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“If you’re planning on taking the Tube, the closest station to us is Hammersmith, which is back that way.”

Blast his perfect accent. And his perfect beard. And his perfect, black hair that rivaled the thickness of a Ken doll.

“Oh, yeah.” She pulled on an innocent expression and turned around. Was her blush super noticeable? “I figured that, but my phone just, you know, sent me in the wrong direction.”

“Right.”

She walked past him, keeping her pace steady and her eyes focused straight ahead.

“So this is your first time in England?” he asked as they moved through the residential area, bare oak trees towering overhead.

“Yeah,” she responded.

“Are you enjoying it so far?”

“Yeah, I am.”

Silence followed, and so ended their first conversation without either of them needing to apologize by the end of it. No wonder the exchange had been so stilted.

“So where does this schedule of yours dictate we go first?” he asked next.

She glanced at him sidelong, wondering if he was breaking the “say-nothing-mean” rule, but he merely looked ahead with all the innocence of a beautiful, gorgeous puppy.

She cleared her throat, white puffs of cold air lingering around them as they breathed. “Buckingham Palace.”

He nodded, opening his mouth before seeming to think better of what he’d been about to say. Instead of allowing her curiosity to get the better of her, or on focusing on how tall Liam actually was—seriously, he had to be a good foot taller than her, right?—she pulled her attention to the sights around them.

The attached houses shifted gradually to business buildings, and the street they walked along—lined bumper to bumper with compact, neutral-colored cars— led them to a busier street with buses zipping past and bicycles trying to keep up with the pace of traffic.

Claire, having forgotten to keep her map on, pulled out her phone once again, slipping a finger free from the fabric of her gloves to pull up the directions.

Come on, come on, come on. Why was it taking so long to load?

“Do you wish for your phone to take you in the wrong direction again? Or would you rather save time by allowing me to be your guide?”

NINE

Claire stared down at her phone, a single bar filling out the four available. International coverage, my backside.

“Um,” she began, watching the pinwheel on top of the map as it went round and round.

Alright. Never mind that Liam thought her inept. If they kept this pace, they wouldn’t arrive in Central London until after dark.

“Okay. I guess having you lead the way would make more sense.” Her eyes delved into his. “So long as you don’t make fun of me for not being prepared.”

He shook his head, looking both ways down the busy street, seemingly distracted as he responded. “I already promised you that I wouldn’t.”

She watched him for a minute, fighting the response she wished to give. “Yeah, well, a promise doesn’t mean much these days, does it? Just ask Richard or my parents.”

Those words would hardly benefit either of them.

Before long, she and Liam crossed the busy street, making their way south until they arrived at the station, the symbol for the Underground—a red circle with a blue bar through the center of it—perched near the top of the building.

“You have your Oyster card?” Liam asked.

From her coat pocket, Claire pulled out the blue card Tasha had given her the night before to use for traveling around the city. “Yep.”

He nodded, then they joined the growing line within the station.