait to see them up close or maybe even go inside.
I glanced down, and the people below looked so small that they looked like ants. It was always a funny feeling being so high up in the air. It was like being able to see things from a better perspective.
“Oh my God! Look how small everyone looks.”
Karina had finally opened her eyes, which were now wide. Her grip on my arm had also loosened, but she was still holding on. She was still scared, but now her fear was mixed with a little bit of intrigue.
