CHAPTER TEN
Jennings
I still think she’s lying about something, but as long as she’s not fucking the driver I suppose it doesn’t matter. Except I hate being lied to. Bloody hate it, which is hypocritical as hell since I’m lying to her as well.
I wasn’t at first. I didn’t say a single untrue thing when I met her. But I’m lying to her now, aren’t I? By omission, I suppose, but still a lie. A smallish one. Nearly insignificant. To me anyway. To her it might be another matter entirely.
She’s different, this girl. I smile thinking of her fumbling through her list of excuses to avoid seeing me again. Please. She came three times. Loudly. So if she’s not seeing the driver then what is it? It can’t be some moral quandary about sex, can it? We’ve already done the deed so what would another few tumbles matter? She was quite keen when she thought I was a stranger—and that hasn’t changed, not really. She can’t be such a rule-follower she’s worried about some supposed Sutton Travel company policy—if it even exists.
I wonder what she does when she’s not guiding tours. Where she lives, if she’s got a flatmate or perhaps a cat.
How far she could take me down her throat.
Just everyday thoughts, really.
“Jennings, darling, thank you for taking me on this trip.” Nan interrupts my musings as we exit the hotel and walk the short distance to the coach parked just out front. “I know how busy you are but I do so look forward to my annual trip,” she says with a pat to my arm. “Besides, it’s all quite informative, isn’t it?”
“Very informative, Nan,” I agree.
I’m only here to appease Nan. When the trip ends I’ll deliver her to my aunt Poppy in Connecticut for the remainder of the summer. Then I’ll be on the first flight to London.
“Very good, and I’ve always wanted to take this tour. Time well spent for both of us then.”
I nod my head in agreement as we board the bus. Her new Canadian friends immediately wave us over to some empty seats near them as the coach doors close and Daisy walks down the aisle taking a head count, her lips moving as she counts to herself, her eyes rolling as they pass mine. Not too worried about policy then, is she? I’d think eye-rolling customers must be prohibited, but Lord knows with the Americans. She returns to the front of the coach, signaling to George we’re good to go, and then turns on the microphone system with an enthusiastic, “Good morning,” to the group.
“So, um, welcome again to Sutton Travel Highlights of History tour. Glad you all made it on time this morning, thank you for that.” She smiles brightly but her hand is gripping the microphone so hard her knuckles are white. As if she’s responsible for passing the baton during an Olympic relay sprint instead of delivering a few dull tidbits to a group of tourists. She clears her throat before continuing, reminding us what’s on the agenda before picking up a small notepad and glancing it over. Does she really need notes in order to do this?
She nods to herself then tucks the notebook away before asking the group to pull the tiny radio-controlled boxes from the seat pockets in front of each seat. After handing each guest a set of cheap disposable earbuds, she runs the group through testing the headset. The boxes operate on a simple on/off switch and volume dial so that lesson goes quickly. We’ll use them as we walk and the local guide narrates via the headsets.
Once that’s all sorted Daisy’s shoulders relax as she turns on a promotional video on the overhead monitors and drops into the empty row of seats directly above and behind the driver. I’m five rows behind her so I can’t hear her sigh, but I imagine she does. Is she nervous about this tour or about me? Neither makes much sense. Both intrigue me.
“Jennings, would you mind if I sat in the empty seat next to Vilma?” Nan breaks into my thoughts and gestures to her new friends. “It’ll be easier for us to chat.”
“Not at all. I think I’ll go up and join the guide. I’ve got a few questions for her.”
“Oh, great idea, you do that!” Nan readily agrees, patting my knee just as she did when I was a boy. “I’m so thrilled you’ve taken such an interest in the tour.”
So am I. But I don’t think it’s in the way she’s thinking.
Daisy’s in the window seat, so she doesn’t have a chance to object when I slide into the empty aisle seat next to her. Her head snaps up from a notebook clutched in her hand, her expression turning into a scowl when she sees me.
“You can’t sit there,” she says.
“I think that I can,” I respond, unbothered by her sass. I slide my arm over the headrest behind her and lean into her ear. “Are you this rude to all the tour guests or just the ones you’ve slept with?”
Her mouth drops open and her eyes widen in shock before she recovers.
“Just you,” she states, narrowing her eyes at me before returning her attention to the notebook in her hand. She quickly snaps it shut and holds it on her lap, her fingers curled around the edge.
“What have you got there?” I nod to the notebook. In my mind it’s a journal, filled with dirty thoughts about me.
“Nothing. Just notes about the trip,” she says with a shrug.
“Ah.” I nod. The dirty notes were a long shot but still, I’m disappointed. “How long have you been a tour guide, Daisy?”
“Uh, a few years,” she says, but she won’t look at me.
“A few?”
“Yeah, a few. How about you? How long have you been mooching vacations off of your grandmother?”
“Mooching? What a brilliant word. I assume it’s an American term for getting a handout?”
“It is,” she confirms, unabashed.
I grin. “Well, I have been the apple of Nan’s eye since the day I was born.”
“Yeah, okay,” she agrees in a tone riddled with sarcasm.
“So what do you need the notes for? If you’ve been doing this a few years it should be old hat by now, shouldn’t it?”
“It’s a new tour,” she responds.
“Is it?”
She glances at me before quickly looking out the window. “Newish,” she replies with a shrug. “For me,” she adds.
She’s evasive about the oddest things, which only serves to intrigue me more.
When we reach the outskirts of the National Mall the bus stops and the group disembarks while Daisy confers with the local guide. George stays with the coach, which suits me fine. I still don’t like him.
Daisy does yet another head count, then ensures everyone has their headset on and can hear. The guide takes off while delivering her spiel on the history of the Washington Monument. I watch the guests follow along for a few minutes while Daisy lags at the rear of the group, making sure she doesn’t lose anyone. Nan’s group has positioned themselves near the front, keeping a careful eye on the local guide, headset boxes clutched in hands. There’s a couple from Scotland with professional-looking camera equipment snapping pictures every few feet while the majority of the group just use their mobile phones.
I pull the earbuds off and shove them into my pocket along with the radio box.
“What are you doing?” She stops walking and looks at me suspiciously.
“I’m more interested in observing you than the tour,” I tell her with a wink.
She groans.
I smile.
“Do you have a job, Jennings?” She squares her shoulders and looks at me as if she’ll be able to assess the truthfulness of my answer.
“I do.” I nod.
“Do you live with your mother?”
“I do not.” I shake my head once and bite back a smile.
“Okay,” she says, then pauses. “Do you live with your grandmother?” she asks slowly, her brow arched in suspicion as if I’ve found a loophole to avoid an honest answer.
“I do not live with my nan,” I confirm.
“Okay,” she finally says with a nod.
“Okay,” I agree though I’m not sure what conclusion she’s just drawn.
“We can have sex this week,” she announces. “Because you’re good at it,” she adds and starts walking again. “And because that accent of yours drives me wild and because frankly, I don’t need another reason.”
“Well then, glad that’s settled.” I don’t fight the smile this time. I can’t recall a woman ever telling me I was good in bed in quite such an… ineloquent way before, but it’s distinctly Daisy.
“Don’t make me regret this, Jennings. You seem like trouble and I’ve got a lot going on.”
“I’ll make you come with as little trouble as possible,” I promise.
“And for the record, I’m still going to count this as a one-night stand. Unless I have another one-night stand in the future, then I’ll use that one, but if I don’t then this one still counts.”
“Right.” I nod slowly even though fuck knows what that means.
“Okay then. We’ve got a deal.”
“A sex deal?” I ask, wide smile on my face. “How kinky.”
“You said you weren’t going to be trouble,” she says drily with a tilt of her head and a lift of her brow in challenge.
“Fair enough, that I did.”
“Go join your grandmother, Jennings. I’ll deal with you later.”
Oh, I should hope so. I shake my head with another grin, wondering what just happened. I don’t normally have women so reluctant to give me attention. Or speaking to me like I’m a lost dog. Yet I’m smiling and curious about what she’s going to throw at me next.