He wants me to go to his room? My eyes widen. Has it already worked? Has the mere presence of River already pushed Henry into realising that he can’t bear to see me with anyone else?
I turn to Henry, pure hope and relief making me grin stupidly. ‘I’ll be there.’
CHAPTER TWENTY
‘And everyone’s face when I knew the answer to the final question? They did not expect some “dumb American cowboy” to know hisBildungsromansfrom hisKunstlerromans!’
‘Thatwasimpressive,’ I chuckle, enjoying River’s unexpected enthusiasm at the fact that he, Jim and Sir Otto completely annihilated Henry, Marisol and me.
‘With pub quizzes and custard creams and those teensy little Yorkshire puddings, perhaps this country isn’t quite the hellscape I’d originally thought.’ River takes off his cowboy boots and sort of dives onto the big, neatly made bed so that the wooden posts tremble and the blankets ruffle up. He picks up the remote control and starts flicking through the channels. ‘Why does every show here have bunting?’
I snort. ‘Yeah, there is a weird amount of bunting over here. We are very into it as a country.’
‘But why?’
‘British sailors used to hang bunts in the olden days, I think. For celebrations? We probably just liked how pretty they looked and kept on with it.’
‘Bunts?’
‘That’s what they used to call the flags. Bunts.’ I turn to face him. ‘I guess we’re just a nation full of bunts.’
‘Ha!’ River barks, the sound of it seeming to surprise him.
He immediately clears his throat. ‘Anyhow, you feeling good about things so far?’
‘Yes. I’m nervous and totally weirded out, but I cannot believe how quickly everything is working out,’ I run a brush through my hair. ‘An invite to talk with Henry less than four hours after we got here. You were totally right, River. Making him jealous totally worked, I’ll admit it. I’m just relieved I’ll be able to stop pretending to be into you.’
River grins cockily. ‘Pretending? I saw the goosebumps.’
I scowl. ‘That’s just science.’
‘Science?’
‘Yeah. I’m very sensitive to touch. Any touch. Plus, uh, your hands were … cold. Ergo, goosebumps.’
‘Sure, Gertie. Well, you did a great job ofpretendingyou were into it.’ He puts his arms behind his head. ‘Let me take a look at you. Uh-huh. I can see why he invited you over for a bootie call. That dress. It’s a fine dress.’
I head over to the mirror above the dressing table and dab on some lipbalm. ‘Henry didn’t invite me over for a bootie call! He wants totalkto me …’
‘Justtalk? In his hotel room? At eleven p.m.? After seeing you swooning over me? Yeah, I don’t think so.’
‘I didn’t swoon!’
‘Oh, you swooned. No judgement. I have that effect.’
Ugh. ‘I write swoons for a living. I’m a swoon expert. I didnotswoon. It takes a lot more than a finger in the mouth to makemeswoon.’
River cocks an eyebrow.
Dammit.
I wave him away and turn around so he can’t see my rapidly reddening cheeks. ‘Anyway, mine and Henry’s relationship wasn’t ever, you know, about the sex. It was deeper than that. It was a soul connection.’
River rolls his eyes, unconvinced. ‘Just so long as you two get back together and I can get the hell out of here, I’ll be as happy as a hog in slop. But also … if you do fuck him can you try to make it quiet? These walls are like cardboard and I do not need to hear that.’
‘Fine,’ I say primly, snapping the cap back onto the lipbalm. ‘Although Henry and I were never vocal lovers anyway, so that won’t be a problem. We’ll probably just hold each other all night long and talk things through, him stroking my hair, me stroking his palm …’
I clamp my mouth shut; why the hell am I sharing this level of intimate information with what essentially is a near stranger? Am I sharing with him because I know that him being here is temporary? Or perhaps it’s because he seems to only be half-listening to what I’m saying anyway, attention now focused on an episode ofMidsomer Murders, a frown of concentration on his face.
