Page 30 of The Cinderella Arrangement

Across the station, a man photographed us. I leaned against Luke, who wrapped his arm around my waist. I laid my head against his chest and smiled as he kissed me.

“Later tonight, I might meet up with an old friend. You’re welcome to come.”

An old friend? Sounds interesting.

“Yeah, I’d like to.” I turned my facetoward his voice and caught his bottom lip. He squeezed my back so that my titswere flattened against his chest and I could feel his steady heartbeat while mine raced. I felt the irritating rush of heat in my chest and I couldn’t understand how he could remain so calm. We broke our faces apart, but Luke still held me against him, looking at me as though I was the only girl in the universe.

“Does he know about me?”

“He knows that I’m dating someone. I have told no one about our arrangement, and I plan on keeping it that way.”

A rush of wind soared through the tunnel, whipping my hair around. I unglued myself from Luke’s chest, and we walked over a line of yellow that demanded we Mind The Gap. The train was packed with people and we were sandwiched together. I couldn’t help but laugh a little at the discomfort on Luke’s face.

“Not used to being pressed up against the common folk, are you?”

He laughed and glanced around at the people surrounding us. “Jessica,” he whispered. “Someone might hear.”

“No one heard me.”

“It’s awkward. I’m not used to public transport.”

“I thought you said you took the metro all the time as a kid.”

“That was then.”

Luke held onto the rail with his sleevesto avoid the layer of germs coating it.

“Well, consider it payback for laughing at me on the airplane.”

We transferred to another line and arrived at the Westminster station. When we climbed out, Big Ben stood right in front of me like a giant. Even in the overcast weather, the tower shined in a dark gold brilliance. I craned my neck to look at the black hands sitting on a white circle surrounded by a golden ring. The parliament building wrapped around Big Ben. We walked down the street and over the bridge, weaving around tourists to look down at the River Thames snaking through the city. A huge Ferris wheel was northeast of us. Luke leaned overand watched my fascination with a happy look on his face.

“That’s the London Eye,” he said, pointing to the wheel.

“It’s incredible.”

There was nothing like this where I had grown up. We walked toward Big Ben, the snarl of traffic shuddering down the streets, the red double decker busses groaning as they passed us. Luke grabbed my arm and pulled me back when I almost ran into oncoming traffic. Out of habit, I looked left instead of right.

“Close call.”

I recognized some of the statues in the Parliament Square. Then I noticed a long line of people outside one building. A large gothic church stood in front of the square with three bold arches covering thedoors. The one in the middle was the largest, and it was where the line formed. “Is that—?”

“Westminster Abbey? Yes. Do you want to go inside?”

I rubbed my hands together and tried to conceal how much I wanted to go. “Well, only if you don’t mind.”

He rolled his eyes at me and pulled my hand. “C’mon.”

Inside the abbey were vaulted ceilings and high arches with so much detail carved into the stone that I could stare at them for hours. Every surface was covered with marble busts and memorials. Even the floor had them. I squealed in delight when I recognized an author name from my English classes.

“Look—Charles Dickens!”

Luke leaned over and nodded. “Cool,” he said in a tone of voice that suggested boredom instead of fascination. Decorated chapels dedicated to members of royalty were tucked into the corners of the abbey.

“You don’t like this stuff, do you?”

He shrugged as we walked around the choir. “It’s all right. I’ve seen it all before—many times on school trips. Thrill-seeking is more my thing, likehang-gliding, parasailing, white-water rafting, steeplechase.”

I did none of those things. “What if we went to a soccer match?”

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