Page 22 of Daydreamer
I frowned at her. “Why wouldn’t I buy my own clothes?”
Lottie glanced down at what I was wearing, then tilted her head to the side. “Well, I guess because it’s kind of a requirement of the company to wear this stuff and, well, no offence, but I know what it costs. That’s crazy money.”
I shrugged. “Felix’s done enough for me. I’m not sponging off the company for clothes.” I didn’t explain that the last person who needed financial funding was me. There was no way I would take that money.
What Lottie, Vicky and Felix didn’t know was that I had decided that I wouldn’t be working for Moretti Harding for much longer. The guilt at being paid to consistently fuck up was too much for me. Okay, so I had offset some of those fuck ups with the work I’d been doing with the publicity team, I knew that, but it didn’t justify staying. I was going to finish the month here and then stop this charade altogether. It was just a case of plucking up the courage to go to HR. Seeing as when I previously tried to quit Felix’s head almost exploded, I was keeping it to myself for the moment. What I needed to do wasto stop pining after Felix and start doing what I came to London to do – get out of my shell, meet people, maybe even find a man who was interested in me for God’s sake. Otherwise, what was the bloody point of leaving Little Buckingham at all?
Chapter 14
“Where are your freckles?”
Felix
“Woah? Is that… is thatLucy?”
I spun around to follow the direction of David’s gaze, and there she was.
“Looks like Piers is trying his arm,” David grumbled. “Sneaky bastard always gets in there before the rest of us. He’s got some sort of totty radar or something.”
Piers was indeed boxing Lucy in at the bar, the overbearing dickhead. I felt my blood pressure climb when he leaned right into her and said something close to her ear which cause her to giggle, some colour flooding her cheeks. The bar was heaving and as a result, boiling inside. All the other women I could see were wearing minimal clothing but not Lucy. Lucy was in a jumper dress – cream wool from her neck to just above her knees with sleeves that fell to cover her hands. Compared to the skimpy dresses on display in the bar it shouldn’t have been that sexy or eye-catching. But the wool skimmed close to her figure, showing off her curves in a way that was even more effective.
She was talking to Piers now, a bright smile lightingup her features. Her nose scrunched at his reply. I wasn’t close enough to see her freckles, but I was infuriated that Piers was. In fact, this whole situation was totally unacceptable. What on earth was Lucy doing out and about by herself? Where was shy Lucy who hid in my home office last week instead of mingling at a party? Why was that stupid sod Piers getting to see her freckles close up and not me?
Ignoring my colleagues, who were also now all watching Lucy, the shady bastards, I slammed my drink down on the table and pushed up from my seat. All I was really focused on at that stage was my anger. I probably should have taken a moment to ask myself if I had the right to be angry. Unfortunately, as with a lot of my dealings with this woman, rationality seemed to have deserted me. Plus I’d downed at least four shots already to celebrate closing on a piece of land just outside London.
“Piers,” I snapped as I pushed myself into a space next to them at the bar. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
Piers jerked in surprise at my words and turned his head to face me. My annoyance ratcheted up a notch when he didn’t drop his hand that was resting on the bar next to Lucy.
“Er…” he frowned at me. Piers and I had always got on pretty well. He was about my age and a hedge fund manager. We’d been out on the town fishing in the same waters for many years. He’d shagged a fair few of my exes and me his; it never caused an issue before. “Well, I’m talking to Lucy. Interesting girl.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “I bet.”
“Yes,” Piers said slowly. “Yes, she is. She was explaining to me about how she works. It’s fascinating really.”
My eyebrows went up. “Fascinating? Lucy’s work?”
Piers was looking at me like I was a little mad. “Yes, of course.”
What on earth had Lucy told Piers about the job she was doing, fairly incompetently, now? I didn’t think she was the type to stretch the truth.
“Well, you can continue to befascinatedfrom a safe distance, you oversexed prick.”
“Felix!” Lucy said, clearly annoyed, but I wasn’t going to be deterred. She’d thank me when I explained to her what an absolute dog this guy was.
Piers straightened from the bar, widening the distance between himself and Lucy so he could turn fully to me, but at the same time keeping his hand firmly in place next to her. I felt a burning sensation in my gut that I refused to term as jealousy. No, I was simply protecting Lucy from unwanted advances. Hetty would kill me otherwise.
“It’s not like you were staking a claim, Moretti,” Piers said as he looked between me and Lucy. “IfIcame to the pub with Lucy she wouldn’t be out of my sight. Seems like you took your eye off the ball, mate.”
“It’s not about staking any claims, you Neanderthal,” I said in a haughty tone. “I’m looking out for her is all. She’s like family, like a little sister.”
Piers’s eyebrows went up and then I saw the bastard suppress a small smirk. “Big brother,right,” he said, drawing out the last word and losing his battle with his damn smirk. “Okay,bro.” He lifted his hand away from the bar and held them both up in surrender. I felt that band around my chest loosen as he finally stepped away from Lucy. “Fascinating chat, babe,” he said to Lucy before turning back to me, that smirk still in place. “Good luck,big bro. Few sharks circling tonight worse than me, I’d say.”
He melted into the crowd, and I took his place next to Lucy at the bar just as I could see another one of these cocky city boys approaching. I crowded Lucy and gave the city boy a glarewhich sent him in the other direction. A small fist landed on my shoulder, and I looked back down at an infuriated Lucy. Her eyes were flashing with annoyance, and the colour in her cheeks was heightened. It was the first time I think I’d ever seen Lucy with make-up on. My mind blanked, and I said the first thing that came into it.
“Where are your freckles?” I mean, she looked beautiful, butmyLucy had freckles. I decided I wanted them back.
She blinked up at me like I was insane. Maybe I was.
