Page 111 of The One That I Want

Trying?Who am I trying to kid? Ewan very much had me at ‘hello’.

29

GRETA

‘Are we going on the London Eye?’ I exclaim. We’re walking hand in hand along Belvedere Road and, just as Ewan said earlier, it comes into view almost immediately.

He laughs. ‘I told you would be obvious – and yes.’

‘That’s lovely.’

‘Have you been on it before? I don’t want to assume – a lot of Londoners haven’t.’

‘Only once – not long after Ru was born. I would have been about twelve or thirteen. I loved it – I felt like I could see forever. What about you?’

‘My second time too – but I was in my twenties last time. A uni mate came down from Edinburgh and he wanted to ride it – I wouldn’t have bothered otherwise.’

‘But that’s the way, isn’t it? It’s so easy to get caught up in the day-to-day that you never take the time to explore your own city.’

‘Exactly. You know what we should do? Have a day out, the two of us, and explore London as if we’ve only just arrived.’

‘I’d love that,’ I say. Then he lifts my hand – the one he’s holding – and presses his lips to it, his gaze holding mine.

It is the single sexiest thing a man has ever done to me. Okay, that might not be entirely true, but nothing else comes to mind and heat isfloodingmy body. I’m guessing Ewan’s already booked tickets for the London Eye – otherwise, I’d be ordering an Uber and inviting him back to mine.

We’re quiet as we walk the rest of the way and when we arrive, Ewan shows the attendant the booking on his phone, and we’re whisked away to priority boarding.

Has he booked us a private pod? That’s so…romantic.

We’re next in the short queue and a young woman in uniform introduces herself as Catriona, our host. We step into the pod and on the seat in the centre are a bottle of champagne and a box of chocolates – this just keeps getting better – but, surprisingly, Catriona boards the pod with us.

As the doors close behind us, she makes short work of opening the champagne and while she pours two glasses, I turn to Ewan.

‘This is gorgeous,’ I whisper. ‘You’re spoiling me – thank you so much.’

‘You’re welcome. It seemed like you’ve had a hard time over the past few days and?—’

‘But you didn’t even know what had happened. I just said that there was a sticky situation at work…’

‘I made an educated guess that you were playing it down, making it seem less difficult than it was.’

‘That was a good guess.’

He shrugs. ‘Besides,’ he says, tucking my hair behind my left ear and trailing the back of his fingers down my cheek, ‘I wanted this night to be special.’

My breath hitches. ‘Well, you’ve definitely succeeded,’ I manage to say.

‘Madam, sir,’ says Catriona. We turn towards her, and she hands us brimming champagne flutes then steps back, giving us as much privacy as is possible in the confined space.

Ewan ushers me to the other side of the pod and we face the window. The sun has nearly set, the sky above us an inky blue, and a smattering of low clouds hang above the horizon, alight in an array of pinks and purples. Along the Thames, lights from landmarks dance on the surface of the water. Parliament House is particularly beautiful, spilling its golden light onto the Thames, with Big Ben standing proudly, a striking beacon.

I wander over to the other side of the pod, Ewan trailing close behind, and this view is just as beautiful as the southern-facing view. Be still, my heart, I love this city.

‘What should we toast to?’ asks Ewan.

I look up at him, my eyes roving the features of his handsome face. ‘To London – a beautiful city that I too often take for granted,’ I say.

‘I like that,’ he replies, gently touching his flute to mine. We sip and it isdelicious.

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