CHAPTER EIGHT
Max had insisted on taking her out the next night for dinner. To be seen together in a casual way. Walking arm and arm down the street or coming out of a movie theatre. He explained it was the best way to introduce a new relationship to the public. Float a balloon and see how it goes over. Since she’d never fake-dated anyone she had to take his word for it.
He didn’t get out of rehearsals until late and she’d wanted to see The Eye at night so she sent him a text that he could meet her there. By the time she’d taken the thirty-minute ride and returned, he was waiting for her on the ground.
Looking around like he was casing the joint and checking his watch.
“You’re late.”
Nice to see you too.
He’s a nice man. He’s a nice man. Paige says he’s a nice man.
If she repeated it enough, would her wish come true?
“I’m sorry. I waited in line longer than I thought. It was amazing up there though. The city is beautiful at night.”
That seemed to soften him up slightly. “It is, isn’t it? It’s been years since I rode The Eye at night. I should have gone with you.”
She glanced over her shoulder at the long line and smirked. “I’m game if you are.”
The look he gave the queue could only be described as longing. He wanted to do it but he was already shaking his head no. “We’d better not. My luck has held this long and I’d be pushing it if I tried to stay longer.”
“Your luck?”
His gaze darted around nervously and he hunched his shoulders. “I’ll tell you what. I’ll book us a private ride for one day next week. A whole car just to ourselves. Doesn’t that sound better?”
Not really. Carrie liked meeting new people and she’d talked to several during her own ride but it was clear Max didn’t feel the same. His loss.
“Sure, whatever you want. Are you ready for dinner?”
“I am. Do you trust me to pick the restaurant?”
If she didn’t like it she could always order a pizza later. “That’s fine. Where are we going?”
Max smiled. “A little place not far from here. I think you’ll like it. We can have our privacy there.”
More of that privacy stuff. He had quite the fetish.
Carrie figured out why when they stepped out onto the sidewalk. There were blinding flashes of light and his arm went around her immediately, pulling her into his side protectively.
“Don’t look at them. Don’t give them the money shot they’re looking for. One of the Eye employees must have called the paps or maybe one of the people in line tweeted I was here. Just stay close and I’ll get us out of this.”
This turned out to be a crush of photographers that all seemed to be yelling at once. It didn’t take a genius to see why Max didn’t like crowds and why he’d asked for some privacy. She ought to smack her forehead, she’d been so stupid. Tonight explained quite a bit about this man she’d tied herself to.
To his credit, he didn’t leave her side for a millisecond, keeping her close while he flagged down a taxi and bundled her in. The paps seemed to take that as a challenge and actually followed them, shooting pictures as their cars pulled up alongside, like a Formula One race through the streets of London. It was incredibly dangerous and she was more than relieved when they went through an almost red light that caught the rest of them. Max directed the driver to pull over and she stumbled out of the vehicle, still shaken by what she’d experienced.
“Are you okay?”
The taxi drove away and they were standing on a street corner but apparently Max had thought ahead. They were right next to a Tube station.
She nodded, breathing slowly to get her beating heart under control. “I am just surprised they’d go to those lengths to get a photo.”
His brows pinched together. “That was actually rather tame. Shall we go before they catch up?”
They quickly caught a train but she didn’t know enough about the city to know what direction they were going in. He was seated next to her but he’d hardly spoken since they’d boarded, simply making sure she was comfortable. Nudging his elbow, she moved closer so he could hear her without everyone else being privy to their conversation.
“Thanks.”
“What for? Getting you out of there? It’s my job to take care of you.”
She didn’t take offense at being referred to as someone’s job. If she’d learned anything about Max in the short time she’d known him was that he took his responsibilities very seriously. It would be just like him to call many things in his life a job or work.
“I’m still grateful. I’ve seen Paige and Nate with the paparazzi but they were never chased around London in the dark.”
The car stopped and Max stood, helping her to her feet. A cheery automated voice told her to mind the gap as she exited the tube and she followed him to the street.
“Where to next?” she asked, looking around. She had literally no clue where they were.
“You mentioned once that you like Italian food. We’re close to some of the best Italian food in London, maybe the world—except for Italy, of course.”
She glanced down at her casual attire. “Am I dressed for this palace of culinary delight?”
He gifted her with one of his true rare smiles. “It’s very come as you are.” Offering her his arm, he led her down the street, slowly enough that she could take in the little shops and restaurants. “I hope you like this place. It’s owned by an old friend from school. He’s always willing to get me a table on short notice.”
“Where are we? I mean, in relation to where we were?”
It might help in learning her way around.
“Close by. We’re in a section called the South Bank.” He stopped and held up his palm, pointing just above his wrist. “The South Bank is down here. Here is the Thames. Here is the city of London. Now up here is my home in Hampstead. We’ll get you a map for the Tube. You can get pretty much anywhere you want to go on it. If I remember correctly, you don’t have much public transit where you’re from.”
Taking in the buildings so close together, she nodded. “We’re too spread out. Americans love their elbow room.”
“I’ve learned that. I’ve always said that I’d like to take a car ride from one coast to another. See those wide-open spaces that I’ve heard so much about.”
She couldn’t stop the laughter that bubbled up and he gave her a strange look. “Sorry, it’s just that when we were kids my mom and dad would take us on road trips for our summer vacation. Pack us all in the minivan and see how many states we could hit in two weeks while Greg and I argued about where we would stop and whether the other had encroached on our personal space. It wasn’t all that glamorous.”
“It’s sounds like good fun,” he said kindly. “I still think I’d like a trip like that.”
If he kept acting human like this, the next four months weren’t going to be so bad. She might even enjoy herself.
They’d resumed walking and now he was opening the door of a small restaurant, the delicious smells hitting her straight in the olfactory senses. Her stomach gurgled in approval and she could have kissed him at that moment. Everything smelled like perfection. The place looked bigger inside, all done in earth tones with splashes of blue and green here and there.
A portly man with a thinning hairline came to greet them, a big smile on his face and his arms opened wide. “Maxwell, I was wondering if you were going to make it. It’s good to see you, my friend.”
They hugged and then Max stepped back, placing his arm around her waist. “We ran into a spot of trouble but we’re here now. Carrie, I’d like you to meet Albert Whittaker. Albert, this is Carrie Johnson.”
The man beamed and heartily shook her hand. “Any friend of Max’s is a friend of mine.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Whittaker. Your restaurant is beautiful and everything smells amazing.”
“Call me Albert. You must be starving. Max said that you were visiting the Eye before you came here. Did you like it?” Albert kept up a steady stream of conversation as he showed them to their table. “Now make sure Max shows you his impressions. He does the best I’ve ever seen.”
Max’s cheeks were red and he was trying to hide behind his menu but Albert was having none of it. He slapped his old friend on the back and launched into a tale about the time they snuck out of boarding school to go do a voodoo ritual one of them had read about out on the grounds. Now this was a Max she could hang out with.
“A voodoo ritual?” Carrie teased, accepting the glass of wine the waitress slid in front of her. “What kind?”
Propping his head in his palm, Max groaned. “We were cursing our mathematics professor because we had an exam coming up.”
Both men looked surprisingly boyish, their sly grins lighting up their faces. There was more to this story than they’d revealed so far.
“And did you succeed?”
“Hardly,” Max said dryly. “We almost set fire to ourselves melting some wax and did manage to scorch the grass rather badly. Part of the ritual was to sacrifice a chicken and of course we couldn’t do that. So instead we brought our baked chicken from dinner out there and sort of went through the motions. Pathetic, really.”
Laughing so hard that tears were flowing down her face, Carrie held her stomach as she hiccuped once or twice. For his part, Max was laughing as well as he and Albert bantered about who had run faster when they thought they’d been caught. This was pure gold. “Awesome. Just awesome. How did you do on the test? It sounds like it would have been easier to just study.”
“Poorly. My mum grounded me during break.”
Albert slapped Max on the back again and headed to the kitchen. “I’ve got a million of these stories, Carrie, but I’ll leave you to have dinner. Anything you need, you let me know.”
Carrie studied the menu. She wanted to hear more stories but her hunger needed to take precedence. “Remind me to tell you some stories from a few slumber parties I attended. Teenage girls are just as silly as teenage boys. Have you ever heard of ‘light as a feather, stiff as a board’?”
Frowning, Max shook his head and placed his menu on the table. He probably knew all the really good things to order. “I don’t think so. Should I have?”
“It may be an American thing. I’ll tell you about it…if you want me to. It’s not all that interesting, actually.”
What grown man wanted to hear about the day to day lives of young girls? Especially this man. She had the distinct impression he barely tolerated her when she spoke.
Then he smiled. A real, genuine smile that changed his entire face from forbidding to kind. Even his ice blue eyes were in on the action, becoming a softer shade, like a blanket for a newborn boy.
Her heart fluttered and for a moment she forgot to breathe. The veneer, the mask, he’d been wearing was gone and this was…him. All it had taken was an old friend to rip away that protective layer.
“I’d love to hear about it.”