“Then take all the time you need. You must be dying to give your friend all the gossip from your weeklong sex-athon.”
I opened my mouth to argue, but Mrs. Atallah had already shut the door in my face.
With a shrug, I set off toward the Tube station. As much as I hated the thought of spending an evening away from Darcy, Mrs. Atallah was right. I’d been avoiding Bianca’s messages all week, but I couldn’t hide from my best friend forever. I just hoped that she’d been so busy organizing her engagement party that she wouldn’t have noticed my silence.
Bianca had suggested we meet in a pub near Charlotte Street at 7:00 p.m. Given that I’d finished work at six, I decided to pop into Foyles first in case I could find any reference books there about literary-based magic. The quickest way to get to Foyles from Cake Expectations was to cut through Cecil Court, but I decided to go the long way around toavoid Baskerville Books. Yet the Fates were clearly having a laugh at my expense, because as I made my way up Charing Cross Road, I spotted a tall, blond-haired man walking ahead of me, wearing the same blue shirt as the first time we’d met. Swearing under my breath, I slowed my pace, but he was ambling along in no apparent hurry. I soon saw why.
A tiny, dark-haired woman in a floral maxi dress and strappy high-heeled sandals was walking alongside him, carrying an oversize tote bag under one arm. She had the glossiest hair of any human I’d ever seen and the kind of elegant walk in high heels that I’d never managed to master (to be fair, I could count on one hand the number of times I’d worn high heels in the last five years). As they walked, Nick said something to her, and the woman tossed back her hair and laughed. Was this his girlfriend? If so, she wasn’t at all what I’d imagined. Not that I’d imagined Nick having a girlfriend, obviously, but if I had, I would have assumed she’d be the moody, gothy type; all dark eyeliner and scathing one-liners. But this girl looked positively peppy; plus, she obviously found him hilarious from the volume of her laugh. I rolled my eyes. Nick did have a good sense of humor, but she was acting like he was a stand-up comedian.
I followed them for a few minutes, getting increasingly frustrated at their slow pace; at this rate, I wouldn’t have time to visit Foyles before I met Bianca. But just as I was about to cross the road to try to overtake them, I saw the woman’s bag slip off her arm and fall to the pavement. Nick immediately stopped to pick it up, and as he did, his eyes swung back behind him, straight at me.
I dropped my own eyes to the pavement, pretending to study something intently on the end of my foot, but when I looked up again, Nick was still staring at me, as was his companion. Oh crap, I could hardly turn and run in the opposite direction now. With an inward groan, I walked toward them.
“Nick,” I mumbled when I reached him.
“Hello…” He paused, and I realized he didn’t actually know my name.
“Zoe,” I shared.
“Well,Zoe, if I didn’t know better, I’d say you were stalking me.”
I grimaced. “Don’t flatter yourself. I’m on my way to Foyles.”
“Going on another shoplifting spree?”
I opened my mouth to quip back, but the woman next to him let out a small cough, and Nick flinched, as if he’d forgotten she was there.
“Sorry, this is Katie. She’s a sales rep for Penguin who’s come to talk to me about some of their upcoming releases. Katie, this is Zoe, London’s number one book thief.”
I bit back a smile, but Katie looked anything but amused. The poor woman; did she not realize the man she’d gotten all dressed up for was actually a misogynistic arse?
“Nice to meet you Katie,” I said. “Now, if you’ll both excuse me, I’m late.”
I went to move past Nick, but as I did, he reached out and touched my arm. The sudden physical contact was so unexpected that I gasped, and Nick dropped his hand as if he’d been burned.
“Sorry,” he stuttered, his cheeks flushing a deep pink. “I just… I wanted to check if you still had that book.”
Oh God, now I was the one going pink. “Eh, no,” I said quickly. “I threw it away, like you asked.”
“That’s great,” he said, and I could hear the relief in his voice. “I know you must think I’m being super weird about it, but I just feel happier knowing it’s gone.”
I opened my mouth to ask why, but I heard Katie clear her throat again.
“We should get going, Nick. I booked our table for six forty-five, and they won’t hold it if we’re late.”
I saw a flash of irritation cross his face, but he just smiled at Katie. “Of course. It was good seeing you again, Zoe.”
“You too.”
There was an awkward moment where neither of us moved, clearly waiting for the other to walk off first. Then I heard Katie sigh, and Nick gave me a quick nod before turning around and walking off behind her.
Bianca was already there when I arrived at the pub, wearing a black bodycon dress and a sharp designer jacket that I was pretty sure cost more than my monthly rent.
“There you are, I was beginning to think you’d stood me up!” she said, pushing a large glass of white wine across the table at me. “Where’ve you been all week? I’m usually the one who’s too busy to answer messages.”
“Sorry, it’s been a hectic one,” I said as I slid into the chair opposite her.
“Why, what happened?”
