Ben
Our usual delivery is totally cocked up, and I know it’s going to take me hours to sort, which is fine because then I won’t worry too much about Milly wandering around London alone. I get it; she wants to prove to me and maybe herself that she can navigate a city like London alone, but it’s so easy to get lost.
“Well, isn’t this the dog’s dinner,” Lewis, the manager of the pub, says as he comes up next to me.
“Yeah, well, you better check over this inventory list to make sure we don’t get diddled,” I scold him. “I’m not about to take the piss because you’re a daft arse.”
“Hey, is that any way to talk to your best mate? Didn’t I see you chatting up some girl last night? I thought you might have come into work whistling a happier tune.”
I roll my eyes. “All right, Lew. Stop naffing about and let’s get on with this.” Even though Lewis is, as he correctly proclaimed, my best mate, he’s also one of the biggest gossips, and I don’t want my business broadcasted to the entire pub and most of Notting Hill.
I slip my phone out of my pocket and frown. Milly’s been out exploring for a few hours and no call. I can’t help but worry not because I think she’s helpless but because she’s brought out a dormant alpha side in me. I want to protect her from the ugliness of London. It’s not all palaces and Hugh Grant rom-coms.
Minutes later, my phone erupts in my hand, and I know exactly who it is.
“Are you lost?” I ask her before she can manage a word. Yes, I’m being totally smug because I want to fucking save the day like a goddamn white knight.
“Maybe? A little?” Gone is the confident attitude she had when she left my flat this afternoon.
“Where are you?”
“Camden, I think.”
“How the fuck did you end up in Camden?”
“The Tube. I got on at Oxford Circus, and I wasn’t paying attention to which line I was on or even what direction I was heading. And then I just panicked and got off and wandered a bit.”
I breath in deeply and try to picture where she is. “Okay, well, just make your way back to the nearest station. Shouldn’t be hard to find. And then get off at Notting Hill Gate. I’ll meet you there.”
“Okay. Shouldn’t be too hard,” she agrees, but I hear the hesitation in her voice. She’s lost her confidence.
“Call me when you get to the nearest station so I can tell you how to get back.”
We end the call, and I gather up my things and start heading out. It’s dinnertime, and there will be a mad rush of people leaving work and heading home, but she shouldn’t have any difficulties once she’s on the Tube. Ten minutes later, she rings me to let me know she’s made it to the Camden Road station. I give her what seems like a complicated set of directions to follow because it’s not a straight shot. She’ll have to get on and get off the Tube a few times. I make her repeat them to me, so I know she understands. When I’m confident that she won’t end up in SoHo, we hang up. I pick up my pace and make it to the Notting Hill Gate station with plenty of time to spare. I pop into a coffee shop and grab a latte because I know it will be a while yet until Milly arrives.
I pace at the entrance of the Tube station around the time I think she’ll appear. When I catch my first glimpse of her in a massive swarm of people, I sigh with relief.
“Milly!” I call out, and she stops, and several passengers heading home have to swerve abruptly to avoid knocking her over. They don’t have pleasant things to say. She pushes through the crowd toward me, and my heart beats rapidly with the excitement of seeing her after just a few short hours of separation. Her hair is knotted on top of her head, and her coat is buttoned up tight, but it’s her cherry red lips that I’m interested in. I pull her to me and kiss her thoroughly, claiming her as mine.
“I don’t think I’m going to let you out of my sight,” I purr once the kiss is ended. I wrap an arm around her shoulders and tuck her in close, but she stiffens a bit and pulls away.
“About that,” she starts. “My bank called while I was out getting lost. Apparently, I have fraud protection on my account, and they’ll be able to return my money a lot sooner than expected.”
“How soon?” This is undoubtedly great news for Milly, but I haven’t had my fill of her yet.
“By the end of the week,” she answers with a week smile. “Could you help me sort out someplace new?”
I purse my lips and think. Do I really want to let Milly go? “Actually, I don’t think I can,” I say coolly and honestly.
“What?” She’s genuinely shocked and confused, but then her expression dissolves into anger. “Why not?”
I reach down and grab her hand. Earlier, I noticed how she avoided holding my hand after our impromptu tryst in the alley. I noticed the distance she started to put between us, and I didn’t like it. I hold her hand tightly as we walk back toward my flat.
“Maybe I don’t want you to leave,” I say casually.
“Ben, this wasn’t my plan. I didn’t come to London to find a fuck buddy.”
That stings just a bit.
I stop and turn to face her. “I know what you came to London for, Milly, and I’m not going to stop you from seeing and experiencing everything it has to offer. I would never do that, but I’m also not ready to give up whatever is happening between us either.”
There’s hesitation on her face; I can see it darkening her normally bright blue eyes. Maybe she didn’t want what I wanted; maybe she didn’t feel everything that I’ve felt over the past twenty-four hours. But at least I tried. And I know that I’m not an asshole, so I tell her, “Look, if this isn’t what you want, if I’m not what you want, then I’ll help you find someplace to stay for the next few weeks.”
“Thank you, Ben,” she says quietly, and that’s all she says for the rest of the night.
In the morning, before I leave to head to meet my accountant and review the week’s payroll, I leave the spare key to my flat on the kitchen counter along with a map of the London Underground. I scribble out a quick note and leave it tucked inside for her. Milly came to London to cure her wanderlust, and I’m going to give her the space to do it.