“Agreed,” I heard myself say, because I didn’t want to come across as an arrogant snob. Besides, she clearly hadn’t stolen from me out of malice, but because she evidently had nothing but a heap of tatty blankets. Four thousand pounds meant nothing to me. I had more than enough money.
Her eyes widened. “Really?”
“Yes. But you have to come with me to the cashpoint.”
“The wealthy hotel heir doesn’t carry four thousand pounds around with him in cash? Disappointing,” she teased.
So she knew who I was. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that, but I shouldn’t have been surprised. Since the first allegations against my father, my family had constantly been in the media. The only face that didn’t keep showing up in the tabloids was Logan’s, and that was because he avoided being in the public eye at all costs.
“Also, you owe me a meal.”
I looked at her, taken aback. I’d assumed it was a joke. I didn’t have time for a late lunch with some stranger. Even if she was a very pretty stranger. “Is that really necessary?”
“Yes.”
“Can’t you buy your own food with the money?”
“No.”
She got up and brushed off her trousers before stooping to pick up her rucksack. It had been patched up so much that it looked like it might fall apart at any moment. She shouldered it carelessly and adjusted her leather jacket. I hadn’t noticed when she was sitting, but she was small, tiny, and barely reached my shoulders. It was incredible that I was letting this pip-squeak fleece me out of four thousand pounds.
“One more thing,” she said suddenly.
My gaze jerked from the pocket that held my phone to her face. “What now? You want me to buy you a designer handbag? Take you for a spin in the Bentley? Let you fly in my private jet?”
“No.”
“What, then?”
She took a step towards me. Her pleasant, slightly earthy smell surprised me. She looked up at me and smiled. Two dimples appeared in her cheeks, which frustratingly made her even more adorable. My heart faltered. She held out her hand to me as ifnothing had happened. As if she hadn’t just stolen from and blackmailed me. “I’m Kate.”
For a moment, I was too stunned to shake her hand, but then her fingers clasped mine. They were warm and a little rough, but most of all, they were delicate. “I’m Henry, but you already know that.”
Her smile broadened. “It’s nice to meet you, Henry. Do you like burgers?”
8
According to the latest sources, the Darlington family’s fortune is estimated at 1.7 billion pounds.
Excerpt from an article inForbes UK
Kate
When you live on the streets and pick pockets, every day is a surprise. No day is the same as the last, and no one week is like another. Something unexpected could always happen. But when I’d gone out that morning to find the money for Randell, I couldn’t have imagined I’d end up at a McDonald’s with Henry Darlington. I knew there were better places to eat in London, but I loved McDonald’s. My mum and I had hardly ever been able to afford to eat out, but whenever we’d had a little cash to spare, it was where we would end up. The food was mediocre, but the memories I associated with the place made it a five-star restaurant in my eyes.
I approached the digital order kiosk. “Do you want anything?”
“No, thanks,” Henry replied, looking around. In his tailored three-piece suit and tie, he looked completely out of place among the cheap decor.
Henry paid for my order with a credit card he pulled from the inside pocket of his jacket. The kiosk churned out the receipt with an order number, and we joined the other diners waiting for their food. The smell of fried meat made my stomach rumble in anticipation.
I looked up at Henry to see if he’d heard, but he wasn’t looking at me. He was tensely watching the order numbers on the digital display and looked like he couldn’t wait to leave. Perhaps it would have been wiser to take his money and run. He had promised not to call the police, but what if he changed his mind? I wasn’t keen to get arrested, but my desire for company was greater than my fear of going to jail.
Living alone on the streets could be pretty lonely, even though there were people everywhere. And I was curious too. I’d never met anyone like Henry. Someone who was so rich that money didn’t matter. I couldn’t imagine it.
“Do you really have a private jet?”
When he turned from the orders board to look at me, I saw that he had the bluest eyes of anyone I’d ever met. They’d often looked out at me from screens and magazines in the last few months, but the pixels disguised how bright and colourful they really were.
